02 / HOURS & LOGS
Hours & logs
Compare driving, work, rest, and electronic logs on one timeline. These paths help you research the rules without deciding whether a specific trip is compliant.
Hours-of-service rules govern when a driver may continue driving a commercial motor vehicle. They look at driving time, elapsed time since coming on duty, and on-duty totals across consecutive days. An ELD records those hours; it does not create additional available time.
This is an overview of the general federal property-carrying rules under 49 CFR § 395.3. Passenger operations, short-haul operations, sleeper-berth splits, adverse driving conditions, emergencies, and other § 395.1 exceptions can change the result. Intrastate operations may also follow different rules.
Start with these requirements
Driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty
- What the rule requires
- Under the general rules, at least 10 consecutive hours off duty permit up to 11 hours of driving, also subject to the 14-hour window. Loading, fueling and waiting do not count toward the 11 driving hours, but time still passes in the 14-hour window. The 11-hour limit does not authorize uninterrupted driving.
(a)(1) Start of work shift. A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty;
(a)(3)(i) Driving time. A driver may drive a total of 11 hours during the period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
Paragraph (a)(2) is the 14-hour window shown next.
Consecutive driving window after coming on duty
- What the rule requires
- After coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty, driving generally must be completed within the next 14 consecutive hours. An ordinary meal break, queue, or other off-duty period does not automatically extend the window. A qualifying sleeper-berth split or another exception must be evaluated separately under § 395.1.
(a)(2) 14-hour period. A driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty.
A 30-minute non-driving interruption before more driving
- What the rule requires
- After 8 cumulative driving hours without a consecutive 30-minute interruption in driving, a driver must complete that interruption before driving again. The 30 minutes may be off duty, sleeper berth, on duty but not driving, or a consecutive combination of those non-driving statuses. Drivers who qualify for a short-haul exception may be exempt from this requirement.
(a)(3)(ii) Interruption of driving time. Except for drivers who qualify for either of the short-haul exceptions in § 395.1(e)(1) or (2), driving is not permitted if more than 8 hours of driving time have passed without at least a consecutive 30-minute interruption in driving status.
Cumulative on-duty hours also limit driving
- What the rule requires
- A carrier that does not operate every day generally uses 60 on-duty hours in 7 consecutive days; a carrier that operates every day may use 70 hours in 8 consecutive days. Driving is not allowed after the applicable limit is reached. At least 34 consecutive hours off duty can restart the applicable 7- or 8-day period, subject to the rules that apply to the operation.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Why might 8 hours of driving still be the limit today?
Assume the general property-carrier rules and no applicable exception. After at least 10 consecutive hours off duty, you come on duty at 6 a.m. Part of the day goes to checks, loading and waiting.
At 8 p.m., having driven only 8 hours does not let you keep driving because you have not reached 11. The driving limit and the 14-hour window both apply.
This example only compares the 11-hour limit with the 14-hour window. Break, cumulative-duty and other applicable requirements must also be met.
Common mistakes in day-to-day work
The 14-hour window limits driving, not all work
The end of the driving window does not mean this rule requires every kind of work to stop. Subsequent on-duty, non-driving work still counts toward the 60/70-hour total. Before driving again, the applicable rest and other requirements must be met. Permission to do other work is not permission to keep driving.
The 30-minute rule is based on driving, not time since coming on duty
Track cumulative driving since the last consecutive 30-minute non-driving interruption. Time waiting or loading at a facility can satisfy the 30 minutes when it is accurately recorded as on duty but not driving. The recorded status must match what actually happened. Several separate short stops do not combine into one consecutive 30-minute interruption.
An ELD displays time; it does not decide whether an exception applies
Electronic logs should accurately show driving, on-duty not-driving, sleeper-berth, and off-duty status. Difficulty finding parking, dispatch pressure, or a device alert does not by itself change the legal limits. When considering adverse-driving, sleeper-berth, short-haul, or another provision, compare the actual conditions and duty statuses with the specific requirements in § 395.1.
Full text and sources
REGULATION TEXT · ENGLISH
§ 395.3 Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.
§ 395.3 Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.
- Source edition date
- 2026-10-05
- Captured
Edition noteOfficial-source snapshot; current consolidated law and subsequent amendments have not been verified.
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The text uses the pinned library edition of §395.3; see the full-text reader for its version. Comparison with official eCFR on 2026-10-11 (displayed current through 2026-10-07) found no difference affecting these explanations. Consultation is not a new capture or effective date. Chinese text is a CTAC explanation, not an official translation; application depends on official text and actual circumstances.