Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long a truck driver may drive and how long the driver may stay on the clock. For a property-carrying truck, 49 CFR 395.3 permits 11 hours of driving, all before the 14th hour after coming on duty from a 10-hour rest, with a break due after 8 hours at the wheel and a weekly ceiling of 60 or 70 hours on duty. After a crash, the logs and the carrier’s paperwork show whether those limits held.
The short version
- Daily limits. No driving without 10 consecutive hours off duty first, no driving after the 14th consecutive hour on duty, and no more than 11 hours of driving in that window (49 CFR 395.3(a)).
- Break and weekly limits. Driving stops once more than 8 hours of driving time pass without a 30-minute interruption, and a driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (§ 395.3(a)(3)(ii), (b)).
- Exceptions are narrow. Adverse driving conditions add up to two hours, and short-haul drivers who stay within a 150 air-mile radius are excused from logging, but not from every limit (§ 395.1).
- Records are the proof. Drivers record duty status on an electronic logging device, and the carrier keeps those records and the supporting documents for at least 6 months (§ 395.8).
- A violation is evidence, not the whole case. An hours breach has to be tied to the crash, and the six-month retention period makes early requests important.
Who has to follow the federal hours-of-service rules?
Under 49 CFR 395.1(a)(1), the rules in Part 395 apply to all motor carriers and drivers except where the regulation provides otherwise. Section 395.3 sets the limits for drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles, which covers the tractor-trailers seen on Houston freeways, while bus drivers follow a different set of numbers.
The wording is in the eCFR text of § 395.1, which lists every exception in paragraphs (b) through (x). The carrier is bound too: section 395.3(a) says no motor carrier shall permit or require a driver to drive outside the limits.
Texas adds a state layer. Under Transportation Code § 644.051(b) and (c), the Department of Public Safety’s director adopts commercial vehicle safety rules that must be consistent with federal regulations and may adopt them by reference. Section 644.052(a) adds that a rule the director adopts applies statewide even where the federal regulations exempt something, except for the Part 395 exemption covering intracity or commercial zone operations; the text is in Chapter 644. Which rule governs a truck that never leaves Texas is for counsel to confirm. For the wider picture, see our overview of how 18-wheeler claims differ from car claims.
What are the daily driving limits for an 18-wheeler driver?
A property-carrying driver may not drive without 10 consecutive hours off duty, may not drive after the 14th consecutive hour on duty, and may drive 11 hours in total inside that window. Driving is also not permitted once more than 8 hours of driving time pass without a 30-minute interruption.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s summary adds that off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period. Under § 395.3(a)(3)(ii), the 30-minute interruption can be off-duty, sleeper berth or on-duty not-driving time, or a combination.
| Limit | What the rule says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Start of shift | No driving without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty | § 395.3(a)(1) |
| 14-hour window | No driving after 14 consecutive hours from coming on duty following 10 hours off | § 395.3(a)(2) |
| 11 hours of driving | A driver may drive a total of 11 hours during the 14-hour window | § 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| 30-minute interruption | No driving once more than 8 hours of driving time pass without a consecutive 30-minute break | § 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| 60 hours in 7 days | For a carrier that does not operate every day of the week | § 395.3(b)(1) |
| 70 hours in 8 days | For a carrier that operates every day of the week | § 395.3(b)(2) |
| 34-hour restart | Either period may end when an off-duty stretch of 34 or more consecutive hours begins | § 395.3(c) |
A long wait at a dock can use up the window without adding to the 11 hours of driving. Fatigue is one cause among several, as the list of causes of Houston truck crashes shows.
How do the 60- and 70-hour weekly limits and the 34-hour restart work?
A driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in any 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not run every day, or after 70 hours in 8 consecutive days if it does. A rest of at least 34 consecutive hours lets either period end, and the count starts over.
Both numbers are measured in hours on duty, not only hours behind the wheel (§ 395.3(b)), so the question in a claim is how many hours the driver had accumulated by the day of the crash. The eCFR text of § 395.3 sets out the cap and the restart in paragraphs (b) and (c). Reading a week of logs often takes an expert, the subject of our piece on reconstruction and trucking-safety witnesses.
What exceptions can extend or excuse the hours limits?
