A commercial truck driver hauling freight can drive up to 11 hours in a day, and only after taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. All of that driving has to fit inside a 14-hour on-duty window that starts the moment the driver clocks in. Once the 14 hours are up, driving stops, even if some of the 11 permitted hours are still unused.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.3 – Maximum Driving Time for Property-Carrying Vehicles These federal Hours of Service limits are set and enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and apply to drivers of vehicles rated at 10,001 pounds or more, combination vehicles above 26,001 pounds, and any rig hauling placarded hazardous materials.2Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. What Is the Difference Between a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) and a Non-CMV? Bus and motorcoach drivers work under a separate, tighter set of caps (10 hours of driving after 8 hours off), so the numbers below cover freight only.3eCFR. 49 CFR 395.5 – Maximum Driving Time for Passenger-Carrying Vehicles
The 30-Minute Break Requirement
The 11-hour cap isn’t the only thing shaping the workday. A property-carrying driver must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving. Any non-driving period of at least 30 consecutive minutes qualifies, whether the driver is off duty, in the sleeper berth, or on duty performing non-driving work such as fueling or paperwork.4Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
So the practical daily shape looks like this: 10 hours off, then up to 14 hours on duty, with no more than 11 of those spent driving, and a 30-minute break somewhere before the eighth driving hour ends.
Weekly Limits Behind the Daily Limit
A single day never stands alone. Two rolling weekly caps sit on top of the daily rules, and either one can shut a driver down before the 11-hour daily figure ever matters.
A driver may not drive after accumulating 60 on-duty hours over 7 consecutive days, or 70 hours over 8 consecutive days. Which schedule applies depends on the carrier: carriers that operate every day of the week may use the 70-hour/8-day cycle, while carriers that don’t run seven days a week use the 60-hour/7-day cycle.5Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. May a Motor Carrier Switch From a 60-Hour/7-Day Limit to a 70-Hour/8-Day Limit or Vice Versa?
To wipe the weekly slate clean, a driver takes at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. That resets the 60- or 70-hour clock and a fresh cycle begins.4Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Splitting the 10 Hours With a Sleeper Berth
Drivers with a sleeper berth don’t have to take their 10 hours off in one uninterrupted stretch. Under the split sleeper berth provision, the required rest can be divided into two periods. One must be at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, and the other must be at least 2 consecutive hours either off duty or in the sleeper. Together the two periods have to add up to at least 10 hours.6Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. What Rest Periods Qualify for the Split Sleeper Berth Provision?
The useful part: neither qualifying rest period counts against the 14-hour on-duty window. The driving-time and 14-hour clocks are recalculated from the end of the first qualifying rest period. Total driving between the two rest periods still can’t exceed 11 hours, but the split lets a driver stretch a workday across a longer calendar period without breaking the daily rules.7eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part
When the Daily Limit Can Change
Several exceptions can push the daily numbers up, remove them, or reclassify time that would otherwise count as on-duty driving. Getting these wrong at a roadside inspection is a fast way to end up with a violation, so the conditions matter as much as the exceptions themselves.
Adverse Driving Conditions
If a driver runs into unexpected bad weather, ice, or unusual traffic that wasn’t known before the trip began, FMCSA allows an extra 2 hours of both driving time and on-duty time. That means a property-carrying driver could legally drive up to 13 hours inside a 16-hour window. The word “unexpected” carries weight here. A blizzard already sitting in the forecast when the driver rolled out doesn’t qualify.4Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Short-Haul Operations
Drivers who work within a 150 air-mile radius of their normal reporting location and return there within 14 hours qualify for the short-haul exception. They’re exempt from the 30-minute break requirement and use timecards instead of full duty logs.8Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Hours of Service Regulations
A separate 16-hour short-haul extension lets a property-carrying driver who normally starts and ends at the same location stretch the on-duty window from 14 to 16 hours, once every 7 consecutive days. The driver must have returned to the normal reporting location and been released from duty there for the previous five tours. The 11-hour driving cap still applies inside that longer window, and the standard 10 hours off is required before and after.7eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part
Agricultural Commodities
Drivers hauling agricultural commodities are exempt from HOS rules while operating within 150 air miles of the source of the commodity. The exemption covers the loaded trip within that radius, the unloaded drive to the pickup point, and the return once the driver gets back within 150 air miles of the original source. Beyond that boundary, standard HOS rules resume and those hours have to be logged.9Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Agriculture Exemption Diagrams
Personal Conveyance
A driver fully relieved from work can use the truck for personal reasons and log that time as off duty. Driving from a truck stop to a restaurant, commuting home, or moving to a nearby safe location to rest all qualify, and the trailer can be loaded because the cargo isn’t being moved for the carrier’s benefit.10Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Personal Conveyance
What doesn’t qualify: driving past available rest stops to get closer to the next loading point, repositioning at the carrier’s direction, or any movement that advances the carrier’s operations. Individual carriers can also set stricter rules or ban personal conveyance outright.10Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Personal Conveyance
Emergency Declarations
During declared federal, state, or local emergencies, HOS rules can be temporarily suspended for drivers providing direct relief. Scope and duration depend on the declaration. Once the driver is no longer providing direct relief, standard limits apply again.
What Happens if a Driver Goes Over
Driving past the 11-hour limit, blowing through the 14-hour window, or falsifying a log carries real financial consequences for both the driver and the carrier.
- A motor carrier that permits or requires an HOS violation faces civil penalties up to $19,246 per violation for non-recordkeeping offenses. Recordkeeping violations run up to $1,584 per day and are capped at $15,846.11eCFR. Appendix B to Part 386 – Penalty Schedule
- Individual drivers face penalties up to $4,812 per non-recordkeeping violation.11eCFR. Appendix B to Part 386 – Penalty Schedule
- Exceeding the driving-time limit by more than 3 hours is treated as an egregious violation, and FMCSA can impose penalties up to the statutory maximum.11eCFR. Appendix B to Part 386 – Penalty Schedule
- At a roadside inspection, an officer can place a driver out of service on the spot. The driver cannot operate the vehicle until the violation is corrected or enough rest time has passed.
Violations also feed the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System, which tracks each carrier’s compliance history. Poor scores in the HOS Compliance category can trigger warning letters, investigations, and effects on operating authority. Violations stay on a carrier’s safety record for 24 months.
How the Hours Get Recorded
Most commercial drivers track their hours with an Electronic Logging Device. An ELD connects to the vehicle’s engine and automatically captures driving time, which makes accurate records the default rather than an act of good faith.12Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. General Information About the ELD Rule
Some drivers can still use paper records of duty status:
- Drivers using the short-haul exception, who use timecards.
- Drivers who keep records of duty status no more than 8 days in any 30-day period.
- Drive-away and tow-away operations, where the vehicle itself is the cargo.
- Drivers operating vehicles manufactured before model year 2000.13Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. ELD Fact Sheet – English Version
Motor carriers must retain records of duty status and supporting documents such as fuel receipts, dispatch records, and bills of lading for at least six months from the date of receipt.14eCFR. 49 CFR 395.8 – Driver’s Record of Duty Status Backup copies of ELD data must be stored separately from the originals.