THE FEDERAL HOURS OF SERVICE LAWS, 

HOURS OF SERVICE RECORDKEEPING AND 

REPORTING REGULATIONS,

AND 

SIGNAL COVERED SERVICE 

Technical Bulletin S-14-01, 

 Issued 09/12/2014 

(Superseding G-00-02, Which Was First Issued in 1983 and 

Re-Issued in 1991 and 1999) 

Office of Railroad Safety

Signal and Train Control Division

and

Office of Chief Counsel

Federal Railroad Administration

U. S. Department of Transportation
ii
Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Background ........................................................................................................ 1

1.3 Responsibilities of each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad .. 2

1.4 Responsibilities of employees ............................................................................ 2

2.0 RULES FOR SIGNAL SERVICE .......................................................................... 4

2.1 Covered service .................................................................................................. 4

Other examples of covered and non-covered service follow: ..................................... 6

2.2 Commingled service ........................................................................................... 7

2.3 Limitation on duty hours .................................................................................... 8

2.4 Minimum off-duty periods ................................................................................. 8

2.5 Interruptions of rest ............................................................................................ 8

2.6 Other periods available for rest ........................................................................ 10

2.7 Travel time in connection with regular duty .................................................... 10

2.8 Trouble calls and travel .................................................................................... 11

2.9 Other travel time connected with signal covered service ................................. 11

2.10 Travel time in summary ................................................................................... 12

2.11 Emergencies ..................................................................................................... 12

2.12 Nonapplication of the hours of service laws – “acts of God” .......................... 14

2.13 Exclusion of signal employees driving motor vehicles from Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service requirements for .............................. 14

3.0 RECORDS AND REPORTING ........................................................................... 16

3.1 Hours of service records ................................................................................... 16

3.2 Electronic recordkeeping .................................................................................. 17

3.3 Training ............................................................................................................ 17

3.4 Excess service reports ...................................................................................... 17

APPENDIX A – EXAMPLES .......................................................................................... 18

APPENDIX B – LETTER ON EXCLUSION OF SIGNAL EMPLOYEES DRIVING 

MOTOR VEHICLES FROM FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY 

ADMINISTRATION’S HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS .............................. 25
1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

This Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) technical bulletin, “The Federal Hours of 

Service Laws and Signal Covered Service,” supersedes the agency’s Technical Bulletin 

G-00-02, “The Hours of Service Act and Signal Service,” and is intended to provide 

guiding information related to signal employees (“employees”), and their supervisors, 

concerning those requirements of the current Federal hours of service laws related to 

signal covered service. In some cases, explanation of these laws requires a statement of 

interpretation based on the history and purpose of these laws. All such interpretations are 

those of FRA staff, except where reference is made to controlling judicial decisions or 

official statements of FRA policy published in the Federal Register. 

1.2 Background

The original Federal statute limiting the hours of service of certain railroad employees 

was the Hours of Service Act, which was first enacted in 1907. It was intended to 

promote the safety of employees and travelers upon railroads by limiting the hours of 

service of certain railroad employees.1

 The original Hours of Service Act, popularly 

known for several decades as “the 16-hour law,” covered only employees engaged in or 

connected with the movement of a train and employees engaged in the transmittal or 

receipt of train orders. After 1907, the Hours of Service Act was amended several times, 

with major changes being made in 1969 and 1976. First added to the Hours of Service 

Act in 1976, the limitations on hours of signal employees were clarified by additional 

amendments in 1978. 

In 1994, the then-current Hours of Service Act was repealed by Congress as part of a 

broad recodification of the Federal transportation laws,2 and its provisions were revised 

without substantive change, reenacted, and recodified primarily as chapter 211 of title 49 

and section 21303 of title 49 of the U.S. Code (U.S.C.). FRA refers to these statutory 

provisions at 49 U.S.C. chapter 211 and section (§) 21303 as “the Federal hours of 

service laws” (a term that is shortened in this technical bulletin to read “HS laws”).3

 The 

specific section of the HS laws covering signal employees is 49 U.S.C. § 21104 (Section 

21104). The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“RSIA”) made the most recent 

amendments to the HS laws, changes that were quite extensive. FRA subsequently 

 1 Public Law (Pub. L.) No. 59-274, 34 Stat. 1415. 2 See Act of July 5, 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-272, 108 Stat. 745. 

3 Congress made clear that the recodification was not intended to make substantive changes in the 

affected laws, even though it altered their arrangement and language in certain respects. See Pub. L. No. 

103-272, § 6(a), 108 Stat. 1378, H.R. Rep. No. 180, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 1-5 (1993), reprinted in 1994 

U.S. CODE CONG. & ADMIN. NEWS 818-822. The Hours of Service Act was codified in title 45 of the 

U.S. Code and was the subject of many court decisions, which cite the then-current provisions of the U.S. 

Code. 
2

amended its regulations governing hours of service recordkeeping in 49 CFR Part 228, as 

required by the RSIA, to reflect the revised statutory requirements and to provide for 

electronic hours of service recordkeeping. See Volume 74 of the Federal Register, page 

25,330 (74 Fed. Reg. 25,330) (May 27, 2009). FRA also issued a statement of agency 

policy and interpretation on the HS laws, explaining how FRA interprets the HS laws as 

amended by the RSIA. See 77 Fed. Reg. 12,408 (February 29, 2012). A second interim 

statement of agency policy and interpretation addressing additional issues was 

subsequently issued. See 78 Fed. Reg. 58,830 (September 24, 2013) (Second Interim 

Interpretations). This technical bulletin incorporates the new reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements and FRA’s statements of agency policy and interpretation on 

the HS laws. This bulletin includes guidance on the application of these statements of 

agency policy and interpretation to signal employee covered service, but does not 

represent any shift in agency policy. 

 

1.3 Responsibilities of each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor 

to a railroad

Each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, is responsible for assuring that 

no employee who performs signal covered service is required or allowed to go on duty, or 

remain on duty, in violation of the HS laws. The railroad is not excused from this 

obligation by any lack of knowledge of the employee’s hours, since “a railroad carrier is 

deemed to know the acts of its officers and agents,” as stated in 49 U.S.C. § 21303(c). A 

railroad that requires or allows an employee to go or remain on duty in violation of the 

HS laws is subject to a civil penalty of at least $650 but not more than $25,000 for each 

such occurrence; however, when a grossly negligent violation or pattern of repeated 

violations has caused an imminent hazard of death or injury to individuals, or has caused 

death or injury, the amount may be not more than $105,000. See 49 U.S.C. 

