Hours of Service and ELDs
Apply the federal driving, duty and rest limits for property carriers, and keep an accurate record of your duty status on an electronic logging device.
Table of contents
Hours of service (HOS) rules set how long a commercial driver may work and drive before resting. They exist because tired drivers crash. An electronic logging device (ELD) connects to the engine and records your driving time, so the rules are now checked by data and not just by paper.
These rules come from 49 CFR Part 395. The limits below are for drivers of property-carrying vehicles in interstate commerce. Passenger drivers have different limits (10 hours of driving after 8 hours off, and no driving after 15 hours on duty). Many states adopt the federal rules for drivers who stay in one state, but some change them, so check your state and your carrier.
What You Will Be Able to Do
- State the four main limits and when each one applies.
- Work out how many hours you have left in a day and in a week.
- Use the sleeper berth split correctly.
- Know when the exceptions apply and when they do not.
- Use the four duty statuses correctly on an ELD and handle a malfunction.
The Main Limits
| Rule | The limit |
|---|---|
| 10 hours off | You need 10 consecutive hours off duty before you can start a new driving period |
| 11-hour driving limit | You may drive up to 11 hours in that period |
| 14-hour window | You may not drive after the 14th consecutive hour since coming on duty |
| 30-minute break | You may not drive if 8 hours of driving have passed without a 30-minute interruption |
| 60/70-hour limit | You may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days |
| 34-hour restart | 34 or more consecutive hours off starts a new 7 or 8 day period |
The 14-Hour Window
The 14-hour clock is the one that surprises new drivers. It starts when you begin any work, and it keeps running. Lunch does not stop it. A nap in the cab does not stop it unless it is part of a qualifying sleeper split. After the 14th hour you may not drive, but you may do other work, such as paperwork, if your 60/70-hour limit allows it.
The 30-Minute Break
You need a break of at least 30 consecutive minutes before you can drive once you have 8 hours of driving since your last 30-minute interruption. The count is hours of driving, not hours since you started. Any 30 minutes that is not driving counts: off duty, sleeper berth, on duty not driving, or a mix. Waiting at a dock for 30 minutes satisfies the rule.
The 60/70-Hour Limit
If your carrier does not run every day of the week, you are on the 60-hour, 7-day limit. If it runs every day, you are on the 70-hour, 8-day limit. All on-duty time counts, not only driving. Each day the oldest day drops off, and you gain back those hours. A restart of at least 34 consecutive hours off resets the count to zero.
Worked Example: One Day
You come on duty at 6:00 a.m. after 10 hours off.
| Time | Activity | Driving so far |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 to 6:30 | Pre-trip inspection, on duty | 0 hours |
| 6:30 to 1:30 | Drive 7 hours | 7 hours |
| 1:30 to 2:30 | Unload at a dock, on duty not driving | 7 hours |
| 2:30 to 6:30 | Drive 4 hours | 11 hours |
| 6:30 | Stop | Limit reached |
Your 14-hour window would close at 8:00 p.m., but you reached 11 hours of driving at 6:30 p.m., so you must stop driving. The hour at the dock gave you more than the 30-minute break you needed.
Now change one thing. Suppose the dock kept you until 5:30 p.m. You have driven only 7 hours, but your window closes at 8:00 p.m. You have 2.5 hours of driving left, not 4. This is how a slow dock costs you driving time.
Sleeper Berth Split
If your truck has a sleeper berth, you can split your 10 hours off into two periods, as long as:
- One period is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth.
- The other period is at least 2 consecutive hours, in the sleeper or off duty.
- The two together add up to at least 10 hours.
Common splits are 7 and 3 or 8 and 2. Neither qualifying period counts against your 14-hour window, once you have paired them. Your driving before and after each period, added together, may not break the 11-hour or 14-hour limit. The limits are then worked out again from the end of the first of the two periods.
This takes practice to calculate. Your ELD helps, but you are still responsible for getting it right. Ask a trainer to walk you through it before you rely on it.
FMCSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has been preparing pilot programs that would test other splits and a pause of the 14-hour clock. As of late 2026 they are planned for a 2027 launch with a limited group of drivers. Unless you are formally enrolled in a pilot, the rules above apply to you.
Exceptions
| Exception | What it allows | What it does not allow |
|---|---|---|
| Adverse driving conditions | Up to 2 more hours of driving and on the 14-hour window, when unexpected weather or road conditions make it unsafe to reach your stop on time | Using it for conditions you could have known about before you left, such as a forecast storm, or for rush-hour traffic |
| Short-haul | No record of duty status or 30-minute break if you stay within 150 air miles of your work location, return within 14 hours, and get 10 hours off between shifts | Going past 150 air miles or 14 hours. On those days you need a log |
| Personal conveyance | Off-duty use of the vehicle for your own reasons, such as driving to a meal or to a nearby safe place to rest | Moving a load forward or going anywhere to benefit the carrier |
| Yard move | Moving within a yard closed to the public, recorded as on duty not driving | Driving on a public road |
An exception is not a way out of a bad plan. If you run out of hours with no parking, the adverse conditions rule does not apply just because the lot was full. FMCSA guidance does allow personal conveyance to reach the nearest safe place to rest when a shipper or receiver makes you leave after your hours are gone. Check your carrier's policy on when you may use it. If you do, annotate the reason in your ELD.
