How Do Recap Hours Work?
Recap hours use your duty cycle of working 70 hours in eight days. They allow you to work on longer runs without taking a 34-hour reset. Essentially, your hours continue to roll over as the oldest day leaves the eight-day period.
- Hours of Service
- Hours of Service, or HOS, are the federal rules that limit how long a commercial truck driver can drive and work before taking required time off.
- 70-hour clock
- The 70-hour clock tracks a property-carrying driver’s on-duty time during eight consecutive days.
- 34-hour reset
- A 34-hour reset gives a driver a fresh weekly duty-cycle clock after at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.
- Electronic logging device
- An electronic logging device, or ELD, records driving time and tracks a driver’s available Hours of Service.
As a truck driver, you have 70 hours of working time to use in eight days. After the eighth day, you can choose to take a 34-hour reset or keep running on recap hours.
If you choose to reset, your clock starts over after 34 consecutive hours off duty, and you receive a fresh 70-hour clock. If you don’t take a reset, you can keep working with the hours that return through recaps.
Running on recaps, or running recaps, means you’ve worked more than eight days without taking a 34-hour reset to restart your 70-hour clock.
After the first eight-day cycle, recap hours can become available at midnight. The number of hours you gain is based on the on-duty and driving time from the day that is dropping out of the current eight-day period.
Simple Recap-Hours Formula
Hours remaining before midnight + hours that drop off the eight-day cycle = hours available after midnight
How Do You Calculate Recap Hours?
To calculate your recap hours, look at the on-duty hours from the day that will drop out of your current eight-day cycle. When that day drops off at midnight, those hours no longer count against your 70-hour total.
Your ELD should show how many hours you’ve used each day and how much time will become available. You can also follow along on a paper calendar to make the rolling cycle easier to see.
1. Review the on-duty hours recorded during your current eight-day period.2. Find the oldest day that will leave the period at midnight.
3. Note how many on-duty hours were recorded on that day.
4. Add those returning hours to the time you still have available.
5. Continue to watch your 70-hour, 14-hour, and 11-hour clocks on your ELD.
What Are Some 70-Hour, Eight-Day Recap Examples?
A Simple Recap Hours Example
Let’s use an example to make recap hours easier to understand.
- On Monday, you work 10 hours.
- When that Monday drops out of your rolling eight-day period, those 10 hours no longer count against the 70-hour total.
- At midnight, you gain 10 hours of availability on your 70-hour clock.
A Full-Week Recap Hours Example
Now let’s look at a full cycle.
- You start with a fresh 70-hour clock on a Monday.
- For the next eight days, Monday through Monday, you work eight hours per day except on Wednesday, when you work zero hours.
- At the end of those eight days, you have 14 hours left on your 70-hour clock because you worked 56 hours.
- At that point, you can use recap hours or take a 34-hour reset.
- At midnight, the first Monday drops out of the rolling cycle. Because you worked eight hours that day, eight hours return to your clock. Your 14 available hours become 22 hours.
- On Tuesday, you work 10 hours, leaving 12 hours on your 70-hour clock. At midnight, eight more hours return from the first Tuesday. You then have 20 hours available.
- On Wednesday, you work 12 hours. Your clock drops to eight hours. At midnight, you gain zero hours because you didn’t work on the Wednesday that is leaving the cycle. Your clock remains at eight hours.
- On Thursday, you work eight hours and use the rest of your available time. At midnight, eight hours return because you worked eight hours on the Thursday that is leaving the cycle.
- At that point, you can work a shorter day and continue using recap hours, or you can take a 34-hour reset.
Keep in mind that after you take a reset and start with a fresh 70-hour clock, you won’t immediately have recap hours available from that new cycle. You first need enough work history to begin dropping older days from the rolling eight-day period.
Your HOS recap screen will show how many hours you've used each day. It should also update the hours that return at midnight.
Rely on your ELD to track your official hours. It can help ensure you don't go over your 70-hour limit and can help you stay on track with your 14-hour and 11-hour clocks. It can also help to write your hours on paper and follow them on a calendar. This can give you a view of what your coming days will look like.
Should You Use Recap Hours or Take a 34-Hour Reset?
Once you understand recap hours, you need to decide when to use them and when a reset makes more sense.
You’ll need time off when you’re out of available hours. Otherwise, your schedule and the number of hours returning to your clock can help you decide whether to continue running recaps or take a full reset.
Recap hours are useful, but it’s also important to take breaks and give yourself a chance to fully reset.
Drivers often take a reset when their recap hours are low and aren’t returning much usable time. For example, if you work only about four hours per day during one week, the hours that return as recaps during the following cycle will also be low.
That may not give you enough hours to work effectively, so taking a 34-hour reset may make more sense and give you a fresh 70-hour clock.
| Recap Hours | 34-Hour Reset |
|---|---|
| Hours return as older days leave the rolling cycle. | The weekly duty-cycle clock starts fresh. |
| You can continue working when enough hours return. | You take at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. |
| Recaps can work well when useful hours return consistently. | A reset may work better when few hours are returning. |
| Your ELD continues tracking the rolling eight-day period. | Your ELD records the off-duty period and refreshed cycle. |
- Recap hours do not replace the 11-hour driving limit or the 14-hour driving window.
- Recap hours are based on the oldest day leaving the rolling cycle, not simply the hours worked yesterday.
- A driver’s ELD should be used as the official record of available hours.
- Taking a 34-hour reset can be helpful when too few recap hours are becoming available.
Use Your Hours to Move More Loads
You may still be wrapping your brain around recap hours and how you can make them work for you. Believe us when we say that when it clicks, it clicks. Your best bet is to sit down with a calendar and calculate your hours each day. It can help you stay on track and understand the rolling cycle faster.
Using recap hours can work well when you want to stay on longer hauls without taking a 34-hour reset between them. When the right number of hours returns, recaps can help you keep moving and earning.
Remember, though, that it’s also important to take breaks. Driver fatigue is real, and it can lead to mistakes.
If you’re looking to move more loads and run more miles, especially as you adapt to the freight market, maximizing your Hours of Service is one way to succeed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Recap Hours
What are recap hours for truck drivers?
Recap hours are hours that become available again when the oldest day in a driver's rolling seven- or eight-day duty cycle drops out of the calculation. Under the 70-hour, eight-day rule, drivers regain the hours worked eight days earlier.
When do recap hours become available?
Recap hours become available when an older day leaves the rolling duty-cycle period, typically at midnight. Your electronic logging device (ELD) automatically updates your available hours.
How do you calculate recap hours?
Look at the hours worked on the oldest day in your rolling eight-day cycle. When that day drops off, those hours become available again.
What is the difference between recap hours and a 34-hour reset?
Recap hours gradually return available working time each day as older hours fall off your rolling cycle. A 34-hour reset restores your fully weekly Hours of Service clock after taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.
Should you use recap hours or take a 34-hour reset?
That depends on your schedule. If enough hours are returning each day, recap hours may let you continue driving without interruption. If very few hours are returning, taking a 34-hour reset may provide more flexibility with a fresh 70-hour clock.
Do recap hours apply to the 60-hour rule?
Yes. Drivers operating under the 60-hour/7-day rule use the same rolling recap concept. Instead of regaining hours from eight days earlier, they regain the hours worked seven days earlier as the oldest day drops out of the rolling cycle.
Hours of Service Reminder
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