Hours of Service Definitions

§395.2 Definitions.  

Guidance Q&A

Question 27: A motor carrier has full-time drivers who are also volunteer fire fighters. Some of the drivers carry pagers and leave their normal activities only when notified of a fire. Others consistently work 3 to 4 non-consecutive 24-hour shifts at a fire station each month, resting between calls. The drivers receive no monetary compensation for their work. How should the time spent on these activities be logged on the record of duty status when the drivers return to work?

Guidance: When drivers are free from obligations to their employers, that time may be recorded as off-duty time. Drivers who are allowed by the motor carrier to leave their normal activities to fight fires and those who spend full days in a fire station are clearly off duty. Their time should be recorded as such.