The Hours of Service rules published in 2015 by the FMCSA introduced new provisions for two Special Driving Categories, namely, Personal conveyance and Yard moves.
What is Personal Conveyance?
As the name suggests, personal conveyance (PC) refers to the movement of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) for personal use. It’s important to know that any movement of the CMV made for personal conveyance should not be for commercial profit to the motor carrier.
The vehicle can be used for personal conveyance even if it is loaded, as long as it is not used for the commercial benefit of the carrier fleet. Personal conveyance counts towards the required off-duty period. Hence, it does not affect the 14-hour driving window or the 11-hour driving limit. Certain ELDs can allow fleet managers to disable this provision for drivers.
Below are some examples of valid and invalid use of the personal conveyance movements laid down by the FMCSA.
When can you use Personal Conveyance?
- Time spent traveling from drivers residence to the reporting location.
- Time spent traveling to find the a closeby safe location to obtain the required rest for a driver. The time driving under personal conveyance should allow the driver adequate time to obtain the required rest in accordance with the rules for Hours of Service.
- Time spent traveling between trailer-drop lots and driver’s residence.
- Time spent moving the vehicle on instruction of a safety official during the driver’s off-duty time.
- Time spent transporting personal property during off-duty.
- Time spent traveling to a restaurant or entertainment facilities and back to lodging. Note: Other drivers on their off-duty period may be onboard the vehicle. These drivers are not considered passengers.
- Time spent traveling to driver’s residence after working at an off-site location.
Examples of invalid use of PC:
- Time spent in moving a commercial motor vehicle to enhance the operational readiness of the motor carrier.
- Time spent to continue a trip in interstate commerce to fulfil a business purpose. This includes repositioning the vehicle on the instructions of the carrier, retrieving an additional load, bobtailing, etc.
- Time spent driving a vehicle to a facility to have vehicle maintenance performed.
- Time spent while commuting to the terminal after loading or unloading from a shipper or a receiver.
Questions
Can I use Personal Conveyance to Drive Home?
Yes, this is a valid use of PC – as long as the driver is relived from work and all responsibility of work.
If I use PC will I have to report back to the same location?
According to the guidelines published by the FMSCA, drivers are not required to report to the last on-duty location after a personal conveyance movement. A driver can begin the on-duty period after completing the required off-duty period – regardless the location of the CMV.
How Much Personal Conveyance can I Use?
There is no limit set, but keep in mind that a DOT officer may scrutinize a drivers PC usage, and if found to be not valid a violation may be given.
Does Personal Conveyance Count against Hours of Service?
PC is counted as Off-Duty in Hours of Service, and thus has no impact on driver’s available hours of service. It is important to make sure that the driver selects Personal Conveyance in advance of moving the truck to ensure that the correct status is selected before driving. Training on this is important to ensure edits and annotations are not required on logs. Call us if training is needed for any driver. Learn more about us by clicking here.
What is a Yard Move?
Yard Move is a special driving category for when a driver makes vehicle movements or adjustments in a yard. The term ‘yard’ does not have a formal definition laid down by the FMSCA. However, there are certain rules:
- There must be a sign or a gate that restricts the public from entering the yard
- The entirety of the move must be within the same yard itself. Driving from one yard to another is considered a Driving event and not a Yard Move
A yard can be a carrier’s terminal, customer’s facility, or a maintenance facility as long as there are signs or gates restricting the public from entering the premise. Moving the CMV or bobtailing at a parking lot open to the public is not considered a yard move. Note, most truck stops are not considered as “yard” as they are open to the public. Also, any sort of vehicle driving that occurs on a public roads is not considered a yard move.
The time captured by the ELD during the yard move counts towards the driver’s on-duty time. So, yard moves are considered on-duty but not driving. For instance, if a driver starts the day by performing yard moves, then the driver has started the 14-hour driving window. However, the driver still has up to 11 hours of driving time allowed. Similar to Personal Conveyance, carriers can turn off the Yard Move option for certain or all drivers.
The time spent in yard move needs to be logged with a lot of scrutiny. In case a driver fails to change the status after leaving the yard, a false entry is logged. A driver should immediately include a remark in the logs explaining the false log. An intended falsification of the logs may lead to violations. Also it is important to have the driver select Yard Move on the app before driving the car, so that a driving event isn’t logged.
That is a full explanation of both Personal Conveyance and Yard Moves that can be selected with us in the best ELD Device. For more information on Hours of Service click this article. As a quick summary image of what both of these count as, please see this chart below:
