There is this belief that when you have your CDL you are free of all constraints however this is not true for their is the dreaded Hours Of Service (HOS) regulations that everyone with a CDL must follow at all times. Get pulled into a truck scale and the DOT officer wants to examine your HOS you better hope everything is picture perfect or you will get a violation and possibly be put out of service. In this article we are going to take a look at the Hours Of Service Regulations in both the United States and Canada
Canada Versus The United States HOS Regulations
There is quite a difference between the Hours Of Service Regulations in Canada and the United States with Canada giving the CDL driver more time each day. What should be noted here is if you are traveling in both Countries on a given day your HOS is going to depend on which Country you are presently in.
For example if you started your trip in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and you cross into Port Huron Michigan the second you cross that border you are now regulated by United States HOS regulations with the vice versa being true
As a Canadian driver I knew the second I crossed back into Canada I would gain two hours on my clock so I would trip plan accordingly
Driver Status
When it comes to Hours Of Service regulations it all comes down to driver status which there are four
- Off-duty time, other than time spent in a sleeper berth
- Off-duty time, spent in the sleeper berth
- On-duty time spent driving
- On-duty time spent not driving
The Fourteen Hour Rule
The fourteen hour rule basically says that no driver can work longer than fourteen hours per day except under some special circumstances that do not apply to the average CDL holder.
So if you started your day at 6:00am by 8:00pm (20:00) you must shut down for the day. If that shipper kept you for six hours at the warehouse it has deducted six hours from your fourteen hour clock leaving you with only eight hours of viable driving time
The fourteen hour rule is the same in both Canada and the United States
Allowable Driving Time
In the United States a driver can start his or her day and do her pretrip than proceed to drive for the next eleven hours (minus the half hour break to satisfy the thirty minute driving break rule).
In Canada the same driver would start his or her day and do their pretrip than proceed to drive for the next thirteen hours. There is no thirty minute break rule in Canada.
Needless to say the days that are spend just driving do not happen as often as the CDL driver would like in most cases especially if you do not travel coast to coast
Ten Hour Break
The ten hour break rule is the same in Canada and the United States
Basically after your day ends you must take at least ten hours off before you can start it all over again in order to reclaim your fourteen hour clock.
So if you arrived at the truck stop at 8:00pm (20:00) you can not start driving again til 6:00am
There are special rules about using the sleeper birth provision which is basically if you spend two hours in your sleeper berth mid day then you only need to spend eight hours at the end of the day with the key being it adds up to ten hours of total time off. A lot of companies do not allow their drivers to use the sleeper berth provision as its easy to screw it up
The Seventy Hour Rule
The seventy hour rule basically means a CDL holder is not allowed to drive more than seventy hours in a seven day period. This should be noted that this is not driving time but on duty time. If the majority of your seventy hours were spent waiting and you are paid on a CPM basis your check is going to suck
In Canada the Hours Of Service regulation is that a CDL holder is not allowed to work more than seventy hours in a seven day period
In the United States the HOS regulation is that a CDL Holder may not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days
The 34 Or 36 Hour Reset
So you managed to use all of your hours up in a given week and there are two ways in order to get some or all of them back. The first is a recap which basically means the hours from your first day become available to you again on the eighth day. So if you used nine hours on your first day than you will get nine hours back on your eighth day
Of course the better and more preferred method is the reset. Where you take a specific amount of time off and you get all of your hours back again. In the United States you have to take 34 consecutive hours off and in Canada you have to take 36 consecutive hours off.
Most drivers prefer to take their resets at home or at the very least at a company terminal however there are occasions when you may be stuck taking a reset on the road which is one of the reasons I do not miss driving OTR
Paper Logs And Electronic Logging Devices
Electronic Logging Devices came in when I started driving so back in 2015 and now I believe they are mandatory in both Canada and the United States. Basically what the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) does is keep track of your hours of service for you
Paper Logs were the standard for a very long time and drivers still carry them as the ELD can break down or be knocked out of service. The people in charged of trucker safety said that ELD are safer for the drivers and the community at large which is an argument old school drivers still fight about.
With paper logs it was easier to forge your hours giving you more time to drive which in terms means make more money. The old mob way of keeping two sets of books was done by some drivers by keeping two sets of paper logs
This article has been a basic overview of the Hours of Service regulations and there are some special provisions that will allow you to extend your driving time such as bad weather that can be used in a desperate situation
