The 34-hour restart: how it resets the 60/70-hour rule, with a worked week

The 34-hour restart lets a property-carrying driver reset the 60- or 70-hour clock to zero by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. As of October 2026, 49 CFR 395.3(c) says a 7- or 8-day period "may end with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours." It is optional. There is no 1-5 a.m. requirement and no once-a-week limit.

The short version:

The 60/70-hour rule, from the regulation text

The 60/70-hour rule is the weekly limit in 49 CFR 395.3(b). A property-carrying driver may not drive after:

• 60 hours on duty in any period of 7 consecutive days, if the employing carrier "does not operate commercial motor vehicles every day of the week"; or
• 70 hours on duty in any period of 8 consecutive days, if the carrier "operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week."

The carrier's schedule decides which limit applies, not the driver's. The periods are rolling: "Seven consecutive days means the period of 7 consecutive days beginning on any day at the time designated by the motor carrier for a 24-hour period," and the same applies to 8 days (395.2). It is not a calendar week.

Two details matter. First, the limit bars driving after the total is reached. It doesn't bar on-duty work that isn't driving. Second, the total counts all on-duty time, not only driving. Fueling, inspections and loading count. The daily limits that feed this total are in our hours of service rules guide.

How the 34-hour restart works

The 34-hour restart works by ending the 7- or 8-day period early. The full text of 395.3(c):

(1) Any period of 7 consecutive days may end with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours. (2) Any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.

When the driver comes back on duty after the 34 hours, a new period starts with zero hours used. Four points follow from the text:

• Consecutive means unbroken. Any on-duty time inside the 34 hours, even a short safety meeting, means the off-duty period starts over.
• It also resets the daily clocks. 34 hours off includes the 10 consecutive hours off that 395.3(a)(1) requires before driving, so the 11-hour and 14-hour limits start fresh too.
• Sleeper berth time. The log rule describes sleeper berth time as "time off duty resting in a sleeper berth" (395.8(h)(2)), and the definition of on-duty time leaves out "time spent resting in a sleeper berth" (395.2). That is why sleeper berth hours are generally treated as part of an off-duty restart. The difference between the two statuses is in our guide to off duty vs sleeper berth. Confirm your ELD's rule set counts them this way.
• Location doesn't matter. The rule sets a length of time off duty, not a place.

Is the 1-5 a.m. restart rule still in effect?

No. A 2011 final rule (76 FR 81134) limited the restart "to once every 168 hours" and required "two periods that include 1 a.m. to 5 a.m." Drivers had to comply starting July 1, 2013. Here is what happened next:

Some guides still list the 2013 conditions as current. They aren't. As of October 2026, 395.3(c) is the two short sentences above. A Federal Register search on October 20, 2026 found no proposed rule to change the restart. FMCSA's April 2026 information-collection notice on crash risk and driver schedules is a research study, not a rule (91 FR 21078).

A worked week on the 70-hour rule

Illustration only. The carrier runs trucks every day, so the 70-hour/8-day limit applies. The carrier's 24-hour period starts at midnight.

Monday (day 8). The 8-day period is days 1 to 8. Days 1 to 7 already hold 70 hours, so the driver can't drive on Monday at all.

Tuesday (day 9), two ways:

Path B shows the "recap" that works without a restart. Each day, the oldest day drops out of the 8-day window and its hours come back. Side by side, the two paths show how one on-duty hour in the middle of a long break can cost most of a week's hours. The meeting didn't break any rule. It just meant the long break no longer counted as a restart.

On the 60-hour/7-day limit, the math is the same with a 7-day window.

How many hours do you get after a 34-hour restart?

After a valid restart the driver starts a new 7- or 8-day period with the full 60 or 70 hours. The daily limits still cap each shift. A property-carrying driver may drive 11 hours inside a 14-hour window, with a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving (395.3(a)). A restart doesn't make a longer day possible. It makes a full set of days possible again.

In Path A above, the driver can come on duty at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday and work normal shifts against a fresh 70. Five 12-hour days use 60 of them, and a sixth day can use the last 10.

Does the 34-hour restart apply to bus and motorcoach drivers?

No. The restart in 395.3(c) is written for property-carrying drivers. Passenger-carrying drivers have the same 60-hour/7-day and 70-hour/8-day limits in 49 CFR 395.5(b), but 395.5 contains no 34-hour restart. Their hours come back only as days roll out of the window. Their daily limits also differ: 10 hours of driving after 8 hours off, and no driving after 15 hours on duty (395.5(a)).

Exceptions that change the restart

Some operations get a shorter reset, all in 395.1 and in force as of October 2026:

The 34-hour restart also interacts with the 16-hour exception in 395.1(o). A driver may use that exception again within 6 days only after starting a new period with a 34-hour restart. Short-haul drivers who skip logs still have 60/70 limits. See our 150 air-mile exemption guide.

Common 34-hour restart mistakes

• On-duty work during the break. Paperwork, a truck wash or a meeting on the clock ends the off-duty period. The 34 hours start again after it.
• Counting from arrival, not from status. The restart counts from when the driver goes off duty on the log, not from arriving home.
• Treating the week as Sunday to Saturday. The 7- and 8-day periods roll from the carrier's designated start time.
• Using the wrong limit. A carrier that runs every day uses 70/8. One that doesn't uses 60/7.
• Planning around the 2013 conditions. There is no 1-5 a.m. requirement and no 168-hour limit.
• Forgetting the split. A sleeper berth split resets the daily clocks only. It doesn't reset the weekly total. See 8/2 vs 7/3 sleeper berth split.

Is a 34-hour restart ever required?

No. The rule says a period "may end" with a 34-hour break. A driver who never takes one simply works under the rolling recap. In practice, a driver who reaches 70 hours early in a period either waits for hours to roll back or takes 34 hours off. In the worked week above, the restart was the faster route back to full hours.

Next steps

Plan restarts into dispatch before drivers run out of hours, keep the break free of on-duty tasks, and check which limit, 60/7 or 70/8, your operation uses.

Off Duty Not Driving Rewards is a rewards program for trucking fleets. Contact our team to learn more.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm requirements against the current regulation text and with your compliance counsel.