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Bertha
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3 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2011 :  09:17:24 AM  Show Profile  Visit Bertha's Homepage  Reply with Quote

We have a school bus driver who exceeded the Hours of Service maximum of 15 hours. She punched in at 6 am, worked her morning runs for 2.5 hours; returned at 2 pm, worked her afternoon runs for 2.5 hours; and then returned for a sports trip from 4:30 pm to 11:35 pm. The other drivers who had the same trip had the morning off. I believe she exceeded the 15 hour limit. If she did, what is the penalty? What do you think of this situation?

bus724
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USA
1609 Posts

Posted - 01/10/2011 :  10:20:07 AM  Show Profile  Visit bus724's Homepage  Send bus724 an AOL message  Reply with Quote
Penalties vary depending on where you are, there are federal and state laws that apply. Many school bus operations ignore the hours of service laws, and law enforcement in some areas looks the other way with school buses. Most school bus drivers aren't even trained on those laws. I agree it's a problem, the company/district and the driver could both be fined if caught. If the driver has an accident, the driver and company/district could be sued.

However, the times you mentioned add up to a total of 12 hours and 5 minutes on duty. There's some debate about whether the 15 hour limit is a cumulative total of on duty time, or a 15 hour window that ends exactly 15 hours after you first come on duty. The boss at the charter company I drive for thinks it's the 15 hour window, so he schedules us accordingly, but I've talked to drivers for other companies who have been trained the 15 hour limit is cumulative and the clock stops if you go off duty.

For those who don't know, federal law prohibits "passenger-carrying" drivers from driving after being on duty for 15 hours or driving for 10 hours without a break of 8 consecutive hours. This is similar to the law for truckers, although the limits are different for "property-carrying."
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