The main ones in 49 CFR 395.1 are up to two extra hours in adverse driving conditions, completing a run in an emergency, a different 8-day reset for oilfield equipment drivers, and a short-haul exception for drivers staying within 150 air miles. The sleeper berth provision also lets a driver split the 10-hour rest.
Under § 395.1(b)(1), a driver who meets the adverse-conditions definition and cannot safely finish the run within the usual limits may drive no more than two additional hours beyond the maximum to complete the run or reach a place of safety. Section 395.1(b)(2) lets a driver complete a run in an emergency if the run reasonably could have been completed absent the emergency.
For a Gulf Coast carrier the oilfield paragraph matters. Section 395.1(d)(1) covers drivers of vehicles used exclusively to transport oilfield equipment, including pipe for pipelines, and to service natural gas and oil field operations: any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 24 or more successive hours.
| Exception | What it changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Adverse driving conditions | Up to two additional hours beyond the maximum, only to finish the run or reach safety | 49 CFR 395.1(b)(1) |
| Emergency | Run may be completed if it reasonably could have been completed absent the emergency | 49 CFR 395.1(b)(2) |
| Oilfield operations | An 8-day period may end with 24 or more successive hours off duty | 49 CFR 395.1(d)(1) |
| Short-haul, 150 air miles | Exempt from §§ 395.8 and 395.11 if the driver returns and is released within 14 consecutive hours, has 10 hours off between shifts, and the carrier keeps time records for 6 months | 49 CFR 395.1(e)(1) |
| Sleeper berth split | The 10 hours off may be split into one period of at least 2 hours and one of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, adding up to at least 10 | FMCSA summary |
A driver using the 150-air-mile exception is not free of every limit: that exception requires release from work within 14 consecutive hours, and § 395.3(a)(3)(ii) excuses only the 30-minute break. Whether an exception applied on the day of a crash turns on the driver’s route and records.
How are a truck driver’s hours recorded and how long are the records kept?
Under 49 CFR 395.8, most drivers record duty status on an electronic logging device, and the motor carrier must keep the record of duty status and its supporting documents for at least six months. A separate rule, § 395.22(i), adds a six-month backup copy of the electronic records on a different device.
The FMCSA’s electronic logging device page explains that the device synchronizes with the vehicle engine to record driving time automatically. Paper logs are limited by § 395.8(a)(1)(ii) to a driver who completes a record of duty status on not more than 8 days in any 30-day period, a driveaway-towaway operation, or a vehicle built before model year 2000. The driver must submit the record to the carrier within 13 days (§ 395.8(a)(2)(ii)).
Under § 395.11, a carrier keeps supporting documents for each driver for each 24-hour period, among them bills of lading, dispatch records, expense receipts, electronic mobile communication records and payroll records, though no more than eight are required for one driver’s 24-hour period. A lawyer uses them to test the log. The text is in § 395.8 on eCFR, and the backup rule is in § 395.22.
The regulation also bars falsification: § 395.8(e)(1) says no driver or motor carrier may make a false report in connection with a duty status, and § 395.8(e)(2) bars tampering with an electronic logging device so that it does not accurately record required data. The truck’s own engine data and the other records a claim depends on are covered in the evidence guide.
What happens when a driver breaks the hours rules?
A driver who has driven past the permitted hours can be ordered out of service on inspection, and the motor carrier may not require or permit that driver to keep driving until the driver may lawfully do so. Whether the breach also gives rise to a civil claim depends on what caused the crash.
The criteria are in 49 CFR 395.13. Paragraph (b)(1) says no driver shall drive after being on duty in excess of the maximum periods permitted, and paragraph (b)(2) covers a driver without a current record of duty status for the day of examination and the prior seven consecutive days. Under paragraph (c)(1)(i), a carrier shall not require or permit an out-of-service driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle until the driver may lawfully do so.
On Houston streets that check falls to the Houston Police Department’s Truck Enforcement Unit, whose page says its officers are certified through the FMCSA and Texas DPS, run a 37-item commercial vehicle inspection, and give the driver an out-of-service order when a serious federal violation turns up.
Those are roadside enforcement rules. In a civil case the question is different: did an hours violation help cause this crash, and who was responsible for it? Our articles on who may be held liable for a truck crash and on proving gross negligence against a carrier take those questions further. Whether a violation amounts to negligence or gross negligence is for counsel to assess on the records.
