ODD Question For Experienced Drivers

This is to all you experienced guys. My co. allows off duty driving, however we were told that we could only use it if we were not under a load, or dispatched to pick up a load, until yesterday. One of our company drivers recived a 14hr violation because he was ODD, he was not under a load, nore was he dispatched, which everyone thought was legal, but the DOT Officer told him that he was in violation because he was pulling a trailer, and not bobtailing. Question being, was the officer correct, or just calling it the way he felt like. We very rairly bobtail , so if that is correct the ODD for us is a waisted thought.

This is to all you experienced guys. My co. allows off duty driving, however we were told that we could only use it if we were not under a load, or dispatched to pick up a load, until yesterday. One of our company drivers recived a 14hr violation because he was ODD, he was not under a load, nore was he dispatched, which everyone thought was legal, but the DOT Officer told him that he was in violation because he was pulling a trailer, and not bobtailing. Question being, was the officer correct, or just calling it the way he felt like. We very rairly bobtail , so if that is correct the ODD for us is a wasted thought.

When I was with Prime, we had ODD. We were always told the same as you with the exception you cannot exceed your 14 hr clock. So since he was beyond his 14 is the reason he was in violation if I read this correct. He could have used the reason as going to SAFE HAVEN, that would be fine as long as he was not passing T/S as an example and trying to get home. That would be a good reason for the officer to say what he did.

Ernie

A driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver’s home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. ***Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver’s en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time.*** The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation ***unless the vehicle is laden***. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier’s Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.

A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.

Basically as long as he wasn't pulling a loaded trailer he was legal.

Way it reads to me....

.02

Mis read the original post.

Guessing it depends on where he was caught.

A driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver’s home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. ***Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver’s en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time.*** The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation ***unless the vehicle is laden***. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier’s Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.

A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.

Basically as long as he wasn't pulling a loaded trailer he was legal.

Way it reads to me....

.02

My company allows off-duty driving only if bob-tailing (up to 15 miles and/or 45 minutes). The above quote, "unless the vehicle is laden***a driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance," may be construed to mean that a tractor is considered as "laden" due to it pulling a trailer, even though the trailer is MT.