#Fmcsa personal conveyance laws drivers
#Fmcsa personal conveyance laws driver

It is general knowledge that rest areas have become increasingly crowded for commercial motor vehicle parking, thus, it is incumbent on drivers to look for a parking spot before the last few minutes of a 10 hour driving period. The emergency conditions exception does not apply to the driver.

#Fmcsa personal conveyance laws driver

What if the truck/rest stop that I had planned on stopping at is full?ĭoes the emergency conditions exception in 49 CFR 395.1(b)(2) apply to a driver who planned on arriving at a specific rest area to complete his 10 hours driving and found the rest area full, forcing the driver to continue past the ten hours driving looking for another safe parking area? No, running out of hours because you were sitting at a shipper or reciever delayed will NOT qualify as 'adverse conditions'. If I run out of hours because I was waiting at a customer to get loaded or unloaded, can I still drive to the nearest truck stop? Normally, proper trip-planning can avoid most of these delays. Driving into an ongoing, sustained blizzard, or driving through the center of Chicago, during rush hour and almost out of hours, will NOT count as 'adverse driving conditions'.Īdditionally, drivers will undoubtedly need to explain the situation to their company, as to exactly how they were caught up in whatever the delay was, and why they used the exception.

The exception does not extend the drivers hours past the 14 or 70 hour limits.Īgain, the 'Adverse Driving Conditions' exception can ONLY be used for conditions or delays that the driver could not possibly have know about. You could normally have completed the trip in the usual 11 hours driving time, and Your dispatcher was not, and could not have been, aware of such conditions when assigning the load. You unexpectedly run in to weather conditions or road conditions that you could not have known about. Using the adverse driving conditions exception requires a certain set of circumstances.

The rule states: 'a driver who encounters adverse driving conditions, and cannot, because of those conditions, safely complete the run within the maximum driving time permitted, may drive and be permitted or required to drive a commercial motor vehicle for not more than 2 additional hours beyond the maximum time allowed to complete that run or to reach a place offering safety for the occupants of the commercial motor vehicle and security for the commercial motor vehicle and its cargo.'Īdverse conditions are defined as 'snow, sleet, fog, other adverse weather conditions, a highway covered with snow or ice, or unusual road and traffic conditions, none of which were apparent on the basis of information known to the person dispatching the run at the time it was begun.'īasically, if you encounter road or weather conditions while driving, and these conditions could not have been predicted or foreseen, the adverse conditions rule allows you to drive up to 2 additional hours in order to get to safety, provided that it does not cause you to go over your 14 hours for the day, or 70 for the week.