§ 21303(a)(2).4

Each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, shall provide its train 

employees, signal employees, and dispatching service employees, and its supervisors of 

these employees, with initial training and refresher training as provided in 49 CFR

§ 228.207. 

1.4 Responsibilities of employees

Employees are personally responsible under FRA regulations and Federal criminal law 

for the truthfulness and accuracy of their entries on hours of service records that FRA 

requires each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, to maintain. The 

railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, is obligated to require all employees 

performing signal covered service during a duty tour to sign or electronically enter their 

 4 A separate statute, the Federal Civil Penalty Inflation Adjustment Act (28 U.S.C. § 2461, note), 

requires that agencies adjust civil penalties for inflation by conducting rulemaking revising the penalty 

amounts. FRA’s rulemakings under that statute have raised the minimum from $500 to $650 and the 

aggravated maximum from $100,000 to $105,000. See, e.g., 78 Fed. Reg. 9845 (February 12, 2013).
3

unique personal identifier on each of their hours of service records. The signature or 

electronic identifier represents an affirmation by the employee that the record is correct, 

to the best of the employee’s knowledge and belief. Any person who knowingly and 

willfully falsifies a report or record required to be kept by 49 CFR Part 228 may be liable 

for criminal penalties of a fine up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both, in 

accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 21311(a), as well as civil penalties in accordance with 49 

CFR Part 209, Appendix A. 

Because a railroad is responsible for knowing the acts of its officers and agents, in most 

cases, FRA takes violations of the HS laws and FRA’s recordkeeping regulations against 

the railroad, contractor, or subcontractor that employs the employee who violated the 

laws or regulations. However, an employee who willfully violates the HS laws or 

recordkeeping regulations, or a supervisor or other railroad, contractor, or subcontractor 

official who intentionally and voluntarily orders an employee to commit an act that the 

supervisor knows would violate the laws or the regulations or acts with reckless disregard 

for whether the act violates the laws or the regulations may be subject to individual 

liability as provided in 49 CFR Part 209, Appendix A. 

In addition, an employing railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, may 

prescribe its own rules to assure proper communication between employees and their 

immediate supervisors, and adherence to the statutory limitations of the HS laws. 

Employees should cooperate with their supervisors in this regard, since their own 

personal safety and the safety of co-workers and the public are at stake.
4

2.0 RULES FOR SIGNAL SERVICE

2.1 Covered service

The HS laws apply to employees engaged in “installing, repairing, or maintaining signal 

systems.” Signal systems include the following: block signal systems, cab signal 

systems, train control systems, other related or similar systems, and highway-rail grade 

crossing active warning systems. See 49 U.S.C. §§ 21101(4) and 21104. An employee 

who performs any function that has the potential to affect the proper and safe operation of 

a signal system is subject to the HS laws during the particular duty period in which the 

function is performed, without regard to the class or craft of the employee or the manner 

in which the employee is compensated, if at all. 

Although the penalty provision of the HS laws states that any person violating a provision 

of the laws is liable for a civil penalty, and indicates that “an act by an individual that 

causes a railroad, or a contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, to be in violation, is a 

violation,” the substantive provisions of the HS laws relating to signal employees impose 

restrictions upon railroads, contractors, or subcontractors to a railroad, their officers, or 

agents who require or allow individuals to perform signal employee duties. See 49 

U.S.C. §§ 21303, 21101(3) and (4), and 21104. Effective July 16, 2009, Sec. 108(a) and 

(c) of the RSIA amended the definition of “signal employee” in the HS laws by deleting 

“employed by a railroad carrier” so as to cover employees of contractors and 

subcontractors to railroads who perform the functions of signal employees installing, 

repairing, or maintaining signal systems.

Supervisors are also subject to the HS laws if they perform covered service work. For 

instance, a supervisor who actively performs tests in satisfaction of the Federal Rules, 

Standards, and Instructions (49 CFR Part 236) is covered during the duty tour in which 

the tests are performed. However, if the supervisor merely observes the conduct of tests 

for the purpose of providing supervisory guidance, the supervisor would not be covered. 

“Signal systems” are defined broadly, based on longstanding legislative history of the HS 

laws. The term includes the following: 

1. Automatic block and traffic control systems;

2. Train control, train stop, and cab signal systems, including portions of such 

systems mounted onboard locomotives;

3. Positive train control systems, including hardware, software, or firmware 

portions of such systems that provide for the proper functioning of any safetycritical functions within wayside systems and subsystems, onboard systems 

and subsystems, office systems and subsystems, and communications systems 

and subsystems;

4. Interlocking signal arrangements;

5. Highway-rail grade crossing active warning systems;

6. Retarders and control systems for remote-control switches in yards;
5

7. Defect detectors including hot box detectors, dragging equipment detectors, 

broken flange detectors, slide and snow fences, high water detectors; etc., and

8. Other similar devices, appliances, and systems to the extent they are relied 

upon to ensure safety (e.g., power-assisted switches, switch position 

monitoring devices, and track integrity circuits).

As a general rule, the statutory language “installing, repairing, or maintaining” refers to 

work that could reasonably be expected to have the potential for affecting the proper and 

safe functioning of signal systems, and is of a nature that requires particular alertness, 

awareness, and expertise in such signal systems in order for it to be performed properly, 

as opposed to ordinary manual labor that is incidentally associated with a signal system. 

Inspecting and testing of a system, subsystem, or safety-critical component will 

ordinarily be an integral part of covered service, and therefore is also covered service. 

Employees of vendors/suppliers/developers will generally not be considered to be 

performing covered service while performing work off of railroad property (e.g., 

manufacturing and assembling components and system/subsystem equipment, including 

onboard locomotives), because such work is not within the functions of installing, 

repairing, or maintaining signal systems, but such persons are considered to perform 

covered service if and when actually performing work on railroad property that could 

reasonably be expected to have the potential for affecting the proper and safe functioning 

of signal systems. 

Work functions that involve the proper functioning of current or future signal systems, 

subsystems, or safety-critical components of such systems (i.e., wiring signal housings or 

rebuilding safety-critical signal components in a signal shop) are covered service, even 

though there may be a subsequent test of the device(s) before its/their being placed in 

service. However, related general labor not directly affecting the proper functioning of 

signal systems, subsystems, or safety-critical components of such systems, such as 

digging trenches for laying signal cable, setting cases or bungalows, or erecting signal 

masts, would not normally be of themselves signal covered service.

