If you run freight across the US–Canada border, you are operating under two different hours-of-service rulebooks that share a family resemblance but disagree on almost every number that matters. Get them confused and you are one roadside inspection away from an out-of-service order, a violation on your safety record, and a driver stuck at the scale.
The short version: Canada lets a driver do more driving in a single day, while the US gives a longer usable on-duty window and a cleaner weekly reset. Neither is simply "looser" — they are structured differently, and the differences change how you plan a cross-border run.
This is a working cheat sheet built from the two primary sources: the US rules in FMCSA's 49 CFR Part 395 (property-carrying drivers) and Canada's federal Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313), for operations south of latitude 60°N. If you dispatch cross-border, keep it handy.
What are the daily driving and on-duty limits in each country?
The US caps driving at 11 hours; Canada caps it at 13. Under FMCSA Part 395, a US property-carrying driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty — the "14-hour window." That window does not pause for breaks or fuel stops; once it starts, it runs.
Canada, south of 60°N, works differently. A driver may accumulate up to 13 hours of driving time and up to 14 hours of on-duty time, after which they must take at least 8 consecutive hours off duty before driving again. Separately, no driving is permitted after 16 hours have elapsed from the end of the last 8-plus-hour off-duty period — Canada's "16-hour window."
So a US driver has a hard 14-hour lid on the day but only 11 hours of it can be driving. A Canadian driver can put more hours behind the wheel (13) but is fenced by a 16-hour elapsed-time rule and separate on-duty and off-duty math.
How do the required breaks and off-duty rules compare?
The single most visible difference is the 30-minute break. The US requires a 30-minute break once a driver has accumulated 8 cumulative hours of driving time; the break can be satisfied by any non-driving status (off-duty, sleeper, or on-duty-not-driving). Canada has no equivalent standalone 30-minute driving break.
Off-duty math also diverges. The US model is built around 10 consecutive hours off to reset the daily clock. Canada requires at least 10 hours of off-duty time in a day, and critically, at least 2 of those hours must be off-duty time that is not part of the 8-consecutive-hour block. Canada also lets a driver defer up to 2 hours of daily off-duty time to the next day under specific conditions — a flexibility the US HOS framework does not offer in the same form.
US vs Canada HOS: the side-by-side cheat sheet
Here is the comparison that matters, drawn from FMCSA Part 395 and SOR/2005-313 (south of 60°N):
| Rule | United States (FMCSA Part 395) | Canada (SOR/2005-313, south of 60°N) |
|---|---|---|
| Max daily driving | 11 hours (after 10 consecutive hrs off) | 13 hours |
| Max daily on-duty | Drive limited by the 14-hr window | 14 hours |
| Daily window | 14 consecutive hrs, does not pause | 16 hrs elapsed from last 8+ hr off-duty block |
| Required daily off-duty | 10 consecutive hours | 10 hours total, incl. 2 hrs outside the 8-consecutive block |
| Mandatory driving break | 30 min after 8 cumulative driving hrs | No standalone 30-min break rule |
| Off-duty deferral | Not available | Up to 2 hrs deferred to the next day (conditions apply) |
| Weekly / cycle limit | 60 hrs / 7 days or 70 hrs / 8 days | Cycle 1: 70 hrs / 7 days; Cycle 2: 120 hrs / 14 days |
| Cycle reset | 34 consecutive hours off duty | Cycle 1: 36 consecutive hrs off; Cycle 2: 72 consecutive hrs off |
| Mandatory long rest | Built into 34-hr restart | 24 consecutive hrs off in the preceding 14 days |
| Adverse conditions | Extend driving and window by up to 2 hrs | Extend driving/reduce off-duty to complete trip (limited) |
| Sleeper-berth split | 7/3 or 8/2 split permitted | Split off-duty allowed within the 16-hr window rules |
How do the weekly cycles and resets actually differ?
This is where dispatchers get tripped up. The US runs a rolling on-duty limit of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days, and a driver can zero that clock with a 34-hour restart — 34 consecutive hours off duty.
Canada uses named cycles. Cycle 1 caps on-duty time at 70 hours in any 7 days; cycle 2 caps it at 120 hours in any 14 days. To reset cycle 1, a driver takes at least 36 consecutive hours off duty. To reset cycle 2, it takes at least 72 consecutive hours off. Canada also requires at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in the preceding 14 days regardless of cycle. Switching between cycles has its own rules — you cannot simply flip mid-week.
