What Should a Driver Know About DOT Truck Driving Hours Regulations?

Truck drivers help power the country forward by carrying vital supplies where they need to go. If it were not for truck drivers, the country would literally cease to function. However, we need to be careful not to push drivers too far and increase the risk of a potential accident by doing so. The government has recognized this as a potential danger to drivers for a long time, and that is why they have special limits on hours for drivers so they don’t get overextended and so their employers do not abuse them as workers. 

What Are the Truck Driver Hour Driving Limit? 

Here at United Diesel Power Truck Repair, we always want our employees to know what the limits are on driver hours so they can try to help drivers get their rigs fixed up in a timely manner to allow them to get back on the road. The current DOT truck driving hours of service regulations are as follows: 

• A driver may be in service for up to 14 hours of the day.
• No more than 11 of those 14 hours may be consumed by actual driving.
• The driver must receive a rest period of at least 10 hours before they are permitted to be back in service.
• Drivers must take a mandatory 30-minute break after 8 hours of service.
• The 14-hour period may NOT be extended by breaks or meals.

A trucking company can get in a lot of trouble if they violate these rules, and the drivers themselves can be in a dangerous situation if they attempt to push beyond those limits. There are simply some boundaries to what the human body and mind can tolerate, and it is best to be mindful and respectful of those limits. If any company attempts to drive people beyond those limits, they will quickly discover that they are on the short end of fines and other penalties. In the worst-case scenarios, it is possible that some drivers could put others’ lives at risk if they are overly drowsy when they are on the road. No one wants that. 

Keep Accurate Logs to Know the Limits

The government is making a push now to get all trucking companies switched over to electronic logs for their drivers. In fact, those regulations are already in effect, and trucking companies need to ensure that they have electronic logs on board all of their units. If the electronic log fails for some reason, then a driver may submit a paper log as a backup, but the government is doing all that it possibly can to try to ensure that drivers are given their proper due and that all rules and regulations are respected. The easiest way to make sure this is happening is to check the record against electronic logs. It is much more challenging to fabricate an electronic log, so this is the preferred method of keeping tabs on what is really happening. 

Trucking companies should do their best to keep the most up-to-date equipment on board their units so as to avoid penalties and fines from the DOT. 

Categorised in: Semi Truck Maintenance

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