8 Hour Split Rule

I have 11:36 left for the week I gain 4:53 after my 8 hour break does that mean I could drive those 4 hours take a break for 2 and gain the rest of my drive hours and one more thing I'm running off recap I gain 7 hours back at midnight and I'm a solo driver

11:30 - 70 hour clock

5:00 after 8 hour split

Recap: 7 hours

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If you drive 4.5 hours and work a total of 5 hours after 8 hour part of split sleeper you will get back

4.5 - 11 = 6.5 hours

5 - 14 = 9 hours

After 2 hour break. You can drive those hours out then take a 10 and you'll have roughly a full day of work depending on what time all of this will be done.

Truthfully, unless you are on a time crunch, I would just wait the extra 2 hours and get a 10 hour break in. Sometimes that is better than to get caught up in the 8/2 split confusion.

Just my .02 cents worth of advise.

Ernie

I have 11:36 left for the week I gain 4:53 after my 8 hour break does that mean I could drive those 4 hours take a break for 2 and gain the rest of my drive hours and one more thing I'm running off recap I gain 7 hours back at midnight and I'm a solo driver

You would gain back the hours used PRIOR TO the 8 hour split, after the second (2 hour) break. Inotherwords - your 11/14 would reset to the END of the first break.

What you have left for the week (recaps) and what you GAIN BACK after the 8 split, are two different things. All the first 8 split essentially does - is FREEZE your 14 hour clock, until you take the second 2 hour break - which resets the clocks to the end of the 8. ALL THE TIME YOU DROVE BETWEEN the first break and second - still counts on your 11/14.

Example: You drive 3 hours, take 8 hours in the sleeper. You will have 8 hours left on your 11 clock, and 11 hours on your 14 (because your 14 clock "freezes" for those 8 hours). You drive for another 8 hours, then take a 2 hour break (to complete the split). You GET BACK the 3 hours you used BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK. So now, you would have 3 hours on your 11 hour clock, and 6 hours on your 14 clock.

Example: You drive 8 hours, then take 8 hours in the sleeper. After the first break - you will have 3 hours left on your 11 clock, and 6 hours left on your 14. You drive those 3 hours, and take the second 2 hour break. You GET BACK the 8 hours you drove before the first break. So now you have 8 hours on your 11 clock, and 11 hours on your 14.

How much real "usable time" you get after completing BOTH BREAKS, depends on how long you drove BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK.

How this plays out efficiently, depends on how far you need to go, and when you need to get there.

The split sleeper rule has ZERO TO DO with the 70 hour clock and recaps. On duty time - is on duty time, regardless if you split or take a full 10 hours.

Rick

Art, you do not get back your full clocks after an 8/2 split. You get back the clocks MINUS what you used on the first part of the split.

Also, with you on recaps you really have to watch out how much time you have left to drive because you could have to sit and wait until midnight if you're low on time. Say you have 7 hours to get where you're going and you have 6 hours after the split at 3pm. So now you're going to have to sit and wait until midnight to get that 1 hour you need to complete the trip.

I have 11:36 left for the week I gain 4:53 after my 8 hour break does that mean I could drive those 4 hours take a break for 2 and gain the rest of my drive hours and one more thing I'm running off recap I gain 7 hours back at midnight and I'm a solo driver

You would gain back the hours used PRIOR TO the 8 hour split, after the second (2 hour) break. Inotherwords - your 11/14 would reset to the END of the first break.

What you have left for the week (recaps) and what you GAIN BACK after the 8 split, are two different things. All the first 8 split essentially does - is FREEZE your 14 hour clock, until you take the second 2 hour break - which resets the clocks to the end of the 8. ALL THE TIME YOU DROVE BETWEEN the first break and second - still counts on your 11/14.

Example: You drive 3 hours, take 8 hours in the sleeper. You will have 8 hours left on your 11 clock, and 11 hours on your 14 (because your 14 clock "freezes" for those 8 hours). You drive for another 8 hours, then take a 2 hour break (to complete the split). You GET BACK the 3 hours you used BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK. So now, you would have 3 hours on your 11 hour clock, and 6 hours on your 14 clock.

Example: You drive 8 hours, then take 8 hours in the sleeper. After the first break - you will have 3 hours left on your 11 clock, and 6 hours left on your 14. You drive those 3 hours, and take the second 2 hour break. You GET BACK the 8 hours you drove before the first break. So now you have 8 hours on your 11 clock, and 11 hours on your 14.

How much real "usable time" you get after completing BOTH BREAKS, depends on how long you drove BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK.

How this plays out efficiently, depends on how far you need to go, and when you need to get there.

The split sleeper rule has ZERO TO DO with the 70 hour clock and recaps. On duty time - is on duty time, regardless if you split or take a full 10 hours.

Rick

Rick that just totally confused me. What you drove BEFORE the FIRST break is completely irrelevant. The important part is what you drove between the breaks.