Certain duties fall on the boundary line between covered and non-covered service. 

Whether or not these types of situations are covered service may be resolved by looking 

at the task’s relationship to the level of system, subsystem, or safety-critical functional 

risk, the actual safety conditions that may be affected, the degree of signal expertise 

required, and the frequency with which such duties are performed by the particular 

employee. For instance, during the initial installation of a signal system, a signal 

employee may assist in the securement of signal line wires or aerial cables to poles. Such 

work is not ordinarily viewed as covered service. On the other hand, the securement 

and/or splicing of line wire or aerial cable conductors of an operational signal system is

covered service.
6

Other examples of covered and non-covered service follow:

Covered Not Covered

Installing a new system by 

splicing energized 

conductors, testing circuits, 

and other safety-sensitive

functions is covered 

service...

but not

Ordinary manual labor such 

as erecting signal masts or 

laying or stringing cable for 

a new system without 

performing other duties. 

Repairing the control circuit 

of a remote-control switch 

in a yard is covered 

service... 

but not

Converting the switch to 

temporary manual operation 

while awaiting the arrival of 

a maintainer to restore its 

proper functioning.

Repairing a highway-rail 

grade crossing active 

warning system is covered 

service....

but not

Flagging a crossing or 

replacing crossbucks or 

other signage. 

Installation, repair, or 

testing, or otherwise 

making changes to or 

potentially affecting, the 

safety-critical functioning 

of software or firmware 

associated with a 

microprocessor-based 

system (this may include 

office, wayside, onboard, or 

communication systems).

but not

When not affecting the 

movement of a train, 

booting up or re-initializing 

microprocessor-based 

systems or downloading or 

viewing system recorded 

data, logic, or coding where 

no changes are made to the 

logic or coding. 

Installation, repair, or 

testing of onboard cab 

signal or train control 

systems.

but not

When not affecting the 

movement of a train, 

booting up or re-initializing 

microprocessor-based 

systems or downloading or 

viewing system recorded 

data, logic, or coding where 

no changes are made to the 

logic or coding.

Setting calibration heat 

levels of a hot box detector 

system.

but not

Ordinary manual labor such 

as erecting high-wide load 

detector structures. 
7

A vendor/manufacture 

representative performing 

on-site diagnostics and 

software adjustments or 

modifications of a train 

detection device or other 

safety-critical 

microprocessor-based 

system, subsystem, or 

component. 

but not

A vendor/manufacture 

representative performing 

off-site development, 

diagnostics and software 

adjustments or 

modifications of a train 

detection device or other 

safety-critical 

microprocessor-based 

system, subsystem, or 

component.

2.2 Commingled service

When an employee performs covered service, either as part of a regularly assigned tour 

of duty, or in response to a trouble call outside the hours of a regularly assigned shift, any 

other service performed within the same 24-hour period as the covered service is also 

counted toward the computation of the total time on duty for the 24-hour period. This is 

known as “commingled service.” 

The HS laws do not distinguish between situations in which covered service follows noncovered service and those in which the opposite is true. In either situation, commingled 

service has occurred.

Other service for the carrier, such as attendance at required rules classes, is non-covered 

service that may commingle with covered service. If it commingles, the time spent in the 

noncovered service will become time on duty. The same is true of attendance at a 

disciplinary or court proceeding, if the employee’s attendance is required by the carrier. 

The presence or absence of specific compensation is not determinative of the status of 

such service. Rather, the question is whether the employee is expected to participate as a 

condition of employment. 

Should an employee perform service covered by more than one provision of the HS laws 

within the same 24-hour period, the most restrictive provision applies as to the limitation 

on total time on duty in that 24-hour period. For instance, if a signal maintainer 

performed signal covered service during a portion of a duty tour, and also performed the 

functions of a dispatching service employee, as defined by 49 U.S.C. § 21101(2),5 that is 

subject to the limitations of 49 U.S.C. § 21105 (Section 21105), within the same 24-hour 

period in a tower, station, office, or place at which at least two shifts are employed, the 

more restrictive 9-hour limitation on total time on duty in a 24-hour period of Section 

21105 would apply in addition to the usual limitation of 12 hours under Section 21104. 

 5 That subsection provides that "dispatching service employee" means an operator, train 

dispatcher, or other train employee who by the use of an electrical or mechanical device dispatches, reports, 

transmits, receives, or delivers orders related to or affecting train movements.
8

Interpretations of the HS laws relating to train and engine service and dispatcher/operator 

service can be found at Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 228, as well as in FRA’s subsequent 

statements of agency policy and interpretation referenced above.

6

 Individual copies are 

available from the Office of Chief Counsel, FRA, and from the Federal Digital System at 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/. 

2.3 Limitation on duty hours

The HS laws limit signal employees to 12 hours total time on duty, either performed 

continuously or in the aggregate, in a 24-hour period. For purposes of this computation, a 

new 24-hour period begins when the employee returns to duty at the conclusion of an uninterrupted release period of at least 10 hours. Note: a release period may be longer than 

the permissible minimum number of hours, but when this occurs, the new 24-hour period 

still does not begin until the employee returns to duty. (Example 2.3.1) (See Appendix 

A to this bulletin for all examples.) 

2.4 Minimum off-duty periods

An employee must be released for at least 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours at the 

conclusion of a period of 12 hours of continuous or broken service within a 24-hour 

period. Even if the employee has not yet aggregated 12 hours of broken service, an

employee must be released for at least 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours at the 

conclusion of the 24-hour period that began when the individual reported for the first 

portion of the broken service. (Example 2.4.1) 

The minimum off-duty period that is required to begin a new 24-hour period and reset an 

employee’s total time on duty is 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours, regardless of 

whether an employee’s time on duty is in continuous or broken service. A period of 

service is still defined as “continuous” under the HS laws if it is not interrupted by a 

period of release of more than one hour. See 49 U.S.C. § 21104(b)(7), but, under the HS 

laws as amended by the RSIA, this distinction has no effect on the statutory minimum 

off-duty period that is required. (Example 2.4.2) 

2.5 Interruptions of rest

A required minimum 10-hour period of rest must not be interrupted by the railroad, or 

contractor or subcontractor to a railroad. An interruption of rest occurs whenever the 

railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, communicates with the signal 

