Question 1:
How should a change of duty status for a short period of time be shown on the
driver’s record of duty status?
Guidance:
Short periods of time (less than 15 minutes) may be identified by drawing a
line from the appropriate on-duty (not driving) or driving line to the remarks
section and entering the amount of time, such as “6 minutes,” and the
geographic location of the duty status change.
Question 2:
May a rubber stamp signature be used on a driver’s record of duty
status?
Guidance:
No, a driver’s record of duty status must bear the signature of the driver
whose time is recorded thereon.
Question 3:
If a driver’s record of duty status is not signed, may enforcement action be
taken on the current day’s record if it contains false information?
Guidance:
Enforcement action can be taken against the driver even though that record may
not be signed. The regulations require the driver to keep the record of duty
status current to the time of last change of duty status (whether or not the
record has been signed). Also, §395.8(e) states that making false reports shall
make the driver and/or the carrier liable to prosecution.
Question 4:
Must drivers, alternating between interstate and intrastate commerce, record
their intrastate driving time on their record of duty status?
Guidance:
Yes, to account for all on-duty time for the prior 7 or 8 days preceding an
interstate movement.
Question 5:
May a driver, being used for the first time, submit records of duty status for
the preceding 7 days in lieu of a signed statement?
Guidance:
The carrier may accept true and accurate copies of the driver’s record of duty
status for the preceding 7 days in lieu of the signed statement required by
§395.8(j)(2).
Question 6:
How should multiple short stops in a town or city be recorded on a record of
duty status?
Guidance:
All stops made in any one city, town, village or municipality may be computed
as one. In such cases the sum of all stops should be shown on a continuous line
as on-duty (not driving).The aggregate driving time between such stops should
be entered on the record of duty status immediately following the on-duty (not
driving) entry. The name of the city, town, village, or municipality, followed
by the State abbreviation where all the stops took place, must appear in the
“remarks” section of the record of duty status.
Question 7:
Is the Canadian bilingual or any other record of duty status form acceptable in
the U.S.?
Guidance:
Yes, provided the grid format and specific information required are
included.
Question 8:
May a motor carrier return a driver’s completed record of duty status to the
driver for correction of inaccurate or incomplete entries?
Guidance:
Yes, although the regulations do not require a driver to submit “corrected”
records of duty status. A driver may submit corrected records of duty status to
the motor carrier at any time. It is suggested the carrier mark the second
submission “COR RECTED COPY” and staple it to the original submission for the
required retention period.
Question 9:
May a duplicate copy of a record of duty status be submitted if an original was
seized by an enforcement official?
Guidance:
A driver must prepare a second original record of duty status to replace any
page taken by an enforcement official. The driver should note that the first
original had been taken by an enforcement official and the circumstances under
which it was taken.
Question 10:
What regulation, interpretation, and/or administrative ruling requires a motor
carrier to retain supporting documents and what are those documents?
Guidance:
Section 395.8(k)(1) requires motor carriers to retain all supporting documents
at their principal places of business for a period of 6 months from date of
receipt.
Supporting documents are the records of the motor carrier
which are maintained in the ordinary course of business and used by the motor
carrier to verify the information recorded on the driver’s record of duty
status. Examples are: bills of lading, carrier pros, freight bills, dispatch
records, driver call-in records, gate record receipts, weight/scale tickets,
fuel receipts, fuel billing statements, toll receipts, international
registration plan receipts, international fuel tax agreement receipts, trip
permits, port of entry receipts, cash advance receipts, delivery receipts,
lumper receipts, interchange and inspection reports, lessor settlement sheets,
over/short and damage reports, agricultural inspection reports, CVSA reports,
accident reports, telephone billing statements, credit card receipts, driver
fax reports, on-board computer reports, border crossing reports, custom
declarations, traffic citations, overweight/oversize reports and citations,
and/or other documents directly related to the motor carrier’s operation, which
are retained by the motor carrier in connection with the operation of its
transportation business. Supporting documents may include other documents which
the motor carrier maintains and can be used to verify information on the
driver’s records of duty status. If these records are maintained at locations
other than the principal place of business but are not used by the motor
carrier for verification purposes, they must be forwarded to the principal
place of business upon a request by an authorized representative of the FHWA or
State official within 2 business days.
