Note
The following information is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
The Hours of Service (HOS) app supports the rule sets and exemptions listed in Rule Sets and Exemptions. Depending on the rule set and exemptions your drivers are using, the following violations can be reported. As a Fleet user with the appropriate permissions, you can create InSight alerts, which notify you about violations and warnings that your drivers incur.
Within a work shift, there is a limit on the time a driver can spend driving, before a daily-reset break is necessary. Verizon Connect Hours of Service uses the following driving limits:
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11 hours for federal US rules
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12 hours for California, Texas, and Florida rules
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13 hours for Canada South rules
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15 hours for Canada North rules
According to federal US rules, a driver cannot drive for more than 8 cumulative hours without taking a rest break of at least 30 minutes. This break can be spent off duty, on duty, in the sleeper berth, or waiting in an oilfield (if oilfield options are used).
Within a work shift, a driver can be on duty (driving or on duty) for a limited amount of time. After this time limit, a driver cannot drive before a daily-reset break is completed. Verizon Connect Hours of Service uses the following on-duty limits:
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14 hours (including rest breaks) for federal US rules
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14 hours (not including rest breaks that are longer than 30 minutes) for Canada South rules
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15 hours (not including rest breaks) for Texas rules
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18 hours (not including rest beaks) for Canada North rules
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16 hours (including rest breaks) for California and Florida rules
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16 hours (including rest breaks) for Canada South rules
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20 hours (including rest breaks) for Canada North rules
This violation rule is about driving. As long as a driver does not start driving after the time limit stated above, this violation is not recorded. For example (if using federal US rules), after 14 hours spent on duty or driving, or both, the driver can perform non-driving tasks without violating this rule. If, however, after that, the driver starts driving again before taking another 10 hour break, a violation is recorded against this rule.
Exceptions that Verizon Connect Hours of Service applies to the on-duty limit rule are:
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The 16-hour on-duty limit rule, which allows a single exception of the on duty limit rule (up to 16 hours on duty) within an on-duty cycle. This exception is applicable to federal US rules only.
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The CDL short-haul exemption rule, which allows for different limits if drivers stay within a 150 air-mile radius of a specific location and return to that location within 14 consecutive hours. This exception is applicable to federal US rules only.
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The non-CDL short-haul exemption rule, which allows for different limits if you drive a vehicle that does not require a commercial drivers license, stay within a 150 air-mile radius of a specific location and return to that location every day. This exception is applicable to federal US rules only.
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The adverse driving exemptions rule, which allows you to extend both your driving time by 2 hours and your on-duty time by 2 hours when facing extreme weather conditions.
Once within an on-duty cycle, drivers can be on duty (driving or performing on-duty tasks) for up to 16 hours if they meet the following requirements:
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Use federal US rules.
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Start from and return to the same location as for the previous 5 work shifts. It doesn’t matter if there are any cycle-reset breaks between these 5 work shifts.
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Take a continuous daily-reset break, and not a split daily-reset break, before and after the shift.
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Use the exemption only once within an on-duty cycle.
If a driver violates the 16-hour on-duty limit rule there is no direct violation displayed to the driver. Instead, the 16-hour exception is canceled and normal on-duty limits apply. Drivers then see violations for normal on-duty limits.
See Enabling the 16-Hour Exemption for more information.
The cycle on-duty period and the required cycle-reset breaks between the cycle periods depend on the rule set and cycle that the drivers use:
According to federal US rules, drivers may not drive if they have spent either 60 hours within 7 consecutive days or 70 hours within 8 consecutive days on duty. To be allowed to drive again, a cycle-reset break of 34 or more consecutive hours is required. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
Note
A driver can use either the 60 hour-7 day rule or the 70 hour-8 day rule, but not both. The rule to use depends on how many days per week your organization operates.
