The rules in force
Under 49 CFR Part 395, property-carrying CMV drivers may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive off-duty hours, may not drive after the 14th consecutive on-duty hour, and must take a 30-minute off-duty break before the 8th consecutive driving hour. The 60-hour-in-7-days or 70-hour-in-8-days duty-cycle limits apply unless a 34-hour restart is taken.
Passenger-carrying CMV drivers operate under a separate schedule (10-hour drive / 15-hour on-duty / 60-or-70-hour cycle).
ELD mandate is settled
The Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate under 49 CFR §395.8 has been fully in force since December 18, 2019. Every CMV driver required to keep records of duty status (RODS) must use a registered ELD or an FMCSA-grandfathered AOBRD (Automatic On-Board Recording Device, retired path).
Carriers operating short-haul vehicles within a 150-air-mile radius and returning to the same work-reporting location each day continue to qualify for the short-haul RODS exception under §395.1(e). That exception means no ELD is required, but a paper time-card record is still mandatory.
Common HOS violations during inspections
The most common HOS violations cited at roadside inspections in 2025 (per FMCSA Q3 2025 inspection data) were: 11-hour driving exceedances, 14-hour on-duty exceedances, missing 30-minute break, and unassigned ELD time edits. ELD edits without driver certification continue to be a high-citation area.
Carriers should run quarterly internal HOS audits using their ELD provider's back-office reports. Drivers consistently flagging close-to-limit warnings on the in-cab display should be reviewed for dispatch-driven violations.