CDL 34-Hour Restart Guide: Recap Hours and the 60/70 Limit

A 34-hour restart and recap hours solve the same scheduling problem in different ways. The restart can return the full cycle after 34 consecutive hours off; recap waits for older on-duty hours to leave the rolling 7- or 8-day calculation. Neither method excuses driving after the limit.

Drivers often call the 60/70-hour rule a weekly clock, but it is not tied to Monday through Sunday. Under 49 CFR 395.3, a property-carrying driver tracks on-duty time across a rolling period. A driver who reaches the applicable limit may continue certain non-driving work, but may not drive a commercial motor vehicle on a public road until enough hours are available again.

Those hours can return in two lawful ways: complete 34 or more consecutive hours off duty and restart the calculation, or wait for the oldest day to fall outside the rolling window. The second approach is commonly called recap. It is arithmetic based on the regulation, not a separate exception.

First identify the correct cycle

The carrier’s operation determines which rule applies; the driver does not select the more convenient number. The calculation also follows the motor carrier’s designated start time for a 24-hour period. Use the ProntoCDL HOS basics guide to keep the cycle limit separate from the 11-hour driving limit, 14-hour window and 30-minute interruption requirement.

On-duty time—not only driving—fills the cycle

The cycle total includes driving and other on-duty work: inspections, fueling, loading, unloading, required paperwork, paid work for another employer and other time that meets the federal on-duty definition. Off-duty and sleeper-berth time do not add to the total.

Reaching 60 or 70 hours is a driving prohibition. FMCSA’s driver guide explains that a driver may perform other work after the threshold, but those new on-duty hours still increase the rolling total and can delay the return of usable driving time. A carrier may impose a stricter no-work policy.

Restart versus recap

The restart is optional. Recap does not create extra hours; it merely recognizes that the regulation looks back only 7 or 8 consecutive days. A driver should calculate the total before driving—not after the ELD warns that the limit has been reached.

How to build a valid 34-hour restart

1. Record the start precisely. The count begins when all on-duty work ends and the driver changes to a valid off-duty or sleeper-berth status.
2. Keep the period consecutive. Off-duty and sleeper time may be combined, but on-duty work breaks the sequence.
3. Protect the status. Do not fuel, inspect, load, move a CMV for a business purpose, complete required work or accept another job during the planned restart.
4. Audit the record before driving. Confirm the ELD status changes, location entries and carrier edits match what actually occurred.
5. Recheck every clock. The cycle reset does not erase the need to satisfy the daily rest, driving-window, break and fitness-for-duty rules.

A 34-hour period necessarily exceeds the normal 10 consecutive hours needed before a property driver begins a new shift, but the rules remain conceptually separate. The same is true for split-sleeper calculations; review the 7/3 and 8/2 split-sleeper guide before combining the methods.

Old restart restrictions no longer apply

The current federal rule does not require two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., and it does not limit a restart to once every 168 hours. FMCSA removed those former restrictions in 2019. The operative text now requires 34 or more consecutive hours.

That does not make every 34-hour break a safe return-to-work decision. 49 CFR 392.3 separately prohibits operation when illness or fatigue makes it unsafe. Use the fatigue-management guide to plan sleep quality, not merely legal elapsed time.

Three worked examples

Example 1: nine recap hours return

A driver operates on the 70-hour/8-day rule. The oldest day currently inside the calculation contains 9 on-duty hours. When the carrier’s next 24-hour period begins, that day drops outside the eight-day window. If the driver adds no new on-duty time before then, 9 hours become available. If the driver works 3 new on-duty hours, only 6 net hours remain available from that change.

Example 2: a complete 34-hour restart

A driver goes off duty Friday at 8:00 p.m. and remains continuously off duty or in the sleeper berth until Sunday at 6:00 a.m. That is 34 consecutive hours. With an accurate record and no interrupting work, the property-driver cycle restarts and the full applicable 60 or 70 hours are available. Carrier policy, load readiness and every daily rule still apply.

Example 3: an interrupted attempt

A driver records 22 hours off duty, then spends 30 minutes helping load and completing required paperwork on duty, followed by another 12 hours off. The 22 and 12 cannot be added into a restart because the regulation requires 34 consecutive hours. The count begins again after the on-duty work ends.

Personal conveyance and ELD records

FMCSA says legitimate personal-conveyance time may be combined with other off-duty time to complete a 34-hour break because personal conveyance is recorded off duty. The movement must still satisfy the agency’s personal-conveyance guidance; relabeling a business move does not make it off duty. Fatigue can prohibit operation even when the log status is otherwise permitted.

ELD remaining-hours displays are useful, but they do not replace the underlying rule. Review unassigned driving, carrier-proposed edits, missing work for another employer and the carrier’s selected 24-hour start time. For device failures, follow the separate steps in the ELD malfunction and paper-log guide.

Passenger-carrying drivers need a different analysis

49 CFR 395.5 gives passenger-carrying drivers 60/7 and 70/8 limits but does not contain the property-carrier restart language in § 395.3(c). A bus driver should not assume that 34 hours resets the federal passenger cycle. Use the rolling total and follow the applicable carrier, State and operating rules.

Common cycle mistakes

• Choosing 70/8 because the carrier operates some days when the rule depends on whether the carrier operates CMVs every day of the week.
• Counting only wheel time and omitting inspections, loading, fueling, paperwork or work for another employer.
• Treating a fixed calendar week as the federal rolling window.
• Assuming a restart is mandatory or that recap hours require special approval.
• Combining two off-duty blocks separated by on-duty work into one restart.
• Using tomorrow’s recap hours before the carrier’s new 24-hour period begins.
• Assuming an ELD prediction overrides inaccurate or incomplete duty records.
• Applying the property-carrier 34-hour restart to a passenger-carrier operation.

Practical takeaways

• Know whether the carrier uses 60/7 or 70/8 and when its 24-hour period begins.
• Add all on-duty time, not only driving time.
• Calculate the rolling total before driving and identify which day will drop out next.
• Treat a restart as 34 uninterrupted hours off duty, sleeper berth, or a consecutive combination.
• Restart only the cycle calculation; keep the daily clocks and fatigue decision separate.
• Audit ELD statuses and edits before relying on displayed availability.
• Use trip planning and the adverse-conditions guide to preserve legal margin before a delay occurs.

34-hour restart FAQ

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