Ok, well the runs we do take up most of a 14 hour day including PTI, loading, fueling and unloading. So we always burn up 70 hours in 5 to 6 days. That is why we need to take a 34 hour. It is that or wait till Day 9 so we can get some time back.

I quess even when I was running my own rig I worked 12 to 14 hour days all the time.

I have never had the option of only working less then 9 hours a day.

You can only drive 11 hours a day so you're running illegal every day at that rate. If you do 70 hours in 5 days that means your driving 14 hours a day.

I think only Rev knows the rules without thinking. I just keep driving until I get caught then I do the reset at the scales. Much easier that way. I don't have to think.

According to Texas DPS Trooper Monte Dial who speaks on the Sirius Radio show Loading Dock quite often and several other DOT officers who I have heard on the radio what was said is true, you can roll over your hours IF you have not gone over or hit the 70 hour point however if you hit 70 you must refresh it with a 34 hour break regardless of how many days. This is one of the problems with our Hours of Service regulations, there are too many ways to interpret them and no one source you can contact for clarification!

An example is the personal conveyance exemption allowance for using your commercial vehicle to go get food, lodging, etc. Some officers say you must be bobtail with no trailer but the regs do not say that. Some claim you must be an owner operator but the regs don't say that.

We definitely need FMCSA to clarify a lot of our regs but if they do, we probably won't like what the way they do it!!

No, 70 hours of total unduty time. We have to long 30 min for pretrip and postrip inspections as per company rules. Then you have loading times of an hour or so and unloading times of an hour or so. So that is about 3 hours of on duty time that must be logged as per comampany rules.

We get a ticket at the loading docks that is stamped with arrival time and leaving time.

You could theoretically use up 70 hours in less than 3 days, assuming you never went off duty. Using up 70 hours in 5 days isn't impossible, or even hard. In that situation, a 34 hour reset makes more sense, but again, is not a requirement.


Well, yeah. If you've gone over your 70 hours, there's nothing left to roll over, now is there? :lol:

You are misinterpreting what they said. Many times, a 34 hour reset will occur while you are waiting for hours to come back. Let's say, like the example given by rat, that you used up all your hours in 5 days. If you waited for your hours to come back, you would have to wait 3 more days. In that time, you'd end up getting a 34 hour reset anyway.

It is possible to go indefinitely without ever taking a 34 hour reset. As long as you constantly have hours coming back to you every day, you will likely never have to take a reset. The best example, which I gave already, was a driver who worked 8.75 hours per day, every day. That driver would hit 70 hours every night, and gain back 8.75 hours every morning. They could go on forever like that and always be legal.

I don't know If Ol' Blue is wrong or not. I'm inclined to believe he SAID the right thing and you may have misunderstood him. However, IF he said it exactly as you quoted him.... he is WRONG.

The FMCSA interprets their OWN rules fairly well. And they CLEARLY state 1) that if you go over your 70, you are ONLY required to be OOS for the time necessary to bring you back into compliance. This would normally consist of a 10 hour break PLUS waiting for your hours to come back to you from the 8th day back. Now.... IF you burned your 70 in 5 days, having been OFF duty the 3 days prior, you would not HAVE any hours to "get back," for several days, and in THAT case.... you would ONLY be required to take a 34 hour restart to get moving again.

They also CLEARLY state, 2) that the length or combination of vehicles/trailers has NO BEARING on the "status" of a CMV as being "unladen" and therefore available to be used as a personal conveyance.

I don't have time to look up the regs/interpretations/guidance right now. But, I've read through this many times, and will cite them for you if you think "I" didn't understand them properly.

And for NotSteve..... that came right out of my memory. Your "slight" against me, Rawlco, and a FEW others, is duly noted. :wink:

The language:

May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.

A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.

The link:

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...ochure2005.htm

It's not "may or may not" in either case. You reset at 70, no ifs, ands or buts.

The poster who recommended you stop the clock at 69.75 to keep your 70 alive is correct. The only way you can recapture your day 1 hours on day 9 is to have left time (not be at 70) on day 8.

That's unless a friend who just told me it's 69 even is correct. Her theory is anything more than 69 is out of HOURS. I think she's nuts and I side with 69.75, or less.

"May not drive after . . 70 hours on duty in . . 8 consecutive days." Has but one meaning:

At the time you reach 70 within 8, you are done with lines 3 + 4 until you complete 34 consecutive hours on lines 1 and/or 2

"A driver may restart a . . 8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty." has a dual meaning:

1. It is your only remedy for reaching 70 hours in 8 (or fewer) days

2. You can reset at anytime prior to reaching 70 and restart your 8 consecutive days.

Rev, Ironeagle, TK, ct77, golfhobo, NotSteve . . go stand in the corner and face the wall . . the rest of you come join me at the bar.

Case closed.
Jury dismissed.
Next case.

On an unrelated matter; does anyone know the square root of 69?
I'm no mathematician but I think it's around 8 something . .

Nothing says you have to do a restart if you hit 70 hours !!!! You could hit 70 hours on the 7th day at let's say 23:00. Then you would only have to wait 25 hours before you would pick up hours from day 1 and you could drive again. Nothing says that a 34 hour restart is mandatory if you accumulate 70 hours. Stopping at 69.75 doesn't do a damn thing. It' up to you whether you do a restart or wait for hours to come back. You can run it to 70 on the 8th day and the next day you pick up the hours from day 1.