IMPROPER USE OF PERSONAL CONVEYANCE IS HURTING DECKER’S CSA SCORE:

Recently we have received several violations for false logs causing our Hours of Service (HOS) CSA score to increase dramatically and it is now above the FMCSA intervention threshold. Nearly all these false log violations are result of the improper use of Personal Conveyance (PC). Immediately below is Decker’s PC policy. And below the DTL policy is FMCSA Guidance for PC.

Decker Truck Line Policy

Personal Conveyance is driving time that is not counted toward a driver’s on-duty time. It may be used when a driver uses a truck as a personal vehicle for commuting to and from a location such as home. A driver may utilize the personal conveyance option if all the following requirements are met:

  1. The driver must be relieved of all duties and responsibilities.
  2. The driver must be bobtailing.
  3. The driver is driving within 60-minutes or 50-mile radius.
  4. The driver must notate the intention to use personal conveyance and that the trailer has been dropped at a safe location at the time this option is used. Notation must also be made that the trailer has been picked up when the driver has returned for it.

Due to new guidance issued by FMCSA on May 31, 2018 an additional use for personal conveyance has been added to our policy.

  1. The driver may travel to the nearest, reasonable, safe location to obtain required rest after loading or unloading. For this use of personal conveyance, the trailer can be pulled and may be laden or unladen. For this use of personal conveyance, time and distance restrictions above still apply and, as above, must be notated.

FMCSA Guidance

The following are examples of appropriate uses of a CMV while off-duty for personal conveyance include, but are not limited to:

  1. Time spent traveling from a Driver’s in-route lodging (such as a motel or truck stop) to restaurants and entertainment facilities.
  2. Commuting between the driver’s terminal and his or her residence, between trailer-drop lots and the driver’s residence, and between work sites and his or her residence. In these scenarios, the commuting distance combined with the release from work and start to work times must allow the driver enough time to obtain the required restorative rest as to ensure the driver is not fatigued. 
  3. Time spent traveling to a nearby, reasonable, safe location to obtain required rest after loading or unloading. The time driving under personal conveyance must allow the driver adequate time to obtain the required rest in accordance with minimum off-duty periods under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) (property-carrying vehicles) or 395.5(a) (passenger-carrying vehicles) before returning to on-duty driving, and the resting location must be the first such location reasonably available.
  4. Moving a CMV at the request of a safety official during the driver’s off-duty time

The following are examples of uses of a CMV that would not qualify as personal conveyance include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. The movement of a CMV in order to enhance the operational readiness of a motor carrier. For example, bypassing available resting locations in order to get closer to the next loading or unloading point or other scheduled motor carrier destination.
  2. Continuation of a CMV trip in interstate commerce in order to fulfill a business purpose, including bobtailing or operating with an empty trailer in order to retrieve another load or repositioning a CMV (tractor or trailer) at the direction of the motor carrier.
  3. Time spent transporting a CMV to a facility to have vehicle maintenance performed.
  4. After being placed out of service for exceeding the maximum periods permitted under part 395, time spent driving to a location to obtain required rest, unless so directed by an enforcement officer at the scene.
  5. Time spent traveling to a motor carrier’s terminal after loading or unloading from a shipper or a receiver.

Should you have any questions about Personal Conveyance, please call the Safety Department at extension 8533. Anyone that answers should be able to help you.