According to California rules, drivers may not drive if they have spent 80 hours within 8 consecutive days on duty. To be allowed to drive again a cycle-reset break of 34 or more consecutive hours is required. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
According to Texas rules, drivers may not drive if they have spent 70 hours within 7 consecutive days on duty. To be allowed to drive again a cycle-reset break of 34 or more consecutive hours is required. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
According to Florida rules, drivers may not drive if they have spent either 70 hours within 7 consecutive days or 80 hours within 8 consecutive days on duty. To be allowed to drive again a cycle-reset break of 34 or more consecutive hours is required. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
Note
A driver can use either the 70 hour-7 day rule or the 80 hour-8 day rule, but not both. The rule to use depends on how many days per week your organization operates.
According to Canada South rules, which apply to the area south of 60 degrees latitude, drivers may not drive if they have spent either 70 hours within 7 consecutive days or 120 hours within 14 consecutive days on duty. If using the 7-day period, drivers may drive again after they have taken a cycle-reset break of 36 or more consecutive hours. If using the 14-day period, drivers may drive if they have a rest period of 24 or more consecutive hours after the first 70 hours of on-duty time and a cycle-reset break of 72 or more consecutive hours after the remaining 50 hours of on-duty time. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
Note
A driver can use either the 70 hour-7 day rule or the 120 hour-14 day rule, but not both.
According to Canada North rules, which apply to the area north of 60 degrees latitude, drivers may not drive if they have spent either 80 hours within 7 consecutive days or 120 hours within 14 consecutive days on duty. If using the 7-day period, drivers may drive again after they have taken a cycle-reset break of 36 or more consecutive hours. If using the 14-day period, drivers may drive if they have a rest period of 24 or more consecutive hours after the first 80 hours of on-duty time and a cycle-reset break of 72 or more consecutive hours after the remaining 40 hours of on-duty time. Otherwise, there will be a violation.
Note
A driver can use either the 80 hour-7 day rule or the 120 hour-14 day rule, but not both.
Some drivers using federal US rules might be able to use the CDL short-haul exemption. This rule exempts drivers from complying with the federal rest break rule, which requires drivers to take a rest break of 30 minutes or more if driving for more than 8 hours. To be eligible for the CDL short-haul exemption drivers must:
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Return to the same location where they started their shift, within 14 hours of the start of their shift.
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Not drive for more than 11 hours without having a rest break of 10 consecutive hours.
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Not go further than 150 air-miles (277,800 meters) away from where they started their shift.
If a driver violates the CDL short-haul exemption rule, the exemption is canceled and normal on-duty limits and break requirements apply.
The CDL short-haul exemption can be turned on or off from within the Verizon Connect HOS app. See Enabling the CDL short-haul Exemption for more information.
Some drivers using federal US rules might be able to use the non-CDL short-haul exemption. This rule exempts drivers from complying with the federal rest break rule, which requires drivers to take a rest break of 30 minutes or more if driving for more than 8 hours.
Drivers are eligible for the non-CDL short-haul exemption if they meet the following conditions:
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Use federal US rules.
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Drive a vehicle that does not require a commercial drivers license (CDL).
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Drive a vehicle that falls between the qualifying weight classes.
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Start and end each qualifying shift at their normal work reporting location.
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Stay within 150 air-miles of their normal work reporting location.
The following rules apply when using the non-CDL short-haul exemption:
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10 hour off-duty rule
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11 hour driving rule
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60/70-hour cycle limit
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34 hours cycle-reset rule
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Instead of the 14 hour on-duty rule, drivers must not drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty on 5 days of any period of 7 consecutive days, or after the 16th hour after coming on duty on 2 days of any period of 7 consecutive days.
If a driver uses the non-CDL short-haul exemption, they are not eligible to use:
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The split sleeper-berth provision
If a driver violates the non-CDL short-haul exemption rule, the exemption is canceled and normal on duty limits and break requirements apply. See Enabling the Non-CDL Short-Haul Exemption for more information.
The following types of breaks are defined for the purposes of hours-of-service reporting:
According to federal US rules, a driver may not drive for more than 8 cumulative hours without taking a rest break of at least 30 minutes. This break can be spent off duty, on duty, in the sleeper berth, or waiting in an oilfield (if oilfield options are used).
