Master Guide to Hours of Service, Recap & Cycle Rules

01

Regulatory Foundations

Under FMCSA safety regulations, commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are governed by strict cumulative duty limits. The Recap System is the legal mechanism that lets drivers reclaim duty hours without taking a full 34‑hour restart.

70 hrs / 8 days

Max on‑duty time for 7‑day/week operations. Cannot drive once reached.

60 hrs / 7 days

Max on‑duty time for carriers operating 6 days a week.

Crucial distinction — hitting your 70‑ or 60‑hour limit does not stop you from working (yard moves, maintenance, admin). It strictly prohibits driving a CMV on public roads until hours drop off or a 34‑hour restart is completed.

02

70 vs 60‑Hour Rule Comparison

Feature	70‑Hour / 8‑Day Rule	60‑Hour / 7‑Day Rule
Target carrier type	7‑days/week (OTR / long‑haul)	6‑days/week (local / regional)
Max duty limit	70.0 hrs	60.0 hrs
Lookback window	Today + previous 7 days	Today + previous 6 days
Infinite recap cap	8.75 hrs/day (70÷8)	8.57 hrs/day (60÷7)
Recommended shift	8h 30m/day → 68 hrs	8h 00m/day → 56 hrs

03

The Rolling Window & Midnight Rollover

The cycle clock does not reset at the start of a calendar week — it runs on a continuous rolling lookback window.

[Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6] [Day 7] [Day 8] │ TODAY (Day 9) └── drops off at midnight — reclaimed as recap hours ──────┘

Midnight rollover logic

Time zone standard — rollover occurs at exactly 12:00:00 AM in your carrier's configured Home Terminal time zone, not local time while traveling.
The drop‑off — at midnight, hours logged on the 8th day back (70‑hr rule) or 7th day back (60‑hr rule) fall outside the window.
The recap gain — those exact hours are reclaimed and added back to your available balance for the new day.

Total cycle hours used Σ On‑Duty Hours(d) for d = Today−7 … Today

Available driving hours today 70.0 − Σ On‑Duty Hours(d) for d = Today−7 … Today−1

Recap hours gained at midnight On‑Duty Hours worked on Day (Today − 8)

04

Complete 9‑Day Worked Example

A full 9‑day scenario showing exactly how hours accumulate, cap out, and recap on Day 9 (70‑hr / 8‑day rule).

Day 1

10.0h

Day 2

9.0h

Day 3

11.0h

Day 4

8.0h

Day 5

10.0h

Day 6

9.0h

Day 7

8.0h

Day 8 · Limit

5.0h

Day 9 · Recap

10.0h

Day	Hours logged	Cumulative 8‑day total	Recap gained at midnight	Available next day	Status
Day 1	10.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	—	60.0 hrs	Cycle begins
Day 2	9.0 hrs	19.0 hrs	—	51.0 hrs	Normal driving
Day 3	11.0 hrs	30.0 hrs	—	40.0 hrs	Full shift logged
Day 4	8.0 hrs	38.0 hrs	—	32.0 hrs	Normal driving
Day 5	10.0 hrs	48.0 hrs	—	22.0 hrs	Normal driving
Day 6	9.0 hrs	57.0 hrs	—	13.0 hrs	Approaching cap
Day 7	8.0 hrs	65.0 hrs	—	5.0 hrs	5 hrs left for Day 8
Day 8	5.0 hrs	70.0 hrs	+10.0 hrs (Day 1)	10.0 hrs	70‑hr limit reached
Day 9	10.0 hrs	70.0 hrs	+9.0 hrs (Day 2)	9.0 hrs	Day 1 drops off

Day 8 → Day 9 transition, step by step

1 · Day 8 cumulative total 10+9+11+8+10+9+8+5 = 70.0 hours 2 · Day 1 (10.0 hrs) drops off at midnight — new sum, Days 2–8 9.0+11.0+8.0+10.0+9.0+8.0+5.0 = 60.0 hours 3 · Available hours for Day 9 70.0 − 60.0 = 10.0 hours available

05

The "Infinite Recap" Strategy

Drivers can run indefinitely without ever taking a 34‑hour restart by keeping their daily average at or below the threshold limit.

