Question About Running Out Of Hours.

Some companies have policies that allow their drivers to drive limited miles in their trucks for personal use. You can be on personal time while driving a vehicle that you do not own. But if your audited and they see lots of "personal driving" while your out of town ya might be in trouble lol

Line 5 for thos e that do not know what is being talked about is Off-duty Driving. If you are under a load you can not use Off duty Driving. If for any reason your are being paid, i.e. DHing then again you can't use it legally .

I've had that happen to me a couple times already, and my safety supervisor has always said "Just get somewhere where you're safe and legal to park. If you need to drive over your hours, so be it. However, don't go further than you need to go". When I asked him if I would get a ticket or anything for it, he said that it isn't legal, but as long as it isn't a regular habit, you'll be fine

I don't know what the law is or how it is actually stated, but I have asked this same question to my DM and his boss.

It was told to me that there is an "amendment" to the regulations. If you run out of hours due to no fault of your own, you are allowed to travel to the nearest "safe haven".

Now in saying that. I was also told, that you better have all your ducks in a row if you are stopped. Meaning, paperwork. Signed and time stamped to prove when you arrived at your stop. When you left.

Now in saying that. If by your log book, it shows you arrived for pickup with only an hour or two, then you are sunk. You didn't plan your trip well enough.

Several times this has happened to me. Sometimes due to my own fault by not planning well enough. Other times it was the dock taking forever to load.

I am soon going to post a question asking for help planning your trips. Maybe some response to my question might help. I hope it helps me.

Keep it safe out here, the life you save might be your own. Joe S.

Just remember that no matter what your company/shipper/receiver persuades you to do, it is your license and career on the line. If an accident occurs when your driving while out of hours, and an injury or death occurs, you will be held responsible no matter who is actually at fault. Please make the best judgement possible and stand up for yourself if you do not feel safe. You should not be punished for refusing to drive illegaly. If your company has a problem with it then obviously something needs to be done in my opinion.

The other thing about this, as I understand it, is that gives DOT officers a full 7 days to catch the discrepancy and write a citation/shut you down.

The other thing about this, as I understand it, is that gives DOT officers a full 7 days to catch the discrepancy and write a citation/shut you down.

You have to have 8 days worth of logs available for review at all times. The day your running and 7 previous days of logs.

Now with that being said if you only have that 8 day period available for review then that's all they can look at BUT if you have more than the 8 days available ,like paper logs and some Elogs , and there is a violation from two weeks ago they can give ya a ticket if they catch it.

Thanks Daniel for the reply. I'm glad this subject was brought up. It seems to be an extreme "Damn if you do - Damn if you don't".