Question:
You've been off for 48 hours so you are starting brand new. I'm trying to clarify sleeper berth time and what it can do for you. If you start at midnite and drive 6 hours, then do 5 sleeper berth, then drive 5, then 5 more sleeper berth it is now 9 p.m. of the day you left. Can you resume driving at 9 because you've had 10 hours of sleeper berth time in the last 15 hours?
If that works can you continue to alternate between the two until you've used up your 70 hours of driving? d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5, d4? That puts you at 70 hours driving. If you started that at midnite Sat/Sun. then you'd be at your 70 at 10 a.m. Friday morning. Then you'd have to do a 34 hour restart which from 10 a.m. would be 8 p.m. on Saturday. I'm sure there would be some breaks in it due to dock time etc. unless you can log some of the sleeper berth time while you are sitting at a dock.
If this is possible it would allow a 70 hour drive cycle per week. I just don't know yet if it's possible. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
Answer:
The rule states:
You must have 10 hours off for every 11 hours of driving or 14 total hours of on duty time.
Your 10 hours may be taken either as 10 straight hour in the sleeper, 10 straight hours off duty, or a combonation of off duty and sleeper so long as the hours are consecutive. You may also split the sleeper into 2 periods provided both periods equal at least 10 hours and niether period is less than 2 hours.
Total on duty time is calculated from the moment you go on duty for an reason (on duty not driving or driving) and may only be stopped by entering the sleeper berth for a qualifying period or going off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours.
If you understand this then you should be able to answer your own question, but in case you are still confused.
Yes you can continue to alternate sleeper berth and on duty times until you reach your max amount of hours (70 in 8 days or 60 in 7 days depending on how your company operates). Once you reach the limit you may not drive until you have dropped below that limit.
You do not have to utilize the 34 hour restart. This is an option only. You may accumulate hours the old way by waiting until hours have dropped off your duty status to allow you to drive again.
You will never be able to actually drive a full 60/70 hours in a 7/8 day period because activites such as dock time, fueling, vehicle inspections, etc will cut into your driving time.
Finally the 11 hour rule and 14 hour rule is not in a 24 hour period. So once you have taken your 10 hour break you may resume driving assuming you have time available on the 60/70 hour rule.
Answer:

Are you sure?It's apparent this place is never going to change....then again; why should it? It gets the clientel it deserves.
Bette Midler

Answer:
Okay, here's how I've got it. It says you can't drive more than 11 hours on either side of that 10 hour (total/split-sleeper) break. Therefore, it's possible to show more than 14 hours in a midnight-to-midnight, 24hr. day. I had this happen just this week. The computer kicked it back when I sent my HOS macro, so I double-checked with my company and they said I was right - it IS possible to show more than 14. The computer is just looking at midnight to midnight and expecting 14.
Answer:
If I understand this correctly, If you drive/work for 11 hours, It isn't possible to work more than 14 hours if you take a 10 hour break.
1 day= 24 hrs.
11hrs, driving/work + 10 hrs break= 21 hrs
there are only 3 hours left for anything else, therefore the most you can work is 3 more hours which would bring you to 14 hrs driving/non-driving work for the day.
According to the rules; you cannot work more than 14 hours and still have a full 10 hour break. There just isn't enough time in the day.
Your 24hr day starts at whatever time you begin your work, It does not run from midnight to midnight.
For example: If you do your pre-trip at 11:00 AM than your day began at 11:00 AM and the 24 hrs will run from 11:00AM-11:00AM.
Answer:
You should get them to fix that computer....
If I was in the sleeper from 11:00PM til 9:00 AM why would I want that last Nine hours to count toward my work for the day. It's still part of the prior day for me cause I'm on my ten that was required after working 14.
Answer:
Hi All,
Maybe this Web site can help . . . read it, you mite like it.
CDL & CMV Safety Info Center
Confused about the new Hours of Service rules starting 1/04/04? Wondering how to do a pre-trip inspection? Worried about handling a blowout? The answers to these and more questions are here. Since 1986, Ol’ Blue, USA has been dedicated to improving highway safety through education. This page brings all of our safety info together into one location.
Hours Of Service Flash Slideshow From NSP & FMCSA
The Nebraska State Patrol and FMCSA put this HOS presentation together, complete with sample logbook pages.
The link to this site is at http://www.olblueusa.org/CDL&CMVSafetyInfoCenter/
Thanks for your time.
Answer:

Ok maybe I said that wrong.
The point is that you can work more than 14 hours in a day. Just can't drive past the 14th hour.
You can drive more than 11 hours in a 24 hour period, and that is the rule I had meant to indicate with that statement.
Than you White Dog for catching my big old brain fart.
Answer:
i also thought that your ten hours of sleeper time could also be taken as a combination of sleeper and off duty but i just learned that that is incorrect.
i called d.o.t. and spoke to a rep in commercial vehicle safety and he said that even off duty time counts as part of your 14 hour day.
you must take ten hours specifically in the sleeper berth.
i looked it up on a fmsca website. sorry i didn't write down the link but it also states it that way.
worth looking into if you are still unsure.

