US hours of service: the 11-hour, 14-hour and 30-minute break rules

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The rules are in 49 CFR 395.3 and the exceptions are in 49 CFR 395.1. Check the regulation itself, and your state's rules if you drive only within one state.

A U.S. property-carrying driver's day is shaped by four limits: the 10-hour break, the 14-hour window, the 11-hour driving limit and the 30-minute break. Here's how each one works under FMCSA's rules. Passenger carriers follow different limits in section 395.5, which this guide doesn't cover.

Start with 10 hours off

You can't start a driving shift without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty [395.3(a)(1)]. That 10-hour break starts the clock on everything below.

The 14-hour window

Once you come on duty after 10 hours off, a 14-hour window starts. You can't drive after the 14th consecutive hour [395.3(a)(2)].

The key word is consecutive. The 14 hours keep running through fuel stops, meal breaks, a nap in the cab or time waiting at a dock. Off-duty time doesn't pause the window. Only a qualifying sleeper berth split, covered below, changes the math.

When you reach hour 14, you can still do on-duty, non-driving work such as paperwork or a post-trip inspection, but you can't drive again until you've taken another 10 hours off.

The 11-hour driving limit

Inside the 14-hour window, you can drive a total of 11 hours [395.3(a)(3)(i)]. Whichever limit you hit first, 11 hours driving or the end of the 14-hour window, stops your driving.

The 30-minute break

You can't drive once you've had 8 hours of driving time without a break of at least 30 consecutive minutes [395.3(a)(3)(ii)].

Since a 2020 rule change, a few points trip people up:

• The trigger is 8 hours of driving, not 8 hours since you came on duty.
• The break can be off duty, sleeper berth, on-duty not driving, or a mix, as long as it's 30 minutes in a row with no driving. A 30-minute fuel stop or inspection logged on duty counts.
• Drivers who qualify for either short-haul exception in 395.1(e) don't need the break.

Weekly limits and the 34-hour restart

Separate from the daily limits, you can't drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days if your carrier doesn't run every day of the week, or 70 hours in 8 days if it does [395.3(b)]. Taking 34 or more consecutive hours off ends the 7- or 8-day period and resets your count [395.3(c)].

Splitting time in the sleeper berth

A driver in a truck with a sleeper berth can meet the 10-hour requirement by splitting it into two periods [395.1(g)(1)(ii)]:

• one period of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth;
• another of at least 2 consecutive hours, off duty or in the berth;
• the two together totaling at least 10 hours.

Neither qualifying period counts against the 14-hour window. You recalculate your 11 and 14 hours from the end of the first period [395.1(g)(1)(iii)]. Splits like 7/3 or 8/2 work, but the driving before and after each rest period still has to fit within 11 hours and the 14-hour limit.

Two exceptions worth knowing

• Adverse driving conditions. If snow, fog or other conditions you couldn't have known about when you set out keep you from finishing safely within your limits, you can drive up to 2 extra hours to finish the run or reach a safe place [395.1(b)(1)].
• 150 air-mile short haul. If you stay within 150 air miles (172.6 statute miles) of your normal work reporting location, return and are released within 14 consecutive hours, and your carrier keeps the required time records, you're exempt from keeping logs and supporting documents [395.1(e)(1)]. You don't need the 30-minute break either. The 11-hour, 10-hour and weekly limits still apply.

A quick example

You come on duty at 6:00 a.m. after 10 hours off. Your window closes at 8:00 p.m. You drive from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (6 hours), take a 30-minute lunch, then drive 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. That's 9 hours of driving. The lunch break came before you hit 8 hours of driving, so the 30-minute requirement is met. You have 2 driving hours left, and you have to use them before 8:00 p.m.

Changes being studied

FMCSA has announced research on two possible flexibilities: a pilot program to pause the 14-hour window for up to 3 hours at the place of pickup or delivery, and a pilot on more flexible sleeper berth splits. These are proposed research studies. They don't change the rules above, which still apply to every driver not in an approved exemption.