Truck Dispatcher TruckDisp Advanced Hours of Service (HOS) 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the personal conveyance (PC) rule, a driver may move their CMV off-duty for personal reasons. Which situation does NOT qualify as personal conveyance?
- Driving to a restaurant from a truck stop after completing a delivery
- Moving the truck to a nearby safe parking area from an unsafe location
- Driving a loaded trailer to the next shipper as instructed by dispatch (Correct answer)
- Returning home after being relieved from duty
Correct answer: Driving a loaded trailer to the next shipper as instructed by dispatch
Personal conveyance cannot be used when the vehicle is loaded and the movement benefits the carrier's business operations.
Question 2: What is the purpose of the 'yard move' (YM) special driving category on an ELD?
- To log time spent fueling at a public truck stop
- To record movement of a CMV within a private facility such as a terminal or yard (Correct answer)
- To document driving during a 34-hour restart period
- To track mileage during personal conveyance trips
Correct answer: To record movement of a CMV within a private facility such as a terminal or yard
Yard moves allow drivers to log in-facility CMV movement as on-duty not driving time rather than driving time, since it occurs on private property.
Question 3: A shipper detains a driver for 5 hours beyond the scheduled appointment. How should a dispatcher handle this detention from an HOS standpoint?
- Log the extra 5 hours as off-duty since the driver is not driving
- Track it as on-duty not driving time and adjust the driver's remaining HOS accordingly (Correct answer)
- Use those hours toward the driver's sleeper berth split
- Ignore detention time as it does not affect HOS calculations
Correct answer: Track it as on-duty not driving time and adjust the driver's remaining HOS accordingly
Detention time is on-duty not driving time and directly reduces the driver's available 14-hour window and weekly hours.
Question 4: Which HOS rule specifically requires a driver to take a 30-minute break before they can continue driving?
- After 8 cumulative hours of driving time without a break of at least 30 minutes (Correct answer)
- After every 4 hours of on-duty time
- Before starting any trip that will exceed 11 hours of driving
- Whenever the driver crosses a state line
Correct answer: After 8 cumulative hours of driving time without a break of at least 30 minutes
Drivers must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving; the break can be off-duty, sleeper berth, or on-duty not driving.
Question 5: A dispatcher is building a load plan for a driver who is currently at hour 55 of a 7-day cycle. How many hours of on-duty time remain before a 34-hour restart is mandatory?
- 5 hours (Correct answer)
- 15 hours
- 10 hours
- 7 hours
Correct answer: 5 hours
The 7-day cycle cap is 60 hours; at hour 55, only 5 hours of on-duty time remain before the restart is required.
Question 6: Which of the following records must a carrier retain for HOS compliance under FMCSA regulations?
- ELD records for 6 months
- Paper logs for 30 days and ELD data for 6 months
- Driver logs for at least 6 months (Correct answer)
- Dispatch records only; driver logs are the driver's responsibility
Correct answer: Driver logs for at least 6 months
FMCSA requires carriers to retain driver records of duty status (RODS) for a minimum of 6 months.
Question 7: What does the '8-day/70-hour' cycle allow that the '7-day/60-hour' cycle does not?
- Additional driving time on weekends
- An extra 10 hours of on-duty time spread over 8 consecutive days (Correct answer)
- The ability to skip the 34-hour restart
- Use of personal conveyance without logging
Correct answer: An extra 10 hours of on-duty time spread over 8 consecutive days
The 8-day/70-hour cycle gives drivers and carriers 10 additional on-duty hours spread over 8 days compared to the 7-day/60-hour cycle.
Truck Dispatcher TruckDisp Advanced Hours of Service (HOS) 4
Under the personal conveyance (PC) rule, a driver may move their CMV off-duty for personal reasons.
Which situation does NOT qualify as personal conveyance?