Hours of Service Regulations: The FMCSA Rules and What They Mean for Driver Hiring By Ana Fernandez
8 min
Hours of service regulations are the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules in 49 CFR Part 395 that cap how long a commercial driver can drive and stay on duty, and how long they must rest before driving again.
FMCSA sets them to keep fatigued truck drivers off the road. For a fleet, the same rules also set what a recruiter can honestly promise a candidate in miles and home time, and part of a candidate's hours of service history is visible before you hire.
Hours of service regulations at a glance
The core hours of service limits differ for drivers who haul freight and drivers who carry passengers. Every figure below comes from the FMCSA summary of the HOS rules.
Rule | Property-carrying drivers | Passenger-carrying drivers |
|---|---|---|
Daily driving | 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off | 10 hours after 8 consecutive hours off |
Daily window | Ends at the 14th hour after starting work | Ends after 15 hours on duty |
Rest break | 30 minutes after 8 cumulative hours of driving | Not required |
Weekly limit | 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days | Same 60/70 limit |
Weekly reset | 34-hour restart | No restart provision |
Sleeper berth split | 7+ hours in the berth plus 2+ more, 10 or more in total | 8+ hours in the berth, splittable into two periods of 2+ hours |
Adverse conditions | Up to 2 extra hours | Up to 2 extra hours |
What HOS regulations are and who they apply to
HOS regulations apply to drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce, and FMCSA enforces them through roadside inspections and audits. A vehicle falls under these rules when it is used for business and meets any of these conditions:
It weighs 10,001 pounds or more (GVWR or GCWR).
It is designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver, without compensation.
It is designed to carry 9 or more passengers, including the driver, for compensation.
It carries hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placards.
Most states apply compatible rules to intrastate carriers, with some state variations (Texas and California are the ones fleets ask about most). Check your state's rules for drivers who never cross a state line.
The hours of service rules count on-duty time, which covers far more than driving. Pre-trip inspections, loading and unloading, waiting to be dispatched, fueling, paperwork and drug or alcohol testing all count as time on duty. Time in the sleeper berth and off-duty breaks do not.
The HOS rules for property-carrying drivers
Five limits govern a property-carrying driver's day and week, and the driver must stop as soon as any one of them is reached.
11-hour driving limit
A property-carrying driver may drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. Once that driving time is used up, the next stretch behind the wheel requires another 10 consecutive hours of rest.
14-hour window
A driver may not drive past the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and off-duty time does not extend that window. A driver who starts a pre-trip at 6 a.m. must finish driving by 8 p.m., even with driving hours left. Detention at a shipper burns this 14-hour clock, so three hours at a dock can cost three hours of paid miles that day.
30-minute break
A driver must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving without a 30-minute interruption. Any 30 consecutive minutes of non-driving time counts: off duty, in the berth or on duty not driving.
A 20-minute stop does not reset the count, so a driver who drives 4 hours, stops for 20 minutes and drives 4 more still owes the full half hour before getting back on the road.
60/70-hour limit and the 34-hour restart
A driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days, or after 70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days. The carrier picks the cycle: 60/7 for a carrier that does not operate every day of the week, 70/8 for one that does. The limit counts all on-duty time, so loading and paperwork use it up as well.
The 34-hour restart resets the weekly clock. A driver who takes 34 or more consecutive hours off duty starts a new 7- or 8-day period. The 2020 rule changes removed the old requirement that the restart include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods.
Sleeper berth split
Drivers with a sleeper berth can split the required 10 hours off duty into two periods. One period must be at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, the other at least 2 consecutive hours off duty or in the berth, and together they must total at least 10 hours.
A 7/3 or 8/2 split both qualify. When the two periods are paired, neither counts against the 14-hour window.
HOS rules for passenger-carrying drivers
Passenger-carrying drivers get one less hour of driving and one more hour of on-duty time. They may drive up to 10 hours after 8 consecutive hours off duty and may not drive after 15 hours on duty.
The 60/70-hour limit applies to them as well, but the weekly restart and the 30-minute break rule do not.
Their sleeper berth rule requires at least 8 hours, which may be split into two periods of at least 2 hours each.
Exceptions to the HOS limits
Three exceptions change the daily limits for specific operations, and each comes with conditions: one trip outside them voids the exception for that day. The text below follows 49 CFR 395.1.
Short-haul exception
A driver who stays within a 150 air-mile radius (172.6 statute miles) of the normal work reporting location, returns there and is released within 14 consecutive hours qualifies for the short-haul exception.
The exception removes the need for records of duty status and an ELD, along with the 30-minute break. The carrier must keep time records showing when each driver reported, the hours on duty and the release time, and retain them for 6 months.
16-hour exception
A property-carrying driver can extend the 14-hour window to 16 hours once in any 7 consecutive days. The driver must have been released at the normal work reporting location for the previous five duty tours and must be released there again within 16 hours.
The 11-hour driving limit still applies. It can be used again sooner only after starting a new 7- or 8-day period with a 34-hour restart.
