The Trucking Law segment is a monthly feature on Overdrive, in which we pose commonly asked questions from truckers and owner-operators to legal experts. In this installment, attorney Paul Taylor goes into what is permissible to record time spent driving a truck as “personal conveyance” in hours of service. Find all Trucking Law installments via this link.
I frequently am asked when it is permissible to record time spent driving a commercial vehicle as “personal conveyance” on a record-of-duty status.
Although a log line designated as PC is a relatively new phenomenon, the permissible recording of personal use of a commercial vehicle as “off-duty time” has been around since I dispatched trucks while I was in law school.
You can use a truck to drive your family to church, run to the grocery store or take a fishing trip so long as you are not doing so at the direction of the employer. Determining compliance can be a little more fuzzy, though, when driving to or from shippers or receivers, or the carrier’s terminal.
Here are some common questions:
1. What is personal conveyance?
PC is the personal use of a commercial motor vehicle while off duty. You are off duty only if you are not responsible for performing work for the carrier at that time.
