Driving time left under the federal hours-of-service rules for property-carrying drivers
Updated October 2026
The calculator runs four clocks at once and reports the one that runs out first. Driving: 11 hours minus hours driven since your last 10 consecutive hours off. Window: 14 hours from when you came on duty, minus the time elapsed, breaks included; FMCSA’s guide puts it simply: come on duty at 6:00 a.m. and you may not drive after 8:00 p.m. Break: driving stops after 8 hours of driving without a 30-minute interruption. Cycle: 70 hours minus all on-duty time (driving and on-duty not driving) in the last 8 days including today, or 60 in 7 days.
Worked example (the default): the cycle has 67 hours used (3 left), you have driven 4 hours and are 6 hours into the window. The 11-hour limit allows 7 more, the window 8 more, but the cycle allows only 3, so you can drive 3 hours, and you need a 30-minute break before more than 4 more hours of driving anyway.
The cycle is a rolling total, not a weekly one: each new day adds its hours and the oldest day drops off. That is the “recap.” FMCSA’s driver’s guide works this example on the 70-hour/8-day schedule:
| Window | Previous days | Today | On duty (h) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMCSA guide example, Day 8 (Days 1-8) | 0, 10, 8.5, 12.5, 9, 10, 12 | 5 | 67 | 3 hours left |
| FMCSA guide example, Day 9 (Days 2-9) | 10, 8.5, 12.5, 9, 10, 12, 5 | 6 | 73 | over by 3 hours |
| FMCSA guide example, Day 10 (Days 3-10) | 8.5, 12.5, 9, 10, 12, 5, 6 | 0 | 63 | 7 hours left |
| 62 hours used, 70-hour cycle | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 | 6 | 62 | 8 hours left |
| After a 34-hour restart | (reset) | 0 | 0 | 70 hours left |
On Day 9 the driver is 3 hours over 70 and would be in violation for any driving after the 70th hour. The 60-hour/7-day schedule applies when the carrier does not operate vehicles every day of the week; 70/8 when it does.
Under 395.3(c), any 7- or 8-day period may end with an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours, so a restart resets the cycle to a full 60 or 70 hours. The calculator’s restart option counts only hours worked since the restart.
A driver with a sleeper berth can split the 10 hours off into two periods: one of at least 7 consecutive hours in the berth, the other at least 2 hours off duty or in the berth, totaling at least 10 (7/3 and 8/2 are the common splits). Qualifying periods do not count toward the 14-hour window, and the limits are recalculated from the end of the first period; driving before and after each rest period together must stay within 11 hours and the 14-hour window. Up to 3 hours riding in the passenger seat can also combine with at least 7 consecutive hours in the berth.
| Situation | What the rules allow | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Day with 2 hours waiting at a shipper | On duty 6:00 a.m.; 2 h loading wait, then driving | Window ends 8:00 p.m. regardless of the wait; the wait counts as on-duty and toward the 70 hours, and it satisfies the 30-minute break |
| Driven 10 h, 12 h into the window | 1 h of driving left (11-hour limit) and 2 h of window | Adverse conditions: up to 3 h of driving within a 16-hour window |
| Driven 5 h, 13 h into the window | 1 h left: the 14-hour window ends first | Off-duty time inside the window does not stop the clock (except qualifying sleeper-berth periods) |
| 7/3 sleeper-berth split | 7 h in the berth + 3 h off duty or in the berth | Neither period counts against the 14 hours; clocks are recalculated from the end of the first period |
| 8/2 sleeper-berth split | 8 h in the berth + 2 h off duty | Driving before and after each rest period must total 11 hours or less |
The calculator handles splits only through the hours you enter; work out a split’s recalculated clocks with your ELD or the FMCSA guide’s worked examples.
If adverse driving conditions (as defined in 395.2) mean you cannot safely finish the run within the limits, 395.1(b)(1) allows up to 2 more hours beyond the maximum driving time or duty time: up to 13 hours of driving, and the 14-hour window stretched by up to 2 hours. It covers only finishing the run or reaching a safe place. Short-haul drivers who stay within 150 air miles (172.6 statute miles) of their work reporting location and are released within 14 hours are exempt from logbooks and ELDs under 395.1(e)(1), and from the 30-minute break, but still follow the 11-hour and 60/70-hour limits.
Under 49 CFR 395.13, an FMCSA special agent can order a driver out of service on finding that the driver was on duty beyond the maximum periods, or lacks a current record of duty status for the day and the prior seven days. The carrier may not let the driver operate again until the driver can do so lawfully. Civil penalty amounts are set and inflation-adjusted in FMCSA rules; this page does not estimate them.
It covers interstate property-carrying drivers under 395.3. It does not cover passenger-carrying drivers (10-hour driving, 15-hour on-duty limits under 395.5), intrastate rules, which states set, agricultural and other exemptions, or Canadian rules. It does not replace your ELD record, which is what an inspector reads; times follow your home terminal’s time zone (395.8).
Pausing the 14-hour clock with a break. Off-duty time inside the window does not extend it, except qualifying sleeper-berth periods.
Counting only driving toward 70. Loading, fueling, inspections and waiting on duty all count.
Treating the cycle as a calendar week. It rolls daily; check tomorrow’s hours by dropping the oldest day.
Using adverse conditions for known delays. Under 395.2, conditions that were known, or could reasonably have been known, before the duty day or dispatch do not qualify.