(Revised: Sep 2019)

Carrier & Vehicle Safety Services FEDERAL GUIDE TO

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this document refers to the new federal hours of service regulations (The Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations) which were implemented on January 1, 2007.

The information in the federal regulations supercede all information stated in this document in the event of a discrepancy.

What are Hours of Service Regulations?

Drivers of commercial vehicles are limited in the number of hours they may drive.

This document refers to federal regulations only. These regulations apply to all motor carriers that have at least one commercial vehicle that travels into another province.

Do I need a daily log?

Federal regulations require the use of daily logs (books) by commercial vehicle drivers (other than those who are exempt from keeping a daily log).

Daily log exemption

A driver under the federal legislation is exempt from maintaining a log while operating within a 160 kilometer radius of their home terminal providing they return to the home terminal to begin a minimum of 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time. The motor carrier must maintain accurate and legible records showing for each day, the cycle the driver followed, the driver’s on-duty time, and keeps those records and supporting documents related to those records for a minimum period of 6 months after the day on which they were recorded.

The driver is not exempt if operating under a permit issued under these regulations.

What is a Commercial Vehicle?

A commercial vehicle under the federal regulations is any , tractor or trailer or any combination of them that has a registered gross in excess of 4,500 kg, or a bus with a designed seating capacity of more than 10 persons (including the driver).

Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 1 (Revised: Sep 2019) Exceptions:

There are a number of vehicle types and classes of vehicles that are exempt from the hours of service regulations.

The exemptions are:

Federal Regulations

- emergency vehicles

- buses used for public transportation in a municipality

- vehicle providing disaster relief

- 2 and 3 vehicles transporting primary products of a forest, farm, sea or lake, and their return trip if empty, or loaded with goods to be used in the operation of the forest, farm, sea or lake.

- personal use – see Section 2(1)(e)

Required Information

The daily log must contain the following information:

a) The date b) Name of the motor carrier c) Name of driver (printed) d) Co-driver name (printed), if any e) The odometer reading, at the beginning and end of the day f) Total distance driven during the day (excluding personal km) g) Starting time of the log sheet, if not 12:00 midnight h) Home terminal address and principal place of business of the motor carrier i) Plate number or unit number of truck, power unit and all trailers j) Total hours spent in each period, shown to the right of the graph grid k) Driver's signature l) Name of municipality or location on a highway and the name of the province or state where any change of duty status occurs m) Principal place of business n) Declaration of Cycle 1 or Cycle 2 (unless under an oil well service permit) o) Declaration of deferral of off-duty time (Day 1 or Day 2) p) Record of on-duty and off-duty time in the remarks section if a daily log was not required for the previous 14 days

Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 2 (Revised: Sep 2019)

Please refer to Forms, Appendix N (Federal Logbook Tips) for a sample of a correctly completed daily log and a list of information that should be recorded on the daily log.

Driver possession of daily logs Under the federal regulation the driver is required to have the current daily log, current to the last change of duty status.

Under federal regulation, in addition to the current daily log, drivers are required to have duplicate copies of their daily logs for the preceding fourteen days in their possession.

Within 20 days of completing the daily log, drivers must forward the original daily log, along with supporting documents to the home terminal of the motor carrier.

"Supporting Documents" are documents required by a director or inspector to assess compliance with the regulations (i.e. bills of lading, shipping documents, fuel and accommodation receipts for expenses incurred on route).

Duty Status

The driver’s daily log has four categories for identifying the driver’s activities:

• Off-Duty • Sleeper Berth • Drive Time • On-Duty (Not Driving)

Off-Duty

A driver must have 10 hours off every day . This off-duty time must have 8 consecutive hours off-duty and 2 hours of off-duty time in no less than half-hour (30 minute) increments.

To be considered off-duty 3 conditions must be met:

• Driver must be relieved of all duty and responsibility for the care and custody of the vehicle, its accessories, and any cargo or passengers it may be carrying.

• Duration of the driver’s relief from duty must be for a specified period of time and of sufficient duration to ensure that the driver can obtain rest.

• Driver must be at liberty to pursue activities of his/her own choosing, and be free to leave the premises on which the vehicle is situated.

*The driver must record off-duty for each day. Drivers may record a series of off-duty days on one log by entering each specific date and drawing a line across the grid in off-duty.

Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 3 (Revised: Sep 2019)

Sleeper Berth

Time actually spent in the sleeper berth of a vehicle.

Drive Time

The period during which a driver operates a commercial vehicle.

