Recap Hours Explained: How the 60/70-Hour Rolling Window Really Works

Your weekly clock never resets on its own — it just keeps sliding. Here is exactly what counts, what falls out, and when.

The two weekly limits

49 CFR 395.3(b) sets two versions of the same rule:

• 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days — if your employing carrier does not operate CMVs every day of the week.
• 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days — if it operates every day.

"Consecutive days" are calendar days, and the window rolls: working on day D, the only on-duty hours that count are the ones logged in the prior 6 days (60-hour rule) or prior 7 days (70-hour rule) plus today. Everything older is out of the picture.

What "recap" actually is

Hours never "come back". Counting simply stops including old days. The hours you worked on day D−8 stop counting on day D — so from day D onward you effectively get that day's hours back. Worked example, 70/8 rule:

That is the whole mechanic. It also explains the classic complaint on r/Truckers — "I took Sunday off, why didn't I get hours back?" — because a day off only helps once it is eight days old. Time off today does nothing for today's count.

What counts toward the 60/70

All on-duty time: driving, on-duty not driving, loading, inspections, PC in some carrier policies. Off-duty and sleeper-berth time never counts. The daily 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour window are separate clocks — recap math never adds driving time, no matter how cleverly you split your rest.

The only real reset: 34 hours

395.3(c) lets any 7- or 8-day period end with the beginning of 34 or more consecutive hours off duty. That wipes the count to zero — much faster than waiting for days to age out of the window. It is optional, not mandatory, and one minute of on-duty work breaks the run. See 34-hour reset vs recap for when each strategy wins.

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Rule basis: 49 CFR 395.3(b)–(c), 49 CFR 395.5 via eCFR.