Adverse driving conditions
Under the adverse driving conditions exception, a driver who meets weather, road or traffic conditions that were unknown at dispatch may drive up to 2 additional hours beyond the driving limit and the window to finish the run or reach a safe place.
Seasonal agricultural operations within 150 air-miles of the source have a separate exemption.
ELDs and records of duty status
Most drivers covered by hours of service limits must record their duty status on an electronic logging device (ELD) that appears on FMCSA's list of registered devices.
Exemptions from the ELD requirement cover paper logs kept 8 days or fewer in any 30-day period, vehicles with engines older than model year 2000, driveaway-towaway operations and short-haul operations.
Record retention runs on two clocks under 49 CFR 395.8. The driver must be able to show the current day and the previous 7 days at a roadside inspection. The motor carrier must keep records of duty status and supporting documents for at least 6 months.
HOS violations and penalties
HOS violations carry consequences for the driver at the roadside and for the carrier's safety record. A driver found over the limit is placed out of service until enough off-duty time restores compliance. The violation feeds the carrier's CSA score, which shapes inspection selection and insurance conversations. False log entries and tampering with an ELD are separate offenses under 49 CFR 395.8(e).
Civil penalties are set in Appendix B to 49 CFR Part 386 and adjusted for inflation each year. The current schedule lists up to $1,584 per day for recordkeeping breaches, capped at $15,846, and up to $19,246 per violation for other violations by a company, with up to $4,812 for a driver.
Carriers also answer for how they dispatch. Under 49 CFR 390.6, a carrier, shipper or receiver may not coerce a driver into breaking HOS rules, including by threatening loss of work for refusing a load that cannot be run legally.
What is changing: the FMCSA pilot programs
The HOS rules in force have not changed, and two federal pilot programs are testing more flexibility for the 14-hour window and the sleeper berth. FMCSA reported on August 27, 2026 that both pre-tests are complete:
Split Duty Period pilot: tests whether drivers can safely pause the 14-hour window for up to 3 hours a day with qualifying rest, berth time or time spent at a pickup or delivery location.
Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot: tests splits in any combination totaling at least 10 hours, as long as one period includes at least 5 consecutive hours in the berth.
Each pre-test ran with nine drivers from three carriers in 2026. The agency plans to launch the full pilots in 2027, with 256 participants in each. Until a final rule takes effect, everyone outside the study runs under the current regulations.
How HOS shows up in driver hiring
HOS rules shape two parts of hiring: what you can see about a candidate's compliance history and what your recruiters can promise.
A candidate's HOS record reaches you through FMCSA's Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP). A PSP report shows 5 years of crash data and 3 years of roadside inspection data with the violations cited, including HOS violations, and it requires the driver's written consent.
The previous employer investigation under 49 CFR 391.23 covers accidents and drug and alcohol history, and a prior carrier only has to keep a driver's logs for 6 months. Hours of service history falls outside that investigation, which makes the PSP the practical source for it.
Store it with the MVR and the employment verification results so the record is complete when a safety auditor asks, as covered in our DQ file checklist.
The rules also put a ceiling on the job a recruiter describes. At 11 hours of driving a day and 70 hours of on-duty time in 8 days, with loading, inspections and detention counted against the same clock, weekly miles have a hard limit, and the pay and home time in a job post have to fit inside it.
Drivers compare the job post with their first weeks on the road, and a "home every weekend" that turns out to be a 34-hour restart in a truck stop is a gap they notice.
Recruiters who can walk a candidate through a realistic week of driving under HOS keep more of the truck drivers they hire.
How Double Nickel helps
Double Nickel keeps the hiring side of HOS compliance in one place for recruiting and safety teams. Recruiters order MVR, PSP and criminal checks from vetted providers in one click, or set them to order automatically at a hiring stage, with timestamps and an audit trail for DOT and FCRA.
Employment verification requests go out to past employers with FMCSA autofill and status tracking, and the results land in the driver's DQ file. The Expirations dashboard tracks licenses and medical examiner's certificates and reminds drivers before they lapse.
If your team wants every PSP, MVR and verification in one record before a driver's first dispatch, book a call with Double Nickel.
FAQ
How many hours can a truck driver drive in a day?
A property-carrying driver can drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and all of it must happen within 14 hours of coming on duty. A passenger-carrying driver can drive up to 10 hours within a 15-hour on-duty limit.
Does the 30-minute break pause the 14-hour window?
No. The 30-minute break counts as time inside the 14-hour window. Only a qualifying sleeper berth split keeps its periods out of that clock.
Do HOS rules apply to intrastate drivers?
Federal HOS rules apply to interstate commerce. Most states adopt compatible rules for intrastate drivers, with some differences, so fleets that run only inside one state should check that state's version.
Can a carrier see a candidate's HOS violations before hiring?
Yes, through a PSP report, which lists 3 years of roadside inspections and the violations cited, with the driver's written consent. The previous employer verification required by 49 CFR 391.23 does not include hours of service history.
