The hours-of-service regulations distinguish between property-carrying and passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, and they address driving limits and recordkeeping for each. There are three basic driving limits for passenger-carrying vehicles: the 10-hour driving rule, the 15-hour on-duty/driving time rule, and the 60- or 70-hours-of-service rule. Briefly, those limits do not allow a driver to drive:
More than 10 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty, or
After being on duty 15 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty, or
After being on duty more than 60/70 hours in any 7/8 consecutive days.
Every motor carrier must require every driver to make a record of duty status (log), in duplicate, for each 24-hour period. A driver must also keep a copy of each record of duty status for the previous seven days. The regulations are specific as to what items must be recorded on a record of duty status.
A driver does not have to prepare a log if the driver operates within a 100-air-mile radius of the work reporting location, returns to the work reporting location and is released within 12 hours, and the carrier keeps certain time records for six months. The 10-hour driving rule and 60- or 70-hour limit still apply.
Motor carriers and drivers who do not complete and keep records of duty status or who make false records of duty status can be subject to fines or other penalties.