8h 30m / day

The recommended sweet spot

8.5 hrs × 8 days = 68.0 hours — a constant 2.0‑hour safety buffer below the 70‑hour limit. Every midnight, 8.5 hours drop off and 8.5 are added back — net change to the clock: zero.

8.00 hrs

64.0h

No restart

8.50 hrs

68.0h

Sweet spot

8.75 hrs

70.0h

Exact max

9.00 hrs

72.0h

Restart req'd

11.00 hrs

77.0h*

Restart req'd

*Capped at 70.0 in practice — driver hits the limit before Day 8 completes.

06

The 34‑Hour Restart, Explained

If recap hours are the slow drip that keeps your cycle topped up day by day, the 34‑hour restart is the reset button — a single break long enough to wipe your cycle clean and hand you back a full 70 (or 60) hours, no matter how depleted you were beforehand.

The rule (49 CFR § 395.3(c)) — taking 34 consecutive hours off duty — any combination of Off‑Duty and Sleeper Berth time, with zero on‑duty or driving activity — resets your 60‑hour/7‑day or 70‑hour/8‑day cycle back to its full starting balance.

34 hrs, unbroken

Even one minute of on‑duty time — a fuel stop you log wrong, a quick yard move — restarts the 34‑hour countdown from zero.

Full reset

Once completed, your cycle balance goes to 0.0 hours used — the days before the restart no longer count toward your total, at all.

Before and after — a worked example

★

Restarting on Day 7

A driver has used 65.0 of their 70 hours by the end of Day 7 — only 5.0 hours remain. Rather than carefully managing recap for the next few days, they choose to restart.

End of Day 765.0 / 70h used

Rest period34 consecutive hrs off

After restart0.0 / 70h used

It doesn't matter that 65 hours were logged the week before — a valid 34‑hour restart discards that history entirely. The driver starts their next shift with the full 70.0 hours available, as if the cycle had never begun.

✔ Valid restart — but note the trade‑off below.

Common mistake — a routine 10‑hour off‑duty break is not a restart, even if it's taken in the sleeper berth. The 34‑hour threshold is a hard minimum, and the entire period must be free of on‑duty and driving time — a single logged interruption forces the count to begin again.

Restart vs. recap, at a glance

Feature	Recap Hours	34‑Hour Restart
Time cost	None — happens automatically	34 consecutive hours off duty
Effect on cycle	Gradually reclaims hours, day by day	Wipes the cycle to 0.0 used, instantly
Best suited for	Steady, moderate daily hours	Depleted cycle, or a natural pause in freight
Mandatory?	N/A — happens by default	Optional — driver's choice

07

Recap vs. 34‑Hour Restart — Decision Guide

Operational scenario	Best strategy	Reasoning
Steady OTR long‑haul (≤ 8.5 hrs/day)	Recap hours	Non‑stop daily driving, no 34‑hr downtime required.
High‑intensity regional (11.0 hrs/day)	34‑hr restart	Exhausts the 70‑hr clock in 6.3 days; recap won't sustain long daily shifts.
Unpredictable waits / delays	Hybrid approach	Watch "Hours Gaining Tomorrow." Restart if upcoming recap is under 5 hrs.

08

Modern ELD Software Mechanics

Modern ELD apps — including the Matrack ELD Driver app — continuously perform these calculations in the background.

Driving limit

11 Hours

Shift limit

14 Hours

Break timer

30 Minutes

Cycle limit

70h / 8‑Day

Automated 34‑hour restart detection — when the ELD detects 34 consecutive hours logged as Off‑Duty, Sleeper Berth, or a combination, it automatically resets the cycle clock back to 70.0 available hours.

Recap preview ("Hours Gaining Tomorrow") — displays the exact hours logged on the day dropping off, so drivers can plan the next shift in advance.

