Freight in California

Planning a run through California

Transit on a truckload lane is set by hours-of-service rules, not by highway speed. A solo driver covers roughly 500 miles in a legal day once traffic, fuel stops and dock time are taken out of the 14-hour window. The longest lane listed above — Los Angeles to New York, 2,892 practical miles — works out at 6 driving days, long enough that the 60/70-hour weekly limit and a 34-hour restart usually decide the delivery date.

11-hour driving limit

A driver may drive at most 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. This is the number that sets a realistic day, not the 14-hour window it sits inside.

14-hour on-duty window

Driving is not permitted beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. The window does not pause for breaks, fuel or loading, so time lost at a dock comes out of the driving hours available that day.

30-minute break

A break of at least 30 consecutive minutes is required once 8 cumulative hours of driving have passed without one. Any non-driving status satisfies it.

60/70-hour weekly limit

A driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days, or 70 in 8, depending on whether the carrier operates every day of the week.

34-hour restart

The weekly limit resets after 34 or more consecutive hours off duty. On a long lane this is often what separates a three-day transit from a five-day one.

Adverse driving conditions

The driving limit and the on-duty window may each be extended by up to 2 hours when weather or traffic that could not have been known in advance slows the run.

Short-haul exception

A driver operating within a 150 air-mile radius and returning to the same location within 14 hours is exempt from the electronic logging requirement, which is why local and regional work is scheduled differently from over-the-road.

Summary of 49 CFR Part 395 for property-carrying vehicles, reviewed 2026-09-13. Rules change and exceptions apply by operation type — check the current FMCSA text ↗