Hours-of-Service Compliance
The federal regulation governing how long commercial drivers can work and drive before rest. The current rules set a 14-hour on-duty window, an 11-hour driving limit within that window, a 30-minute break requirement after 8 cumulative driving hours, and 60/70-hour weekly limits with restart provisions. Logged via Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) on most for-hire operations.
Why it matters
Driver fatigue is a leading contributor to commercial vehicle crashes. The HOS BASIC measures how often a carrier's drivers are caught at roadside violating those rules. High HOS percentile draws federal enforcement attention, raises insurance underwriting risk scoring, and signals dispatcher and management practices that don't sustainably accommodate the rules.
Where it appears in a ProHRHQ carrier page
The ProHRHQ carrier page's Safety record table shows the carrier's three-year weighted Hours-of-Service score, the peer cohort average, and the carrier's position against cohort. The Inspection and violation record shows total HOS violations in the three-year window.
Rules drivers work under day to day
A driver may not start a new 14-hour window without 10 consecutive hours off duty, and the weekly clock can be reset with 34 consecutive hours off. The sleeper-berth provision lets a driver split the required off-duty period into two parts, such as 7 and 3 hours, without either part counting against the 14-hour window. Short-haul drivers who return to their reporting location within a 150 air-mile radius and a 14-hour day are exempt from the ELD and the 30-minute break. Adverse driving conditions can extend the driving and on-duty limits by up to two hours. Dispatch that plans loads against the driver's actual remaining hours prevents most of the violations this measure counts.
Related terms
HOS regulations have evolved over time and include exceptions for short-haul, agricultural, and emergency operations. Operational compliance should be evaluated against the current rules in effect, not the framing on this page.