 6

Although employees who perform covered service as a signal employee do not commonly also 

perform covered service as a train employee subject to either the consecutive-days limitations of the HS 

laws (for freight train employees) or FRA’s passenger train employee hours of service regulations (for 

passenger train employees), it is important to note, for situations in which this may occur, that FRA’s 

Second Interim Interpretations discuss how those consecutive-days limitations apply when an employee 

who performs covered service as a train employee also performs covered service as a signal employee or a 

dispatching service employee, either within the same duty tour, or within a series of consecutive duty tours. 
9

employee in any manner reasonably expected to disturb the signal employee’s rest. After 

such an interruption, the required minimum 10-hour period of rest for the signal 

employee must begin anew in order to avoid subsequent on-duty time commingling with 

the previous duty tour. (Examples 2.5.1 and 2.5.2) 

The prohibition on communication during the statutory minimum off-duty period applies 

to the railroad communicating with an employee. However, an employee may contact 

the railroad during his or her statutory minimum off-duty period for any purpose, and the 

railroad may return the employee’s call if requested by the employee. However, the 

railroad’s communication with the employee must be limited to the scope of the 

employee’s original communication. The railroad is not permitted to discuss topics other 

than that about which the employee contacted the railroad, and the railroad may only 

return the call if requested to do so, and within any other parameters established by the 

employee (such as if the employee requested the call back within the next hour, or not for 

at least six hours, etc.), so that the employee can plan his or her rest during the off-duty 

period. In addition, the railroad’s communication with an employee must be in response 

to a specific contact from the employee. An employee may not give permission in 

advance to be contacted by the railroad during off-duty periods. (Example 2.5.3)

In addition, a railroad may make information available to its employees during their 

required periods of uninterrupted rest, by sending e-mails, text messages, etc. to an 

employee’s railroad-provided device, so long as the employee is free to turn off the 

device during his or her off-duty period. A railroad may also make information available 

on the railroad Web site. Employees may not be required to access or respond to such 

messages or other information during the period of uninterrupted rest. (Example 2.5.4) 

Phone calls made by one employee of a railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a 

railroad, to another employee for the purpose of seeking guidance or direction associated 

with signal system work are not only considered an interruption of the rest of the 

employee answering such calls, but are also considered service for the railroad, which 

can commingle with prior or future covered service performed by that employee. For 

example, during a trouble call, an employee may call a fellow employee for the purpose 

of seeking that employee’s guidance. If the person receiving the call is within a required 

period of rest between duty tours where one or both of the duty tours included covered 

service, the off-duty period of the employee receiving the call has been interrupted, and 

the time spent on the call will commingle with any covered service not separated from 

the call by a statutory minimum 10-hour uninterrupted rest period. The call may or may 

not constitute a violation of the HS laws, depending on the relationship between the 

commingled service resulting from the call and the other portion(s) of the employee’s 

duty tour, but would, at minimum, require the statutory minimum off-duty period of 10 

continuous uninterrupted hours of rest to be restarted if not already completed. 

(Examples 2.5.5 and 2.5.6) 

Lastly, an employee may be expected or instructed to report to his or her normal duty 

station at the end of his or her 10-hour uninterrupted off-duty period. Because time spent 

commuting is time off duty, an employee may be expected to travel for his or her normal 
10

commuting time during the off-duty period. (Normal commuting time is defined in 

Section 2.7 below.) (Example 2.5.7) 

2.6 Other periods available for rest

The 10-hour off-duty period described above is a minimum period required by law. 

However, a railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, may wish to provide 

shorter breaks in service, within a duty tour, for its own convenience or the convenience 

of its employee(s). The following rules describe how those shorter periods of release 

bear on computations of duty time. 

Less than 30 minutes. Periods available for rest of less than 30 minutes are not 

recognized as meaningful rest under the law. Accordingly, such periods are counted 

toward the total time on duty time. 

At least 30 minutes, but not more than 1 hour. Breaks of 30-60 minutes are not counted 

in computing total time on duty. However, neither do they break the continuity of the 

duty period for the purpose of determining continuous service. 

More than 1 hour. A period or release of more than 60 minutes is recognized as an offduty period sufficient to break the continuity of the overall duty tour for the purpose of 

determining broken service.

Note that the length of the statutory minimum off-duty period, 10 consecutive hours 

undisturbed by communications from the railroad, does not depend on whether the duty 

tour was “continuous service” or “broken service.” These terms no longer have legal 

significance under the HS laws as amended by the RSIA.

2.7 Travel time in connection with regular duty

Normal commuting between the employee’s residence and the regular duty station is 

considered time off duty, since the employee ordinarily determines the duration of that 

commute by choice of personal residence.

Transportation from the employee’s residence to a work site other than the normal 

reporting point (headquarters) outside of scheduled hours is counted as on-duty time, but 

only to the extent that the time spent in such travel exceeds the individual’s normal 

period of commuting (Example 2.7.1), and it is connected with covered service 

performed upon arriving at the site (Example 2.7.2). (Note that this rule applies to travel 

for a scheduled duty tour; a different rule applies to trouble calls (see below)). 

Transportation from an outlying work site to the normal reporting point or residence 

within scheduled duty hours is counted as time on duty. Such return travel after 

scheduled duty hours is neither time on duty nor time off duty (i.e., limbo time). 

(Example 2.7.3) 
11

Note that, if an employee begins a period of return travel from an outlying work site to 

the employee’s headquarters at the expiration of his or her scheduled duty hours, the 

period of “limbo” time ends upon arrival at the headquarters. Assuming that the 

employee performs no further work for the railroad, contractor, or subcontractor to the 

railroad, but rather is then free to go home, off-duty time begins at the time that the 

employee arrives at the headquarters. (Example 2.7.4) 

2.8 Trouble calls and travel

When an employee receives a call to respond to unexpected “trouble” and immediately 

begins preparations for departure, the employee is considered to be on duty from the time 

of the call. The on-duty period will last at least until the conclusion of the performance 

of covered service at the work site. Travel between successive work sites is also on-duty 

time.

