Hours-of-Service rules exist for one reason: fatigue is a killer. For property-carrying drivers, four limits do most of the work.
1. The four core limits
- 11-hour driving limit — drive at most 11 hours, only after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
- 14-hour window — no driving beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. Breaks don't pause the clock.
- 30-minute break — once you accumulate 8 hours of driving without a 30-minute interruption, you must take one before driving again.
- 60/70-hour cycle — no driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days (or 70 in 8), on a rolling total. A restart of 34+ consecutive hours off duty resets the cycle.
2. The flexibilities
The sleeper-berth provision lets you split your 10 hours of rest into qualifying pairs (such as 7/3 or 8/2). The adverse-driving-conditions exception can extend the driving limit and window by up to 2 hours when weather or road conditions could not have been known before dispatch.
3. What it means day to day
Your ELD tracks these limits automatically, but planning is still on you: plan your break before hour 8, protect your window at busy shippers, and keep an eye on your rolling cycle at the end of a hard week.
Walk through interactive examples in our HOS education guide, and plan trips against your available hours with the trip planning calculator.
Educational summary only — always follow the current FMCSA regulations, your ELD, carrier policy and dispatch instructions.