Considering the safety of the drivers during the extreme weather conditions such as snow, fog, sleet, etc., a relief is provided to the drivers by the government in the form of two additional hours for Driving in the U.S. The driver is able to drive for 13 hours instead of 11 hours by choosing this option. Adverse Driving should not be used for normal traffic congestion. This specialized driving option is elaborated further by FMCSA

Conditions:

• No Driving more than 13 hours
• No Driving after the 14^th hour of On Duty
• 14 hours of On Duty maximum allowed
• Must comply with 30 mins Break rule

 
 
 
 

DEFERRAL

In Canada, as per O. Reg. 555/06, there is an option of Deferral for Off-Duty status. In this scenario, drivers get additional 2 hours for Driving and On-Duty in a day. The driver can be On-Duty for 16 hours and drive for 15 hours. In other words, deferring the required Off Duty of 10 hours by 2 hours. Hence, Off Duty will be for 8 hours in a day.

Conditions–

• Maximum 15 hours of Driving in a day
• Maximum 16 hours of On Duty in a day
• No Driving after the 16^th hour of On Duty
• At least 20 hours of Off-Duty in 2 days
• No Driving more than 26 hours in 2 days
• No On-Duty more than 28 hours in 2 days
• No split sleep in 2 days*

*Remark: In this example, 2 days means the current deferral day and the following day.

 

Note– 10 hours of consecutive Off Duty/ Sleeper Berth is required before the start of next shift. Also, the additional two hours of Adverse or Deferral Driving does not increase the allowed cycle hours. As the Driving conditions exception only applies to 11 or 13 hour rule of Driving and 14 hours rule of On Duty (Canadian Hours of Service). The requirement of cycle must be met by the end of the next day.

Our ELD, provides an option to choose Adverse Driving and Deferral whenever required by the driver. The Driving hours get updated automatically and are displayed for the drivers on the screen. In the Officer view, these chosen options are also visible for the inspecting officers

 

 

 

Disclaimer- The rules and regulations are subject to change any time. Readers must verify with the authority, FMCSA / MTO and must not rely on the contents of this blog.