HOS And 34 Hour Reset

Keep in mind I don’t even have my CDL; I’m still considering this as a career move so this question is based on comments I’ve heard from seasoned drivers.

I have seen a lot of comments about the HOS and 34 hour reset. I’ve read several hundred comments all over the net about the ‘reset’ rule and from everything I read, it appears the rule exists. There are a few threads on TT including one about lifting the reset rule, but the comments from drivers implied it is a legal requirement. Since some of the comments from seasoned drivers had variations in what the rule was, I decided to go right to the source; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. I’ll cut and paste the info I found pertaining to the rule;

The Hours of Service of Drivers Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2011. The effective date of the Final Rule was February 27, 2012, and the compliance date of remaining provisions was July 1, 2013. NOTICE: The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 was enacted on December 16, 2014, suspending enforcement of requirements for use of the 34-hour restart. Enforcement of these requirements will remain suspended until the Secretary submits the CMV Driver Restart Study final report to Congress.

That comment from the FMCSA indicates the 34 hour reset rule was suspended on December 16, 2014 pending submission of the CMV Restart study to Congress. I followed everything I could find regarding this CMV Study, and it shows that the study was (is) scheduled for submission to Congress this month (December 2015). I am not sure if that has happened but even if it did they would allow a few months before enforcing again.

I can understand if companies have made the ‘34 hour reset’ a policy they choose to enforce, but everything I see from the FMCSA indicates the legal enforcement of the 34 hour reset policy is currently suspended. Can anyone clarify this?

Also, I have all the links to show where I am getting all this but I’m not sure if I can post comments with hyperlinks in them.

Dan, part of the reason your question, and the search for your answer is so confusing is that you do not even understand the rules in the first place. I'm not making an indictment nor a criticism, but you are chasing a red herring by trying to figure all this out from reading the regulations, and any related legislation referring to the suspension of the enforcement.

I'm going to try and break it down real simple because this whole thread is going in all kinds of places and it just makes it more confusing.

There never was any suspension of any new 34 hour reset rule. The only suspension is only in the enforcement of the changes that were made to the original 34 hour reset. Those changes were:

1) that it had to include two time periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

2) You could only do one reset per week - they gave a number of hours, which I can't recall at the moment, but basically it meant one reset per week.

Those changes in the legislation are still in place, but there will be no enforcement of them until Congress gets the unbiased studies they have requested from the Secretary of Transportation.

Therefore we are still operating under the old rules which basically allow you to reset your 70 hour clock whenever you want to by going off duty for 34 consecutive hours.

Here's what I highly recommend you do and that is learn the rules by studying our logs book section in the High Road Training Program. It covers all this in a progressive learning atmosphere so that as you gain the mastery of some of the simpler concepts of the rules it will progress you onto the next level and keep you going until you're like a Jedi Master of the log book rules. The new rules are covered in that section, but as of right now they are not being enforced.

Don't get all hung up about the government trying to tell you when you need to sleep or not. Trust me, you are going to be exhausted from the stress of this job at the beginning, and you will be so glad that there are some regulations that require you to stop and rest.

I run like crazy, and I stay legal all the time. I take full advantage of the rules, and I take full advantage of anytime I can rest or entertain myself away from my truck just to sort of re-charge my batteries. The rules are very workable, and they give you lots of time to run and make money. The fourteen hour rule is by far the most hurtful of any of the regulations.

If I'm not mistaken, this simply refers to allowing drivers only one reset a week. It was, when I got my CDL-A in May 2012 that drivers were able to take multiple resets a week.

When I went back OTR in 2014 after having been off the road for a year I discovered we were only allowed one reset a week, and we now also had to take a mandatory 30 min break in the first 8 hours of driving.

I understand that the one reset a week restriction has been lifted. I hope it stays that way. Now if we could just get rid of the 14 hour clock, and maybe the 30 min break, I'd attempt the banana dance.

The suspended provision also required drivers to include the period of 1:00AM through 5:00AM on both days when they did their reset. With the suspension of that provision, drivers will have successfully reset their clocks when they have been off duty for a continuous period of no less than 34 hours.

There is a requirement in the rules that a driver must include TWO consecutive 1am - 5am periods. That part is also suspended.

The suspended provision also required drivers to include the period of 1:00AM through 5:00AM on both days when they did their reset. With the suspension of that provision, drivers will have successfully reset their clocks when they have been off duty for a continuous period of no less than 34 hours.

iLike

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

The policy is not enforced at the discretion of an individual company. It's mandated by the government requiring carriers and drivers to comply with the rules.

The wording here has been a bit murky so let me try to be as detailed as i can here.

There used to be several requirements and limitations that were required to receive 34 hour resets which relatively recently were removed. This involved limitations on how often you could take them, and requirements for when they needed to be taken, but that is all irrelevant now as these particular requirements and limitationswere removed.

The 34 hour reset itself is still a required/useful part of hours of service. So if i work 14 hours onduty and driving a day, i can only work 5 days before i'm out of time. At that point, i can take a 34 hour break and recieve my full 70 hour clock back at the end of it.

The alternative is you have to wait for your hours to return by having the rolling week drop off your schedule. So for example, if you started driving monday, you will have to wait until next monday at midnight(tuesday morning) before the hours from that day return to your clock.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

The policy is not enforced at the discretion of an individual company. It's mandated by the government requiring carriers and drivers to comply with the rules.

Well, that's why I asked this question. From what I read in the FMCSA website, and what some other drivers have said here, it does sound as though the 34 hour reset rule has been suspended, but not everyone agrees with that.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

The policy is not enforced at the discretion of an individual company. It's mandated by the government requiring carriers and drivers to comply with the rules.

Well, that's why I asked this question. From what I read in the FMCSA website, and what some other drivers have said here, it does sound as though the 34 hour reset rule has been suspended, but not everyone agrees with that.

Certain aspects of it have become less restrictive. The 70 hour clock is strictly enforced and is related to the 34 hour reset. Simply put for the most part you cannot drive once your 70 hour on-duty clock reaches zero, the 34 hour reset will refresh your clock back to 70. Although you can get back a portion of your hours each day, the 34 hour reset is the only way a driver can have a fresh 70 to work with.