The practical consequence: a Canadian cycle-2 driver can legally bank far more on-duty time across two weeks than a US 70/8 driver can, but the reset costs more hours. Plan the reset location and timing before the driver runs out of clock, not after.
What are the sleeper-berth and personal conveyance rules?
The US sleeper-berth split is well defined: a driver may split the required off-duty time using a 7/3 or an 8/2 arrangement, where the longer period is spent in the sleeper berth and neither qualifying period counts against the 14-hour window. FMCSA has also run pilot testing around additional split options, but 7/3 and 8/2 are the standing rules.
Canada permits splitting the mandatory off-duty time as well, but it is governed by the daily off-duty requirements and the 16-hour elapsed-window rule rather than by the US 7/3 and 8/2 structure. The splits do not map one-to-one, which is exactly why a driver cannot just carry a US sleeper habit across the border.
Personal conveyance — moving the truck off-duty for personal reasons — exists in both systems but under different conditions and documentation expectations. Misapplied personal conveyance is a frequent violation on both sides. Log it consistently and conservatively.
What happens when you cross the border mid-cycle?
You comply with the rules of the country you are physically driving in, and your hours keep accumulating across the line. Crossing into the US does not reset your Canadian hours, and vice versa. In practice, drivers operate under one country's rule set on their ELD and must satisfy the more restrictive applicable limit at any given moment of the trip.
That is why cross-border fleets need an ELD and a back office that both understand US and Canadian HOS. The most common violations on cross-border runs come from three places: treating the US 11-hour driving limit as if it were Canada's 13 (or the reverse), missing the US 30-minute break because it doesn't exist up north, and mishandling the different cycle resets. A driver who is legal in Canada at hour 12 of driving is over the US limit the moment the wheels are on American pavement.
The cleaner your logs and the better your system flags these differences, the fewer surprises at the scale. Cross-border HOS is one piece of the larger cross-border compliance picture, and it pays to treat your ELD data as an operational asset, not just a compliance chore — the same real-time data that gives fleets a competitive edge is what keeps a cross-border driver out of an out-of-service order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the maximum driving time in the US versus Canada?
US property-carrying drivers may drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. Canadian drivers south of latitude 60N may drive up to 13 hours but must take at least 8 consecutive hours off before driving again. Canada allows more driving per day; the US allows a longer running clock.
Do US and Canadian HOS cycles work the same way?
No. The US uses a 60-hours-in-7-days or 70-hours-in-8-days on-duty limit reset by a 34-hour restart. Canada uses cycle 1 (70 hours in 7 days) or cycle 2 (120 hours in 14 days), reset with 36 or 72 consecutive hours off duty respectively.
Which HOS rules apply when I cross the border mid-trip?
You must follow the rules of the country you are currently driving in, while your accumulated hours continue to count. You record under one country's rules and comply with the more restrictive applicable limit at any given moment, which is why your ELD must support both rule sets.
Does Canada require a 30-minute break like the US?
No. The US requires a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving. Canada has no equivalent standalone 30-minute break rule, but Canadian drivers must take mandatory daily off-duty time totalling at least 10 hours.
Can I use personal conveyance in both countries?
Both the US and Canada recognize personal use of a commercial vehicle as off-duty in defined circumstances, but the conditions and documentation expectations differ. Log personal conveyance carefully and consistently, because misuse is a common source of violations on both sides.
Which country's rules are stricter?
Neither is uniformly stricter. Canada allows more daily driving (13 vs 11 hours) and a larger two-week on-duty ceiling under cycle 2, while the US enforces a shorter, non-pausing daily window and a mandatory 30-minute break. The binding limit depends on where the driver is at that moment in the trip.
Bottom Line
US and Canadian hours-of-service rules rhyme but never quite match: 11 vs 13 hours of driving, a 14-hour non-pausing US window vs Canada's 16-hour elapsed rule, a US 30-minute break that Canada doesn't have, and completely different cycle-and-reset math (34-hour US restart vs 36/72-hour Canadian resets). When you cross the border, hours keep accumulating and you comply with wherever the wheels are. Run an ELD and back office fluent in both, keep the cheat sheet above in the cab, and you turn the biggest cross-border compliance trap into a routine.
TorqueAI helps cross-border fleets keep clean, dual-jurisdiction records so hours-of-service compliance is one less thing to worry about at the scale. Book a demo →