Hours of Service: Travel Time vs. Sleeper-Berth Time
Bill Collins explains a common Hours of Service mistake: treating travel on a bus as sleeper-berth time. For attorneys reviewing disputed duty-status records, the example illustrates why the activity behind a log entry matters.
FMCSA Hours of Service Guide: What Drivers & Supervisors Should Know
The Duty-Status Mistake
In the video, Bill describes a situation reported to him in which a driver treated approximately nine hours of bus travel as sleeper-berth time. It is offered as educational commentary on how duty status is classified, not as a documented litigation matter or a conclusion about how the situation should have been resolved.
Sleeper-berth time is a specific status. Under 49 CFR 395.1(g), the sleeper-berth provisions apply to a driver who operates a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle equipped with a sleeper berth, as defined in 49 CFR 395.2, and uses that berth to obtain required off-duty time. A seat on a bus is not a sleeper berth.
Why Travel Instructions and Arrival Timing Matter
Travel at the direction of the motor carrier is addressed separately. Under 49 CFR 395.1(j)(1), when a property-carrying driver is traveling at the carrier's direction, but not driving or assuming any other responsibility to the carrier, that time must be counted as on-duty time unless the driver is afforded at least 10 consecutive hours off duty on arriving at the destination. In that case the entire period is considered off duty.
That makes two facts central: whether the carrier directed the travel, and what happened after arrival. A 10-hour off-duty period under this provision is not a 34-hour restart, and it does not reset the 60- or 70-hour limits. Passenger-carrying drivers are covered by a separate 8-hour version of the rule in 395.1(j)(2).
Using This Example When Evaluating Disputed Records
When duty status is disputed, the label on the log is the starting point, not the answer. Dispatch messages, travel arrangements, tickets or receipts, and the timeline after arrival show what the driver was actually doing and at whose direction. A misclassified entry can change how on-duty hours are counted.
A classification error or an HOS violation does not, on its own, establish fatigue or crash causation. That question depends on the full timeline and the rest of the evidence. For how Bill approaches that work, see Forensic HOS and Log Analysis and Fatigue and Hours of Service Cases, or read About Bill Collins.
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