09

Split Sleeper Berth Provision

Codified at 49 CFR § 395.1(g), the split sleeper berth provision lets a driver divide the required 10‑hour off‑duty period into two qualifying rest periods instead of taking it in one continuous block — without being penalized against the 14‑hour driving window.

✓ What this rule DOES

Changes how the 14‑hour on‑duty window is measured, by excluding the two paired rest periods from that window.
Lets you spread your workday across a longer stretch of the clock without technically "running out" of your 14 hours.

✕ What this rule DOES NOT do

Does not add extra driving time — you still get the same 11 hours of driving, no more.
Does not add extra hours to your 60/70‑hour cycle total.
Does not give you more total work in a day — only recalculates when the 14‑hour clock is "running."

Core rule — only two exact combinations are recognized as valid: a 7‑hour sleeper berth period paired with a 3‑hour off‑duty/sleeper period, or an 8‑hour sleeper berth period paired with a 2‑hour off‑duty/sleeper period. Both legs together total 10 hours, and the short leg is never spent driving.

Valid vs. invalid splits

Sleeper berth period	Paired off‑duty / sleeper period	Total	Status
7.0 hrs	3.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	Valid — 7/3 split
8.0 hrs	2.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	Valid — 8/2 split
7.5 hrs	2.5 hrs	10.0 hrs	Invalid — only 7/3 and 8/2 recognized
9.0 hrs	2.0 hrs	11.0 hrs	Invalid — only 7/3 and 8/2 recognized
6.0 hrs	4.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	Invalid — sleeper leg under 7 hrs
5.0 hrs	5.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	Invalid — sleeper leg under 7 hrs
9.0 hrs	1.0 hrs	10.0 hrs	Invalid — second leg under 2 hrs

See it in action — 3 simple examples

1

The 8/2 split

Mike drives all morning, takes a short break in the afternoon, drives a bit more, then sleeps in the berth overnight.

06:00–11:00Drive/on‑duty · 5h

11:00–13:00Off‑duty · 2h

13:00–17:00Drive/on‑duty · 4h

17:00–01:00Sleeper berth · 8h

Sleeper leg is exactly 8 hours — matches the 8/2 rule
Other break is exactly 2 hours, and Mike wasn't driving during it
8 + 2 = 10 hours total

Total on‑duty/driving time for the day: 5h + 4h = 9 hours — exactly what it would have been without splitting the break. Elapsed clock time from 06:00 to 01:00 is 19 hours, but only the 9 hours of actual work count against the 14‑hour window, because both rest periods (2h + 8h) are excluded when paired correctly.

✔ Valid split — the 14‑hour window pauses during both rest periods. Mike still only gets 9 hours of on‑duty time and drives no more than his usual limit.

2

The 7/3 split

Sarah is stuck waiting for a loading dock. She takes a 3‑hour off‑duty break in the middle of the day, then sleeps 7 hours in the berth that night.

09:00–14:00Drive/on‑duty · 5h

14:00–17:00Off‑duty · 3h

17:00–21:00Drive/on‑duty · 4h

21:00–04:00Sleeper berth · 7h

Sleeper leg is exactly 7 hours — matches the 7/3 rule
Other break is exactly 3 hours, off‑duty (no driving)
7 + 3 = 10 hours total

Total on‑duty/driving time for the day: 5h + 4h = 9 hours — same total as usual. Elapsed clock time from 09:00 to 04:00 is 19 hours, but only 9 hours counts against the 14‑hour window since both rest periods (3h + 7h) are excluded.

✔ Valid split — Sarah's 14‑hour window pauses during both breaks. She hasn't gained any extra driving or on‑duty hours, just more flexibility in when she uses them.

3

The lookalike that doesn't count

Tom naps for 4 hours in the sleeper berth, then later takes a separate 6‑hour off‑duty break. He's logged 10 hours of rest total, but something's off.

