Canadian rules

Does my driver need a 36 to go into Canada?

Only if the driver is out of Canadian cycle hours. Then Cycle 1 needs 36 hours off in a row to start over, and Cycle 2 needs 72. If the driver has cycle hours left, no reset is needed.

What drivers say

“You need a 36 to go into Canada.”

What the rules say

Wrong as stated. A reset is only needed when the driver is out of cycle hours, or will be before the run ends. And a US 34-hour restart is not a Canadian reset: a driver who needs one in Canada needs the full 36 or 72.

Run a free checkTry this example

How it works

The reset must be off duty or in the sleeper, in a row. Any work in the middle starts the count again.

BorderHOS does not return this as its own result. When a run breaks a Canadian cycle, the result names the cycle limit, and the earliest legal departure already includes the reset.

The rule

Sources: SOR/2005-313 s. 28(1).

Rule values checked against the regulations and verified by CVORReady Inc.

A worked example

A northbound run that needs a Canadian reset. The fix on the result is the reset.

Direction
US to Canada
Hours read at
08:00 EDT on Mon Oct 5
Came on duty at
06:00, after 10 h off
This shift so far
2 h driving, 2 h on duty, 2 h driving since the last break
Canadian cycle
Cycle 1 (70 hours in 7 days)
US cycle
70 hours in 8 days
On-duty hours
68 h in the last 7 days, 68 h in the last 8 days
24 hours off in a row in the last 14 days
Yes
The run
Leaves at 08:00, drives 30 m to the border, then 3 h after it

This is the answer the free check gives for these hours.

NO-GO

Not legal as planned. The run breaks the Canadian Cycle 1 limit of 70 hours in 7 days.

Why

Binding limit: Canadian Cycle 1 limit of 70 hours in 7 days (SOR/2005-313 s. 26). Hours worked on both sides of the border count toward it.

Read how this limit works

What makes this a GO

36 h off duty from 08:00, then depart at 20:00 EDT on Tue Oct 6 or later. The rest of the run stays the same.

At the border, under Canadian rules

Driving left10 h 30 m
On-duty time left11 h 30 m
16-hour window left13 h 30 m
Cycle 1 left1 h 30 m

Where the hours came from

Hours entered by hand.

BorderHOS is a planning aid. It does not replace your ELD, the driver's judgment, or the regulations. Results depend on the hours used.

How this was worked out
  1. Hours read at 08:00 on Mon Oct 5: 2 h driving and 2 h on duty this shift. Hours count under both countries' rules; only the rules change at the border.
  2. Departs 08:00, drives 30 m in the US, crosses at 08:30, then 3 h in Canada.
  3. At the border under Canadian rules: 10 h 30 m of driving left, 11 h 30 m of on-duty time left, 13 h 30 m of the 16-hour window left, 1 h 30 m of Cycle 1 left.
  4. First limit broken: the Canadian Cycle 1, 70 hours in 7 days at 10:00, in Canada.
  5. Earliest legal departure, resting off duty from 08:00: 20:00 on Tue Oct 6.
What this check does not cover
  • Sleeper-berth splits are not modeled.
  • Canadian deferral of daily off-duty time is not modeled.
  • Adverse driving conditions are not modeled.
  • Team drivers, north of 60, oil-well permits and short-haul exemptions are not modeled.
  • Border wait is not added. Time waiting in line counts as on duty.
  • The date of the driver's last 24 hours off was not given. It is assumed to fall within the last 14 days for the whole run.
  • Canada requires records of duty status for the current day and the preceding 14 days on board. Confirm before crossing.
  • Cycle hours are entered as totals, so hours that drop off day by day are not counted. With the driver's daily log the earliest time may be sooner.

Engine 1.0.1. Rule values 1.1.0, verified by CVORReady Inc.

Open this example in the free check and change the hours

What fixes it

  • Count the reset from when the driver actually goes off duty.
  • If the reset ends too far out for BorderHOS to search, the result says a reset is needed instead of giving a time.

Related

The rules in full