The Basic Facts About HOS

We seem to be getting a ton of questions about Hours of Service (HOS) lately.

So we thought why not write a blog answering all of those questions.

Let's jump in and get started.

The Facts

Property carrying vehicles

1. You can only drive for 11 hours

2. You can’t drive after being on duty for 14 hours

3. 
   You have to have 10 consecutive hours off duty to reset your 14 hours on duty and 11 hours driving

4. You can only work 60 hours is 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (depending on which rule set your company falls under)

1. 60 / 7 days hour’s if the company operates 6 days a week

2. 70 / 8 days hours if the company operates 7 days a week

5. To reset your 60 or 70-hour clock you need to have 34 consecutive hours off duty

6. You have to have a 30-minute break after driving for 8 hours

1. If running oversize loads then this is not required

1. Be sure to carry the exemption with you in your truck

2. If operating under the short-haul exemption this is not required

7. If your truck is newer than 2000 and you are not under an exemption you have to use an ELD (Electronic Logging Device)

1. Exemptions include

1. Short-haul

1. Stay within a 150 air-mile radius of where you started your day 

1. And

2. Returned to the same location within 14 hours of coming on duty

2. Your truck engine is 1999 or older

3. Hauling livestock or insects

Passenger Carrying-vehicles

1. 
   You can only drive for 10 hours

2. You can’t drive after being on duty for 15 hours

3. You have to have 8 consecutive hours off duty to reset your 15-hour clock

4. You can only work 60 hours is 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (depending on which rule set your company falls under)

1. 60 / 7 days hour’s if the company operates 6 days a week

2. 70 / 8 days hours if the company operates 7 days a week

5. If your truck is newer than 2000 and you are not under an exemption you have to use an ELD (Electronic Logging Device)

1. Exemptions include

1. Short-haul

1. Stay within a 150 air-mile radius of where you started your day 

1. And

2. Returned to the same location within 14 hours of coming on duty

2. Your bus engine is 1999 or older

I know that we just “puked” a ton of info out there but there is no better way to get it out there quickly.

Stay tuned because we are going to have more Blogs that give you all the details you need to know about HOS.

Anniversary

Today my wife and I celebrate our 16th “weeding” anniversary.  (You'll get the “weeding” if you remember the sign from our wedding. lol)

I would love to tell you that the last 16 years have been perfect. 

But…

That would be a lie.

The truth is that we have had some difficulties.  

I remember at our shower before the wedding, one older lady who was widowed, told us, “Everyone says never go to bed mad, Hell if Richard and I would have done that we would have NEVER slept,” then she laughed.

At the time I thought oh my goodness, who gives this kind of advice to someone getting married?

She was right though.  

There have been times, and I’m sure that there will be times to come, where we don't work out our differences before going to sleep.

On the other hand, there are WAY MORE times that we are excited together, happy to be with each other, soaking up every second of our kid's lives (while we have them), looking forward to the next step in life.

I think you get the point.

The highlights outweigh the struggles by far.

You know what, I wouldn't trade the struggles for anything.

Those struggles shaped us into who we are today.

When we struggled to buy food to feed our family.  Or when we cut all of our “extras” out of life. ( I mean all of our extras, we didn’t have anything except for a landline phone and only bought groceries that were necessary. No extras)

When we worked through hard times at work.  

When our daughter grew a HUGE lump in her leg and no one could figure out what it was, but it just started going away slowly.

How about when we decided to start a business?  And then a non-profit?  

These are just a few instances where we struggled together.

The key here is TOGETHER.

I would have hated to endure these alone.

We have shared so many good times, a few disagreements, and lots of struggles where we helped each other, leaned on each other.

Jenna, I wouldn't trade these last 16 years for anything.

I won’t trade whatever happens in the future for anything either.  

There is no one God has ever created that would be a better fit for me, and I am thankful that he introduced us when he did.  

For anyone out there struggling right now, I want to say hold on tight, because it's a wild ride and you are gonna want that special person there with you through it all.

Happy Anniversary Babe.  

I am thankful every day that God put us together.  

You are one tough gal to put up with me for as long as you have.

Love you, Jenna.

Be Thankful

Recently we had a family friend come out to visit us.  They are awesome and we have a lot of fun while they are here.  

The thing is that I sometimes lose sight of why they come.  

It’s not for the awesome adventures we go on, over 15 national parks, and countless state parks across the country.

It’s not because they need a break from work and have no other place to go.

It is because they want to see us and spend time with us.  

They consider us family.

Sometimes I lose sight of that.

I forget that they aren't here just for an adventure.  I’m not thankful that they made the effort to come out and see us. 

