Hours of service in California

Correct -- although you can switch from interstate to intrastate HOS on the same day if you are currently under an intrastate load (not dispatched, but under the load). So if you take a load from LA to Sacramento that is destined for Portland, you operate under federal rules. If on the return leg you pick up a load going from Stockton to Bakersfield, you can switch to intrastate rules. You can continue on intrastate rules after delivering in Bakersfield - even when deadheading - until you are under an interstate load.

California changed its HOS rules in 2007? There are now 80 hours allowed in 8 days and 12 hours drive time & 16 hours on duty time before having the equivalent of 10 hours off duty. The "equivalent" can be 8 hours in a sleeper & 2 hours off duty. At one time it could be 5 and 5, which may be why your employer is confused. This is no longer legal.

So the best case is that you start the day hauling interstate and finish it hauling intrastate in which case you could work 16 hours -- meaning no driving after 930pm if you start at 530am. But if you aren't hauling intrastate at all, you're limited to 14 hours, meaning no driving after 730pm.

 

I do not believe the Interstate/Intrastate to be correct. If it where there would be no intrastate drivers. How many drivers haul freight that is built and stays in their state. I hauled more loads of cars than I could count that where not staying in Michigan, in fact we even crossed the boarder in to Canada all the time while on a 12 hour time card classified as a intrastate driver. When you declare your self interstate vs intrastate for your CDL they don't ask what type of freight you are hauling.

 

Your quote refers to the freight it's self, the driver is not mentioned in that portion of you quote.

 

That is because the driver is automatically an interstate driver if they are hauling an interstate freight load, there is no way around it. You can be an interstate driver on a 12 hour time card, the package companies do it all the time, they are all interstate drivers even though some of them never even get out of their home city, the freight you are hauling and it's ultimate destination make the decision on what type of driver you are, not where you actually drive. The only time being just an intrastate driver has any advantage is when you have a state like California that has better hours of service rules for intrastate drivers, most states just carbon copy the Federal rules by reference, meaning it makes no difference what type of freight you haul you have the same rules. This is a common misunderstanding, just because you cross state lines or haul interstate freight does not mean you need a log book, it only determines if you are bound by Federal rules or State rules as to hours of service, operating authority, etc.

As for declaring your status on your cdl application or renewal, that is just so they know which set of rules apply to yo for medical qualification, etc as some states have a more relaxed qualification for intrastate only drivers. The only truly intrastate drivers I can think of would be local store delivery, construction operators, city bus drivers, etc, but most of us that haul freight whether it be cars or fruit, or anything else are interstate drivers. I haul a lot of cars within the state of New York from the railhead for Ford and from the dealers back to the auction and am interstate since the cars came in from Canada or Michigan or wherever else and the cars going to the auction can be sold and delivered anywhere as well.

 

The root of this type of discussion is when some states, like California, institute law that are not the same as the Feds. By the way when you can be required to work that many hours, I for one would not call them better rules, in fact I would call them horrible. Any body that has to work 16 hours should get a good job. Twelve hours should be more than enough for anybody.

 

I can agree with you about the required to work part and the confusion it creates with some states having their own local rules. As for it being too much to work and needing a new job, to each their own, I used to like having a split shift back when we had the 10/15/8 rules. I always ran the NYC metro area and would shut down and nap when there was traffic, so it would look like a long day if you looked at my start and stop time but I took 3 or 4 hours off in between and liked it just fine. Same when I first started driving, I was driving a commuter bus for Shortline from Pa into NYC, started at 4am, arrived in NYC about 8am, took a break in the city until 10am then did some local sightseeing tours with short breaks in between and ended back in Pa about 8pm with another commuter run home, rinse and repeat 5 days a week. That seems like a lot to many people but I enjoyed my mid day down time and have always been someone who gets by with 3 to 4 hours sleep, even today I only sleep a max of 4 hours even on my days off.

 

I said required to work that many hours, apparently the OP doesn't like it that is why he is on here. If a driver wants to work that much and t is legal have at it. As for me I could always get all I wanted by working a straight shift, some times more than than I wanted. To each their own.

 

I wish you were right but in this case you're not. Our company runs almost exclusively in California and we found out about interstate/intra state shipments the hard way...by one of our drivers getting nailed for an HOS violation.

We'd picked up a load in northern California that originated in Oregon and was headed for L.A. That made it a "continuance of an interstate shipment" according to the citation our driver received. Our driver was a good guy, one of our best, and really didn't give any thought to the difference in HOS. Our office dropped the ball by also not being aware.
The driver hit the scales below Bakersfield, got pulled in for a routine inspection, and when they saw his freight bills he got written up for an HOS violation. That was back when the 10 hour driving rule was still in effect and he'd had a short local run before he'd picked up the L.A. load. He was legal for a California intrastate load but not for what he was hauling.

We paid his fine of course but he was stuck with the violation on his driving record. We appealed to DMV but it didn't do any good.

It was an expensive lesson for all of us. The driver is still with us but he sure pays better attention to the freight bills. The office does, too.

 

California, been there several times, nice place to visit but don't want to live there or work there. I guess they think they are doing someone a favor with those rules, just who I don't understand.

 

I agree with you. I've spent most of my life here. It gets a little stranger every year.

We have one girl in our office whose sole job is regulatory compliance. She keeps up...or tries hard to keep up... with all the changes in the laws and rules that we have to abide by. We do some agricultural work which has it's own set of rules and HOS. We also do quite a bit of haz-mat and you know what that's like...completely different ball game and totally different set of rules and HOS. We do quite a bit of hauling for various state and county agencies and they will absolutely drown you in paperwork and rule changes.
We pay that little gal that does regulatory compliance very well...she earns every penny of it. The fines for non-compliance would put us out of business real quick.