Team driving

Team driving is two drivers sharing one truck, one driving while the other rests in the sleeper berth, so the truck keeps moving nearly round the clock. US rules still limit each driver to 11 hours' driving after 10 hours off; the berth lets the resting driver log that rest while the truck rolls.

How the hours work in the US

• Each driver may drive 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and no more than 70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days if the carrier runs every day (49 CFR 395.3).
• A team driver may make up the 10 hours off with at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth and up to 3 hours riding in the passenger seat (49 CFR 395.1(g)).
• Rest may also be split in two: neither period under 2 hours, one at least 7 hours in the berth, together at least 10.
• Other time in the passenger seat counts as on duty (49 CFR 395.2).

The Federal Highway Administration's glossary calls the arrangement a sleeper team: two drivers in a truck with a sleeper berth, one sleeping to accumulate mandatory off-duty time while the other drives.

Worked example: one shift change

The truck moves about 20 hours in every 21. Over a week the 70-hour limit is what binds: two drivers can be on duty up to 140 hours in 8 days between them, against 70 for a solo driver.

In Europe: multi-manning

EU drivers' hours rules call it multi-manning: at least two drivers in the vehicle to do the driving between rest periods. Within 30 hours of the end of a daily or weekly rest, a driver engaged in multi-manning must have taken a new daily rest of at least nine hours (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, Article 8(5)).

The mistake people make

Counting all passenger-seat time as rest. Only up to 3 hours in the seat, immediately before or after at least 7 hours in the berth, counts toward the 10 hours off; the rest of the time riding along is on duty and uses up the 70 hours.