08:00–13:00Drive/on‑duty · 5h

13:00–17:00Sleeper nap · 4h

17:00–21:00Drive/on‑duty · 4h

21:00–03:00Off‑duty · 6h

Sleeper leg is only 4 hours — not 7, and not 8
Doesn't match either recognized combination (7/3 or 8/2)
Adds up to 10 hours of rest, but the mix doesn't qualify

Because neither rest period gets excluded, the 14‑hour window keeps running continuously from Tom's 08:00 start. By 21:00 he's already used 13 hours of his window (08:00 → 21:00), even though only 9 of those were spent driving or on‑duty. If he needs to drive again after his 6‑hour break ends at 03:00, he's 19 hours past his 08:00 start — well outside the 14‑hour window that never got paused.

✘ Invalid split — Tom doesn't get any extra driving hours either way, but he also loses the benefit of pausing his clock, so he runs out of usable window sooner than Mike or Sarah did.

Effect on the 14‑hour driving window

When the two periods are properly paired, both qualifying rest periods are excluded from the 14‑hour window calculation. The on‑duty time logged before the first rest period and the on‑duty time logged after it are added together — the clock effectively pauses during each excluded period rather than running continuously. Your total driving time (still capped at 11 hours) and total on‑duty time for the day do not change — only the window used to measure them does.

06:00 ─ Drive/on‑duty 5h ─ 11:00 │ OFF‑DUTY 2h (short leg) │ 13:00 ─ Drive/on‑duty 4h ─ 17:00 │ SLEEPER BERTH 8h (long leg) │ 01:00 (excluded) (excluded) └──── Segment A: 5h ────┘ └──── Segment B: 4h ────┘

14‑hour window used (with valid 8/2 pairing) Segment A on‑duty (5.0h) + Segment B on‑duty (4.0h) = 9.0 hours used Without the split‑sleeper pairing Elapsed clock time from 06:00 to 01:00 = 19.0 hours → window would already be exceeded Either way Total driving/on‑duty time stays at 9.0 hours — the split only changes how the 14‑hour window is measured, not how much work or driving is allowed.

Pairing required

Neither period alone satisfies the 10‑hour break — the benefit only applies once both qualifying periods are logged and paired together.

Cycle hours still count

Splitting the break changes how the 11‑hr and 14‑hr clocks are calculated. It does not reduce or exclude on‑duty hours from the 60/70‑hour recap cycle.

Common pitfalls

Only two periods count. The provision recognizes exactly one long sleeper leg and one short leg — a rest period broken into three or more pieces does not qualify for the exception.

The short leg can't include driving. The 2‑hour‑minimum leg must be off‑duty or sleeper berth time — any driving during that window breaks the pairing.

The 30‑minute break is separate. A qualifying sleeper‑berth period can satisfy the 30‑minute break requirement, but the split‑sleeper provision itself is independent of the break rule and doesn't automatically satisfy it unless the timing lines up.

Requirement	Detail
Regulation	49 CFR § 395.1(g)
Recognized splits	7h sleeper / 3h off‑duty —or— 8h sleeper / 2h off‑duty
Combined total	10.0 hours (exact)
Driving allowed in short leg?	No
Reduces 60/70‑hr cycle hours?	No
Extends the 14‑hr window?	Yes, when paired correctly

10

The 30‑Minute Break Rule

Separate from the 11‑hour, 14‑hour, and cycle limits, this rule targets fatigue directly: you simply cannot drive for long, uninterrupted stretches without a pause — regardless of how much time you have left on your other clocks.

The rule (49 CFR § 395.3(a)(3)(ii)) — a driver may not drive after 8 cumulative hours of driving time since their last qualifying break, unless they first take at least 30 consecutive minutes of non‑driving time.

Cumulative, not continuous

The 8‑hour count is driving time added up across the day — short stops for fuel or a light don't reset it, only a genuine 30‑minute break does.

Any non‑driving status counts

Off‑duty, sleeper berth, or on‑duty‑not‑driving (e.g. time at a loading dock) all satisfy the break — as long as you aren't driving for the full 30 minutes.

