When do I have to take the 30-minute break?

After 8 cumulative hours of driving time without at least a 30-minute interruption of driving status. It does not have to be off duty; it has to be a break from driving.

What is the difference between the 60 and 70-hour limits?

Which applies depends on whether the carrier operates commercial vehicles every day of the week. 60 hours in 7 consecutive days, or 70 in 8. Both can be reset with 34 consecutive hours off duty.

Are there exceptions for short-haul operations?

Yes, there is a short-haul exception with conditions on radius and duty time that can remove the ELD requirement. Whether you qualify depends on specifics, so check the regulation rather than assuming.

Can a dispatcher make me run over hours?

No, and nobody should try. You are the driver and the carrier; the hours are your legal responsibility and your decision. A dispatch service that pressures you on this is a liability, not an asset.

Compliance

Hours of service, in plain terms

A refresher on the federal limits and, more usefully, on planning loads so the clock is not what decides your week.

A wireframe rendering of a tractor-trailer

ComplianceBy BSG Carriers·Published October 24, 2026·3 min read

The limits, briefly

These are the FMCSA hours-of-service rules for property-carrying drivers. They are summarised here for planning purposes — the regulation itself is the authority, and it is worth reading on fmcsa.dot.gov rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

The four that govern most days

Property-carrying commercial drivers, standard operation.

11-hour driving limit: a maximum of 11 hours driving, after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
14-hour window: you may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. Off-duty time inside it does not extend it — this is the one that catches people.
30-minute break: required after 8 cumulative hours of driving without at least a 30-minute interruption of driving status.
60/70-hour limit: no driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days, or 70 in 8, depending on whether the carrier operates every day of the week.
34-hour restart: 34 consecutive hours off duty resets the 60/70 clock.
Sleeper berth: the required off-duty period may be split, commonly 8 and 2 or 7 and 3, with conditions. Get this one from the regulation rather than from a summary.

The 14-hour window is where money is lost

The driving limit rarely binds first. The 14-hour window does, because it runs on wall-clock time from the moment you go on duty and does not stop for anything short of a qualifying rest.

Three hours at a shipper does not just cost three hours of detention. It consumes three hours of a window you cannot get back, and it can turn a load that would have delivered today into one that delivers tomorrow — which may cost you the reload as well.

That is why appointment times and facility reputations matter more than they look. A load with a good rate into a facility known for holding trucks can be worth less than a lower-rated load that turns quickly.

Planning around the clock

Book the next load against the hours you will actually have

Not the hours you have now. A dispatcher who books you a pickup you cannot legally reach has cost you the load and the relationship.

Treat known slow facilities as a cost

If a receiver reliably holds trucks, that time comes off your week whether or not detention is paid.

Protect the reset

A 34-hour restart planned deliberately, ideally at home, is worth more than one taken at a truck stop because the clock ran out.

Do not let a dispatcher push you past the limit

There is no load worth an out-of-service order or worse. Anyone pressuring you to run illegal hours is not working in your interest.

Where we fit

We plan loads around your available hours rather than around what would be convenient for us, and there is no forced dispatch here — you approve every load, and "I do not have the hours" ends the conversation.

Compliance itself stays yours. We are a dispatch service, not a compliance service: the logs, the filings and the responsibility are the carrier’s, and any dispatcher telling you otherwise is confusing their role with yours.

FAQ

Common questions

No. The 14-hour window runs on consecutive time from when you go on duty. Only a qualifying rest period — or a valid sleeper-berth split — affects it. This is the most commonly misunderstood rule of the set.

Fuel surcharge, explained properly

The surcharge exists so that a diesel spike does not destroy a rate agreed months earlier. Knowing how it is computed tells you whether an all-in rate is good.

Read it