Off duty not driving: the four HOS duty statuses truck drivers log

"Off duty not driving" is not a federal duty status. As of October 2026, 49 CFR 395.8(b) lists four: off duty (OFF), sleeper berth (SB), driving (D) and on-duty not driving (ON). Off duty means relieved of all work. On-duty not driving is work other than driving, such as inspections and loading, and it counts toward the 60/70-hour limit.

Most people who search the phrase mean one of two statuses: off duty, or on-duty not driving. This guide covers all four, with the regulation text behind each.

The four duty statuses at a glance

A duty status is the category a driver's time falls into on the record of duty status (RODS) under the hours-of-service (HOS) rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires each one to be recorded as follows (49 CFR 395.8(b), as of October 2026, final and in effect):

Two points trip people up. First, the 14-hour window is a clock, not a bucket: it runs through off-duty and on-duty time alike, under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2). Second, the 60- and 70-hour limits in 395.3(b) count hours "on duty," which means driving plus on-duty not driving.

What counts as on-duty not driving

On-duty not driving is any on-duty time that isn't spent at the controls of a moving truck. The definition starts in 49 CFR 395.2: on-duty time is "all time from the time a driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work." The regulation then lists nine kinds of on-duty time. Item (3) is driving itself. The other eight, numbered as in the regulation, are:

• (1) Waiting to be dispatched at a carrier's or shipper's plant, terminal or other property, or on public property, unless the carrier has relieved the driver from duty.
• (2) "All time inspecting, servicing, or conditioning any commercial motor vehicle at any time." Pre-trip and post-trip inspections fall here.
• (4) Time in or on the truck, except resting in a parked vehicle, resting in a sleeper berth, or up to 3 hours in the passenger seat right before or after at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth.
• (5) Loading or unloading, supervising or helping with it, attending the truck while it's loaded or unloaded, staying ready to operate it, and handling receipts for the shipment.
• (6) Repairing a disabled truck, getting help for it, or staying with it.
• (7) Giving a breath or urine sample for testing required under Part 382 when the carrier directs it, including travel to and from the collection site.
• (8) Any other work for a motor carrier.
• (9) Any paid work for someone who is not a motor carrier.

Item (9) surprises drivers: a paid second job counts as on-duty time, so it counts toward 60/70.

Inspection time is the clearest example. A pre-trip inspection is on-duty not driving, and so is the written post-trip report. Our guide to on-duty not driving examples goes through common edge cases one by one.

What off duty means under the HOS rules

Off duty is time when the driver is free of work. The graph-grid instructions in 49 CFR 395.8(h)(1) describe it as time "when the driver is not on duty, is not required to be in readiness to work, or is not under any responsibility for performing work."

The practical test is whether the carrier still expects anything of the driver. A driver eating lunch while watching a trailer being loaded is on duty (395.2(5), "attending" the vehicle being loaded). The same driver eating lunch after being released, with no duty to watch the load, is off duty.

Off-duty time does three jobs in the rules:

• It resets the day. A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty (395.3(a)(1)).
• It can satisfy the 30-minute break. Off duty, sleeper berth or on-duty not driving all count, alone or combined (395.3(a)(3)(ii)).
• It restarts the week. A period of 34 or more consecutive hours off duty can end a 7- or 8-day period (395.3(c)).

Searches like "permission to be off duty" or "legals on off duty conduct" are usually employment-law questions about what an employer can control after hours. The HOS rules don't answer those; state employment law does.

Off duty driving rules: personal conveyance

Personal conveyance is the one situation where a driver can move a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) and log it as off duty. It comes from FMCSA regulatory guidance, not from the regulation text. The guidance, published at 83 FR 26377 on June 7, 2018, says a driver may record CMV time as off duty "only when the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier."

What the guidance says, in short:

• Laden is allowed. The truck may be used for personal conveyance "even if it is laden," because the load isn't moving for the carrier's benefit at that time.
• Carriers can restrict it. A carrier may ban personal conveyance, cap the distance, or prohibit it while loaded.
• Examples that qualify: driving from en route lodging to restaurants and entertainment; commuting between home and the terminal or a trailer-drop lot; going to the nearest reasonable, safe place to rest after loading or unloading; moving the truck at a safety official's request.
• Examples that don't: bypassing available rest spots to get closer to the next pickup; bobtailing to get another load; taking the truck in for maintenance; driving to the carrier's terminal after loading or unloading; driving to rest after being placed out of service for an HOS violation, unless an officer at the scene directs it.

Status, as of October 2026: this is guidance, not regulation. The 2018 notice itself says the guidance "expires June 7, 2023," after which FMCSA would withdraw it, reissue it or write it into the rules. No Federal Register notice since then has reissued or withdrawn it. Even so, FMCSA still pointed drivers to "the Agency's personal conveyance regulatory guidance" (83 FR 26377) in a June 24, 2026 exemption notice (91 FR 38075). Confirm the current version on FMCSA's guidance portal before relying on it. Our personal conveyance guide will track that status.

