Hours of Service (HOS) Calculator

For property-carrying drivers: (1) 11-hour driving limit — max 11 hours driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty; (2) 14-hour window — may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty (breaks don't extend it); (3) 30-minute break — required after 8 cumulative hours of driving; (4) 60/70-hour limit — max 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 in 8 days, resettable with a 34-hour restart. All run simultaneously; the one that runs out first is your binding limit, which is exactly what this calculator surfaces.

The 11-hour rule limits DRIVING time; the 14-hour rule limits the WINDOW in which driving may occur. After 10 hours off, your 14-hour clock starts when you go on duty and runs continuously — driving must stop at hour 14 regardless of how much you've driven. The catch: non-driving time (loading, waiting, breaks, meals) consumes the 14-hour window without consuming the 11 driving hours. So a driver delayed at a dock can hit the 14-hour wall with driving hours to spare — the window closed even though the driving limit didn't. Confusing the two is a common and costly HOS error.

Taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty resets the 60/70-hour cycle clock to zero, letting a driver begin a fresh weekly cycle. It's how drivers who'd otherwise be capped by the weekly limit get back to full available hours. The 11-hour and 14-hour limits still apply per duty period regardless — the restart only resets the multi-day cycle. Rules around the restart have changed over time (past versions had additional conditions), so the current FMCSA regulation governs; the core mechanism is 34+ consecutive off-duty hours resetting the weekly clock.

No — ELDs automate the logging and calculation, but understanding the rules still matters for trip planning (will this run finish legally?), verifying the ELD (they can be misconfigured or misused), handling situations ELDs don't fully automate (split sleeper berth, personal conveyance, exemptions, edits), and knowing your status when planning the next move. The ELD tells you where you are; understanding HOS lets you plan where you can get to. This calculator complements the ELD as a planning and check tool — and for the many operations and jurisdictions where ELD mandates differ, manual HOS understanding remains essential.