A driver found over the hours-of-service limits, or without a current record of duty status, can be placed out of service on the spot under 49 CFR 395.13 and may not drive again until it is lawful, which for an 11- or 14-hour violation means taking the required 10 consecutive hours off. Federal civil penalties, as adjusted in 49 CFR Part 386 Appendix B, run up to $4,812 per violation for a driver and up to $19,246 per violation for a carrier, record violations are penalized per day, and driving a CMV while under an out-of-service order brings a minimum $3,961 civil penalty and a CDL disqualification of at least 180 days.
This page covers the consequences. The limits themselves (11, 14, 30 minutes, 60/70, the 34-hour restart) are explained in the hours-of-service rules guide, the sleeper options on the split sleeper page, and the logging device rules on the ELD page. To check a schedule before you drive it, use the hours-of-service calculator.
The kinds of hours-of-service violation
| Kind | Examples | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Limit violations | Driving past 11 hours, driving after the 14-hour window, driving more than 8 hours without a 30-minute break, driving over 60/70 hours | 395.3(a) and (b) |
| No record, or not current | No record of duty status for the day of inspection and the prior 7 days | 395.8(a), 395.8(k)(2), 395.13(b)(2) |
| False report | Logging off duty while driving or working; logs that do not match fuel receipts or bills of lading | 395.8(e)(1) |
| ELD tampering | Disabling, jamming or reprogramming an ELD so it does not record accurately, or having someone else do it | 395.8(e)(2) and (3) |
| Failure to produce | Not transferring ELD records to an officer on request; no ELD information packet | 395.24(d), 395.22(h) |
| "Form and manner" | Missing or incorrect required entries on a record that otherwise shows compliance | 395.8 |
The distinction between the first four and the last matters. A limit violation, a false log or a missing record can put you out of service. A form-and-manner error is a recordkeeping violation: it is cited, but it is not one of the federal out-of-service criteria in 395.13(b).
The out-of-service order
395.13(a) authorizes FMCSA special agents to order a driver out of service on finding a violation of the criteria in 395.13(b), and to notify the carrier. The federal criteria are two:
- No driving after being on duty beyond the maximum periods in Part 395 (395.13(b)(1)).
- No driving without a record of duty status current for the day of examination and the prior seven consecutive days, when a record is required (395.13(b)(2)).
There is one exception: a driver who has completed records for the previous 6 days, and is missing only the day of examination and the prior day, is given the opportunity to bring the record up to date (395.13(b)(3)). State inspectors apply these through state law and the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria published by CVSA; the definition of "out-of-service order" in 390.5T covers a declaration by a federal, state, Canadian, Mexican or local officer under 395.13 or the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.
How long you are out of service
The rule does not state a fixed number of hours. It says the driver may not operate a CMV until he or she may lawfully do so under Part 395 (395.13(d)(1)), and a driver put out of service for not preparing a record may not drive until off duty for the appropriate number of consecutive hours and in compliance (395.13(d)(2)). Sleeper berth time may count (395.13(c)(1)(ii)). In practice that means:
- for an 11-hour, 14-hour or 30-minute violation: the 10 consecutive hours off duty that 395.3(a)(1) requires before driving again;
- for a 60/70-hour violation: enough time off for the rolling total to drop below the limit, or a 34-hour restart under 395.3(c);
- for a missing record: the off-duty period that makes the driver compliant, plus a current record.
Paperwork after the order
- The driver must deliver or mail the out-of-service form to the person or place the carrier designates within 24 hours (395.13(d)(3)).
- The carrier must complete the "Motor Carrier Certification of Action Taken" on the Driver/Vehicle Examination Report and return it to FMCSA within 15 days of the inspection (395.13(c)(2)).
- The carrier may not require or permit the driver to drive until lawful (395.13(c)(1)).
An out-of-service order does not suspend the hazmat attendance rules in 397.5 (395.13(d)(4)): a placarded load still has to be attended.
Civil penalties
Federal civil penalty maximums are set in Appendix B to Part 386 and adjusted for inflation; the figures below are from the eCFR text current to 23 September 2026. They are maximums per violation (or per day, where stated). The actual amount in a case depends on the factors FMCSA must consider under the statute.
| Violation | Who | Maximum civil penalty | App. B paragraph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-recordkeeping violation (for example, driving over the limits) | Driver | $4,812 per violation | (a)(4) |
| Non-recordkeeping violation | Motor carrier or other person | $19,246 per violation | (a)(3) |
| Failing to prepare or keep a required record, or an incomplete, inaccurate or false record | Any person | $1,584 per day, up to $15,846 | (a)(1) |
| Knowingly falsifying, destroying or changing a record, where the falsification misrepresents a fact that is itself a non-recordkeeping violation | Any person | $15,846 | (a)(2) |
| Driving time exceeded by more than 3 hours ("egregious") | Driver and carrier | Treated as grave enough to justify penalties up to the maximum permitted by law | (a)(6) |
| Hazmat: FMCSR violations while transporting hazmat where the hazmat rules require FMCSR compliance | Any person | Treated as hazmat violations, up to $102,348 each | (e)(4) |
| Refusing FMCSA access to records or equipment on demand | Carrier or other person | $1,584 per day, up to $15,846 total | (h) |
The egregious rule in (a)(6) is specific: a driver who exceeds, and a carrier that requires or permits a driver to exceed, the driving-time limit in 395.3(a) or 395.5(a) by more than 3 hours is deemed to have committed an egregious violation, and FMCSA will consider its gravity sufficient for penalties up to the legal maximum. Driving 14 hours 15 minutes in a shift where 11 is the limit crosses that line; exactly 14 hours does not, although it is still a violation.
