Sleeper Berth Provision Made Simple

Every driver knows his driving and working times depend on properly taking a break. By law you need to have 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours off before you are allowed to get back to work (specifically driving).

I decided to write a bit about sleeper berth provision because I have seen drivers getting caught in a situation similar to this. The driver arrives at a shipper at night and he is given a door. His plan is to stay and take his break on the dock until the following morning. A couple of hours later the driver is woken up by the shipper, who wants him to move the truck and trailer from the dock as the space is needed. The driver refuses because he will interrupt his break. The shipper will not give up and at some point the driver might as well agree to move. I will clarify something: with the ELD mandate driver harassment, as the one described, is punishable by law, however if you do not have an e-log, you may not qualify, plus the whole process is better said than done as you will waste a lot of time proving what happened. Back to the example, the driver will now have to start his break all over. If the driver stayed on property after his 11 and 14 hours expired and he just moved the truck away from the dock, now he registers only on duty time, so he is still not in violation. However, the driver will now start counting the 10 hours from the beginning. Frustration, anger and other feelings may be born.

And here comes the sleeper berth provision. All drivers have heard of it, few have practiced it and even fewer know how to actually use it. Majority of motor carriers would actually have a company policy against the use of sleeper berth provision as it is considered too complicated to comprehend. When understanding the sleeper berth provision makes the difference between making money or not making money, I believe it is worth learning how the provision works and start practicing it.

The sleeper berth provision is the equivalent of a 10 hour break. It is a split break where the total hours are equal or more than 10 hours. You cannot split the break as you find fit. Remember one of the breaks needs to be of 2 or more uninterrupted hours, while the other one must be at least uninterrupted 8 hours long and IT MUST BE IN THE SLEEPER. If you take 8 hours off duty, you do not have a sleeper berth provision. Please read through the end so you could get the full picture of the rule.

The 8 hour break. Regardless of whether you use a sleeper berth provision or not, every time you spend 8+ hours in the sleeper, those 8+ hours will not count against the 14 hours of your working day.

Example: You finish your 10 hour break at 2 AM. This means you have until 4 PM to drive for up to 11 hours. At some point between 2 AM and 3:45 PM you start an 8 hour break in the sleeper. Once you are over with that 8+ hour break you have extra 8+ hours to add to your 14 hours. Now instead of having to stop driving at 4 PM you have 8+ hours to drive after 4 PM. Lets say you did the minimum of 8 hours, you now have until midnight that day to drive as long as you do not go over 11 hours of driving.

Why would you take 8 hours of sleep in the middle of the day? Every time you feel like taking a break because you are tired, for example. Sleeping for 10 hours doesn't mean you are well rested or in condition to drive. Every time there is a delay of sort - repairs, no loads, delays at shippers, you may decide you would rather take a break and return to duty when you are not going to be the one waiting but rather the one the other party is waiting for. The mistake majority of drivers make is to hustle around and get upset because they do not get loaded on time, instead of to rest well. They waste valuable break time they can enjoy. Instead what they can do is take a break, relax and be ready for the road when everyone else is.

When you can't get the qualifying 8 hour break? The simple answer is when you interrupt it. If lets say you are at a shipper and you have to go back and forth to scale the trailer, you do not get the 8 hours in the sleeper break, simply because you do not stay in the sleeper the entire time.

The 2 hour break. The 2 hour break by itself is as regular break as any other. It gives you almost no benefits by itself besides the fact that it qualifies as a 30 minute break based on the Rest breaks rule. However, accompanied by an 8 hour break in the sleeper this break gives you a qualifying 10 hour break, consequently offsets the calculation of your 11 and 14 hours. It is important to notate that the 2 hour break needs to be uninterrupted by any work related activity, it can be longer than 2 hours (up to 8 hours) and it can be in the sleeper, or off duty, or any combination of the two (1 hour off 1 hour nap in the sleeper).

Why would you take a 2 hour break in the middle of the day. First because you need at least 30 minutes off every 8 hours (NOT 8 hours driving, but 8 hours of time that includes driving, working, 15 minute breaks). Second you may need a nap. Remember not a great idea to drive if you are sleepy. Third you can be delayed almost everywhere by 2+ hours, so you might as well choose to take a two hour break.