In general, return travel from the site of a trouble call to the employee’s residence, 

whether or not by way of headquarters, is “limbo” time. That is, that travel time is 

counted as neither time on duty nor time off duty. (Example 2.8.1) There are two 

exceptions to this rule. When an employee commences a subsequent period of duty by 

responding to an additional trouble call less than 30 minutes after arriving at his/her home 

from a previous call, then a meaningful break has not occurred between the two trouble 

calls, and all time from the employee’s receipt of the call to respond to the first trouble 

call, until the employee’s departure from the site of the second trouble call is counted as 

time on duty. (Example 2.8.2) All travel by a signal employee in an on-track vehicle 

being operated on the track is also time on duty. (Example 2.8.3) 

An employee receiving a trouble call who has the capability to remotely access a system 

and review conditions or make repairs is considered on-duty upon receipt of the call if he 

or she ultimately attempts to remotely access the system. Attempting remote access for 

diagnosis or repair of computer-based systems before going on site is a normal practice. 

Should the employee have to leave his or her location and travel to a work site in this 

scenario, the time spent traveling is also time on duty. (Example 2.8.4)

2.9 Other travel time connected with signal covered service

The hours of service laws include a provision at 49 U.S.C. § 21104(e) (“the ‘signal 

exclusivity” provision”), which makes signal employees operating motor vehicles not 

subject to any hours of service requirements other than the hours of service laws. In 

FRA’s recent Second Interim Interpretations, the agency reconsidered the definition of 

“signal covered service” as it applies to time spent driving, and now views the “signal 

employee exclusivity” provision as broadening the scope of what is included as covered 

service. Specifically, an individual’s operation of any motor vehicle for the purpose of 

allowing that individual to install, repair, or maintain signal systems is a covered service 

function, regardless of whether the operation of the motor vehicle is within the same duty 

tour as the direct work on the signal system, or is separated from covered service by a 

statutory off-duty period of at least 10 hours, and regardless of whether or not the motor 
12

vehicle is considered a “commercial motor vehicle” by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration. Only travel time that is clearly and definitively not connected with other 

signal employee functions is not signal-employee covered service. (Examples 2.9.1 and 

2.9.2) 

2.10 Travel time in summary

Travel on an on-track vehicle: Any time spent in transportation on an on-track vehicle, 

including any other type of travel time discussed below, is categorically time on duty. 

Commuting time: Normal commuting between the individual’s residence and his or her 

regular reporting point or headquarters, connected with the regular workday, is not time 

on duty. Note, however, that when an employee instead travels directly from his or her 

residence to a location other than his or her regular reporting point or headquarters, the 

actual travel time, minus the normal length of the individual’s commuting time to the 

regular reporting point or headquarters, is service and, therefore, time on duty. 

Travel time following the end of scheduled duty hours: Travel time that begins either at 

the end of scheduled duty hours, or when the employee is released prior to the end of 

scheduled duty hours in order to comply with the HS laws, is neither time on duty nor 

time off duty, regardless of whether the employee returns to his or her headquarters or 

directly to his or her residence, and regardless of whether the employee operates a motor 

vehicle as part of such transportation.

Travel time returning from a trouble call: Travel time returning from a trouble call is 

neither time on duty nor time off duty, regardless of whether the employee returns to his 

or her headquarters or directly to his or her residence, and regardless of whether the 

employee operates a motor vehicle as part of such transportation.

Other travel time: Any other time spent by an individual operating a motor vehicle in 

order for the individual to engage in installing, repairing, or maintaining a signal system 

is time on duty, regardless of whether the period of time operating the motor vehicle is 

connected with the individual’s acts of installing, repairing, or maintaining a signal 

system. Time spent by an individual riding in a motor vehicle operated by someone else 

remains noncovered service that can potentially commingle with covered service and 

therefore become time on duty, if it is not separated from covered service by a statutory 

minimum off-duty period of at least 10 hours; however, if the time spent riding in the 

vehicle is separated from covered service by a statutory minimum off-duty period of at 

least 10 hours, the time spent riding in the vehicle does not commingle, and it is neither 

time on duty nor time off-duty. 

2.11 Emergencies

The HS laws permit an employee performing signal covered service to work up to 4 

additional hours in a 24-hour period when an “actual emergency” exists and the work of 
13

the employee is related to the emergency. As a general rule, an emergency ceases to exist 

when the affected signal system is restored to service.

The availability of this limited exception does not depend on whether relief employees 

are available. (Contrast this with “acts of God” and other nonapplication situations, 

discussed in Section 2.12 below. When that exception is claimed, availability of relief 

employees is relevant to the question of whether the railroad, or contractor or 

subcontractor to the railroad, has used due diligence to avoid or limit excess service.) 

An emergency is an unexpected and unforeseeable event affecting the functioning of a 

signal system that either (1) causes a material disruption of rail service or (2) constitutes a 

significant safety hazard. Planned system changeovers and foreseeable requirements for 

signal work in support of programmed track maintenance are examples of work that does 

not qualify as an emergency. 

In addition, signal employees are prohibited from going on duty or remaining on duty 

under emergency authority in order to conduct routine repair, routine maintenance, or 

routine inspection or testing of a signal system.

Common examples of recognized emergencies include the following: 

1. False proceed signal indications; 

2. System failures resulting in significant train delays; 

3. Continuously operating or wholly non-operational highway-rail grade 

crossing active warning systems (Any unexpected or unforeseeable situation 

constituting a false activation or activation failure under 49 CFR Part 234); 

and 

4. Major hardware, software, or firmware failure, corruption, or failure of a 

safety server or associated components (whether they are in the office or in 

the field), that results in significant disruption of a system (i.e., loss of PTC

system or other train control system functionality).

Other situations may also constitute emergencies, depending on the specific facts 

involved in a given instance. For example, a single false restrictive signal at a rail-to-rail 

crossing-at-grade within an interlocking could constitute an emergency in certain 

situations. Depending on factors such as traffic levels, weather conditions, and sight 

distances involved, this condition could result in significant traffic disruption and 

necessitate flagging in some circumstances, posing significant hazards to the crew 

members involved. This is not to suggest, however, that a single false restrictive block 

signal constitutes an emergency under all circumstances. The determination of whether a 

situation is an emergency, therefore allowing employees to perform up to 4 additional 

hours of covered service within a 24-hour period, must always be made on a case-by-case 

basis. 

In every case in which an emergency is claimed and one or more employees go or remain 

on duty for more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period, it is the obligation of the railroad to 
14

report the occurrence, including the facts upon which the claim of emergency service is 

made. (See excess service reporting at Section 3.3.) 

