I know many of you have heard alot of "stories" from other drivers and some have even been re-told so often that they begin to almost have a life of their own and have become "myths."

I would like this thread to be out the "myth" or story that you may have heard and the actual truth behind the story. Some contributions will have been addressed in other threads while others may not have been. If some information is repeated that is ok as it will serve as another source for drivers to view for answers.

The first "myth" I would like to address is the following; "A driver can only drive 11 hours in a 24 hour period."

This is incorrect. There is a limit of 11 hours of driving time within a 14 hour time frame or work window. Through understanding the actual verbage of the regulations you will see that after you have had a mandatory 10 hour break you can then continue driving.

Here is an example to illustrate this concept. Joe is a line haul driver and starts his shift a 1200 midnight. His truck and trailer is already hooked up and after he does a walk around inspection he heads down the road. Joe drives his 11 hours straight only stopping for a couple of minutes for quick bathroom breaks which are less than 15 minutes so he does not need to change his duty status on his log book.

When Joe arrives at his 11th hour of driving he stops at a truck stop, does a post trip inspection for 15 minutes, and takes his mandatory 10 hour break. He eats a nice dinner, has a shower, and then goes to bed for the remainder of his 10 hours.

Based on the clock it is now 2115 (or 9:15 pm). Joe gets in the drivers seat, updates his logbook, and continues on down the highway on his next 11 hour driving period.

Now as you should have seen Joe has actually been "driving" for more than 11 hours in a 24 hour period. In fact he will have driven 13.75 hours LEGALLY. This strategy can get you across the country as a solo fairly quickly but you do have to keep track of your 70 hour 8 day rule.


This takes me to the next "myth." Truck drivers state I cannot "work" any more because I am out of hours. This is a fallacy. The dot regulations restrict "DRIVING" not working. In essence you can "work" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you so choose (and could stay awake) provided you do not DRIVE before you have had a mandatory 10 hour break AND have dropped your work hours under the 70/8 day rule OR had a 34 hour re-set. Work could include working on a dock, unloading trailers, fueling trucks, etc. This is actually a very good way of making extra money when you cannot drive.

Feel free to add more as you think of them.