It is a simple math 2+8=10; 8+2=10; 3+8>10; 4+8>10; 5+8>10; 2+9>10; 8+8>10. These and many more combinations give you 10 qualifying hours. Remember: you can have the shorter break first or second. You can have the longer break first or second. Remember: the shorter break must be of at least 2 hours (uninterrupted) and the longer break must be at least 8 hours long (uninterrupted) and it MUST be in the sleeper.

So far so good. We know that we can split the 10 hour break. So, why is it considered to be that complicated then? Here comes the tricky part. I have already said that the sleeper berth is considered an equivalent of the 10 hour break. Equivalent doesn't mean it is exactly the same. For example, GED is the equivalent of high school education, but it is not the same.

The sleeper berth provision has the following complication. Every time you complete it, you start counting your 11 and 14 hours from the end of the first of two qualifying breaks. In other words whatever hours you have between the ends of two breaks you have to include them in your 11 and 14 hour calculation.

Example: Lets say you woke up at 2 AM and you used all of your 14 hours until 4 PM. You take a 10 hour break and you are back to work at 2 AM the next day with brand new 11 and 14 hours.

Now lets say you woke up at 2 AM, you worked (on duty) until 3 AM and you drove for 2 hours until 5 AM. At 5 AM you take a 2 hour break until 7 AM. You still calculate your 11 and 14 from 2 AM and you have until 4 PM to drive. At 7 AM you start driving for 1 hour. At 8 AM you stop and you take an 8 hour break in the sleeper until 4 PM. Now you have 2 factors you have to consider. An 8 hour break in the sleeper that doesn't count against your 14 hours and you have a 2 hour break that accompanies the 8 hour break and makes it an equivalent of a 10 hour break. Going back to the basics of the rule. Which one of the breaks occurred first?-the 2 hour break. This means you will count only the hours after this break further.

What happened with your 14 hours? You no longer have the 5 hours from 2 AM to 7 AM prior to the end of the 2 hour break break. So your day now starts at 7 AM not at 2 AM, which means that you have until 9 PM to drive. Not exactly. Do you remember those 8 hours in the sleeper? So, 9 PM plus another 8 hours = 5 AM the following morning. In other words you have only used 1 hour from your 14 hours from 7 AM to 8 AM and at 4 PM you have 13 available hours in which you can drive.

Now, what happened with your 11 hours. You no longer count the 2 hours o driving from 3 AM to 5 AM, however you must count every hour after the 2 hour break ended, which in this example is only 1 hour from 7 AM to 8 AM. With that said you have 10 hours left to drive after the end of the 8 hour break. So, from 4 PM you can drive for up to 10 hours while applying all regulated breaks.

Remember that you must always count your 11 and 14 hours from the end of the first of the two breaks. This is the break that occurred further back in time, or the first of two breaks you did. Majority of drivers when starting to use this rule make the horrible mistake of starting to count their 11 and 14 from the end of the second break (like they would do with a regular 10 hour break), and this is what puts them in violation. Do not forget to put in the calculations the time you have already used after you completed your first break through before you completed your second qualifying break. This is the key to success with this rule and the key to making more miles legally.

You can can use the following combinations of prolonged sleeper berth provision:

8-2-8-2...

2-8-2-8...

2-8-8-2-8...

8-8-2-8...

You will not have a qualifying sleeper berth with the following combination:

8-2-2-8

If you do that, make sure that between the end of the first 8 and the beginning of the second 8 you haven't passed the 11 and 14 hours limitations.

Look for more examples online or check my blog explaining the sleeper berth provision with visuals among other things.

So, what is the practical use of the sleeper berth provision. Lets say you go to a truck stop and you start your 10 hour break. An hour later you realize you forgot to fuel up. Just get one more hour of the break, and then fuel up. All you have to do next is take 8 hours in the sleeper. The only thing you lose from your 14 hours is the time you have fueled after the 2 hour break. Lets say you go to a pick up. After you are given a door and you have perked your vehicle you decide to take a nap. 6 hours later you are still not loaded or just got loaded. Now you can decide to use your protection under the ELD mandate and continue taking your break until you reach 8 hours in the sleeper. This is only possible though if you do not do any work. If someone convinces you to move your truck you just lost your break. Remember you can always say that you are on your mandatory break, they shouldn't bother you more. In addition shippers may finally learn to be more organized and stop wasting drivers time.

You can take breaks at any time you find fit and as long as you obey the guidelines of the qualifying breaks, you will be able to get a better use of your time in the truck and make more money.