On-Duty

On-duty time is time that begins when a driver starts work or is required by the carrier to be available to work and ends when the driver stops work or is relieved of responsibility by the carrier.

Some typical examples of on-duty time are:

• Fueling inspecting, servicing, repairing, or starting a commercial vehicle • Driving time • Loading and unloading commercial vehicle • Inspecting or checking a load • Vehicle or load inspection at a weigh scale or customs office • Waiting at an enroute point due to an accident or other occurrence • Performing any work for any motor carrier • Travelling in a commercial vehicle as a co-driver when the time is not spent in the sleeper berth

How many hours can I drive?

The federal regulations limit the hours to be driven in any shift to:

a) 13 hours after having 8 consecutive hours off-duty

b) after having been on-duty for 14 hours, after having 8 consecutive hours off-duty

c) after 16 hours of elapsed time, after taking 8 consecutive hours off-duty

Once every 14 days the driver must take 24 consecutive hours off-duty.

Cycles

The federal regulations further limit the number of hours that a driver can drive in one of two cycles (more commonly known as the weekly caps).

The driver must declare on their daily log which cycle they are using. The cycles are: a) Cycle 1 - 70 hours in 7 days b) Cycle 2 - 120 hours in 14 days* Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 4 (Revised: Sep 2019)

*If using the 120/14 cycle the driver must take 24 consecutive hours off-duty before completing 70 hours on-duty.

A driver may end the current cycle and begin a new cycle if the driver first takes the following off-duty time: a) for Cycle 1 - the driver must have at least 36 consecutive hours off b) for Cycle 2 - the driver must have at least 72 consecutive hours off

Adverse Driving Conditions and Emergencies

A driver may exceed their on-duty time by not more than two hours when encountering unexpected or unplanned adverse weather. This does not change/increase weekly caps.

Emergencies:

A driver may exceed driving and on-duty time to complete a trip or reach a destination that would provide safety for commercial vehicle occupants and for other users of the or security for the commercial vehicle and its load. Does not change/increase weekly caps.

Other Rest Options

A driver who is not using the split sleeper berth option may defer a maximum of 2 hours of the daily off-duty time to the following day. To be eligible to defer the time: a) the 8 consecutive hours must be contained on day 1 b) the deferred time can not be part of the mandatory 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time c) the total off-duty time taken in the 2 days is at least 20 hours d) the off-duty time deferred must be in addition to the mandatory 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time on day 2. e) declare in the remarks section if you are on day 1 or 2 of the deferral situation

Sleeper Berth Option (Useful option especially for team drivers)

Single drivers may meet the mandatory off-duty time by accumulating the off-duty time in the sleeper berth in no more than two periods when:

• Neither of the rest periods is less than two hours; and

• The total of the two rest periods is at least 10 hours; and

• The total of the two periods of driving time immediately before and after either of the rest periods do not exceed 13 hours; and Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 5 (Revised: Sep 2019)

• The total of the two periods of, on-duty plus drive time, immediately before and after either of the rest periods do not exceed 14 hours; and

• The 16 hours elapsed time immediately before and after the off-duty time does not include driving time after the 16 th hour; and

• None of the off-duty time is deferred to the next day.

Team drivers may meet the mandatory off-duty time by accumulating the off-duty time in the sleeper berth in no more than two periods when:

• Neither of the rest periods in the sleeper berth is shorter than 4 hours; and

• The total of the two rest periods in the sleeper berth is at least 8 hours; (Remember you still must meet the daily requirements for off-duty time.)

• The total of the two periods of driving time immediately before and after either of the rest periods do not exceed 13 hours; and

• The total of the two periods of, on-duty plus drive time, immediately before and after either of the rest periods do not exceed 14 hours; and

• The 16 hours elapsed time immediately before and after the off-duty time does not include driving time after the 16 th hour; and

Monitoring and Penalties

When log violations occur, the carrier and/or the driver may be charged. The carrier may be charged for allowing and/or requiring a driver to commit log violations.

Please see Forms, Appendix L (Federal Log Checklist Form). This form will assist a carrier in monitoring a driver’s violations.

The maximum penalty for an individual under federal regulations is $5,000.00.

The maximum penalty for a corporation under federal regulations is $25,000.00.

*Federal regulations require a mandatory court appearance.

All information in this Federal Guide to Hours of Service are references from the “Commercial Vehicle Driver Hours of Service Regulations” made pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987.

These regulations should be consulted for all purposes of interpretation and application of the law. Federal regulations are available from Department of Justice Canada Ph: 613-957-4222 or web: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/index.html .

Federal Guide to Hours of Service Pg. 6