Personal Conveyance and Yard Moves: When You Can Use Them

Personal conveyance and yard moves are two ELD statuses that let you move your truck without the time counting as regular driving. Both are legal and useful, and both are a common source of violations when drivers stretch them too far.

This guide explains each status, gives examples based on FMCSA's guidance as we understand it, and shows how to log them so they hold up at an inspection or audit. FMCSA guidance can be updated, so check the current version on the FMCSA website, and always follow your carrier's policy, which can be stricter.

What personal conveyance is

Personal conveyance (PC) is the movement of a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while off duty. When you log PC correctly, the time is off duty and does not count toward your 11 hours of driving or your 14-hour window.

The key test is purpose. FMCSA looks at why you moved the truck, not how far you went or whether a trailer was attached. If the move advances the load or the business, it is not personal conveyance, even if it is short.

Two more conditions:

• Your carrier must allow it. A motor carrier can limit or ban PC. If you are leased on, the carrier's written policy controls.
• You must be fit to drive. PC does not exempt you from fatigue rules. Driving tired on PC is still unsafe and can still be cited.

Examples that usually qualify

Based on FMCSA's published guidance, these are examples of moves that can be personal conveyance:

• Driving from en route lodging (a motel or truck stop) to a restaurant or entertainment and back
• Commuting between your home and your normal work reporting location, or a trailer-drop lot
• Moving the truck a short way at the request of a safety official during off-duty time
• Driving from a shipper or receiver to the nearest reasonable, safe location to get required rest after loading or unloading, when you cannot stay at the facility
• Transporting personal property while off duty

Laden or empty does not change the answer. A loaded truck can be on PC if the move is truly personal.

Examples that do not qualify

These are examples FMCSA guidance treats as not personal conveyance:

• Continuing a trip toward the delivery to make up time or reach a better spot when you are out of hours
• Bobtailing or pulling an empty trailer to pick up your next load or reposition the truck for the business
• Driving to a shop for maintenance or repairs
• Driving past a reasonable, safe location to reach a preferred truck stop or home
• Moving the truck after loading to get closer to the receiver

Here is a simple way to check yourself: if the trip would happen even if you had no load and no business plans, it may be personal. If the trip helps the freight, the customer or the next load, it is work.

What yard moves are

A yard move is moving the truck within a yard, terminal, shipper or receiver lot, intermodal yard or a similar area. On an ELD, yard moves are a special category of on duty, not driving. That means:

• The time counts toward your 14-hour window and your 60/70-hour cycle.
• The time does not count toward your 11 hours of driving.

Typical yard moves include hooking and dropping trailers, moving to a dock door, moving to the scale inside a facility, and shifting the truck while it is being loaded. FMCSA guidance has indicated that a yard move can include a public road only where public access is restricted, such as a road through a port or facility controlled by gates or traffic control. Driving on an open public road between two facilities is driving, not a yard move. Check the current guidance and your carrier's policy before you rely on that.

Your carrier must enable yard moves in the ELD. Some devices end the yard move status automatically if the truck goes faster than a set speed, depending on how the system is configured.

How to log PC and yard moves correctly

1. Select the right status before you move. Switch to PC or yard move first, then drive. If you forget, the ELD records driving time and you will need an annotated edit.
2. Add an annotation. Write a short, honest note: "PC from receiver to nearest truck stop, facility does not allow overnight parking" or "Yard move to door 14."
3. End the status when you stop. Go back to off duty, sleeper berth or on duty as appropriate.
4. Keep supporting records. Receipts, gate times and lumper slips help show the purpose of a move.
5. Know your carrier's rules. Some carriers cap PC by distance or time. Follow the stricter rule.

A quick decision table

Why getting this right matters

Misused PC is easy to spot in ELD data: long PC segments that end at a shipper, or PC driving right before a pickup. During an inspection or an audit, that can lead to hours of service violations, which affect your CSA scores. Read our guide to CSA scores explained. If you believe a violation was written in error, you can challenge it through FMCSA's DataQs system.

For the core limits behind all of this, read hours of service rules explained, and plan your stops with the hours of service calculator. Good truck parking and trip planning also reduces how often you need PC in the first place.

How Texas Solutions can help

Texas Solutions is a dispatch service, not a broker or motor carrier. Our dispatchers find and negotiate loads, handle broker packets and paperwork 24/7, and plan appointments around your available hours and safe parking so you are not forced into a bad choice at the end of the day. You approve every load. See our dispatch services or talk to a dispatcher.

Frequently asked questions