Drive 3h → Drive 2h → Drive 3h = 8.0h cumulative driving │ 30‑MIN BREAK REQUIRED (off‑duty / sleeper / on‑duty‑not‑driving) │ Driving clock resets — up to 8h more allowed

Important — unlike the split sleeper berth periods in Section 09, this 30‑minute break is not excluded from your 14‑hour window. It still counts against your shift clock — it simply satisfies the fatigue requirement, nothing more.

11

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.Does a fuel stop count as my 30‑minute break?

Yes — as long as you aren't driving for the full 30 consecutive minutes. It can be logged as off‑duty, sleeper berth, or on‑duty‑not‑driving.

Q.What happens if I go 10 minutes over my 70‑hour limit?

It's still a violation — there's no grace period. ELDs flag any driving beyond the limit in real time, regardless of the margin.

Q.Can I still split my sleeper berth after taking a 34‑hour restart?

Yes — the two rules are independent. A restart simply resets your cycle balance; once you're back on the road, 7/3 and 8/2 splits work exactly as described in Section 09.

Q.Does personal conveyance count against my cycle hours?

No — legitimate personal conveyance is logged as off‑duty and doesn't add to your 60/70‑hour cycle total, though your carrier's policy may restrict when you're allowed to use it.

Q.If I take a 34‑hour restart, do I lose the recap hours I would have gained?

Yes — a restart wipes the slate clean. You gain a full 70 (or 60) hours immediately, but you give up whatever hours would have naturally recapped from the days you're resetting.

Q.Can the short leg of a split sleeper (2 or 3 hours) be spent driving?

No — it must be off‑duty or sleeper berth time. Any driving during that window breaks the pairing and invalidates the split entirely (see Section 09).

12

Glossary of Key Terms

On‑Duty

Any time spent working for a carrier, including driving and non‑driving tasks like loading or inspections. Counts toward the cycle.

Off‑Duty

Time free from all work responsibilities. Does not count toward the 11‑hr, 14‑hr, or cycle limits.

Sleeper Berth

Time resting in a truck's sleeper compartment. Used to satisfy daily rest and the split sleeper berth provision.

Cycle

The rolling 7‑ or 8‑day window (60 or 70 hours) that caps total on‑duty time before driving is prohibited.

Recap

Hours that "drop off" the back of the rolling cycle window at midnight and become available again.

34‑Hour Restart

An optional 34‑consecutive‑hour break that resets the cycle balance back to its full 60 or 70 hours.

Split Sleeper Berth

Dividing the 10‑hour daily rest into two paired legs (7/3 or 8/2) instead of one continuous block.

Home Terminal Time Zone

The time zone configured for a carrier's home base — the standard used for midnight rollover, regardless of where the driver currently is.

ELD

Electronic Logging Device — hardware/software that automatically records driving time and duty status per FMCSA requirements.

Personal Conveyance

Off‑duty use of a CMV for personal reasons (e.g., driving to a restaurant). Doesn't count as on‑duty, subject to carrier policy.

📋

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

A compact summary of every limit covered in this course — use it as a quick refresher after finishing the modules above.

HOS & Recap — All Limits

49 CFR § 395 · Quick reference

Rule	Limit	Resets when
Driving limit	11 hours	10 consecutive hrs off‑duty (or valid split)
Shift / driving window	14 hours	10 consecutive hrs off‑duty (or valid split)
Break requirement	30 min after 8h cumulative driving	30 consecutive min non‑driving
Cycle — 7‑day carriers	60 hours / 7 days	Rolling recap, or 34‑hr restart
Cycle — 8‑day carriers	70 hours / 8 days	Rolling recap, or 34‑hr restart
Split sleeper berth	7/3 or 8/2 only	Both legs logged & paired correctly
Full cycle reset	34 consecutive hrs off	Any on‑duty interruption restarts the count
Recommended daily average	8h 30m (70/8) · 8h 00m (60/7)	Keeps a standing safety buffer