Note that the emergency provisions do not exempt the railroad from the requirement that 

the employee be provided full rest at the conclusion of the 24-hour period that began

when an employee reported for duty fully rested under the laws. Thus, in some cases 

where there are periods of broken service without an uninterrupted off-duty period of at 

least 10 hours, it will not be possible for an employee involved in an emergency to work 

a full 16 hours in a 24-hour period. (Example 2.11.1) 

Note also that the emergency provision permits service beyond 12 hours only to the 

extent that the emergency continues to exist and the employee’s service is directly related 

to the emergency. Emergency service concluded early in a duty tour does not grant 

authority to exceed 12 hours if no emergency continues to exist at the time that an 

employee’s total time on duty reaches 12 hours. 

2.12 Nonapplication of the hours of service laws – “acts of God”

While the emergency provision specifically directed at signal service permits up to 4 

hours of additional service by an employee in some cases, the HS laws also contain a 

provision providing additional relief from the limitations of the laws to any employee 

covered under the HS laws (whether a train employee, a signal employee, or a 

dispatching service employee) in a few narrow situations. The nonapplication provision 

provides that the HS laws do not apply to situations involving “a casualty[,] an 

unavoidable accident, an act of God, or delay resulting from a cause unknown and 

unforeseeable at the time an employee left a terminal.” Under judicial decisions, this

exception to the HS laws applies only where the railroad, or contractor or subcontractor

to the railroad, has employed due diligence to avoid or limit the excess service of each 

employee involved. Major ice storms, hurricanes, floods, fires, and similar events may 

fall within the scope of this exception, and, therefore, during such events service is 

permitted beyond that authorized by the signal emergency provision. However, as noted 

above, the railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to the railroad, must make every effort 

to limit the excess service by restoring the system or bringing in the necessary relief 

personnel as soon as is practicable.

2.13 Exclusion of signal employees driving motor vehicles from 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service 

requirements for 

FRA has provided, within a letter signed by FRA’s Chief Counsel and dated October 16, 

2009, an interpretation of the exclusion for “signal employees” from the hours of service 

requirements and limitations of the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), including the requirement that the employee maintain and 

have available for inspection a driver’s record of duty status pursuant to 49 CFR § 395.8. 

A copy of the letter is intended to be provided to a signal employee so that the employee 
15

may in turn provide it to any FMCSA inspector when needed and appropriate. (A copy 

of this letter is found as Appendix B to this bulletin.) 
16

3.0 RECORDS AND REPORTING

3.1 Hours of service records

Each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, shall keep a record, either 

manually or electronically, concerning the hours of duty of each employee performing 

covered service. Each contractor or subcontractor of a railroad shall also record the name 

of the railroad for which its employee performed covered service during the duty tour 

covered by the record. Employees who perform more than one type of covered service 

assignment in a single duty tour must complete the record applicable to each type of the 

covered service they actually performed, and on each record enter each other type of 

covered service performed within the same duty period as an activity constituting other 

service at the behest of the railroad. 

Each railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, is required to maintain 

complete hours of service records for each employee performing signal covered service, 

including: 

1. Identification of the employee (initials and last name; or if last name is not the 

employee’s surname, provide the employee’s initials and surname);

2. Each type of covered service performed in a duty tour (Signal, Train Service, 

or Dispatching Service);

3. Headquarters location for the employee; 

4. Amount of time off duty before going on duty or resuming a duty tour; 

5. Location, date, and beginning time of each covered service assignment in a 

duty tour; 

6. Location, date, and time relieved for each covered service assignment in a 

duty tour; 

7. Location, date, and time released from each covered service assignment in a 

duty tour; 

8. Beginning and ending location, date, and time for periods spent in 

transportation, other than personal commuting, to or from a duty assignment, 

and mode of transportation (train, on-track vehicle, railroad-provided motor 

vehicle, personal automobile, etc.); 

9. Beginning and ending location, date, and time of any other service performed 

at the behest of the railroad;

10. Total time on duty for the duty tour; 

11. Reason for any service that exceeds 12 hours total time on duty for the duty 

tour. 

These records may be created and maintained either in hard copy or electronically. Hard 

copy records must be signed by the employee while electronic records must include 

electronic identification of the employee, in order to assure their authenticity and 

accuracy. Each record must be retained for 2 years. (49 CFR §§ 228.9, 228.11, 228.203) 
17

3.2 Electronic recordkeeping

FRA’s regulation found at 49 CFR Part 228, Subpart D, added provisions for electronic

recordkeeping systems for recording hours of service information as required by Subpart 

B. An electronic system must meet the requirements of— 

§ 228.201 - Electronic recordkeeping, general; 

§ 228.203 - Program components; 

§ 228.205 - Access to electronic records; and, 

§ 228.207 - Training. 

3.3 Training

A railroad, or a contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, shall provide its signal 

employees and its supervisors of these employees with initial training as well as refresher 

training as provided in 49 CFR § 228.207. The overall program shall include the practice 

of a railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, monitoring the records of their 

employees sufficiently to allow supervisors or other managers to find recurrent errors in 

the employees’ records which may indicate an employee’s lack of understanding of the 

hours of service laws or how to complete hours of service records. These findings shall 

then be included in the employee’s refresher training. 

3.4 Excess service reports

Each time an employee is permitted to remain on duty in excess of 12 hours, or to go or 

remain on duty without the required off-duty period, that incident, together with a brief 

but appropriate explanation of the circumstances or cause, must either be reported on the 

monthly excess service report filed with FRA, or created and maintained within an 

electronic recordkeeping system (49 CFR § 228.19). A report of excess service does not 

necessarily constitute an admission that the laws have been violated, since the signal 

emergency provision or the nonapplication provision may excuse the excess service in an 

appropriate instance.
18

APPENDIX A – EXAMPLES

Example 2.3.1 

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Off duty 3:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. Scheduled 

duty 1:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. 

Effect of law: Alternate periods of 8 hours on, 10 hours off are permitted by the law, 

since a new 24-hour period begins upon return for duty after having had at least 10 

consecutive uninterrupted off-duty hours. 

Example 2.4.1

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch period, 12:00 noon – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty, 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Trouble 

call, 5:00 a.m. - ?)

Effect of Law: By 7:00 a.m. on the second day of this example, the employee will have 

performed 8 hours of scheduled work, responded to a 1-hour trouble call the previous 

evening, and will be 2 hours into the second trouble call (total: 11 hours). Although the 

employee will have worked only 11 hours in broken service by 7:00 a.m., the 24-hour 

period of broken service that began at 7:00 a.m. the previous morning will be over, the 

employee must be released from the second trouble call no later than 7:00 a.m., and the 

employee must receive at least 10 continuous uninterrupted hours of off-duty time before 

performing any other service for the railroad. 

