Posted July 20, 2009
If your drivers perform work for someone else — or even for themselves — make sure they are telling you about those hours, in the proper way, or you could face an hours-of-service violation.
By definition, all time spent doing any type of compensated work for anyone (even for yourself) is considered “on duty” time. In addition, any type of work performed for a motor carrier, whether compensated or not, is either “on duty” or “driving.” Therefore, if your drivers are performing any type of outside work, those hours must be added into their daily and weekly totals on their records of duty status (daily logs) or in the time records that you keep.
Let’s take a look at a few of the possible scenarios, how those hours have to be recorded, and how they might affect compliance:
1) The driver completes daily logs for you but also works for an outside company that is NOT a motor carrier — In this case, the driver’s outside hours must be reported to you as “on duty” time on his or her logs. These outside hours must be accounted for when determining compliance. If the driver is required to have 10 hours off before driving for you, that 10-hour break must begin after the driver is done working for the outside company. In addition, the outside hours will count against the driver’s total on-duty time in regards to the 14-, 15-, and 60- or 70-hour limits.
For example, suppose Joe Driver worked from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. for you and then reported to work at a restaurant from 6 p.m. until midnight. Before Joe can drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle for you again, he needs to stay off duty until 10 a.m., and his total on-duty time for the day was 15 hours.
If Joe has 34 or more hours off duty from your company but during that time performs work for the other employer, Joe could NOT claim the 34-hour restart option (unless he had 34 consecutive hours off duty from both employers).
The name or address of the other employer would NOT have to appear on the logs, although the location of each change in duty status must appear (including the times at which he or she starts and stops working for the other employer).
2) The driver is NOT required to log for you and works for an outside company that is NOT a motor carrier — In this case, the driver is not required to log but drives a commercial motor vehicle for you and also performs work for an outside company. Even though a log may not be required (due to a short-haul exemption in 49 CFR §395.1(e) for example), the time spent working for the outside company would have to be reported to you in writing, based on §395.8(j)(2), if the driver is subject to hours-of-service limits:“Motor carriers, when using a driver for the first time or intermittently, shall obtain from the driver a signed statement giving the total time on duty during the immediately preceding 7 days and the time at which the driver was last relieved from duty prior to beginning work for the motor carriers.”
Having this information will allow you to ensure that the driver is in compliance with the 60- or 70-hour limits and that he or she has had the required amount of time off duty (8 or 10 hours) before reporting to work for you. If you already have the driver’s hours from the prior 6 days, for example, you would only need to obtain his or her hours from yesterday, so you can “fill in the blanks.”
3) The driver logs for you and drives for another motor carrier during the same 24-hour period — In this case, the driver would have to use a single log sheet for the day, recording the hours worked for both companies, based on §395.8(j)(1):“(j) Drivers used by more than one motor carrier. (1) When the services of a driver are used by more than one motor carrier during any 24 hour period in effect at the driver's home terminal, the driver shall submit a copy of the record of duty status to each motor carrier. The record shall include:
(i) All duty time for the entire 24 hour period;
(ii) The name of each motor carrier served by the driver during that period; and
(iii) The beginning and finishing time, including a.m. or p.m., worked for each carrier.”
According to §395.8(f)(6), the beginning and finishing time worked for each motor carrier must “be shown after each motor carrier's name.”
The original log would be given to the “regular employing motor carrier” and a copy would go to the other employer. Both employers would have to keep the log for six months.
4) The driver logs for you and drives for another motor carrier but NOT during the same 24-hour period — In this case, the driver would create a log for whichever carrier he or she is working for on a given day. The other carrier (for which work was not performed on that day) must get a record of those hours, either by receiving a copy of the log(s) or a signed receipt as described in item 2 above.
Get those records!
As you can see, the most important thing is to get some kind of time record from the driver that includes all hours worked for any employer, and the time at which he or she last stopped working. Whether it’s a log or another sort of time record, having a record of the driver’s hours is the only way to ensure that the driver is in compliance with the hours-of-service limits when he or she comes to work for you. Keep the records organized and make sure they are legible in case an auditor wants to review them.
Be proactive
How can you be sure your employees don’t have outside employment? For starters, just ask! Among your qualification paperwork could be a form asking the driver to list any outside employment and stating that they must inform you of any outside work. You could also have a company policy stating that outside hours must be reported to you.
If you suspect that a driver has another job, don’t just ignore it. It’s also a good idea to inform your drivers of the types of work that will count as “on duty” time, including self-employment (if there is any form of compensation), farm work, janitorial work, etc.
The important thing is to be proactive, keeping in mind the following guidance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:
Question 8: Are carriers liable for the actions of their employees even though the carrier contends that it did not require or permit the violations to occur?
Guidance: Yes. Carriers are liable for the actions of their employees. Neither intent to commit, nor actual knowledge of, a violation is a necessary element of that liability. Carriers "permit" violations of the hours of service regulations by their employees if they fail to have in place management systems that effectively prevent such violations. Click Here for Previous Ideas Of The Week.
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Used for self-learning, as a one-on-one training tool, or in the classroom, J. J. Keller's Hours of Service and Driver Logs Workbook is packed with logbook exercises (calculating sleeper berth use, the 11-hour driving limit, 14 consecutive hours-on-duty rule, 60/70 driving limits, and the 34 hour restart provision) that can get your drivers up to speed quickly. |
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