34-Hour Restart Rule Explained: How to Reset Your 60/70-Hour Clock

October 26, 20262 min readBy ELD HUB Editorial

Short answer: Taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty (or in the sleeper berth) ends your current 7- or 8-day period, so your 60/70-hour weekly total starts again from zero. It is optional — you can also recover hours as old days roll off your 7/8-day window. (49 CFR 395.3(c))

The rule in one table

Item	What the rule says
Length	At least 34 consecutive hours
Status	Off duty, sleeper berth, or a combination
Effect	Starts a new 7- or 8-day period — the 60/70-hour total resets
Required?	No. It is an option, not a requirement
How often	No federal limit on frequency; the old once-per-168-hours and two-1-a.m.-to-5-a.m. conditions are no longer in force

The 60-hour/7-day schedule applies if your carrier does not operate vehicles every day of the week; the 70-hour/8-day schedule applies if it does.

Restart vs. rolling recap

Without a restart, your available hours depend on a rolling window: each new day, the oldest day drops off and its hours come back. A restart is useful when a rolling recap would give you very few hours back.

Example (70/8): You worked 10, 12, 11, 9, 12, 8, 6 and 2 hours over the last eight days = 70 hours. Tomorrow only the oldest day (10 hours) drops off, so you'd get 10 hours back. If you instead take 34 hours off, you return with the full 70 available.

What the restart does not change

Your daily limits still apply: 11 hours driving, 14-hour window, 30-minute break. See the HOS rules chart.
A restart does not erase violations already on your logs.
Some states have their own intrastate hour limits that differ from the federal 60/70 rule; check your state if you only run intrastate.

Common mistakes

Logging "on duty" during the break — fueling, paperwork or a quick yard move breaks the 34 consecutive hours.
Counting from the wrong time — the clock starts at the beginning of the off-duty period, not when you arrived home.
Mixing up 60/7 and 70/8 — use the schedule your carrier operates under.

Your ELD will show your cycle hours and when a restart has been completed. Federal rules are the baseline; your carrier or customers may have stricter policies.