Hours of service rules
The federal driving limits for property-carrying commercial vehicles, taken from the regulation itself rather than summarised from another summary. Every rule below cites the paragraph of 49 CFR 395.3 it comes from, so you can check it.
| Limit | 49 CFR |
|---|---|
| 10 consecutive hours off duty | 395.3(a)(1) |
| 14-hour window | 395.3(a)(2) |
| 11 hours driving | 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| 30-minute interruption after 8 hours | 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| 60 hours / 7 days, or 70 / 8 | 395.3(b) |
| 34-hour restart | 395.3(c) |
10 consecutive hours off duty
49 CFR 395.3(a)(1)
A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. This is the precondition for everything below — the 14-hour window does not start until it has been served.
14-hour window
49 CFR 395.3(a)(2)
A driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty. The window runs on the clock, not on driving time: breaks, loading and waiting all consume it, and it does not pause.
11 hours driving
49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i)
Within that 14-hour window a driver may drive a total of 11 hours. The two limits are separate and both apply — running out of the 14 ends driving even with driving hours left.
30-minute interruption after 8 hours
49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii)
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.
60 hours / 7 days, or 70 / 8
49 CFR 395.3(b)
A driver may not drive after being on duty 60 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not operate every day of the week, or 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days if it does. Which limit applies depends on the carrier's operating schedule, not the driver's.
34-hour restart
49 CFR 395.3(c)
Any period of 7 or 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.
The 30-minute break is widely described wrongly
It is usually written up as a mandatory half-hour off duty. The regulation is broader: a consecutive 30-minute interruption of driving status “may be satisfied either by off-duty, sleeper berth or on-duty not driving time, or by a combination” of them. Time spent on duty but not driving counts. A driver waiting at a dock for thirty-one minutes has already satisfied it.
The clock it runs against is also driving time, not elapsed time — the interruption is required once more than 8 hours of driving have passed without one, which is not the same as eight hours into the shift.
Drivers who qualify for either short-haul exception in 395.1(e)(1) or (e)(2) are excepted from the interruption requirement entirely.
Source: 49 CFR 395.3, retrieved from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov. This page quotes the regulation as a reference; it is not legal advice, and Part 395 has been amended repeatedly, so check the current text before relying on it operationally.
Tezify records duty status and flags a driver approaching any of these limits before dispatch commits them to a load. See how that works, or look up a carrier’s USDOT record.