Passenger carrying Commercial drivers in the United States must abide by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. These regulations have been implemented to reduce fatigued driving. These regulations must be considered when putting together an itinerary for your travels. These rules are explained below and how they may influence your trip planning.
Your driver can drive up to 10 hours a day. Driving time includes:
Your Driver may be on duty for 15 hours in a day. On duty time includes:
In general, if a driver may lock the bus and walk away or relax, the time may be excluded from the On Duty Time.
Your driver may only be On Duty 70 hours in an 8 day period. If you are only scheduling a one day tour, this will not impact your itinerary. We will monitor the status so that your driver will not violate this rule. If you are planning an itinerary for a multi-day tour, you will need to monitor this rule to ensure the cumulative hours of your trip do not cause the driver to go over the 8 day rule even though all the individual days meet the daily rules.
Drivers must have a minimum of 8 hours off between days. If you are only scheduling a one day tour, this will not impact your itinerary. We will monitor the status so that your driver will not violate this rule. The driver is required to do a post trip coach inspection after the day is over and a pre-trip inspection at the beginning of the next day, so itineraries should allow at least 9 hours from time the coach parks until it departs in the morning to allow sufficient time off for the driver.
