Hours of Service Question

[pjjjjj]

The rules are different between Canada and the USA, but.. regarding the 'cycles'..
Say you are only 'on duty', whether driving or not, for less than 10 hours per day for the past 7 days.. say you worked 5 hours on Days 1 thru 7, so your total for the 7 days was only 50 hours.. does the next day begin as Day 1, with a new allotment of 70 hours, or do you have to take the 34 hours off to reset the cycle.
I guess I'm asking , does the cycle change automatically, or do you always have to restart the cycle by taking the 34 hours off.
And.. if say you only worked 5 hours a day every day.. all year.. aare you required to take any days off at all? or it's fine to work every single day of the year, as long as you never go over your 70 hours in your 7 day cycle, and never go over your daily max's?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The rules are different between Canada and the USA, but.. regarding the 'cycles'..
Say you are only 'on duty', whether driving or not, for less than 10 hours per day for the past 7 days.. say you worked 5 hours on Days 1 thru 7, so your total for the 7 days was only 50 hours.. does the next day begin as Day 1, with a new allotment of 70 hours, or do you have to take the 34 hours off to reset the cycle.
I guess I'm asking , does the cycle change automatically, or do you always have to restart the cycle by taking the 34 hours off.
And.. if say you only worked 5 hours a day every day.. all year.. aare you required to take any days off at all? or it's fine to work every single day of the year, as long as you never go over your 70 hours in your 7 day cycle, and never go over your daily max's?

Questions like that make me glad I don't draw the lines anymore!!! *LOL*

 

[charlee]

you are not "required" to take the 34 restart in the states......your hours just keep dropping off as your days roll over. As long as you never exceed 70 in 8 days, you are ok. In canada every driver must take 24 hours consecutive off duty every 14 days.



-charlotte

 

[LDB]

The 7 days are an ongoing flow. It isn't broken down into a 7 day week like we use on the calendar. When the clock goes past midnight logbook time (not local time) the last day falls off the back end. It was the 7th day up until 2 minutes ago (using the midnight changeover point not now while I'm typing this) but when the clock/calendar rolled over to the new calendar day the oldest day had to fall off the back end. I hope that makes sense.

Think of your 7 day rule like this. I love bad analogies so here's one. The equator runs around the center of the earth. It never starts or ends, it's just there. Think of logbook days like that with 365 of them wrapped around a globe. Now imagine a miniature football goalposts that is just wide enough for 7 days to fit between the bars. It slowly goes around the globe of logbook days and there's always 7 days in there.

At exactly midnight it will hold exactly 7 days with no overlap. As long as there is any part at all of any day between the posts that day counts toward your 7 day total. At 23:59, even though the oldest day is almost over, it counts toward your total. If on that day you drove 10 hours and did 3 more on line 4 that's 13 hours in your total. A minute later at midnight those 13 hours drop out and the new day starts with 13 less total hours.

You are not required to take any days off at any time unless you max out your 70 hours. At that point you must either take off long enough that the last day falls off the back and gives you a few hours back or take a 34 hour reset break and start over with 0. This is U.S.A. side only, I don't know Canada well enough to comment on theirs. I hope that helps.

 

[pjjjjj]

Thanks guys!
Anyone got a sprinter for sale???? haha!
Jeez Charlee I'm impressed.. I did forget about that part about the 24 consecutive offduty within the previous 14 days part (for Canada only)..
Question answered!
Leo I always like your analogies!

 

[Broompilot]

I believe the majic # for never running out of hours is 7.75 PTI .25 drive 7 unload .50 you could run for years without ever having to run out (or until you die).

Canada: My friend who lives in Toronto with a Dedicated to L.A. says to stay on U.S. rules as the 34 reset works as his 24 for Canada and keeps it legal in both Countries. There is one rule in there for Canada but I do not remember it that he also has to be aware of.

 

[highway star]

It seems I remember hearing that the reset is longer in Canada, 35 or 36? No?

 

[pjjjjj]

The reset is 36 here, but I was wondering if downtime is required even tho a reset might never be required becuz on duty time is never maxed out.
Seems kinda ridiculous.

 

[nightcreacher]

reset in canada is 36,you can use up 8 1/2 a day for 8 days in a row and never run out of hours,as long as you never go over the 8 1/2 hours