Question 11:
Is a driver who works for a motor carrier on an occasional basis and who is
regularly employed by a non-motor carrier entity required to submit either
records of duty status or a signed statement regarding the hours of service for
all on-duty time as “on-duty time” as defined by §395.2?
Guidance:
Yes.
Question 12:
May a driver use “white-out” liquid paper to correct a record of duty status
entry?
Guidance:
Any method of correction would be acceptable so long as it does not negate the
obligation of the driver to certify by his or her signature that all entries
were made by the driver and are true and correct.
Question 13:
Are drivers required to draw continuous lines between the off-duty, sleeper
berth, driving, and on-duty (not driving) lines on a record of duty status when
changing their duty status?
Guidance:
No. Under §395.8(h) the FMCSRs require that continuous lines be drawn between
the appropriate time markers within each duty status line, but they do not
require that continuous lines be drawn between the appropriate duty status
lines when drivers change their duty status.
Question 14:
What documents satisfy the requirement to show a shipping document number on a
record of duty status as found in §395.8(d)(11)?
Guidance:
The following are some of the documents acceptable to satisfy the requirement:
shipping manifests, invoices/freight bills, trip reports, charter orders,
special order numbers, bus bills or any other document that identifies a
particular movement of passengers or cargo.
In the event of multiple shipments, a single document will
satisfy the requirement. If a driver is dispatched on a trip, which is
subsequently completed, and then is dispatched on another trip on that calendar
day, two shipping document numbers or two shippers and commodities must be
shown in the remarks section of the record of duty status.
Question 15:
If a driver from a foreign country only operates in the U.S. one day a week, is
he required to keep a record of duty status for every day?
Guidance:
A foreign driver, when in the U.S., must produce a current record of duty
status, and sufficient documentation to account for his duty time for the
previous 6 days.
Question 16:
Are drivers required to include their total on-duty time for the previous 7 to
8 days (as applicable) on the driver’s record of duty status?
Guidance:
No.
Question 17:
Can military time be used on the grid portion of the driver’s record of duty
status?
Guidance:
Yes. The references to 9:00 A.M., 3:00 P.M., etc. in §395.8(d)(6) are examples
only. Military time is also acceptable.
Question 18:
Section 395.8(d)(4) requires that the name of the motor carrier be shown on the
driver’s record of duty status. If a company owns more than one motor carrier
subject to the FMCSRs, may the company use logs listing the names of all such
motor carrier employers and require the driver to identify the carrier for
which he or she drives?
Guidance:
Yes, provided three conditions are met. First, the driver must identify his or
her motor carrier employer by a method that would be visible on a photocopy of
the log. A dark check mark by the carrier’s name would be acceptable. However,
a colored highlight of the name would not be acceptable, since these colors are
often transparent to photocopiers.
Second, the driver may check off the name of the motor
carrier employer only if he or she works for a single carrier during the 24
hour period covered by the log.
Third, if the parent company uses Multi day Logs (Form 139
or139A),the log for each day must list all motor carrier employers and the
driver must identify his or her carrier each day.
Question 19:
Regulatory guidance issued by the Office of Motor Carriers states that a
driver’s record-of-duty-status (RODS) may be used as the 100 air-mile radius
time record “provided the form contains the mandatory information.” Is this
“mandatory information” that required of a normal RODS under section 395.8(d)
or that of the 100 air-mile radius exemption under section 395.1(e)(5)?
Guidance:
The “mandatory information” referred to is the time records specified by
§395.1(e)(5) which must show: (1) the time the driver reports for duty each
day; (2) the total number of hours the driver is on duty each day; (3) the time
the driver is released from duty each day; and (4) the total time for the
preceding 7 days in accordance with §395.8(j)(2) for drivers used for the first
time or intermittently.
Using the RODS to comply with §395.1(e)(5) is not prohibited
as long as the RODS contains driver identification, the date, the time the
driver began work, the time the driver ended work, and the total hours on
duty.
Question 20:
When a driver fails to meet the provisions of the 100 air-mile radius exemption
(section 395.1(e)), is the driver required to have copies of his/her records of
duty status for the previous seven days? Must the driver prepare daily records
of duty status for the next seven days?
