HOS Statement for First-Time or Intermittent Drivers

Using a driver for the first time or only intermittently? This HOS statement records the driver’s total on-duty time for each of the immediately preceding seven days and when the driver was last relieved from duty. It helps the carrier account for recent work before the driver begins a new assignment. It is not the driver’s ongoing record of duty status (RODS).

What the rule asks for

Under 49 CFR § 395.8(j)(2), a motor carrier using a driver for the first time or intermittently must obtain a signed statement with those two pieces of information. FMCSA’s guidance for a driver starting with a new carrier says the driver may instead present copies of the preceding seven days’ RODS or a printout from the prior carrier’s ELD system.

Which form should you use?

FMCSA provides an Hours of Service Record for First Time or Intermittent Drivers that includes the seven daily totals, last release-from-duty time, and driver signature. Use that current agency example or a carrier form that captures the required information. The older LBC version 2.3 form is not linked here as the recommended template while its current use is being reviewed.

Check the driver’s actual on-duty time from all relevant work, not just driving for your company. Obtain the statement or the allowed prior records before assigning work, and keep the evidence in the appropriate HOS record workflow. This page does not decide whether an HOS exception applies to a particular driver.

If you collect paperwork digitally

LBC’s DOT compliance software page describes configurable onboarding forms and signatures. If you want to include this particular HOS statement in a digital packet, confirm the workflow and resulting signed record with the LBC team first; an ELD module or a general DQ packet is not, by itself, proof that this requirement was met.