How to Fill Out a Truck Driver Logbook

Truck drivers are required to keep careful track of their activities. Every 24-hour period must be carefully recorded, indicating the driver's location and time spent on and off duty during those hours. Keeping this record of duty is required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. These forms must be filled out thoroughly and accurately in each working period.

Things You'll Need

• Duty status grid
• Additional forms as required by employer
• Pen
• Watch or clock

Instructions

1. Fill out the basics of the form. This includes the date, truck number, name of carrier, and total miles driven during the day. If work is being performed for more than one carrier within a 24-hour period, the names of both carriers must be shown on the form. Likewise, if more than one vehicle is operated in a 24-hour period, the information for all vehicles must be included.

2. Record the starting time for the 24-hour period that you will be recording. Include the name of your co-driver, if applicable, as well as the shipping document number or the name of the shipper and commodity that you are carrying. Write your point of origination on the "From" line and your destination on the "To" line.

3. Track your activities throughout the day on the graph grid. A box is provided for each hour of the day, with marks for each 15-minute interval within the hour. Four lines are available to indicate your various duties. These are "Off-Duty," "Sleeper Berth," "Driving," and "On Duty Not Driving." Your duties should be recorded with a straight line passing through the center of the appropriate line, from the start time of the duty to the end time. When you switch to a new duty, use a vertical line to connect the first mark to the next duty line. From here, continue your horizontal line across the time sheet until you need to change your duty status again.

4. Indicate your change in status as soon as you begin a new duty. Your log should always be accurate up to the last duty performed. Each time you begin a new duty, record your location in the remarks area. This should indicate the city, town or village and state in which you changed duty status. If you are not in a city, town or village, you can record the highway number along with the nearest milepost, the name of the service plaza or the nearest intersecting roadways. You must also include the nearest city, town or village.

5. Upon completion of your form, record the total hours. This should always equal 24 hours. If it does not, recheck your records and adjust to correct for errors as needed. Sign the log at the end of the day with your name as it appears on your driver's license.

Tips & Warnings

• Grids may come in a vertical form as well. This will be completed in the same manner described above, only using a vertical line to record hourly duties and a horizontal line to connect one duty to the next.

References

• Trucker's Daily Log Book Information
• Part 395: Hour of service of drivers

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Truck Driver Logbook Examples