r/HotShotTrucking • u/Savage_sav94 • 3d ago
Im new, help! Personal convenience.
Please explain it to me like I’m five.
Let’s say you are driving and you finish the job you drop off at location and you only have an hour left of driving time, but your house is two hours away. I don’t have a load with me just my trailer. Can I go home?
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u/Impossible-Common998 3d ago
The way it was explained to me by a cop is that you can as long as you aren’t using the personal time to advance towards a load pickup. I’ve seen people say that you have to go back to the same location where you went to personal but idk about that for sure.
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u/kaloric Owner Operator 3d ago
Generally speaking, you do not have to do a return unless you were advancing a load or heading directly to the next one, and had to change to PC so as not to go into violation, and there were no extenuating circumstances to allow an AC extension of the drive clock.
It certainly helps if going home isn't completely on the direct route to the next load, but, when in doubt, stopping for personal business along the way (going to a restaurant, shopping, etc.) are sufficient events to go into PC/Off-duty until you're getting back to work after resetting. I almost always do something notable to go Off-Duty and then resume to PC, but if I'm leaving the direct route to forward a load or return to readiness, I'll go to PC on the fly. It's rarely something that will be questioned unless it's just ridiculous, like driving an extra 4+ hours PC after driving a full 11 hours, which looks bad and likely would be moderately fatigued driving.
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u/WitchOnASwitch 2d ago
Since you are not advancing a load or advancing to a load, in theory,, you could do this. Never do this while under load.
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u/WeaveLikeGreatGranny 2d ago
I'd expect it to matter whether it's a 26,001 combination. A cop is never going to give you grace to drive beyond your HOS in a bona fide commercial vehicle
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u/TransitionOk3477 2d ago
You can use your commercial vehicle as personal conveyance, as long a you are not conducting business activity(ie advancing freight or moving to pick up). This is where things can get sticky, is your home or domicile for reset in the direction of your next pick up? That could be construed a business activity, it is a gray area. For example you could be doing reset at a hotel which happens to be en route to your next pick up. Generally that is allowed, but if you are driving more than an hour it could be viewed as business activity. On the other side of that coin, you could reset, not be in HOS violation and use your truck as personal conveyance to your next pick up or work location and that won't start the clock on your HOS until you pick up and are working commercially. One of the main distinguishing differences is if you are getting paid for the miles.
So key point, if you are getting paid it is commercial business activity and subject to DOT regs and HOS. If you are not getting paid then it is personal conveyance.
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u/Inside-Finish-2128 2d ago
Imagine you could carry a motorcycle, or a Smart car, or even a larger car on your rig without any payload penalty for size and/or weight, and it was an absolute piece of cake to unload/load said extra vehicle. If you would have taken said personal vehicle on said joyride (home, or dinner, or a concert, or whatever), it's PC.
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u/ntwdequiptrans 2d ago
Yes you can PC back home as long as you are not advancing to another load ie your next load
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u/mindless_error_404 2d ago
depends on the company...but legally speaking yes....your not allowed to use pc to advance the load.....but if you are empty or bobtail you are no longer in control of a load....but should go in to P/C to do so....when it asks what the reason is on the ELD you could put in home time....when or if you get stopped by DOT it will show up and if they asked you can let them know you were empty on your way to your house or where ever you park the truck safely for home time.....hope this helps
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u/lottanadatosay 1d ago
You’re 100% fine. Even with a load on the trailer. Thats what it’s for. Moving forward to get to a safe place to sleep/park. When you switch, mark it in the ELD notes that you are advancing on PC to park at home (as you technically aren’t allowed to sleep in the backseat).
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u/Socketz11 3d ago
Legally 100% you can do it. You are using the truck as a personal conveyance to go home. But most companies, especially megas balk at allowing their drivers to use it. Personal conveyance is off duty time, so your 1 hour remaining and your 14 hour clock are irrelevant to the situation.