My Understanding Of The Split Sleeper Berth Rule

You came out of sleeper at 0840. Add 14 to that. Your 14 hour clock (once you took the 2 hour break) then became 2240.

0840 + 14 = 2240

The day before TOTALLY matters.

You had more than 2 hours off duty at home.

Therefore that counted as the start of an 8/2 split.

So add 22 to the time you came out of off duty from home and THAT is your 14.

When you then did 9 in the sleeper,

you would have had the couple hours you drove between home time and the 9 sleeper.... 11 hours minus those couple hours is what you had left.

Then you later took another 2 hours off duty/sleeper.... so that was ANOTHER 8/2 split.

you basically did a rolling 8/2 whivh will never allow you to get a full 11/24

After reading this thread all the way through, my head is spinning. I think Einstein would have trouble understanding this stuff.

The alternative is just to forget about the split sleeper rule and extend your life by driving without all the stress. I know the split sleeper stuff is useful for some, but for old men who are just trying to enjoy the journey, my advice is to just simplify things in the HOS world.

The day before TOTALLY matters.

You had more than 2 hours off duty at home.

Therefore that counted as the start of an 8/2 split.

So add 22 to the time you came out of off duty from home and THAT is your 14.

When you then did 9 in the sleeper,

you would have had the couple hours you drove between home time and the 9 sleeper.... 11 hours minus those couple hours is what you had left.

Then you later took another 2 hours off duty/sleeper.... so that was ANOTHER 8/2 split.

you basically did a rolling 8/2 whivh will never allow you to get a full 11/24

Ah. Ok

After reading this thread all the way through, my head is spinning. I think Einstein would have trouble understanding this stuff.

The alternative is just to forget about the split sleeper rule and extend your life by driving without all the stress. I know the split sleeper stuff is useful for some, but for old men who are just trying to enjoy the journey, my advice is to just simplify things in the HOS world.

LOL - the easiest way to use the split - is when you get hung up somewhere for an extended load/unload. Most folks go SB (or at least off duty), once they get where they're going and get checked in (or hit the door). If you're stuck there for 6 hours, take the additional 2 to freeze your 14 hour clock. The most USEFUL PART of a split, is using the 8 to freeze your 14.

By the same token, if you're stuck somewhere for 8, then it's just as easy to hang the extra 2, and get a full 10 hours in. But in either case, you DO want to grab some ACTUAL SLEEP, or risk being too tired to drive ANYWAY. Would certainly suck, to have all this time left on your clock, with somewhere to be, and have to pull in anyways because you didn't get some rest and are seeing double.

The ONLY WAY to get your full 11/14 back - is to take a FULL 10. You can run rolling recaps and splits until you run your 70 down to the point where you just don't have enough usable drive time the next day (at midnight), that it's just easier to take a reset, and get a full 70 back.

Some companies don't even allow splits, because drivers just can't wrap their heads around figuring out how their time is going to work, when they're trip planning.

Rick

Most understand doing an 8 first but not a 2 hour first.... so here it goes.

If you take the 2 hour break first, add 22 to the time you get off the first break.

Example... you take a 2 hour break from 2200 to midnight, you add 22. Your 14 clock will end at 2200 that evening.

So I tried my first SSB yesterday, and didn't get the results I was expecting. I quoted the above as it makes the most sense to me seeing it that way and because I did the short break first.

What I thought was going to be my SSB rest periods was Off Duty 1528-1729 and Sleeper 2145-0546. I expected my 14 to then expire at 1529 and my 11 to have 10hrs 48mins as I only drove for 12mins between rest periods, from one customer to the next.

I called to ask the after-hours safety guy who told me to call the ELD company (Platform Science), who told me another period of Off Duty / Sleeper between those two rest periods negated my SSB and caused me not to get hours back. I marked those statuses while waiting to be loaded at the second customer. I didn't know that would be an issue. There's also no way to pair the breaks in the ELD so it knows what I'm trying to do.

Another point of confusion: When I started driving this morning, it initially said Driving Violation: you have zero minutes of remaining drive time. But within 15 minutes, an automated message said Driver Profile has been updated, and it stopped showing me in violation with positive numbers on all clocks. I took that as assurance the system calculated my SSB and gave me some hours back, even though it wasn't the hours I was expecting.

I need to redo the High Road section on this, and will take all advice to come.

Most understand doing an 8 first but not a 2 hour first.... so here it goes.

If you take the 2 hour break first, add 22 to the time you get off the first break.

Example... you take a 2 hour break from 2200 to midnight, you add 22. Your 14 clock will end at 2200 that evening.

So I tried my first SSB yesterday, and didn't get the results I was expecting. I quoted the above as it makes the most sense to me seeing it that way and because I did the short break first.

What I thought was going to be my SSB rest periods was Off Duty 1528-1729 and Sleeper 2145-0546. I expected my 14 to then expire at 1529 and my 11 to have 10hrs 48mins as I only drove for 12mins between rest periods, from one customer to the next.

I called to ask the after-hours safety guy who told me to call the ELD company (Platform Science), who told me another period of Off Duty / Sleeper between those two rest periods negated my SSB and caused me not to get hours back. I marked those statuses while waiting to be loaded at the second customer. I didn't know that would be an issue. There's also no way to pair the breaks in the ELD so it knows what I'm trying to do.

Another point of confusion: When I started driving this morning, it initially said Driving Violation: you have zero minutes of remaining drive time. But within 15 minutes, an automated message said Driver Profile has been updated, and it stopped showing me in violation with positive numbers on all clocks. I took that as assurance the system calculated my SSB and gave me some hours back, even though it wasn't the hours I was expecting.

I need to redo the High Road section on this, and will take all advice to come.

Having a break between the two split breaks is not supposed to negate the split being completed as planned. This is per FMCSA regulation that any time there is more than one way to calculate the use of breaks, including split breaks, it is supposed to be calculated in a way that is most favorable to the driver.

The ELD being used is flawed and someone needs to fix it. The explanation you were given is garbage. You can't get a way with such a lazy excuse for failing to do your job, so the same applies to the programmer for this ELD. In all honesty, I would go paper logs and tell the company that I am doing so until this system is fixed.

The ELD rep's only solution was for me to edit my logs and put myself On Duty for that middle break. I thought that would look suspicious in an audit so I refused.

I generally use sleeper berth on both breaks rather than off duty. For one thing, our ELD frequently has issues with off duty and will kick it back to the drive line even if you don't happen to be anywhere near the truck (like in Mexico).

My ELD (Zonar) will occasionally have issues and not calculate the effect of a split until the second break is completed. It will occasionally show a violation if I take any off duty between the breaks, it will then fix it the following morning.

Yes, it's frustrating, but they are computers that will fail often, and like much in life, driven by being produced as cheap as possible. To expect them to function perfectly all of the time just isn't realistic. It's up to us as the driver to know our available hours and make sure we're in compliance.

Part of life is working around the machines limitations. If that means not running because it's suspect, in the long run its generally worth it. If it's a continuing problem, I'll bring it in to the shop and have it looked at.

It's up to us as the driver to know our available hours and make sure we're in compliance.

Part of life is working around the machines limitations. If that means not running because it's suspect, in the long run its generally worth it. If it's a continuing problem, I'll bring it in to the shop and have it looked at.

That right there is what I was trying to balance out. I knew what I thought my hours should be, but not being certain I deferred to the seemingly flawed machine to ensure compliance.