Hours of Service and Regulatory Requirements
What this domain tests
Passenger-carrier hours-of-service limits, CDL class and endorsement rules, reporting obligations, and drug and alcohol testing basics.
Core rules
- Passenger-carrying HOS (49 CFR 395.3): 10 hours driving maximum, 15-hour on-duty window, 8 consecutive hours off duty before the next shift, and 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days, with a 34-hour restart available.
- The 30-minute break after 8 hours applies to property-carrying drivers, not to passenger-carrying operations. Do not import it.
- Class B CDL covers a vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers including the driver with a GVWR of 26,001 pounds or more; a smaller bus designed for 16 or more passengers needs a Class C. The P endorsement is required for passenger operation; S covers school bus.
- A driver must notify the employer in writing within 30 days of a traffic conviction, and within 24 hours of a suspension, revocation, or cancellation of driving privileges.
- Drug and alcohol: pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up testing. Post-accident alcohol testing is due within 8 hours and drug testing within 32 hours. A CDL holder is prohibited at 0.04 BAC.
- Keep the medical examiner's certificate current and self-certify the type of operation.
Worked example
A driver reports at 06:00, drives 06:00-10:00 (4 hours), spends 10:00-14:00 on duty loading and waiting, drives 14:00-20:00 (6 hours), totaling 10 hours driving. At 20:00 the driver is legal and has used 14 hours of the 15-hour window. Any further driving would exceed the 10-hour limit, and the window closes at 21:00 anyway. The next shift cannot start until 8 consecutive hours off duty.
Traps
Applying the property-carrier 30-minute break; counting only driving time toward the 15-hour window; forgetting the 8-hour reset; missing the 24-hour versus 30-day notification split.