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9/11/26, 11:42 PM
Personal Conveyance Rules Carriers Need to Set
Personal conveyance rules are something you set, not something you inherit. FMCSA lets any motor carrier restrict the category or switch it off, so a fleet that never wrote a policy has taken the most permissive reading by default. The driver logging four hours a night sits in your safety record, not his.
Key takeaways
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What personal conveyance actually means under FMCSA guidance
Personal conveyance is movement of a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while the driver is off duty. The threshold is precise. The driver must be relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier.
It is one of the rules carriers are measured against.
When personal conveyance applies and when it does not
FMCSA regulatory guidance under 49 CFR 395.8, Question 26, publishes these as two lists. One test decides each.
Scenario | PC allowed | Why |
En route lodging to a restaurant | Yes | Personal use while relieved from work |
Commuting from terminal to residence | Yes | Commuting, if time remains for rest |
Nearest safe rest location after loading or unloading | Yes | Rest seeking, first safe location |
Moving at a safety official's request off duty | Yes | Directed by enforcement, not the carrier |
Transporting personal property off duty | Yes | No commercial benefit to the carrier |
Bobtailing or moving an empty trailer for the next load | No | Continuing the trip for business |
Bypassing parking to get closer to the next stop | No | Enhances operational readiness |
Returning to the carrier terminal after loading or unloading | No | Continuing a dispatched trip |
Driving to a maintenance facility | No | Furthers the business, so on-duty |
Passenger-carrying CMV with passengers on board | No | Passengers aboard make it commercial |
Driving after an out-of-service order | No | Not allowed unless the officer directs it |
Repositioning in the yard while waiting to load | No | An on-duty yard move, a separate category |
The test is the nature of the movement, not whether the truck is loaded. The bobtail row catches the most drivers.
Why a loaded truck can still run personal conveyance
A laden CMV qualifies. Per FMCSA, the load is not being transported for the carrier's commercial benefit at that time, so the contents change nothing.
Half the guidance in circulation says otherwise. Drivers who think an empty trailer is required log off-duty movement as driving time, burning clock they never had to spend.
Yard move is not personal conveyance and the difference is who benefits
FMCSA is unambiguous. An on-duty yard move, such as moving the vehicle a short distance while waiting to load, does not qualify as personal conveyance.
The miscoding is predictable. A driver repositions at a dock, picks the wrong category, and the record shows off-duty time that was work. A yard move is on-duty time, and the mix-up is one of the log errors that surfaces fastest at roadside.
There is no federal mileage limit, which is exactly why you need one
FMCSA sets no maximum distance and no maximum time. Section 392.3 still bars fatigued driving, but there is no federal number to point at, which is why a carrier may impose one.
It also cannot extend the duty day. The one exception: a driver who runs out of hours at a shipper's or receiver's facility may drive to a nearby safe location to park, within the duty-day clock you already run.
What your personal conveyance rules should say in writing
The same regulatory guidance under 49 CFR 395.8, Question 26, says motor carriers can establish limitations within the scope of, or more restrictive than, FMCSA guidance. It names three. Banning use of a CMV for personal conveyance, imposing a distance limitation, or prohibiting it while the CMV is laden.
A usable policy makes six decisions and leaves none to interpretation:
Allow or ban. Whether drivers may use it at all.
Distance or time cap. A number, and how it is measured.
Laden or unladen. Whether a loaded trailer is permitted.
Annotation wording. The note drivers enter at the start and end of each period.
Review cadence. Who reads the minutes by driver, how often.
Escalation. What happens on a second violation.
Under 49 CFR 395.28(a), the motor carrier configures the ELD to authorize the special driving categories of authorized personal use and yard moves. The driver selects the category, deselects it at the end, and annotates the record. Leave it disabled and drivers fall back to off duty plus an annotation.
That belongs with your written compliance program, and past a certain size it is a safety director's call. Who must run an ELD is a separate question.
Before your next compliance review
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How personal conveyance misuse lands on the carrier, not the driver
Misused personal conveyance is off-duty time that was really driving time. That is a false record of duty status under 49 CFR 395.8(e), feeding the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC.
Most explanations call this a driver's ticket. It is not. It lands in your BASIC percentile, where growth quietly erodes a score, and logs are the first thing an auditor pulls.
Where Datatruck Fits
Datatruck is a TMS for carriers, not an ELD. Duty status is set and recorded in the ELD. The platform only surfaces it. When ELD data flows into the TMS, personal conveyance minutes per driver sit beside that driver's loads and settlements, visible before an auditor finds it.
FAQs
Is there a mileage limit on personal conveyance?
No federal maximum distance or time limit exists. FMCSA expressly allows a motor carrier to impose one, and section 392.3 still bars fatigued driving.
Can a driver use personal conveyance with a loaded trailer?
Yes. It is determined by the nature of the movement, not whether the vehicle is laden, because the load is not moving for the carrier's commercial benefit. A carrier may still prohibit laden use.
What is the difference between a yard move and personal conveyance?
A yard move is on-duty time inside a confined property. FMCSA states an on-duty yard move, such as moving the vehicle a short distance while waiting to load, does not qualify as personal conveyance.
Can a carrier ban personal conveyance entirely?
Yes. FMCSA permits limitations within the scope of, or more restrictive than, its guidance, including a ban, a distance cap, or prohibiting laden use. Under 49 CFR 395.28(a) the carrier decides whether the ELD offers the category.