Instead, I feel almost as though they are using us.  Sponging off of our trip allowing us to pay for everything.

My thankfulness gets lost in the commotion.

It happens all the time to me.

I forget about the real reason we are doing something and get caught up in something that doesn't matter.

My loving wife usually tells me to pull my head out of wherever it is and be thankful for what we have and where we are.

Being thankful is NOT always easy.  

In Fact, it's a lot easier to just look at the gloomy side of everything.  That's what the Devil wants us to do.  

He wants us to be depressed and upset. That’s when he wins.

Honestly I let him win too often.

Today I want to encourage everyone to look for the silver lining to the situation you are currently in.

If you are too busy, then be thankful that you have an abundance to do.

If you are traveling too much, then be thankful that you have the means to go.

If you are trying to make the decision to start a business, be thankful that you have the opportunity to do so.

If you just got out of a bad relationship (work or personal) be thankful that you are no longer there.

I could go on and on, but I think that you get the point.

Be THANKFUL for where you are, God put you here for a reason.  He put the people around you for a reason, He gave you those ideas for a reason.  

You are awesome, amazing, and going to go places.  Be the 1% of people who are always happy and thankful for where they are.

I didn’t say that it would be easy, but you can do it.  Look for the bright side of every situation as soon as you can.

Why I pray all day, every day!

Have you ever felt like you were missing something in your life?

All the time right!

As you know I grew up in a Christian house,  mom went to church every Sunday and Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) during the week.  Her bible was always out on the table.  Dad could quote scriptures without even trying.  

But that’s not the reason I pray.  

While I want to make sure that my parents know that they were instrumental in my faith, they aren’t the only reason I pray.  

It was about a year and a half after we started Eclipse DOT that my wife and I were talking on one of our many road trips. I told her that I was frustrated that the business wasn’t really taking off and I couldn’t figure out why or how to make it go faster.   

She asked if I had prayed about it?

To be 150% honest, the answer was,

NO!

Why would I ask God to help with a business?  That involves making money, and the bible says that “the love of money is the root of evil”

She was 100% right though.  Why hadn’t I prayed about it?  Why was I keeping all this fear and doubt to myself?

We prayed right then and there. 

That was the turning point in the business.  I stepped down as CEO and we named God as the CEO. 

We decided that no matter how big the company grows, God will always be a HUGE part of it.  

At that point, I stopped worrying about the growth of the company and started thinking about how we can use it to help God?  We started a weekly devotional God First.  I went back and added verses to the bottom of every webpage.  

Personally, I started praying even more about every decision and every meeting. 

Before a meeting, I always try my best to send a quick, “God we know that you are in control and that you have all this handled, but please guide our words to make this the best meeting possible.  Let your will show through every situation.”

Oh my goodness what a HUGE changed happened almost instantly.  

We made the decision to change our CEO in July, and by September we were being pushed to step out on our own and leave my other employer.  

We still keep our faith strong in the company.  Before any functions, we pray.  Before any large meetings, we pray. 

We ask for God to continue to guide us, for him to show us how we can help him grow this company in his way.  

We know that sometimes, like any good CEO when we bring up a hair-brain idea he has to tell us “no.” That’s ok, we understand.  

Within the first year of stepping out on our own, we grew so much (like over 2000%). 

I can still remember our accountant going over that first year’s taxes with us.  She was very encouraging, but I could see the doubt in her eyes as we talked a little about goals for the next year and the next 5 years.

This last year she called me to ask if I knew how good we were doing?  I told her what I thought we made over the last year, and she was awe-struck.  How did you know that?

My response shocked her, “I prayed and listened with all my heart, I listened to what God said about what we make and I trusted him. So how close was he?”

“Within a few thousand dollars” she replied.

All too often we remove God from the business.  We have been brainwashed that God and business don’t go together.  God belongs in your personal life.  

Well to me God is my life, and he belongs in every aspect of it.  

That’s why I pray constantly. 

Before every meeting, before answering the phone, before I send an email, after I hang up, after a meeting, after that email is sent.  

God is in full control of every aspect of my life from my marriage (Love you Jenna), my kids (HUGE shout out to Billy, Nathen, Brianna, Jacob), the business (Eclipse DOT, Eclipse Training), the non-profit (God First Life Next), and everything I do.  

Today I want to encourage everyone who reads this to take a moment right now and think, what part of my life have I not invited God into?  Is there anything that I’m trying to keep all to myself because “God doesn’t belong there”

God belongs in every aspect of your life.  He loves and wants us to succeed.

Pray continually, Rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18