Owner-Operator
Hours of service in plain English
Three clocks run at once: driving time, the daily window, and the weekly cycle. Break any one and the truck stops.
The answer
The clocks
- 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
- 14-hour window — once it starts it does not pause for anything except a qualifying sleeper split.
- 30-minute break required after 8 cumulative hours of driving.
- 60 hours in 7 days or 70 in 8 days, depending on your carrier's cycle.
- 34-hour restart resets the weekly cycle.
Sleeper split
A qualifying split pairs a longer sleeper period with a shorter off-duty period, and the longer period does not count against your 14-hour window. Plan the split before you need it, not after the clock is nearly gone.
Planning, not logging
Use a planner to see where your clocks run out before you commit to an appointment time. Your ELD is the legal record — treat any planner, including ours, as a planning aid only.