Sounds like you understand the rules just fine.
You can drive a maximum of 11 hrs (provided you have had at least 10 hrs off prior to the start of your driving shift).
You have a 14 hour window of time in which you may drive. You may "work" 24 hrs a day 7 days a week but cannot "drive" until you have a 10 hour break (provided you have not exceeded 60 hrs in 7 days or 70 hrs in 8 days).
All time spent on line 4 (on duty not driving) must be added to line 3 (the drive line) for your recap. These 2 figures will be deducted from your 70/8 days or 60/7 days rule.
There are 2 rules regarding maximum hours a driver can drive in a week depending upon how many days your employer operates. If your company operates 7 days a week then you will use the 70 hrs in 8 day rule. If your company closes down for 1 or 2 days per week you will use the 60 hrs in 7 day rule.
These rules limit your driving once you reach 60/7 days or 70/8 days. Meaning you may no longer drive until you have either had a 34 hour reset or the 8th day on your log showing hours becomes the 9th day and "falls off" giving you back those hours (or in the case of 60/7 days the 7th day becomes the 8th day).
So in a real world trip you would begin your day (for examples sake we will use 0800 as a start time so you must get all your driving in before 2200) at 0800. You will show a pretrip inspection on your vehicle by going to line 4 (most drivers will use 15 minutes for this) and documenting the city and state on the top of the line and the on duty function performed on the bottom side of that line. At 0815 you will start your driving day. 3.75 hrs later you decide to stop for lunch (drivers discretion when he chooses to stop. This is not mandatory though). You will go "off duty at 1200 to show your lunch break showing the city and state (you do not have to specify what the break was for, only on-duty not driving functions must you show the "work performed"). After taking 1 hour for your lunch break you go back to the drive line in your logbook and continue driving at 1300. 4.00 hrs later you decide to stop for fuel at your companies authorized fuel stop. You will go to on-duty not driving at 1700 and flag the location on the top of the line and write "fuel truck" under it. This will take 30 minutes to fuel your truck, check the oil, check the coolant, top off the washer fluid, and wash the glass (windshield, mirrors, and side windows). At 1730 you will go "off duty" (remember the less time shown on line 4 will leave you more time you can show on line 3 by the end of the week and line 3 is where you will make your money). After taking 1.25 hrs for dinner it is now 1845. Draw a line back to the drive line and continue driving for another 3.25 hrs where you again stop. It is now 2200. You will flag your location show the city and state and then write "post trip inspection 2 minutes (if you use less than 15 minutes for an "on duty" function you do not need to change your duty status to line 4 you may go directly off duty but you must show the time in minutes it took to perform that duty {this time will be factored out of your drive time thus increasing your average speed for that last hour}. You will have used up your 11 hours of drive time within your 14 hour window.
Some will elect to show a more thorough post trip at the end of the day and if that is the case you should go to line 4 and show 15 to 30 minutes there. Be aware though if you do this you will be taking away valuable time you could use for driving later in the week. You will not be in violation of the 14 hour rule as long as you do not continue "driving" past 2200. You will need to shut down for 10 hours before you will have a fresh 11 hour drive period and a fresh 14 hour work period.
Last edited by JLKKLJ777; 10-17-2007 at 02:33 AM.
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