Under the standard federal property-carrying hours-of-service rules, a driver may drive up to 11 hours within a 14-consecutive-hour window after taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. The driver must also have time available under the applicable 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day limit and meet the driving-break requirement unless an exception applies. These limits work together; available time on one clock does not override another.
The table below is a reference for drivers and dispatchers planning property-carrying commercial motor vehicle operations subject to federal interstate HOS rules. Do not automatically apply it to intrastate operations, passenger-carrying vehicles, or operations covered by special provisions. Alaska, for example, has separate federal driving and duty limits under 49 CFR 395.1(h).
Federal Property-Carrying HOS Limits
The standard driving, break, cycle, and restart requirements appear in 49 CFR 395.3. Qualifying sleeper-berth arrangements and other exceptions appear in 49 CFR 395.1.
| Rule or limit | Reference value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Off-duty period before driving under the standard daily rules | 10 consecutive hours | The driver must first obtain the required rest. A qualifying sleeper-berth arrangement can satisfy the rest requirement under separate conditions. |
| Daily driving limit | 11 driving hours | Maximum accumulated driving time within the applicable driving window, assuming no exception changes the limit. |
| Driving window | 14 consecutive hours | Begins when the driver comes on duty after the qualifying rest period—not when driving begins. Ordinary off-duty breaks do not pause or extend it. |
| Driving-break trigger | 8 cumulative driving hours | Before driving beyond 8 accumulated driving hours without a qualifying interruption, the driver must have at least 30 consecutive minutes without driving. |
| Qualifying driving interruption | 30 consecutive minutes | May consist of on-duty not-driving time, off-duty time, sleeper-berth time, or a consecutive combination of those statuses. Drivers qualifying for either short-haul exception in §395.1(e) are exempt from this break requirement. |
| 7-day cycle limit | 60 on-duty hours in 7 consecutive days | No driving after reaching this limit when the employing carrier does not operate commercial motor vehicles every day of the week. |
| 8-day cycle limit | 70 on-duty hours in 8 consecutive days | No driving after reaching this limit when the employing carrier operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week. |
| Optional cycle restart | At least 34 consecutive hours off duty | May restart the applicable 7- or 8-day calculation period. A restart is not required every week. |
| Split sleeper-berth rest | Two qualifying periods totaling at least 10 hours | Neither period may be shorter than 2 consecutive hours, and one must include at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth. Additional driving-time and window calculations apply. |
Sources: §395.3(a)–(c) for the standard limits and restart; §395.1(g)(1) for split sleeper-berth requirements.
Read the Clocks Separately
Driving hours are not the same as elapsed hours
The 11-hour limit counts driving. The 14-hour window counts elapsed time after coming on duty, including inspections, loading, fueling, ordinary breaks, and other time within that window. A driver can therefore run out of window time before using all 11 driving hours.
The 14-hour rule is a limit on when driving may occur, not a blanket requirement to stop all work at the end of hour 14. Non-driving work after the window expires still counts as on-duty time and can reduce availability under the cycle limit.
For example, assume a driver comes on duty at 6:00 a.m. after 10 consecutive hours off duty and no exception applies. The driving window ends at 8:00 p.m. A one-hour ordinary off-duty break during the day does not move that deadline to 9:00 p.m. The driver must still stop driving earlier if the 11-hour driving limit, driving-break requirement, or cycle limit becomes restrictive first.
A qualifying break does not necessarily restore daily driving time
The 30-minute requirement is based on accumulated driving time, not simply eight hours since starting work. A continuous 30-minute loading stop recorded as on-duty not driving can satisfy the driving interruption requirement. Separate shorter stops do not qualify unless they form an uninterrupted 30-minute period without driving.
That interruption does not reset the 11-hour driving total, restart the cycle, or ordinarily extend the 14-hour window. If recorded as on-duty not driving, it also continues to count toward the 60- or 70-hour limit.
Cycle limits count all on-duty time
For cycle calculations, include driving and other on-duty work—not just miles driven or time behind the wheel. Inspections, servicing, loading, unloading, and other work covered by the on-duty definition can consume cycle hours. The definition also includes compensated work for a person who is not a motor carrier.
The 7- and 8-day periods are consecutive-day calculations, not automatically calendar weeks. Without a qualifying restart, earlier on-duty hours stop counting as they fall outside the applicable period. Ten consecutive hours off duty can satisfy the standard daily rest requirement without clearing the accumulated cycle total.
When the Standard Values Need Adjustment
Split sleeper-berth arrangements
A qualifying split requires more than adding two rest periods together:
- Neither period may be shorter than 2 consecutive hours.
- One period must include at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth.
- The two periods must total at least 10 hours.
- Driving before and after each rest period must satisfy the applicable 11-hour and 14-hour calculations.
Common pairings include 8 hours in the sleeper berth plus 2 hours off duty, or 7 hours in the sleeper berth plus 3 hours off duty. Seven plus two is not enough because it totals only nine hours. When a pair qualifies, neither rest period counts against the 14-hour window, and the driving and window limits must be recalculated from the end of the first qualifying period. A rest duration alone does not establish that the surrounding driving is permitted.
Short-haul operations
Qualifying short-haul drivers are exempt from the standard 30-minute driving-break requirement. However, short-haul status does not automatically remove the daily driving or cycle limits.
Under the 150-air-mile exception in §395.1(e)(1), the driver must stay within the prescribed radius, return to the normal work reporting location, and be released within 14 consecutive hours. Property-carrying drivers must have at least 10 consecutive hours off duty between duty periods, and the carrier must retain the required time records. A separate exception in §395.1(e)(2) applies to certain property-carrying vehicles that do not require a CDL and has different conditions.
Adverse driving conditions
Qualifying adverse driving conditions can allow up to two additional hours beyond the standard 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour window when needed to complete the run or reach a safe location. This is not a routine scheduling allowance.
The definition concerns adverse weather or unusual road or traffic conditions that were not known, or could not reasonably have been known, at the relevant pre-driving or dispatch decision point. The extension does not add hours to the 60/70-hour cycle limit or waive the driving-break requirement.
Using the Table for Trip and Duty-Clock Estimates
Before entering HOS values into a planning tool, obtain the driver's actual duty-status history and identify:
- When the most recent qualifying rest period ended and the driver came on duty.
- Driving accumulated during the current daily calculation period.
- Driving since the last qualifying 30-minute interruption.
- Total on-duty hours within the applicable 7- or 8-day period.
- Any completed qualifying restart or sleeper-berth periods.
- The specific provision supporting any exception being applied.
Use recorded duty statuses rather than treating every stop as off duty. Whether waiting, loading, or other non-driving time is on duty depends on the work performed and whether the driver has been relieved of responsibility under the regulatory definition.
A duty-clock or arrival-time estimate is only as complete as its inputs and the rules its model handles. Do not treat unused driving hours as proof that an entire trip fits within all applicable limits. Compare the proposed driving segments with the daily window, driving-break timing, and cycle availability, and check any claimed exception against the relevant provision in Part 395. FMCSA's Summary of Hours of Service Regulations provides a concise companion reference, but a table or simplified estimate cannot establish compliance for a specific duty record.