How much does driver fatigue figure in large-truck crashes?
In the federal Large Truck Crash Causation Study, fatigue was coded as a factor for 13 percent of the large trucks in the national estimate, and 10 percent were coded with the driver feeling under work pressure from the carrier. The study covered fatal and injury crashes between April 2001 and December 2003, so its figures describe that period.
The FMCSA’s analysis brief reports those figures for the 141,000 large trucks estimated to have been in injury and fatal crashes. It defines a “non-performance” driver reason as one where the driver “fell asleep, was disabled by a heart attack or seizure, or was physically impaired for another reason,” and it cautions that for associated factors “no judgment is made as to whether any factor is related to the reason for a particular crash, just whether the factor was present.”
Houston has its own examples. On 8 May 2022, KPRC reported that Precinct 4 deputies said the driver of an 18-wheeler hauling fruit fell asleep and hit the tollbooth plaza on N. Sam Houston Parkway West at Veterans Memorial; the truck landed on its side and no injuries were reported. The report says nothing about the driver’s hours. A later one: KPRC reported on November 29, 2024 that deputies said a box truck driver fell asleep on Beltway 8 near Bissonnet and hit the divider; the passenger was ejected and died, and the driver survived. The report does not say how long the driver had been working. Our report on the October 12 rollover at I-10 covers a more recent crash.
Medical and impairment questions are separate subjects: see truckers and untreated medical conditions and proving drug use.
How do hours-of-service records help prove a truck crash claim?
They show how many hours the driver had been on duty, when rest began and how the load was dispatched. A lawyer compares the electronic log with fuel receipts, dispatch messages and payroll records, because a log that does not match them is a reason to ask more questions.
The six-month retention period in § 395.8(k)(1) is the practical deadline, so a written preservation request goes out early. The first days are laid out in a checklist for the scene and the week after, and the missteps that can weaken a claim are in the mistakes list.
Our truck pages for Sugar Land, Katy, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston and The Woodlands cover truck crashes in each area, and the 18-wheeler accident page covers the claim itself. What a claim may be worth is discussed on the settlement page and the insurance layers in a piece on coverage after an 18-wheeler crash. Texas divides fault by percentage, as explained in our article on comparative negligence, and a guide to questions to ask before hiring helps with an interstate carrier.
Hours-of-service questions turn on records that expire, so write to the carrier early; how lawyers are paid is a separate question, and the results page shows published outcomes that predict nothing about the next case. Details of your crash can go through the contact page. A fatal crash is a wrongful death matter, and the wider practice is on the personal injury page.
Frequently asked questions
When do the hours of service regulations apply?
While a driver is operating a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle. The daily clock begins after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and the 14-hour window runs from the moment the driver comes on duty after that rest (49 CFR 395.3(a)).
Does a break stop the 14-hour clock?
No. The FMCSA’s summary says off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period. The exception is the sleeper berth split: when a qualifying pair of rest periods adding up to at least 10 hours is used together, neither period counts against the 14-hour window.
Can a truck driver log hours on paper instead of an electronic device?
Only in limited cases: a driver who completes a record of duty status on not more than 8 days in any 30-day period, a driveaway-towaway operation, or a vehicle manufactured before model year 2000 (49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)(ii)).
Do bus drivers have the same limits as truck drivers?
No. The FMCSA’s summary lists a 10-hour driving limit after 8 consecutive hours off duty and a 15-hour on-duty limit for passenger-carrying drivers, against 11 hours of driving and a 14-hour window for property-carrying drivers.
Can a trucking company be responsible when its driver breaks the hours rules?
The regulation addresses the carrier directly: § 395.3(a) says no motor carrier shall permit or require a driver to drive outside the limits. Whether a carrier is liable for a particular crash is decided on the records and Texas law.
Is an hours-of-service violation the same as negligence?
No. The regulation sets the limit, and a violation is evidence a lawyer examines. The claim still has to show that the breach helped cause the crash, and responsibility is then divided among the parties under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 33.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
State Bar of TexasAvvoMartindale-HubbellLawLinkThatCarHitMeLinkedIn
Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.