Recaptured Hours

Recaptured hours are driving and on-duty hours that are restored to a driver’s weekly allowance after they complete a qualifying restart period. Understanding recaptured hours helps you plan driver schedules more effectively and ensure your fleet stays within legal limits.

How the 34-Hour Restart Works

Under FMCSA regulations, a driver’s weekly on-duty clock accumulates hours over a rolling 7- or 8-day period (depending on their cycle rule). As the week progresses, available hours decrease with every on-duty and driving period.

The 34-hour restart is a provision that allows a driver to reset their weekly clock back to the full allowance. To qualify:

The driver must take at least 34 consecutive hours off duty (or in the sleeper berth, or a combination of both).
Once the 34-hour period is complete, the driver’s weekly on-duty accumulation resets to zero.
The driver starts the next work period with a full weekly allowance — either 60 hours (60/7 cycle) or 70 hours (70/8 cycle).

Note: The 34-hour restart is optional. Drivers are never required to take one. It is simply a way to reset the weekly clock sooner rather than waiting for older days to roll off the cycle naturally.

What “Recaptured” Means

When a driver completes a 34-hour restart, all the on-duty hours that had been counting against their weekly limit are effectively erased. Those restored hours are referred to as recaptured hours.

For example, if a driver on a 70-hour/8-day cycle has used 55 hours of on-duty time and then completes a valid 34-hour restart, their weekly total resets to 0. They have recaptured all 70 hours and can start fresh.

Without a restart, the driver would have to wait for individual days to drop off the rolling 8-day window to gradually regain hours.

Viewing Recaptured Hours

To see recaptured hours for your drivers:

Navigate to Compliance > Driver Logs and select the driver.
Look at the Hours Summary section, which shows remaining and used hours for the current cycle.
If a 34-hour restart has occurred recently, you will see the recaptured hours reflected in the available balance. The restart event is also noted on the driver’s log timeline.

You can also review recaptured hours through compliance reports:

Go to Reports > HOS Reports or Compliance > Hours Summary.
Select the driver and date range.
The report shows when restarts occurred, how many hours were recaptured, and the resulting available balance.

Tip: Use recaptured hours data when planning weekly schedules. If a driver is approaching their cycle limit, scheduling a 34-hour restart at the right time can maximize their available driving hours for the following week.

How Recaptured Hours Affect the Weekly Cycle

Here is how recaptured hours interact with the two supported cycle rules:

70-Hour / 8-Day Cycle

Without a restart: The available hours are calculated by subtracting total on-duty time over the last 8 consecutive days. As older days fall off the window, some hours are naturally restored.
With a 34-hour restart: The entire 70-hour allowance is available immediately once the restart completes. The rolling 8-day calculation resets.

60-Hour / 7-Day Cycle

Without a restart: The available hours are calculated by subtracting total on-duty time over the last 7 consecutive days.
With a 34-hour restart: The entire 60-hour allowance is available immediately once the restart completes. The rolling 7-day calculation resets.

Note: RouteMate automatically detects when a driver’s off-duty time qualifies as a 34-hour restart and updates their available hours accordingly. There is no manual step required to trigger the recaptured hours calculation.