Hours of Service Rules 2026: 11-Hour, 14-Hour & 70-Hour Limits

This year's hours of service rules for 2026 reuse the limits the FMCSA last changed in 2020. A driver may spend 11 hours behind the wheel after a 10-hour rest, and the 14th consecutive hour of the shift ends all driving.

Your electronic logging device (ELD) follows all 4 clocks. Keep these numbers on the dash:

• 11 hours of driving after a 10-hour rest
• No driving after 14 consecutive hours from shift start
• A 30-minute break before 8 cumulative driving hours
• A weekly ceiling of 60 or 70 on-duty hours, wiped clean by 34 hours of rest

Hours of Service Rules 2026: The Limits Every Driver Works Under

Driving and rest limits for commercial drivers live in 49 CFR Part 395.

Carriers that skip a day each week use the 60-hour cycle; daily carriers use 70. The FMCSA summary of HOS regulations lists the same limits for interstate drivers of vehicles over 10,000 lbs.

Did the Hours of Service Rules 2026 Change?

No. Every core limit is unchanged from 2025. Only 2 research pilots and 1 ELD paperwork rule moved.

Pilot 1 tests new sleeper splits, 6/4 and 5/5. The second pilot pauses the 14-hour window, up to 3 hours total, during idle waits like a slow shipper. CDLLife reports 9 drivers per pilot in the 2026 pre-tests, and DISA says 256 per pilot are planned for 2027.

FreightWaves says comment on the sleeper pilot stays open until December 7. Unless enrolled, a logged 6/4 or 5/5 split is a violation; only 7/3 and 8/2 remain legal.

Effective July 22, 2026, FMCSA also dropped the paper ELD manual requirement (91 FR 37050).

2 Clocks, 1 Shift: The 11-Hour Limit vs the 14-Hour Window

Only driving time feeds the 11-hour limit, while the 14-hour rule runs on the wall clock. At zero on either clock you cannot drive, but you can still do other work.

How many hours can a truck driver drive?

Driving time tops out at 11 hours per shift, and that allowance only returns after a full 10-hour rest. Loading, fueling and dock waits do not count, and a 30-minute break does not refill the 11.

What is the 14-hour rule?

The 14-hour rule is a stopwatch that starts at your first on-duty minute and never pauses, unless a nap is half of a qualifying split. A 06:00 start with a 3-hour dock wait closes the window at 20:00, even with 1 driving hour left. Poor route planning feeds that detention.

The 30-Minute Break, 70-Hour Rule and 34-Hour Restart

The break has to land before your 8th cumulative hour of driving. The 70-hour rule counts all on-duty time, and a 34-hour restart clears it.

The pause can be off duty, berth time, or non-driving work on duty, a flexibility added in 2020. Short-haul drivers skip it.

Picture a 70/8 driver who logged 58 on-duty hours across the last 7 days. That leaves 12 hours today, and the oldest day falls out of the count tomorrow. After 34 straight hours of rest, the tally returns to zero and the 11-hour and 14-hour clocks reset too.

Split Sleeper Berth Rules Under the Hours of Service Rules 2026 (7/3 and 8/2)

Split sleeper berth rules let a driver cut the 10-hour rest into 2 pieces that together reach 10 hours or more. Neither piece counts against the 14-hour window.

• Long block: 7+ hours logged in the sleeper berth
• Short block: 2+ hours, off duty or berth time
• Order is flexible, and work can happen between them (49 CFR 395.1(g))

In FMCSA's Example 16, a driver is on duty from 23:00 on Day 1 until 17:00 on Day 2 and still complies. Driving stopped 17 hours in, and subtracting a paired 3-hour break leaves exactly 14. The limit stops driving, not duty.

Exceptions to the Hours of Service Rules 2026: Adverse Driving, Short-Haul and Personal Conveyance

Adverse driving conditions add up to 2 hours (13 driving, 16 window) for unforeseeable trouble like sudden snow or a crash closing the interstate.

The short-haul exception covers drivers within 150 air-miles of their reporting location and released within 14 hours. They need no ELD or 30-minute break, but the driving and weekly limits still apply.

Personal conveyance rules allow off-duty driving to safe parking or between terminal and home. They do not cover moving a load or returning home from a dispatched trip. A trail from GPS fleet tracking shows where those miles went.

HOS Violations Under the Hours of Service Rules 2026: Out-of-Service Orders and CSA

Driving past any limit puts a driver out of service until enough hours return, and the violation lands in the carrier's CSA record. Falsifying logs is a separate, more serious violation.

• Treating "on duty" and "driving" as the same
• Assuming off-duty time pauses the 14-hour window
• Using personal conveyance to move a loaded trailer
• Ignoring the 70-hour balance until Friday

Guides quote maximum fines from $16,000 to $19,246, so check Appendix B to 49 CFR Part 386. 49 CFR 392.3 also bars driving while fatigue makes it unsafe. A weekly HOS and ELD audit playbook catches problems early.

How an ELD Tracks the Hours of Service Rules 2026

An ELD logs driving automatically above 5 mph, but you still pick duty status and certify logs. For a plain walkthrough of the device itself, see how an ELD records your day. Top Tracking System was founded in 2016 and built its ELD in 2017.

FAQs

1. How many hours can a truck driver drive in a day?

A driver gets 11 hours of driving per shift, and all of it must fit inside the 14-hour window that starts at the first on-duty minute. A 10-hour rest, or a qualifying split, is what earns a fresh 11.

2. Can drivers use a 5/5 split for their rest?

Not under current law. Today only a berth period of 7 hours or more paired with a rest of 2 hours or more, reaching 10 together, is allowed. 5/5 splits are open only to drivers enrolled in the FMCSA flexible sleeper pilot.

3. Do local drivers have to follow HOS rules?

Yes, HOS rules 2026 cover local drivers who work in interstate commerce. Meeting the 150 air-mile short-haul test frees a driver from the ELD and the 30-minute break, though the driving and weekly caps stay.

4. Are the hours of service rules 2026 different from 2025?

No. Driving, window, break and weekly numbers all match last year. What changed in 2026 is limited to 2 voluntary pilot programs and the end of the paper ELD manual requirement.

Conclusion

The same 4 limits apply this year, and the 14-hour rule usually ends a legal driving day before the 11 driving hours are gone. Plan around the window and check your 70-hour balance before a Friday load.

Stop guessing which clock you are on

Running out of the window 40 minutes from the receiver is a bad time to find a log problem. Top Tracking System offers an FMCSA-registered ELD, the TopTracking HOS app, security cameras for trucks and GPS on one platform, month-to-month with no long-term contract.

Talk to a fleet specialist