Ask The Law™ - August 2008

Questions Regarding Hours of Service,
Logbooks & More Answered by Law
Enforcement Officials (as of Aug. 2008)

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LOGGING TIME WHEN DROPPING TRAILERS
Q: I drop 2 to 3 trailers a day and have been logging each as a 15 minute drop and 15 minute pre-trip.  Is there a better way I can do this without using so much of my 70 hours on line 4?  Thank you – Ricky, South Carolina

A: Provided by Senior Trooper Monty Dial, Texas Highway Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Garland, Texas: Show the amount of time needed to drop one trailer, hook up to the next one, do your walk-around and complete your logbook.  If it takes you less than 15 minutes to do, just flag in the remark section the name of the city and state and the amount of time it took.

LOGGING OFF-DUTY WAITING IN FUEL LINE
Q: When I pull into fuel and there’s a line of trucks, can I go to line 1 (Off -Duty) while I’m waiting to get to the fuel pumps?  Thanks – Brian, Missouri

A: Provided by Senior Trooper Monty Dial, Texas Highway Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Garland, Texas: Any time you are seated at the controls of the vehicle, you are driving.  The only way you can get off of line 3 is to step out of the vehicle while waiting.  If you do this, you can now show On-Duty not driving (line 4).  The only way to show line 1 is if you are relieved of all of your responsibilities.  For more information about this rule, please see Part 390.5 Definition of On-Duty Time.

DRIVING A CMV AFTER 14 HOURS ON-DUTY
Q: I found myself in a situation were I was less then 60 miles from my home terminal and, although I was not over on my 11 hours driving, I was over my 14 hours on duty.  I called my company about this and was told to come on in anyway.  I believe this is wrong.  What is the law on this?  Thank you – Mark, Oklahoma

A: Provided by Senior Trooper Monty Dial, Texas Highway Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Garland, Texas: “Thou shalt not drive after being On-Duty 14 hours!”  You can find this written in Part 395.3(b)(2).  Enough said!

FILLING OUT THE LOGBOOK RECAP SECTION
Q: After a restart should I put 0 in the past 7 days on my recap in the logbook or do I put all the hours I drove prior to my 34 hours off?  My company wants me to fill out the recap on every day’s log.  Please let me know what is right – Wayne, South Carolina

A: Provided by Senior Trooper Monty Dial, Texas Highway Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Garland, Texas: Check with the company and see how they want you to do the recap when you take a 34-Hour Reset.  The Regulations do not require the driver to complete a recap.  There are only 11 items that are required to be on a daily log sheet.  See Part 395.8 for those 11 items.

60-HOURS/7-DAYS VERSUS 70-HOURS/8-DAYS
Q: Can a company split the amount of drivers that run a 60-hour week and make others run a 70-hour week?  Where I work out west and in the south, we run 70 hours in 8 days.  With the restart, it is actually 70 hours in 5 days.  In the area east of the Mississippi we run 60 hours in 7 days, which is actually in 5 days.  If you drive for the same company, don’t they have to follow either the 60- or 70-Hour Rule or can they do both?  To me and a lot of our other drivers, 60 hours in 5 days is plenty while 70 hours in 5 days is just too much.  Thank you – Al, Ohio

A: Provided by Jim Brokaw, formerly a Staff Sergeant with Nebraska State Patrol, Carrier Enforcement Div, Lincoln, NB: You’ll find the answer to your question in the following FMCSA guidance, Question #1 for 395.3 “Maximum Driving and On-duty Time.”  Question 1: May a motor carrier switch from a 60-hour/7-day limit to a 70-hour/8-day limit or vice versa?  Guidance: Yes.  The only restriction regarding the use of this rule is that the motor carrier must have CMVs operating every day of the week.  The 70-hour/8-day rule is a permissive provision in that a motor carrier with vehicles operating every day of the week is not required to use the 70-hour/8-day rules for calculating its drivers’ hours of service.  The motor carrier may, however, assign some or all of its drivers to operate under the 70-hour/8-day rule.  The assignment of individual drivers to the 60-hour/7-day or the 70-hour/8-day time rule is left to the discretion of the motor carrier.

~ The Ask The Law™ programs are an ongoing educational effort between Ol’ Blue, USA™ and commercial law enforcement agencies.  Founded in 1986, Ol’ Blue, USA is a non-profit organization dedicated to highway safety education and to improving relations between the motoring public, law enforcement and commercial drivers.  “Ask The Law” is a registered trademark of Ol’ Blue, USA.  This column is copyrighted by Ol’ Blue, USA.  Warning: Laws are subject to change without notice.  These interpretations were made on 7/09/08 .