Between work shifts drivers must take rest breaks of 8 (for Texas rules) or 10 (for other rule sets) consecutive hours. These breaks are required to restart a driver’s driving allowance for the next work shift. Daily-reset breaks can be spent:
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Entirely in the sleeper berth.
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Entirely off duty.
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Entirely in the "Waiting" state (when using oilfield options).
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As a combination of off-duty time, waiting, and sleeper-berth time with no interruptions.
When using the Canada South rule set, drivers must take 8 hours of the required 10-hour rest break consecutively. The remaining 2 hours of off-duty time can be deferred to the next day or taken the same day. These 2 hours can be split into shorter breaks, but each break must be at least 30 minutes. Any breaks that are shorter than 30 minutes are counted as both on-duty and off-duty time. These breaks do not count towards the required time off to reset a driver’s daily on-duty allowance.
Between work shifts, drivers operating a vehicle with a sleeper berth can also take split rest breaks. This is when a driver takes two rest breaks instead of one continuous 10-hour rest break. Split rest breaks allow drivers to extend their 14-hour driving window at the end of the first rest break. This is called the split sleeper-berth extension.
Considerations when using the split daily-reset are as follows:
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One rest break must consist of at least 7 consecutive hours spent in the sleeper berth.
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The other rest break must consist of at least 2 consecutive hours spent off duty, waiting, in a sleeper berth, or as a continuous combination of two of these statuses.
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The two rest breaks must add up to a total of at least 10 hours. For example, if the first rest break is 7 hours, the second rest break must be a minimum of 3 hours.
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If there are more than two qualifying breaks, only the two longest breaks are relevant when calculating the split-break.
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The two split rest breaks can be separated by driving time and can be taken in any order.
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As soon as a driver has taken a break that is longer than 2 hours, the app assumes that they intend to split their rest break. To avoid triggering a violation, the minimum 2-hour split break must be paired with another break that consists of at least 7 consecutive hours spent in the sleeper berth.
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A violation is triggered retrospectively for any driving that occurred after the 14-hour driving window started if the driver did not proceed with the second break that qualifies for a split break provision, which would allow them to extend their 14-hour driving window.
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The split rest breaks do not count towards the recalculated 14-hour driving window. The app includes all the time on either side of the first qualifying rest period “paired” when calculating compliance with the 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour driving window.
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The split sleeper berth extension should not be considered a full 10-hour reset, since it moves the start time of the 14-hour driving window.
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Drivers may carry out non-driving work after the 14-hour driving limit is reached, but are not permitted to drive. The additional on-duty time counts towards their weekly 60- or 70-hour limit.
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If using oilfield options, the split rest break is a combination of 2 different rest periods of at least 2 hours that when summed equals at least 10 hours. Requirements for the periods:
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At least 1 of the rest periods must be at the oilfield.
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A rest period at the oilfield can be off duty, waiting, or sleeper berth time, or a continuous combination of these.
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A rest period outside the oilfield can only be sleeper berth time.
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See On Duty Limit Violations for more information on driving violations.
For more information on calculating compliance with the 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour driving window using the sleeper-berth provision, see the Interstate Truck Driver’s Guide to Hours of Service, or the Code of Federal Regulations - Sleeper Berth.
Between on-duty cycles, drivers must take cycle-reset breaks to restart their driving allowance for the next on-duty cycle.
The required length of the cycle-reset break depends on the rule set and cycle the driver uses:
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If drivers use any US rule sets, a cycle-reset break of 34 consecutive hours is required.
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If drivers use the Canada South and 70 hour-7 day or Canada North and 80 hour-7day rule, a break of 36 consecutive hours is required.
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If drivers use the Canada South and 120 hour-14 day rule, a break of 24 consecutive hours is required after the first 70 hours of on-duty time and a break of 72 consecutive hours is required after the remaining 50 hours.
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If drivers use the Canada North and 120 hour-14 day rule, a break of 24 consecutive hours is required after the first 80 hours of on-duty time and a break of 72 consecutive hours is required after the remaining 40 hours.
Cycle-reset breaks must be spent off duty.
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