State penalties for the same conduct are set by state law and are separate from the federal amounts.
Driving while out of service
This is where an HOS problem becomes a license problem.
- Civil penalty. A CDL holder convicted of violating an out-of-service order faces a civil penalty of not less than $3,961 for a first conviction and not less than $7,924 for a second or subsequent one (App. B (b)(1)).
- Employer penalty. An employer that knowingly allows, requires or permits a driver to operate during an out-of-service order faces $7,155 to $39,615 (App. B (b)(2)).
- Disqualification. Table 4 to 383.51: violating a driver or vehicle out-of-service order while operating a CMV disqualifies the driver for 180 days to 1 year for a first conviction, 2 to 5 years for a second in 10 years, and 3 to 5 years for a third. If the driver was hauling placarded hazmat or driving a vehicle designed for 16 or more passengers, the first-conviction range is 180 days to 2 years, and 3 to 5 years for later ones. The full list of disqualifying offenses is on the CDL disqualification page.
False logs and ELD tampering
395.8(e)(1): no driver or carrier may make a false report in connection with a duty status. 395.8(e)(2) and (3) extend that to disabling, jamming, reprogramming or otherwise tampering with an ELD, or getting someone else to. 395.30(a) makes both driver and carrier responsible for accurate ELD records; the driver must review, correct and certify them (395.30(b)), and a carrier may not coerce a false certification (395.30(e)). A carrier may propose edits, but they take effect only if the driver confirms them and recertifies (395.30(d)).
On penalties, an inaccurate or false record falls under the recordkeeping penalty (App. B (a)(1)), and a knowing falsification that hides another violation falls under App. B (a)(2), with a maximum of $15,846. A false log that hides driving over the limit is also a limit violation in its own right.
What officers check
- Seven days of records. The driver must have the record for the current day and the prior 7 consecutive days available for inspection while on duty (395.8(k)(2)).
- ELD transfer. On request, the driver must produce and transfer ELD records using the carrier’s instruction sheet (395.24(d)).
- ELD information packet. The carrier must make sure the driver has in the vehicle an instruction sheet on data transfer, an instruction sheet on malfunctions, and blank graph-grid paper logs for at least 8 days (395.22(h)).
- Malfunctions. If the ELD fails, the driver must notify the carrier in writing within 24 hours, reconstruct the current day and prior 7 days on paper unless retrievable, and keep paper logs until it is fixed (395.34(a)). At inspection, the driver shows the paper records (395.34(b)).
- Supporting documents. Officers compare the log with documents such as fuel receipts, tolls and bills of lading; carriers keep records of duty status and supporting documents for 6 months (395.8(k)(1)).
How an HOS violation affects CSA and your record
A roadside hours-of-service violation is recorded on the inspection report. For the carrier, it counts in the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC of FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System, where each violation currently carries a severity weight on a 1 to 10 scale; FMCSA has announced a move to weights of 1 or 2, with out-of-service violations weighted 2 (88 FR 9954; 89 FR 91874). Carriers above the intervention threshold may get an automated warning letter or an investigation. For the driver, an out-of-service violation appears on the Pre-Employment Screening Program record for three years. How both systems work is explained on the CSA and PSP page.
Worked examples
Example 1, applying 395.13. A driver comes on duty at 05:00 after 10 hours off, drives from 06:00 with a 30-minute break at 12:00, and is inspected at 17:45 after 11 hours 15 minutes of driving. She is over the 11-hour limit in 395.3(a)(3)(i). The officer places her out of service. She may not drive again until she has had 10 consecutive hours off duty (sleeper time counts), which at the earliest is 03:45 the next morning if she goes off duty at 17:45. She must get the out-of-service form to her carrier within 24 hours; the carrier certifies its action to FMCSA within 15 days.
Example 2, applying App. B (a)(6). A driver logs 11 hours of driving but a later audit of fuel and toll records shows he drove 14 hours 30 minutes. That is 3 hours 30 minutes over the driving limit: an egregious violation for both the driver and any carrier that required or permitted it, plus a false report under 395.8(e)(1).
Example 3, applying 383.51 Table 4. A driver placed out of service at 22:00 drives off at 23:00 to reach a truck stop 40 miles away. If convicted of violating the out-of-service order, he faces a civil penalty of at least $3,961 and a CDL disqualification of 180 days to 1 year. Waiting it out, or calling for another driver, is the only safe option. Parking near the inspection site can be found in the truck parking directory.
Common mistakes
- Treating the 14-hour window as pausable. Breaks sit inside it, apart from qualifying sleeper splits.
- Not carrying the ELD packet. Missing instructions or paper logs is its own violation (395.22(h)).
- Accepting carrier edits without checking. Once you recertify, the record is yours (395.30(d)).
- Moving the truck after an out-of-service order, even a short distance.
- Staying quiet about pressure to break the rules. Coercion by a carrier, shipper, receiver or broker is prohibited, and a driver may file a written complaint with FMCSA (390.6).