On duty not driving after 14 hours

After the 14-hour window closes, a driver may keep working on duty but may not drive. The rule is a driving limit, not a work limit: a driver "may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty" (49 CFR 395.3(a)(2), as of October 2026).

So a driver at hour 15 may still unload, do paperwork or inspect the truck, logged as on-duty not driving. Three consequences follow:

• That time still counts toward the 60/70-hour limit.
• The driver can't drive again until taking 10 consecutive hours off duty, or a qualifying split under the sleeper-berth rules.
• Two narrow provisions change the math. Adverse driving conditions that weren't known before the trip allow up to 2 more hours (395.1(b)(1)). Qualifying split-sleeper periods don't count against the window (395.1(g)(1)(iii)(B)).

Driving past the 14th hour also matters beyond the ticket. In FMCSA's safety rating methodology, "requiring or permitting" a driver to drive after the 14th hour is a critical regulation, and a pattern of Part 395 violations is assessed two points instead of one (Appendix B to Part 385).

The HOS rules that use these statuses

The hours-of-service (HOS) limits for property-carrying drivers sit in 49 CFR 395.3. As of October 2026 (final; last amended in the June 2020 HOS rule):

Passenger carriers have different limits in 395.5. Drivers under the short-haul exception, who stay within a 150 air-mile radius and are released within 14 hours, are exempt from keeping a RODS (395.1(e)(1)) and from the 30-minute break (395.3(a)(3)(ii)). The other limits still apply.

Sleeper berth and the split-sleeper option

Sleeper berth time is off-duty time spent resting in a berth that meets the equipment standard in 393.76. The log treats it separately: 395.8(f)(11) asks for totals of "off duty other than in a sleeper berth" and "off duty in a sleeper berth."

The difference matters for the split. Under 49 CFR 395.1(g)(1)(ii), a driver can make up the 10-hour break with two periods if neither is shorter than 2 hours, one is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, and the two total at least 10 hours. Only sleeper time can fill the 7-hour half. Plain off-duty time can't.

The full comparison, with the calculation rules and a worked split, is in our guide to off duty vs sleeper berth.

Is there a new 14-hour rule for truck drivers?

No. As of October 2026, the 14-hour rule in 395.3(a)(2) is unchanged. What exists are two proposed pilot programs, published September 17, 2025:

• Split duty period ("pause") pilot, 90 FR 44872. It would let about 256 participating drivers pause the 14-hour window once, for 30 minutes to 3 hours.
• Flexible sleeper berth pilot, 90 FR 44790. It would test splits outside the 7-hour sleeper requirement.

In October 2026 FMCSA published information-collection notices for both pilots, including 91 FR 63640 (Oct. 6, 2026), with comments due December 7, 2026. We found no notice launching either pilot. Neither changes the rules for drivers outside a pilot. Our post on the new 14-hour rule question will follow the pilots.

A worked example: one day on the log

Here is one illustrative shift for a property-carrying driver who came off a 10-hour break, logged against the rules above. Illustration only.

How the clocks stand at 18:00:

• 14-hour window: opened at 06:00, so driving must stop by 20:00.
• 11-hour limit: 9 hours used, so 2 hours of driving remain, and they fit before 20:00.
• 30-minute break: met. The 90 minutes of on-duty not driving at 11:00 interrupted driving after 4.5 hours.
• 60/70 hours: this day adds 11.5 on-duty hours (9 driving + 2.5 on-duty not driving).

Recording duty status: ELDs, retention and false logs

Most carriers must have drivers record duty status on an electronic logging device (ELD). The mandate took effect December 18, 2017 (395.8(a)(1)(i)). Paper logs remain allowed in limited cases, such as drivers who need a RODS on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period.

As of October 2026 (final, in effect):

• Drivers submit their RODS to the carrier within 13 days (395.8(a)(2)(ii)).
• Carriers keep RODS and supporting documents for at least 6 months (395.8(k)(1)).
• "No driver or motor carrier may make a false report in connection with a duty status" (395.8(e)(1)). Tampering with an ELD is also prohibited (395.8(e)(2)).

Logging on-duty work as off duty, to stretch the 60/70-hour limit or fake a rest period, is a false report. It's also a critical regulation in the safety rating methodology (Appendix B to Part 385).

Where the name Off Duty Not Driving Rewards comes from

Off Duty Not Driving Rewards plays on the duty statuses every driver logs. We named our safety-rewards program after the moment a clean day ends. Our home page puts it this way: "The last line on a driver's logbook after a day done right. We built a program around that moment."

To be plain about it: "off duty not driving" is our company name, not a duty status. Off Duty Not Driving Rewards is not part of or affiliated with FMCSA, and the program is not an HOS term or a compliance tool.

Off Duty Not Driving Rewards is a rewards program for trucking fleets. Contact our team to learn more.

Glossary of acronyms

Reward the drivers who keep clean logs

Clean logs and safe miles are earned one shift at a time. Off Duty Not Driving Rewards is a rewards program for trucking fleets. Contact our team to learn more.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm requirements against the current regulation text and with your compliance counsel.