Can a driver take an 8 hour sleeper?

Can a driver take an 8 hour sleeper?

The answer is NO, because he did not get 8 consecutive hours in the berth, so the entire 8 1/2 hour break counts against his 14 hour limit. Under the new rules, in contrast to the 2003 rules, a driver can use a single sleeper period to extend the 14 hour limit. That sleeper period, however, must be 8 consecutive hours long.

What are the new rules for sleeper berths?

New Sleeper Berth Rules. Because one of the two breaks will count against the driver’s 14-hour limit, the new rules change the way you calculate available hours after a break. As under the 2003 rules, once you have completed two qualifying rest breaks that add up to 10 hours (one being at least 8 hours in a sleeper berth),…

How long can you sleep in a truck sleeper?

That sleeper period, however, must be 8 consecutive hours long. If you take a 2-hour nap while your truck is unloaded, that time will always count against the 14 hour limit, even if you go back into the sleeper for 8 hours later in the day.

What are the rules for a split sleeper?

Everybody’s been calling on the new hours. Among the changes in the 2005 rules, perhaps the most significant–and most confusing–relates to the split-sleeper option. That’s the option that allows a driver to split his/her required 10 consecutive hours of rest into two separate, non-consecutive breaks.

Do you count time spent in sleeper berth as on duty?

Specifically, it relies on the department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules, which don’t count time spent resting in a truck’s sleeper berth as on-duty time. That practice was challenged as part of the December 2016 federal lawsuit brought by three truck drivers against P.A.M.

Why do drivers not have to pay for sleeper berth?

“Their position is that when you are logged in to the sleeper berth, they don’t have to pay you because that means you are resting and if you are resting you can’t be working,” said Justin L. Swidler, the drivers’ attorney in the P.A.M. suit and a partner at Swartz Swidler in Cherry Hill, N.J.

How often do you have to take a split sleeper berth?

1. Why would a driver want to take split sleeper berth time? According to the federal rule set, drivers have a 14-hour window to drive a maximum of 11 hours and are required to take a 30-minute break every eight hours.

Why did the FMCSA add the split sleeper rule?

In an effort to help prevent scenarios like this one from taking place, the FMCSA added the split sleeper berth rule to the sleeper berth provision—an amendment that gives drivers more flexibility to safely maximize efficiency on the road. 2. How does the sleeper berth provision work?