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Hours of Service (HOS) Monitoring

What is Hours of Service (HOS) Monitoring?

Hours of Service monitoring displays a driver's current duty status, available driving hours, and cycle time limits directly within the orders they're assigned to. When ELD systems are integrated with TMS.ai, the platform pulls real-time HOS data showing whether a driver is currently driving, on duty, off duty, or in sleeper berth status. You also see how many hours remain on their 11-hour driving limit, 14-hour on-duty limit, and 70-hour weekly cycle, helping dispatch plan assignments without creating HOS violations.

This visibility prevents compliance problems and operational disruptions. Dispatchers can see that a driver has only 4 hours left on their clock before assigning them to a 6-hour run that would cause a violation. Planners can identify when drivers will need breaks and schedule those breaks strategically rather than having them happen at inconvenient times. The HOS data integrates directly into order planning instead of requiring dispatchers to check a separate ELD platform for every assignment decision.

How Hours of Service Monitoring works:

  1. Enable HOS data in your ELD integration. When connecting your ELD provider to TMS.ai, ensure the integration includes HOS data sharing. Most modern ELD integrations (Motive, Samsara, Geotab) include HOS information automatically. Verify in Settings > Integrations > ELDs that "Pull HOS Data" is enabled.
  2. View driver HOS in the order assignment view. When assigning a driver to an order, click on a driver name from the available drivers list. Their current HOS status appears in a summary panel showing their current duty status (driving, on duty, off duty, sleeper berth) and a graphical representation of their remaining hours on each clock.
  3. See the 11-hour driving limit status. The HOS panel displays how many hours the driver has driven in their current shift and how many hours remain before hitting the 11-hour driving limit. This shows as both a number (e.g., "6 hrs 23 min remaining") and a visual progress bar.
  4. Check the 14-hour on-duty window. Below the driving hours, you see the driver's on-duty time and how much is left in their 14-hour window. This accounts for all on-duty time including driving, loading, fueling, and inspections. The display shows when the 14-hour clock will expire based on when the driver started their shift.
  5. Monitor the 70-hour cycle status. For operations running 8-day cycles, the HOS view shows how many hours the driver has available on their 70-hour weekly limit. This helps identify drivers who are getting close to running out of time mid-week and need to be cycled to shorter runs or given off-duty time.
  6. View current duty status updates. The duty status indicator (driving, on duty not driving, off duty, sleeper berth) updates based on the driver's ELD status. If a driver switches from driving to on duty at a fuel stop, you see that change reflected in TMS.ai within minutes.
  7. Factor HOS into delivery ETAs. When calculating estimated delivery times for longer runs, TMS.ai accounts for required HOS breaks. If a driver has 3 hours left on their 11-hour clock but the destination is 5 hours away, the ETA includes time for a mandatory 10-hour break before continuing.
  8. Receive alerts for approaching HOS limits. Configure notifications to alert dispatch when a driver on an active order has less than 1 hour remaining on their driving clock. This gives you advance warning to plan driver swaps, rest areas, or relay points before the driver runs out of hours.

What it means for you:

Compliance violations become much easier to prevent. Your dispatch team sees real-time HOS data when making assignment decisions instead of guessing how many hours a driver has available or making them manually log into the ELD portal to check. If a driver shows 2 hours remaining on their clock, dispatch assigns local deliveries or short hauls rather than long-distance runs that would cause violations.

This also improves operational efficiency. When you know a driver will need their 10-hour break in 4 hours, you can plan that break at your terminal or a customer facility rather than having it happen at a random truck stop 300 miles from their next pickup. Strategic HOS management means better driver utilization, fewer delays, and more predictable delivery times because breaks happen by plan instead of by surprise.