Florida only regulates hours of service time for commercial motor vehicles, or CMV, drivers. The standards for determining on- and off-duty time is set by Federal law. On-duty time includes periods when the driver is operating a CMV, such as the time when the driver is required to be ready to work for the employer. These times include hours spent at a warehouse or other facility loading or unloading goods, inspecting or making repairs to the vehicle, handling paperwork or any other time used to perform work. Any time used to work another unrelated job must also be included as on-duty hours. Off-duty time is considered any time the driver is free from any work-related responsibilities.
Florida has intrastate hours of service standards for CMV drivers. Intrastate drivers are those who only drive within the state's borders. After 10 consecutive hours off-duty, the driver may return to driving for up to 12 hours. Furthermore, the driver may not operate a CMV beyond the 16th hour after he starts a shift following 10 consecutive off-duty hours. The law states the driver cannot drive if he has been on-duty for more than 70 hours in a seven-day period. Over an eight-day period, the driver may not operate a CMV once he reaches 80 hours of on-duty service. In order to end the seven- or eight-day period, the driver must not drive for 34 consecutive hours.
The driver is exempt from logging driving time if he travels less than a radius of 150 air miles from where the CMV is based. Air miles are different from statute miles in that 100 air miles equals 115 statute miles on a road map. If you travel less distance than 150 air miles, but operate in excess of 12 hours, you must maintain a log. If a vehicle is carrying hazardous material, the operator must log all driving time.
When a driver bound by Florida hours of service law crosses into another state, they fall under Federal hours of service guidelines. Federal standards require a driver to abide by three maximum duty limits. These limits are the 14-hour duty limit, an 11-hour driving limit and 60/70-hour duty limit. The 14-hour duty limit states that after 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time have passed, a driver may return to on-duty status for a maximum of 14 consecutive hours. The driver can only drive the CMV up to a total of 11 hours within the 14-hour duty period. The 60/70-hour duty limit is based on the amount of hours the driver drives in a 7- or 8-day period. If the driver's employer does not operate every day of the week, the driver must stop driving once she reaches 60 hours on-duty within 7 consecutive days. However, if the company operates every day of the week,she may be on-duty for 70 hours in a consecutive 8-day period before going off-duty. The driver must be off-duty for 34 consecutive hours prior to beginning another set of on-duty work.
