Hours of Service Explained: The 11, 14, 30-Minute and 70-Hour Rules
The federal hours-of-service rules for property-carrying CDL drivers in plain words: the 11-hour and 14-hour limits, the 30-minute break, 60/70 hours, the 34-hour restart and sleeper-berth splits.
Hours of service (HOS) decide how long you can drive and when you have to stop. Get them wrong and you can be put out of service at a roadside inspection, and your carrier's safety scores take the hit. Here's how the federal rules work for property-carrying drivers (freight, not passengers), the way they're written in 49 CFR Part 395.
The four numbers to know
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| 11 hours | You can drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. |
| 14 hours | Once you start your day, you can't drive past the 14th hour. The window keeps running even when you stop. |
| 30 minutes | After 8 hours of total driving time, you need a 30-minute break from driving before you drive again. |
| 60 / 70 hours | You can't drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days (which one depends on your carrier's schedule). |
The 11-hour driving limit
Driving time is time behind the wheel with the truck moving on a public road. After 10 consecutive hours off, you get up to 11 hours of it. When you reach 11, you're done driving until you take another 10 hours off. You can still do on-duty work that isn't driving, like paperwork or fueling, as long as your 14-hour window is still open.
The 14-hour window
This one trips up new drivers. The 14 hours start when you begin any work, on duty or driving, and they run straight through. A long lunch, a fuel stop or three hours waiting at a shipper all count against it. When the 14th hour arrives, you can't drive again until you've had 10 hours off, even if you've only driven six.
That's why sitting at a dock hurts. Every hour of waiting comes out of your driving day, which is also why getting appointment times and detention terms in writing matters.
The 30-minute break
After 8 cumulative hours of driving, you need at least 30 consecutive minutes not driving. It can be off duty, in the sleeper berth or on duty but not driving (fueling counts), or a mix. The break doesn't stop the 14-hour clock.
60 hours in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8
This is a rolling total of all on-duty time, driving and not driving. If your carrier runs every day of the week, you use 70 in 8. If not, 60 in 7. When you hit the limit, you can't drive until enough hours roll off or you take a restart.
The 34-hour restart: 34 or more consecutive hours off duty resets your weekly total to zero. It's optional.
Sleeper-berth splits
You can split your 10 hours off into two pieces if:
- one piece is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, and
- the other is at least 2 consecutive hours off duty or in the berth, and
- the two add up to at least 10 hours.
The common splits are 7/3 and 8/2. When you pair them correctly, neither period counts against your 14-hour window. That's the one way to "stretch" a day legally. ELD apps calculate this for you, but it helps to know the logic when a dispatcher asks why you can't make an appointment.
Exceptions you'll hear about
- Adverse driving conditions: if you hit unexpected weather or traffic that you couldn't have known about at dispatch, you can extend the 11-hour and 14-hour limits by up to 2 hours.
- Short-haul exception: drivers who stay within 150 air miles of their work reporting location and return within 14 hours can use time records instead of logs and skip the 30-minute break.
- Personal conveyance and yard moves: moving the truck off duty for personal reasons, or around a yard, has its own rules. Your carrier's policy matters here, so ask before you rely on it.
What about the 2026 pilot programs?
In 2026 FMCSA ran small pre-tests of two pilots: one letting drivers pause the 14-hour clock for 30 minutes to 3 hours, and one allowing more flexible sleeper-berth splits. The agency plans to expand them in 2027. Unless you're an approved participant, none of this changes your rules today.
The bottom line
Know your 11, your 14, your 8-hour break trigger and your weekly total, and plan the day around the 14. A carrier that respects your hours and pays for detention is worth more than a few cents a mile somewhere else.
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Questions drivers ask
Does a 30-minute break stop my 14-hour clock?
No. The 14-hour window keeps running through breaks, fuel stops and waiting at a dock. Only a qualifying sleeper-berth split (at least 7 hours in the berth paired with at least 2 more off duty, 10 in total) excludes time from the 14.
Can I drive 11 hours and then keep working?
You can do on-duty, not-driving work (paperwork, fueling, inspections) until your 14-hour window closes, but you can't drive again until you've had 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Is the 34-hour restart required?
No. It's optional. Taking 34 or more consecutive hours off resets your 60/70-hour total to zero. Without it, hours simply roll off as each day drops out of your 7- or 8-day window.
Has FMCSA changed the hours-of-service rules for 2026?
Not for the industry as a whole. FMCSA ran small pre-tests in 2026 for two pilot programs (pausing the 14-hour clock and more flexible sleeper splits) and plans to expand them in 2027, but only approved pilot participants can use those options. Everyone else follows the rules on this page.
Sources
Written by The Truck Jobs team with help from AI, and checked against the sources above. Rules change: confirm anything that affects your license or your safety with FMCSA or your carrier. This is general information, not legal or medical advice.