Say I drive 4 hours then take 8 sleeper (leaving 7 on drive clock). I then drive 5 hours and take the 2 hour break. What do I have? The 4 from before the break? No. I have 11- the 5 I drove BETWEEN the two breaks which gives me 6 hours of drive time. The 14 started at the end of my 8 hour sleeper so my 14 clock is 14- 5 (driven hours between breaks) -2 (off duty) = 7 on the 14.

Now to reverse it....

You drive 4 hours and take 2 off duty. You then drive 5 hours before your 8 sleeper. After the 8 sleeper you then have 11-5= 6 hours of drive time. But the 14 was paused as you said. So its 14- the 5 hours drive time between breaks - any on duty time used.

I can drive 2 hours then 8 sleeper and get back 9 drive time. But if I only drive six hours, what do I get back after the two hour break? Not the 2 hours from before the first break. I get 11- the 5 hours I drove between the two breaks = 6 hours of drive time. My 14 is now 14- 5 (hours i drove between the breaks) - any on duty time.

The easiest way to look at this is that you start your new clocks at the end of the first break...regardless of which break you take first. If you take the 8 sleeper first then you start your 14 at the end of that and deduct any on duty and drive time to get the 14 clock total. You subtract what you drove between the breaks to determine your drive clock.

For the 2 hour to come first it is the exact same. After the 8 sleeper you have 11 minus hours driven between breaks. 14 minus hours driven and on duty time.

What you drove before the first break is completely irrelevant.

Rick that just totally confused me. What you drove BEFORE the FIRST break is completely irrelevant. The important part is what you drove between the breaks.

heh heh heh...

What you drove before the first break - is entirely relevant - UNTIL YOU COMPLETE YOUR SECOND ONE.

Completing the 2nd break resets your clocks to the end of the first one.

I gave two examples - to illustrate that if you only drove a few hours BEFORE the first break, then ran what was left of your 11 hour clock out BEFORE you took the second one, you only get a few hours back (you get back the time you used before the first break). If you drive A LOT of hours before the first break, then run the rest of your 11 down after the first break - you get ALOT of hours back.

Either way - most folks that do the 2 hour break of the split FIRST, usually just take the extra 2 hours on the second (8 hour break) to make it a 10 hour break and reset BOTH CLOCKS.

The main advantage of doing the 8/2 - is that you save that 8 hours on your 14 hour clock - which keeps rolling from the moment you log "On Duty" (whether driving or not) - so you can use your remaining drive hours.

Most (if not all) QC's calculate the breaks automatically anyways. Except it won't calculate the 2/8 split - until you finish the second break. But if you're trying to figure out ahead of time, where you want to end up when you're close to having to shut down - it's nice to be able to figure it out before you start rolling again.

Sorry to confuse you. I swear I didn't mean to. Please - NOT THE DUNGEON!

JJ Keller puts it like this:

The driver will NOT have a full allowance of driving and on-duty time (11 and 14 hours, respectively) available after taking the two breaks. Rather, the driver must subtract the time spent since the first of the two breaks (and must also subtract the second break itself if it’s a sleeper-berth period of less than 8 hours).

The two rest breaks can be taken in any order.

Any 8-hour sleeper-berth period can be excluded from the 14-hour calculation, even if the driver does not obtain another 2-hour break. In other words, any 8-hour sleeper-berth period can be used to “extend” the driver’s 14-hour day.

The driving time before and after each qualifying break, when added together, can never exceed 11 hours.

The driver is not limited to using the option just once. He/she can continue “splitting” the 10-hour break as long as needed (or until hitting the 60- or 70-hour on-duty limit).

To have available a full 11 hours of driving time and 14 hours of on-duty time, the driver must obtain 10 consecutive hours of rest.

Rick

Example: You drive 3 hours, take 8 hours in the sleeper. You will have 8 hours left on your 11 clock, and 11 hours on your 14 (because your 14 clock "freezes" for those 8 hours). You drive for another 8 hours, then take a 2 hour break (to complete the split). You GET BACK the 3 hours you used BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK. So now, you would have 3 hours on your 11 hour clock, and 6 hours on your 14 clock

This is true only if you use hours that add up to 11. But if you drive for 4 hours, break, then drive 3 hours, you don't get 4 as you suggest. You get 8 hours after the second break. The 4 hours has absolutely nothing to do with this equation.

How much real "usable time" you get after completing BOTH BREAKS, depends on how long you drove BEFORE THE FIRST BREAK.

Again, not true. As proven by my example. Driving before the first break does not determine driving after the second break. Only the drive time between the two breaks determines post break drive time.

I was trying to nicely state that your word choice is inaccurate. I'm going to have to take pictures of my graph and QC next time I do them so it is easier for someone to see.

This thread gives me a headache and makes me wonder how many of the people on this site who are giving advice are actually drivers who have recent, legitimate experience and have frequently used this rule. Its not rocket science people haha

I just wing it and let the QualComm do the math, lol.