Split Sleeper Berth Rules Explained: 7/3 and 8/2 With Examples

October 26, 20263 min readBy ELD HUB Editorial

Short answer: A property-carrying driver can split the required 10 hours off duty into two rest periods if one period is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, the other is at least 2 consecutive hours (sleeper berth or off duty), and the two add up to at least 10 hours. Common pairings are 7/3 and 8/2. Neither qualifying rest period counts against your 14-hour window, and both clocks are recalculated from the end of the first rest period. (49 CFR 395.1(g)(1)(ii)–(iii))

Which splits qualify

Longer period (sleeper berth)	Shorter period (sleeper or off duty)	Qualifies?
7 hours	3 hours	Yes
8 hours	2 hours	Yes
7.5 hours	2.5 hours	Yes
6 hours	4 hours	No — the long period must be 7+ hours in the sleeper
7 hours	1.5 hours	No — the short period must be 2+ hours
7 hours (off duty, not sleeper)	3 hours	No — the 7+ hour period must be in the sleeper berth

The two periods can be taken in either order. The 2-hour period can be logged as off duty or sleeper berth.

How the clocks are recalculated

This is the part most drivers get wrong. When you complete the second qualifying period, you look back to the end of the first period. Your 11 hours of driving and your 14-hour window are counted from that point, and the time spent in the qualifying rest periods is excluded from the 14 hours.

Put simply: the driving you did between the two rest periods, plus the driving you do after the second one, must not exceed 11 hours, and must fit inside a 14-hour window that does not count the rest breaks.

Worked example: 8/2 split

Time	Status	Notes
06:00–12:00	Driving (6 h)	Started fresh after a full 10-hour break
12:00–14:00	Off duty (2 h)	First qualifying period (short)
14:00–19:00	Driving (5 h)	11 hours used since the full break
19:00–03:00	Sleeper berth (8 h)	Second qualifying period (long) — split complete
03:00 onward	Recalculated	Count from end of first period (14:00). Driving since then: 5 h → 6 h of driving left

For the 14-hour window, count from 14:00 and skip the 8-hour sleeper period: 14:00–19:00 is 5 hours used, so 9 hours of the window remain after 03:00.

Worked example: 7/3 split

A driver takes 7 hours in the sleeper first, drives 6 hours, then takes 3 hours off duty. After the 3-hour break, the clocks are recalculated from the end of the 7-hour sleeper period: 6 hours driven, so 5 hours of driving remain.

Things the split does not do

It does not reset your 60/70-hour weekly limit. Only a 34-hour restart does that (see our 34-hour restart guide).
It does not replace the 30-minute break. You still need a 30-minute interruption before 8 cumulative hours of driving, although a qualifying sleeper or off-duty period of 30+ minutes satisfies it (49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii)).
It applies to property-carrying drivers. Passenger-carrying drivers follow a different sleeper rule (8 hours, 395.1(g)(3)).

Logging it on an ELD

Your ELD records the duty statuses; it is your choice to use the split, and the logs must show both periods with the correct status. If your ELD shows a violation that you believe is a valid split, check the status of the long period — logging it as off duty instead of sleeper berth is the most common reason a split does not qualify. Federal rules are the baseline; a carrier or shipper may set stricter internal policies.