Guidance:
The driver must only have in his/her possession a record of duty status for the
day he/she does not qualify for the exemption. The record of duty status must
cover the entire day, even if the driver has to record retroactively changes in
status that occurred between the time that the driver reported for duty and the
time in which he/she no longer qualified for the 100 air-mile radius exemption.
This is the only way to ensure that a driver does not claim the right to drive
10 hours after leaving his/her exempt status, in addition to the hours already
driven under the 100 air-mile exemption.
Question 21:
What is the carrier’s liability when its drivers falsify records of duty
status?
Guidance:
A carrier is liable both for the actions of its drivers in submitting false
documents and for its own actions in accepting false documents. Motor carriers
have a duty to require drivers to observe the FMCSRs.
Question 22:
If a driver logs his/her duty status as “driving” but makes multiple short
stops (each less than 15 minutes) for on-duty or off-duty activities, marks a
vertical line on the grid for each stop, and records the elapsed time for each
in the remarks section of the grid, would the aggregate time spent on those
non-driving activities be counted against the 10-hour driving limit?
Guidance:
No. On-duty not driving time or off-duty time is not counted against the
10-hour driving limit.
Question 23:
When the driver’s duty status changes, do §§395.8(c) or 395.8(h)(5) require a
description of on-duty not driving activities (“fueling,” “pre-trip,”
“loading,” “unloading,”, etc.) in the remarks section in addition to the name
of the nearest city, town or village followed by the State abbreviation?
Guidance:
No. Many motor carriers require drivers to identify work performed during a
change of duty status. Part 395 neither requires nor prohibits this
practice.
Question 24:
When must a driver complete the signature/certification of the driver’s record
of duty status?
Guidance:
In general, the driver must sign the record of duty status immediately after
all required entries have been made for the 24-hour period. However, if the
driver is driving at the end of the24-hourperiod,he/shemustsign during the next
stop. A driver may also sign the record of duty status upon going off duty if
he/she expects to remain off duty until the end of the 24-hour period.
Question 25:
Is a driver (United States or foreign) required to maintain a record of duty
status(log book)in a foreign country before entering the U.S.?
Guidance:
No. The FHWA does not require drivers to prepare records of duty status while
operating outside the jurisdiction of the United States.
However,
it may be advantageous for any driver (U.S. or foreign) to prepare records of
duty status for short-term foreign trips. Upon entering the U.S., each driver
must either: (a) Have in his/her possession a record of duty status current on
the day of the examination showing the total hours worked for the prior seven
consecutive days, including time spent outside the U.S.; or, (b) Demonstrate
that he/she is operating as a “100 air-mile (161 air-kilometer) radius driver”
under §395.1(e).
Question 26:
If a driver is permitted to use a CMV for personal reasons, how must the
driving time be recorded?
Guidance:
When a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work,
time spent traveling from a driver’s home to his/her terminal (normal work
reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to his/her home, may be
considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from
a driver’s en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to
restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time.
The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the
driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route
lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver
may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a
motor carrier’s CMV for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the
employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the
time the driver leaves home.
A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements
of the hours of service regulations may not drive a CMV to any location to
obtain rest.
*Question 27:
Would a driver who prepares his/her log on a computer, ‘digitally’ signs the
log, and then transmits it directly to the carrier, be in compliance with 49
CFR §395.8(f)(2)?
Guidance:
No. The driver’s activities must be recorded in accordance with the provisions
of §395.8(f)(2). This section requires that all entries relating to driver’s
duty status must be legible and in the driver’s own handwriting.
*Question 28:
May a driver use a computer to generate his or her record of duty status (log
book) and then manually sign the computer printouts in lieu of handwritten
logs?
Guidance:
A driver may use a computer to generate the graph grid and entries for the
record of duty status or log books, provided the computer-generated output
includes the minimum information required by §395.8 and is formatted in
accordance with the rules. In addition, the driver must:
| 1. | Be capable of printing the record of duty status for the
current 24-hour period at the request of an enforcement officer. |
| 2. | Print the record of duty status at the end of each 24-hour
period, and sign it in his or her handwriting to certify that all entries
required by this section are true and correct. |
| 3. | Maintain a copy of printed and signed records of duty status
for the previous 7 consecutive days and make it available for inspection at the
request of an enforcement officer. |
*Editor’s Note:
This interpretation was issued after the interpretations were published in the
Federal Register
in April 1997.