A DOT timesheet is the simplified time record that short-haul commercial drivers keep in place of a full record of duty status. To meet DOT timesheet requirements under 49 CFR § 395.1(e)(1), the record must show the time you reported for duty, the time you were released, your total on-duty hours for the day, and — if you’re a new hire or drive only intermittently — your total on-duty time for the preceding seven consecutive days. Your motor carrier has to keep those records for six months.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part You only get to use the timesheet on days you actually qualify for the short-haul exception; on any other day, a standard log is required.
What Must Appear on the Timesheet
The regulation lists four required data points, and nothing more. In practice, most carriers add a driver name, date, and company name so the record can be identified, but the federally mandated fields are these:
- The time you reported for duty.
- The time you were released from duty.
- Your total hours on duty for that calendar day.
- For new or intermittent drivers, total on-duty hours for the previous seven consecutive days.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part
What the rule does not require is a graph grid, vehicle information, shipping document numbers, or the other fields that clutter a standard record of duty status. That simplification is the whole point of the exception.
Formatting is not spelled out in the regulation, but a few habits keep routine inspections routine. Use permanent ink so entries can’t be altered after the fact; altered entries move an audit into falsification territory fast. Record times in 24-hour format so nobody has to guess whether 2:30 was morning or afternoon. Do not leave fields blank. An inspector treats a blank the same as a missing entry, and treats an illegible entry the same as a blank.
Motor carriers usually supply pre-printed forms. If yours doesn’t, commercial stationery vendors sell compliant templates.
Electronic Timesheets and Signatures
Carriers that keep time records digitally can do so under 49 CFR § 390.32. Electronic signatures are permitted using any available technology, provided the record accurately reflects the required information, is retainable, and can be reproduced on demand for anyone entitled to see it.2eCFR. 49 CFR 390.32 – Electronic Documents and Signatures The carrier also needs proof that the driver consented to the electronic format.
When You Are Allowed to Use One
The timesheet substitutes for a full log only on days you meet every condition of the short-haul exception in 49 CFR § 395.1(e)(1). Qualifying yesterday does not carry over to today. Each day stands on its own.
- 150 air-mile radius. You operate entirely within 150 air miles of your normal work-reporting location, measured in a straight line, not by road. Cross that boundary at any point and you lose the exception for that day.3Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How Many Statute Miles Are Equivalent to 100-Air-Miles?
- Return within 14 hours. You return to your normal work-reporting location and are released from duty within 14 consecutive hours of coming on duty. The clock runs continuously through meals and downtime once work begins.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part
- Required off-duty time. Property-carrying drivers get at least 10 consecutive hours off between shifts; passenger-carrying drivers get at least 8. The rest cannot be split.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part
- Same location for start and finish. You begin and end your shift at the same work-reporting location. Overnighting at a different terminal breaks the exception.
If any one of these fails on a given day, that day needs a complete record of duty status with the graph grid and all the fields a standard log requires. The simplified timesheet is not enough.
Days You Fall Out of the Exception
Real operations get interrupted. Traffic delays a return past 14 hours. A pickup takes you five miles beyond the radius. Under 49 CFR § 395.8(a)(1)(ii)(A), you may use paper records of duty status instead of an electronic logging device on no more than 8 days within any rolling 30-day period.4eCFR. 49 CFR 395.8 – Driver’s Record of Duty Status The window is continuous, not a calendar month. A 9th non-qualifying day inside any 30-day span means an ELD is required going forward.5Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Exemptions, Waivers and Vendor Information The count is per driver.
Weather or road hazards can also push you out. Under 49 CFR § 395.1(b)(1), a driver who encounters adverse conditions that could not have been foreseen before the shift began may extend both the driving limit and the on-duty window by up to two hours to complete the run or reach a safe place to stop.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part If the morning forecast already called for the storm, the extension does not apply, and using it anyway is treated as falsification. The extension covers only the time actually needed. If it pushes you past the 14-hour return window, that day needs a full record of duty status and counts against the 8-day paper-log limit.
Non-CDL Short-Haul Drivers
Drivers of property-carrying commercial vehicles that do not require a CDL follow a parallel short-haul rule at 49 CFR § 395.1(e)(2). The 150 air-mile radius, the return to home base, and the timesheet fields are the same. The duty window is more flexible: up to 16 consecutive hours on two days out of every seven, capped at 14 hours the other five.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part Non-CDL drivers using (e)(2) cannot also claim the CDL exception under (e)(1). The two tracks are separate.
Retention and Penalties
Legal responsibility for keeping timesheets sits with the motor carrier, not the driver. Under § 395.1(e)(1)(iv), the carrier must retain the records for six months from the date of receipt and produce them for federal or state inspectors on request.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part Paper filing or scanned digital storage both work; disorganization does not.
Penalties are set out in Appendix B to 49 CFR Part 386. Failing to prepare or maintain a required record, or maintaining one that is incomplete, inaccurate, or false, carries a civil penalty of up to $1,584 per day the violation continues, with a maximum of $15,846 per violation. Drivers who commit non-recordkeeping hours-of-service violations face up to $4,812 per offense.6eCFR. Appendix B to Part 386 – Penalty Schedule These amounts are adjusted periodically for inflation.