Answer:
Lori, you still have some learning to do as well as your source.
HOS rules power point on FMCSA Site
395.3 of The Regs
So long as the 10 hours are consecutive you can bounce between off duty and sleeper berth all you want, or log it all as off duty. You do not have to log it all in the sleeper berth.
The entire reason of going from 8 hours to 10 was to allow drivers time to conduct personal business such as showers, meals, etc at either the start or end of the day and still alllow them to have sufficent time to rest.
Note: Off duty time of less than 10 hours (alone or when combined with sleeper) does count when calculating the 14 hour rule.
One final note. Your 14 hours does not start until you log either drive time or on duty time. It does not start when you come out of the sleeper if coming off a full 10 hour break.
Answer:

I just meant it looks at the calendar day, and if it sees more than 14 hrs there, it says, "Nuh-uh, ain't right". But I'm with you, the computer is set up wrong for takin' split-sleeper breaks.

Sure it is. Here's how you can conceivably show more than 14 in a day... Say I stop driving at 6am. I sleep for 3 hours, but since I'd slept 7 hours in my first sleeper break, prior to 0000, I have a fresh 11 hrs. to drive on. It's now 0900, and I drive the full 11 allotted to me, and shut down at 2000. Total driving time for the day: 17 hrs. If I'd spent 3 hrs goofing off at shippers throughout the day, then I would've shut down at 2300, which would've made a total on-duty hrs. for that calendar day of 20 hours, and I would've been strictly legal throughout.
However, I couldn't drive any more at that point without taking a solid 10 off. But it is indeed possible to show more than 14 hrs. in a calendar day.
Answer:

Mmmm, not. You have whatever is remaining after you subtract the driving time logged between the two sleeper breaks from 11 hours.
You will never have 11 hours driving time after the second qualifying split sleeper berth. You will have something less than 11 hours. Keep in mind that the driving time immediately preceeding and immediately following any qualified split sleeper berth, when added together, cannot exceed 11 hours total.
However, your basic point is valid -- you can drive more than 11 hours in one calendar day. Your extended point -- that you can log more than 14 hours line 3 in one calendar day, is invalid. The best you can do is 11 driving, 10 off duty, then 11 driving. No matter how you cut it, 14 driving is the max for one calendar day(and that's with zero line 4 time, which is going to make the vehicle inspection a problem).

Answer:
That's why I said d6, s5, d5, s5, d6, s5, d5, s5..... so that the time prior to and after any given sleeper berth time totals 11 hours. I realize it is unlikely to make it work because of loading/unloading time etc. but my question wasn't really can it work as much as is it legal.
It seems like the sleeper berth time satisfies the 10 hours requirement and can be divided into 2 separate segments of 5 hours each. I still don't understand it since it's written seemingly by and definitely for lawyers.
From the regs:
(g) Sleeper berths.
(1) General property-carrying commercial motor vehicle. A driver who is driving a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle that is equipped with a sleeper berth, as defined in §§ 395.2 and 393.76 of this subchapter, may accumulate the equivalent of 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time by taking a combination of at least 10 consecutive hours off-duty and sleeper berth time; or by taking two periods of rest in the sleeper berth, providing:
(i) Neither rest period is shorter than two hours;
(ii) The driving time in the period immediately before and after each rest period, when added together, does not exceed 11 hours;
(iii) The driver does not drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty following 10 hours off duty, where the 14th hour is calculated:
(A) by excluding any sleeper berth period of at least 2 hours which, when added to a subsequent sleeper berth period, totals at least 10 hours, and
(B) by including all on-duty time, all off-duty time not spent in the sleeper berth, all sleeper berth periods of less than 2 hours, and any sleeper berth period not described in paragraph (g)(1)(iii)(A) ; and
(iv) The driver may not return to driving subject to the normal limits under § 395.3 without taking at least 10 consecutive hours off duty, at least 10 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, or a combination of at least 10 consecutive hours off duty and sleeper berth time.
Answer:

Nnnn, naw. You can log line 4 indefinitely, as long as you don't drive. That will give you more than 14 hrs. on duty in a day, which is what our computer kicks back on (it doesn't differentiate between line 3 and 4).
Answer:
Fatty T: Think you misread that.
In theory you can never have more than 14 hours logged on line 3 in a 24 hour period.
11 drive + 10 off + 3 drive = 24.
As we all know though that in reality this will never happen because of the line 4 activites that must be done.
You can have more than 14 hours total of on duty time however as you indicated.