Example 2.4.2

Facts: Scheduled duty 7:00 a.m.- 12:00 noon. Lunch period 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 1:00 – 8:00 p.m. 

Effect of Law: The employee has been on duty for 12 continuous hours, since the lunch 

period did not exceed 60 minutes. The employee must be provided a release period of 10 

hours before performing further duties for the railroad. The required statutory minimum 

off-duty period would be the same whether the time on duty is continuous or broken, so 

even if the lunch period were longer than an hour, at least 10 hours off duty of time off 

duty would be required at the conclusion of the employee’s duty tour. 

Example 2.5.1

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch break 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. The railroad, or 

contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, telephones employee for a second trouble call at 
19

3:30 a.m., the employee answers the call but, having only 1 hour left in his or her 12- 

hour limitation, the employee reports there is not sufficient time remaining in the 24-hour 

period to respond to the call. 

Effect of Law: The required 10 uninterrupted hours of rest has been interrupted by the 

railroad’s second call at 3:30 a.m. The call is not a violation of the HS laws; however, 

the off-duty period must begin anew at or after 3:30 a.m. for a full 10 uninterrupted hours 

prior to the employee reporting for subsequent duty, or the subsequent time on duty will 

commingle with the previous duty tour, and will, therefore, result in excess service if it is 

greater than one hour. 

Example 2.5.2 

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch break 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. The railroad, or 

contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, telephones the employee for a “non-emergency” 

second trouble call at 3:30 a.m., the employee answers the call but, having already 

reached 12 hours on duty, he does not respond to the call.

Effect of Law: The required 10 uninterrupted hours of rest has been interrupted by the 

second call at 3:30 a.m. Because a call to report for duty, standing alone, does not rise to 

the level of “service for the railroad,” the call does not result in excess service. However, 

because the employee’s rest has been interrupted, to avoid comingling the employee’s 

previous and subsequent periods of on-duty time, the off-duty period must begin anew at 

or after 3:30 a.m. for a full 10 uninterrupted hours before the employee reports for 

subsequent duty, or else the subsequent time on duty will commingle with the previous 

duty tour, and, regardless of its length, will, therefore, result in excess service.

Example 2.5.3 

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch break 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. The employee 

telephones the railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad at 2:00 a.m., to 

schedule a vacation day. The railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad returns 

the employee’s call at 2:30 a.m., and after resolving the request that the employee called 

about, goes on to discuss issues encountered in responding to the prior trouble call for 

one hour, with the call ultimately ending at 3:30 a.m. 

Effect of Law: The required 10 uninterrupted hours of rest has been interrupted by the 

return call at 2:30 a.m., because the substance of the call went beyond the issue that the 

employee contacted the railroad, or contractor or subcontractor to a railroad to discuss. 

The off-duty period must begin anew at or after 3:30 a.m. for a full 10 uninterrupted 

hours prior to the employee reporting for subsequent duty. 

Example 2.5.4
20

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch break 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. The railroad, or 

contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, telephones employee for a “non-emergency” 

second trouble call at 3:30 a.m.; however, recognizing he is unavailable, the employee 

does not answer the call. 

Effect of Law: The required 10 uninterrupted hours of rest has been interrupted by the 

single second call at 3:30 a.m. despite the employee’s not answering the call, unless the 

call is made to a railroad-provided device that the employee is free to turn off during the 

uninterrupted rest period. Provided that the call was not made to such a device, the offduty period must begin anew at or after 3:30 a.m. for a full 10 uninterrupted hours prior 

to the employee reporting for subsequent duty. 

Example 2.5.5 

Facts: A signal employee is out on a trouble call and at 10:30 p.m., phones the signal 

supervisor for guidance, and talks to the supervisor for 30 minutes. The signal supervisor 

has performed no signal covered service during his or her duty tour either prior to the call 

or subsequent. 

 

Effect of Law: The signal supervisor, having performed no covered service, is not 

subject to the limitations of the HS laws, either as to total on-duty time or as to required 

periods of rest, and therefore there is no statutory minimum off-duty period to be 

interrupted. 

Example 2.5.6 

Facts: A signal employee is out on a trouble call and at 10:30 p.m., phones the signal 

foreman for guidance, and talks to the foreman for 30 minutes. The signal foreman had 

previously performed signal covered service during his or her current duty tour of 7:00 

a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a lunch break 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon. 

 

Effect of Law: The signal foreman having performed covered service is subject to 

comingled service counting toward the calculation of his total time on duty for the 24-

hour period, and subject to the required minimal 10 uninterrupted hours of rest. Since 

only 7 hours had passed since the signal foreman’s rest period began, an additional 30 

minutes is to be counted toward his total time on-duty for the duty tour, and an 

interruption of the signal foreman’s rest has occurred. To be considered a statutory offduty period, the rest period must begin again at or after the end of the phone conversation 

with the signal employee. The signal foreman has been on-duty for 8 hours and 30 

minutes of broken service, and the statutory minimum off-duty period will not be 

completed until 9:00 a.m. the following day at the earliest. 

Example 2.5.7 
21

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Lunch break 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. 

Scheduled duty 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. Trouble call, 9:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. The railroad, or 

contractor or subcontractor to a railroad, expects or instructs the employee to be at his or 

her normal duty station at 11:30 a.m. for the employee’s next regularly scheduled tour of 

duty. The employee leaves his or her residence at 10:30 a.m. for the usual 1 hour 

commute to the normal duty station. 

 

Effect of Law: Because normal commute time is time off duty, the employee’s 1 hour of 

commute time to the regular duty station is counted as the last hour of the employee’s 10 

uninterrupted hours of rest. No violation of the HS laws has occurred. Note that any 

instruction to the employee to report back to the normal duty station must not be given to 

the employee during his or her statutory minimum off-duty period, unless the employee 

has made contact and requested to be provided with such an instruction (see Section 2.5). 

Example 2.7.1

Facts: Scheduled duty tour, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Employee is required to depart from 

his or her residence to an outlying duty site at 6:00 a.m. for a 7:00 a.m. on-duty time at 

the site. Regular average commuting time for the individual is 30 minutes. Covered 

service work is then performed by the employee at the site.

