When is the 30-minute break required?

After 8 cumulative hours of driving time without at least a 30-minute interruption. Since the September 2020 final rule, any 30 consecutive minutes of non-driving time satisfies it — on-duty loading, a fuel stop or a lunch break all count, not just off-duty time.

What is the difference between the 60/7 and 70/8 cycle?

A carrier that does not operate every day of the week uses 60 hours of on-duty time in any 7 consecutive days. A carrier operating every day of the week uses 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days. Either cycle can be reset with 34 consecutive hours off duty.

Does this dispatch planner account for the 34-hour restart?

Yes. If the driver runs out of cycle hours mid-trip, the planner inserts a 34-hour restart into the schedule and flags the trip red, because in practice that means you should assign a different driver or relay the load.

Is this trip plan a legal Hours of Service record?

No. It is a planning estimate to help a dispatcher decide whether a load can be run legally before it is assigned. The driver's ELD remains the record of duty status, and actual traffic, weather and detention will move the numbers.

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Dispatch Planner

Before you assign the load, find out whether the driver can actually run it legally. Enter the stops and the hours left on their clock — get stop-by-stop ETAs, the breaks and resets the rules force in, and a straight go / no-go answer.

11-hour driving 14-hour window 30-minute break 10-hour reset 60/7 & 70/8 cycle 34-hour restart

Where does the load go?

Origin, any number of stops, final delivery. Pick each city from the suggestions — State fills in itself.

Origin / pickup

Location

State

Zip

Final delivery

Location

State

Zip

Where is the driver's clock right now?

Read these off the ELD before dispatch. Defaults assume a fresh driver after a 10-hour break.

Cycle

Cycle hours remaining

Driving hours available

Max 11

14-hour window left

Max 14

Dispatch time

Average speed

mph

Add a pre-trip inspection

Plan fuel stops

Route

Start Stop Delivery Break Overnight

Arrival times

Stop	Miles	Arrives

Trip schedule

Planning estimate, not a duty record. Excludes loading time and traffic; the driver's ELD is the legal record.

Why dispatchers plan hours before they plan miles

Google Maps will happily tell you that Dallas to Chicago is about 15 hours of driving. A truck cannot do that in a day. A property-carrying driver gets 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window, and then the truck stops for 10 hours whether or not the receiver is expecting it. Loads get booked against map times and then run late, and the driver takes the blame for a math problem that was made at the dispatch desk.

This planner runs the trip the way the rules actually run it: it drives until a clock runs out, inserts the break or the reset the regulation forces, and then keeps going. What comes back is the delivery time the driver can legally hit — so you can check it against the appointment now instead of at 4 a.m. on delivery day.

The rules this planner enforces

11-hour driving limit

After 10 consecutive hours off duty, a driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours. Once those 11 hours are used, driving stops until another 10-hour break is taken.

14-hour duty window

A driver may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. This is the clock that surprises people: it runs on wall-clock time, so a three-hour wait at a shipper eats three hours of driving opportunity even though the truck never moved.

30-minute break

After 8 cumulative hours of driving, the driver needs at least 30 consecutive minutes of non-driving time. Since the 2020 rule change that time does not have to be off duty — loading, unloading, or a fuel stop of 30 minutes or more satisfies it. The planner credits those automatically, which is why a well-timed fuel stop often costs nothing.

60/7 and 70/8 cycles

Carriers operating fewer than seven days a week run a 60-hour / 7-day cycle; carriers running every day use 70 hours / 8 days. All on-duty time counts against it — driving and loading alike. When the cycle is gone, only 34 consecutive hours off duty brings it back, and a driver who needs a restart mid-load is a driver who should not have been assigned that load.

How to use the plan you get back

Green — the driver finishes with hours to spare. Book it.
Yellow — legal, but it needs a 10-hour reset or leaves the driver nearly out of cycle. Make sure parking and receiver hours line up.
Red — the driver runs out of cycle mid-trip and needs a 34-hour restart to finish. Relay the load, or send a driver with more hours.

The stop table shows the driver's three clocks as they pull away from each stop, so you can see exactly where the trip gets tight rather than only that it does.

Frequently asked questions

Does this replace my ELD?

No. Your ELD is the legal record of duty status. This is a planning tool for the decision you make before the load is assigned.

Does it handle sleeper-berth splits?

Not yet. The plan assumes a full 10-hour reset rather than an 8/2 or 7/3 split. A driver who splits sleeper time correctly can sometimes beat this schedule — they will not do worse than it.

Is my trip data stored?

No. Stops and hours are used to build the plan and are not saved to an account. There is nothing to sign up for to use this page.

Planning one load is free. Running a fleet is the hard part.

MyCarrierVault keeps the rest of it straight — driver qualification files, medical cards and CDLs with expiry alerts, vehicle documents, IFTA, and CSA scores pulled from FMCSA. Free tools stay free; the fleet side starts at $9.99 a month.

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