The split sleeper berth rule, explained

The sleeper berth provision lets a property-carrying driver take the required 10 hours of rest as two periods instead of one continuous block. This page states the rule exactly as the four FMCSA sources cited below state it, and nothing beyond them. To check two actual periods, use the split sleeper berth calculator on the home page.

The two periods a qualifying pair needs

One period must be at least 2 hours off duty or in the sleeper berth. The other must be at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth. Together the two periods must total at least 10 hours. The familiar shapes are a 7-hour sleeper-berth period paired with a 3-hour period (a 7/3 split) or an 8-hour sleeper-berth period paired with a 2-hour period (an 8/2 split), but any pair that meets all three conditions qualifies, including longer legs.

FMCSA states that when the two qualifying periods are used together, neither of them counts against the maximum 14-hour driving window. That exclusion is the point of pairing: the shorter period stops consuming the window.

The limits the pairing sits inside

A property-carrying driver may drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty following that rest. The sleeper berth provision changes how qualifying rest is counted against those limits, not the limits themselves.

Reset or pair: the driver's choice

FMCSA guidance effective 2026-07-01 says a qualifying 10-consecutive-hour rest that includes at least 7 consecutive sleeper berth hours may either reset the 11-hour and 14-hour limits or be paired with a later qualifying period of at least 2 hours, whichever the driver finds more advantageous. The calculator keeps these as two separate branches and never picks one silently, because the reviewed pages state an explicit restart point for the reset reading and none for the paired reading.

A companion guidance item, also effective 2026-07-01, confirms the order can be reversed: a 3-hour off-duty period may be paired with a later 10-consecutive-hour sleeper berth period, and the 3-hour period then does not count against the 14-hour window.

Why 6/4 and 5/5 are not ordinary options

The 6/4 and 5/5 alternatives are limited 2026 Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot options for approved test participants. They are not ordinary options for ordinary drivers, so this calculator does not offer them, and no page on this site will treat a 6-and-4 or 5-and-5 pattern as qualifying.

What this page and the calculator do not decide

• Splits built from more than two rest segments.
• Whether the driving between the two rest periods itself stayed inside the 11-hour and 14-hour limits.
• The 60-hour and 70-hour weekly limits, the 30-minute break requirement and the 34-hour restart.
• Short-haul and other exemptions, adverse driving conditions and passenger-carrying rules.
• The 2026 Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot splits, which are limited to approved test participants.
• Any jurisdiction outside the United States.

Official FMCSA sources

Every statement on this page traces to one of these four FMCSA pages, reviewed on 2026-08-25.

1. FMCSA - Hours of Service FMCSA page last updated 2026-03-26 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-of-service
2. FMCSA - Summary of Hours of Service Regulations FMCSA page last updated 2022-03-28 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
3. FMCSA guidance - pairing a 10-consecutive-hour rest that includes 7 consecutive sleeper hours FMCSA guidance effective 2026-07-01 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/can-driver-pair-rest-period-10-consecutive-hours-includes-7-consecutive
4. FMCSA guidance - 3 hours off duty followed by 10 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth FMCSA guidance effective 2026-07-01 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/if-driver-takes-3-hours-duty-and-then-10-consecutive-hours-sleeper-0

Ready to check your own log? The split sleeper berth calculator applies this rule to two periods you type in, shows every condition it tested, and refuses to guess when the log is incomplete.