Effect of law: Travel to the site of scheduled duty (other than the headquarters) is onduty time to the extent it comingles with covered service work then being performed. 

However, the usual amount of time spent in personal commuting is subtracted from the 

total travel time. Since, in the example, the employee normally spends 30 minutes 

commuting to work, the employee is considered to be on-duty at 6:30 a.m. 

Note that in the normal case the employee will report to their normal duty station before 

going to an outlying work site for scheduled service. In such a case, the employee is on 

duty upon reporting as directed to his or her headquarters. 

Example 2.7.2

Facts: Scheduled duty tour, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Employee is required to depart his or 

her residence for an outlying duty site at 6:00 a.m. and experiences 6 hours of travel in 

order to reach the remote duty site by noon. The employee has no regular commuting 

time due to his or her residence being his or her regular duty station. Covered service 

work is then performed during the remainder of the employee’s duty tour. 

Effect of law: Travel to the site of scheduled duty (other than the headquarters) is time 

on duty to the extent it comingles with covered service work then being performed by the 

employee. Since, in the example, there is no regular commuting time to subtract, the 

employee is on duty at 6:00 a.m. 

Example 2.7.3
22

Facts: Scheduled duty hours 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Employee departs outlying work site 

at 2:30 p.m., and then arrives at his or her residence at 3:45 p.m. 

Effect of law: The employee was on duty for 8 hours, the scheduled duty period. The 

off-duty period began at 3:45 p.m., upon the employee’s arrival home. Note that, had the 

employee returned by way of the headquarters, the time off duty would have commenced 

on the employee’s departure from the headquarters. The period from 3:00 p.m. to 3:45 

p.m. is treated as limbo time (neither time on duty nor time off duty).

Example 2.7.4

Facts: Scheduled duty hours, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Employee departs the outlying work 

site at 3:00 p.m., arrives at the headquarters at 3:30 p.m. and leaves immediately for 

personal residence, arriving at 4:00 p.m. 

Effect of law: The employee was on duty for 8 hours, the scheduled duty period. From 

3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. is limbo time, neither time on duty nor time off duty. The off-duty 

period began at 3:30 p.m. 

Example 2.8.1

Facts: Trouble call received 8:30 p.m., travel to work site 8:40 – 8:55 p.m.; covered 

service 8:55 – 9:30 p.m.; return travel 9:30 – 9:45 p.m.

Effect of law: The employee was on duty from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. with 15 minutes of 

limbo time until 9:45 p.m. Therefore, time off duty began at 9:45 p.m. 

Example 2.8.2 

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. First trouble call 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.; return 

travel 8:30 – 9:00 p.m.; second trouble call, 9:15 – 11:00 p.m.; return travel 11:00 – 

11:30 p.m. 

Effect of law: The employee was on duty for a total of 12 hours in broken service. The 

period of return travel from the first trouble call was not followed by a break in service of 

at least 30 minutes, and therefore the return travel and 15 minute break in service remain 

time on duty. The on-duty period that started on receipt of the first trouble call continued 

without interruption through until 11:00 p.m. The 30 minutes of travel time from the 

second trouble call was limbo time. The employee’s off-duty period begins at 11:30 p.m.

Example 2.8.3

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Trouble call 10:00 p.m. – 12:00 midnight 

to a remote location accessible only via on-track vehicle. Work completed at the site at 

12:00 midnight followed by 30 minutes of travel via on-track vehicle, then 30 minutes of 

travel via highway to the employee residence arriving at 1:00 a.m. 
23

Effect of law: The employee was on duty for the regular duty period, plus 2 hours of 

time on duty from the trouble call coupled with the 30 minutes of return travel via ontrack vehicle. The following 30 minutes of travel via highway was limbo time. The 

employee’s off-duty period begins at 1:00 a.m. 

Example 2.8.4

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Trouble call 10:00 p.m. – 12:00 midnight, 

during which the employee dialed in to a processor-based component at a remote location 

for the purpose of determining what was wrong with the location and uploaded a more 

recent version of software to the remote equipment. The employee never left his or her 

residence and the work was completed at 12:00 midnight. 

Effect of law: The employee was on duty for the regular duty period, plus the 2 hours of 

the trouble call during which the remote connection to the processor-based equipment at 

the remote site was analyzed and updated. The employee’s off-duty period begins at 

12:00 midnight. 

Example 2.9.1

Facts: An individual drives himself or herself to, and attends, a rules class at the outlying 

work site during one duty tour, and then performs signal-employee covered service at the 

same outlying work site during the next duty tour. 

Effect of law: Despite the intervening rules class, the individual’s drive to the outlying 

work site facilitated his or her subsequent performance of signal-employee covered 

service, and accordingly the driving time is time on duty subject to the FRA-administered 

HS laws rather than FMCSA’s HS Regulations. 

Example 2.9.2 

Facts: An individual drives from his or her headquarters at Location A to a rules class at 

Location B, attends the rules class, and receives a statutory minimum off-duty period at 

Location B. After the conclusion of the statutory minimum off-duty period, the 

individual then drives from Location B to Location C, where he or she repairs signal 

systems at Location C.

Effect of law: The time spent driving from the employee’s headquarters to the rules class 

is not signal-employee covered service, because the travel to the rules class location is 

not clearly connected to the performance of signal-employee covered service, since the 

employee is required to travel from the rules class location to another location in order 

for the employee to perform the covered service. However, the time spent driving from 

location B (the location of the rules class) to location C (where repairs are performed) is 

covered service.

Example 2.11.1
24

Facts: Scheduled duty, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Trouble call 10 p.m. – 12:00 midnight. 

Emergency call (valid continuing emergency), 3:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. 

Effect of law: The employee must be released for 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours not 

later than 7:00 a.m., even though time on duty will then total only 14 hours. The 24-hour 

period that began at 7:00 a.m. the previous morning will have expired, and the emergency 

provision does not eliminate the requirement that the employee not remain on duty at the 

expiration of that 24-hour period. 
25

APPENDIX B – LETTER ON EXCLUSION OF 

SIGNAL EMPLOYEES DRIVING MOTOR 

VEHICLES FROM FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER 

SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S HOURS OF 

SERVICE REQUIREMENTS 
26

APPENDIX C – RELEVANT EXCERPTS FROM THE 

HOURS OF SERVICE LAWS -- 49 U.S.C. §§ 21101(4), 

21102(a), 21104, and 21303