Here is the scenario: One is parked at a t/s from 10 PM Saturday until 6 AM Monday. ( 2 hours shy of a 34-hour restart). At 6 AM Monday they wish to drive 45 –60 minutes in order to keep an appointment for personal business. They do so, and by 9 AM have returned to the same t/s where they had previously been parked.
- How would one log the use of the vehicle from 6 AM – 9 AM? As off duty?
- Would this then be a continuation of the 32 hours, now becoming 35 hours and constitute a re-start?
- If while driving between 6 AM – 9 AM by chance you are stopped and asked to show your log, what explanation would you offer for not having logged any PTI or driving time and that you are still showing Off Duty? Would it be, that you are not under a load or dispatch and that you are using the truck for personal conveyance?
Please advise. Thank you.
My understanding would be as follows:
At 6 AM Monday the driver(s) would mark logs showing Off-Duty. They are then free to use truck for personal conveyance. According to the FMCSA there is no set limit on distance which may be driven under this situation, merely an expectation that the usage be "reasonable." The personal business must be truly personal, and not related to the trucking business or truck maintenance, of course. Upon return to the original t/s location, they would either mark back into the sleeper or, if they go into the facility to eat or otherwise recreate, remain off-duty as appropriate.
Because the usage of the truck for personal conveyance is considered as "Off-Duty Time," the drivers would have reached a cumulative 34 hours of off duty and sleeper time as of 8 AM, and would therefore have a 34 hour Restart available on their duty clocks. Whichever driver goes on duty when a dispatch is accepted would begin a new 14 hour day at that time, with no accumulated duty time dragging behind.
If stopped and challenged by an authority, the explanation would indeed be that the truck is unladen (personal conveyance is only possible when not loaded) and being used for personal use. It might be very handy to have the regs at hand and available in this case. I usually try to avoid running by or through a scale when doing personal use just for the sake of minimizing the possibilities of having to explain things.
If the drivers accepted a load which required an immediate departure toward pickup, it would be necessary to change duty status to on-duty at that point and mark the PTI. Because there was no expectation of dispatch and departure and rather an expectation of return to the point of origin, the period of time between 6 AM and the time of dispatch would remain off duty. Be prepared to show the dispatch offer and acceptance, with the time received just in case someone wants an explanation of how you moved from point A to point B while remaining off-duty.
Please note that I am not a lawyer or a government agent. Don't try to argue this case by saying "Well, Doug told me I could." I did do a fair amount of due diligence on this matter recently, however, and this is my understanding, subject to being corrected by anyone with more knowledge or authority.
Hope it helps.