Recording Your Time
Most interstate drivers must use an ELD, a device registered with FMCSA that connects to the engine. It records driving automatically when the vehicle moves.
You may keep a paper log instead only if one of these applies:
- You need a record of duty status on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period.
- You are in a driveaway-towaway operation and the vehicle you are driving is the shipment, or the shipment is a motor home or recreational vehicle trailer.
- The vehicle is older than model year 2000, based on the VIN.
The Four Duty Statuses
| Status | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Off duty | Time free of all work and responsibility for the vehicle |
| Sleeper berth | Rest in a sleeper berth that meets the rules |
| Driving | Time at the controls of a moving vehicle. The ELD sets this automatically |
| On duty, not driving | All other work: inspections, fueling, loading, unloading, paperwork, waiting at a dock if you are not relieved of duty |
Being honest here protects you. A pre-trip inspection logged as off duty is a false log. So is any other work hidden in off-duty time. A false log can bring a violation against you and your carrier, and falsifying records can put you out of service.
Using Your ELD
- Log in at the start of your day, before the vehicle moves.
- Change status as your work changes.
- Add notes where needed, such as the reason for a personal conveyance move.
- Review your record and certify it at the end of each day.
- Fix errors through the edit function. Drive time recorded by the device cannot be changed.
- Know how to show your records to an officer and send them electronically.
You must be able to show the current day and the previous 7 days. Your carrier keeps your records for at least 6 months.
If the ELD Fails
- Note the malfunction and tell your carrier in writing within 24 hours.
- Rebuild your record for the current day and the previous 7 days on paper logs, unless you have them or can get them from the ELD.
- Keep logging on paper until the device is fixed.
Your carrier must fix or replace the ELD within 8 days, unless FMCSA gives more time.
Keep these in the truck at all times: instructions for sending your records to an inspector, instructions for reporting a malfunction, and blank paper logs for at least 8 days. Since July 22, 2026, the ELD operator's manual no longer has to be in the cab, but you still have to know how to use the device.
FMCSA also removes devices from its registered list when they do not meet the rules, and it has removed many since 2025. A carrier has a set time, usually about 60 days, to replace a revoked device. After that, a driver can be treated as having no record of duty status.
What Happens If You Break the Rules
An officer who finds you over your hours can put you out of service until you have enough time off. Violations go on your and your carrier's safety records. A carrier, shipper or receiver may not pressure you to break the rules, and federal law protects you if you refuse to drive when doing so would violate them. If you are too tired to drive safely, 49 CFR 392.3 says you must not drive, whatever your clock says.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Forgetting that the 14-hour clock keeps running | Stuck with driving hours you cannot use |
| Logging work as off duty | False log, and a violation |
| Leaving the 30-minute break until the last moment | No parking at the 8-hour mark |
| Claiming adverse conditions for a storm in the forecast | Hours violation |
| Not logging out or changing status | Hours lost or wrong records |
| Having no paper logs on board | Violation if the ELD fails |
Check Your Understanding
You started at 7:00 a.m. and took a one-hour lunch at noon. At 8:30 p.m. you have only driven 9 hours. Can you drive one more hour?
No. Your 14-hour window closed at 9:00 p.m., so you have 30 minutes of legal driving left. Lunch did not stop the clock.
You have driven 7 hours and 45 minutes. You stop to fuel for 35 minutes, logged as on duty. Do you need another break before you drive?
No. Any 30 consecutive minutes away from driving counts. The fueling stop satisfies the break, and your 8-hour count starts over.
A surprise ice storm closes in 30 minutes from your stop, and you are close to your 11-hour limit. What can you do?
If the weather was unexpected and you cannot safely reach your stop in time, the adverse driving rule allows up to 2 more hours. Use it to reach a safe place, and annotate your log.
Your ELD screen goes blank in the morning. What do you do?
Tell your carrier in writing within 24 hours, keep your record on paper logs, and rebuild the last 7 days if you cannot get them from the device.
Key Takeaways
- The core limits: 11 hours of driving, a 14-hour window, 10 hours off, a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and 60 or 70 hours in 7 or 8 days.
- The 14-hour window does not stop for lunch or waiting.
- A 34-hour restart resets the weekly limit.
- Exceptions are narrow, and unplanned bad weather is the classic case.
- Log everything accurately. All work is on duty, and that includes inspections and dock time.
- If the ELD fails, tell your carrier within 24 hours and go to paper logs.