Personal Conveyance vs Yard Move ELD Rules: What Each Status Really Allows

Two buttons on your ELD cause more roadside headaches than almost anything else: Personal Conveyance and Yard Move. Both let the truck roll without eating your drive clock the normal way, which is exactly why they get abused, misunderstood, and flagged. Pick the wrong one and you can end up with a falsified log violation, a talk with the safety department, or both.

This guide covers the personal conveyance vs yard move ELD question using what FMCSA has actually published. No forum rumors, no “my buddy said it’s fine.” You’ll see what each status is, when it’s valid, where drivers get written up, and where to go for the edge cases.

The Short Version

The two statuses are not interchangeable, and they don’t even land in the same duty status:

• Personal Conveyance (PC) is an off-duty status. FMCSA’s guidance says it plainly: “Personal conveyance is an off-duty status.”
• Yard Move is on duty. FMCSA’s ELD FAQ states: “Yard moves must be reflected as an On-Duty Not-Driving duty status.”

That one difference drives everything else. PC is for when you’re done working and using the truck for yourself. Yard Move is for when you’re still working but moving the truck around a confined, private area as part of the job.

Personal Conveyance: What FMCSA Actually Says

FMCSA’s personal conveyance guidance was published in the Federal Register on June 7, 2018, at 83 FR 26377-26380, under Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0108. It answers one question: “Under what circumstances may a driver operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) as a personal conveyance?” It ties that answer to recording duty status under 49 CFR 395.8.

The Core Test: Are You Truly Off Work?

PC only applies when you have been “relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier.” That’s the test. Not “I’m tired of driving.” Not “I’m almost out of hours.” If the move serves the carrier’s business, it isn’t PC, no matter what button you pressed.

Things That Surprise Drivers

• You can be loaded. The guidance says “The CMV may be used for personal conveyance even if it is laden.” A full trailer does not automatically disqualify PC.
• Out of hours doesn’t automatically kill it. Moving from a shipper or receiver to the nearest safe resting area may be logged as PC “regardless of whether the driver exhausted his or her HOS,” as long as the move is only to get required rest.
• “Nearest” means nearest. The rest spot you reach after loading or unloading must be “the first such location reasonably available.” Skipping a safe, available spot to get closer to your next pickup is where this exception falls apart. The nearest safe spot can be in the direction of your next dispatch and still be PC. FMCSA recommends that you annotate the log if you can’t park at the nearest location and have to go on to another one.

FMCSA’s Examples of Valid PC

The guidance lists situations that are appropriate uses of PC:

• Traveling from en route lodging, like a motel or truck stop, to restaurants and entertainment.
• Commuting between your terminal and your residence, but only if the commute distance plus your release and start times leave you enough time to get the required restorative rest.
• Traveling to a nearby, reasonable, safe location to get required rest after loading or unloading.
• Moving a CMV at the request of a safety official during your off-duty time.
• Driving a motorcoach with no passengers to en route lodging.
• Transporting personal property while off duty.
• Authorized use of a CMV to travel home after working at an offsite location.

FMCSA’s Examples of What Is NOT PC

This is the list that gets drivers written up:

• Moving a CMV to enhance the operational readiness of the motor carrier.
• Continuing a CMV trip in interstate commerce to fulfill a business purpose.
• Driving to the motor carrier’s terminal after loading or unloading at a shipper or receiver.
• Taking a CMV to a facility for vehicle maintenance.
• Driving a passenger-carrying CMV with passengers on board.
• After being placed out of service for exceeding the maximum periods permitted under Part 395, time spent driving to a location to obtain required rest, unless an enforcement officer at the scene directs it.
• Returning to the point of origin at the carrier’s direction to pick up another towed unit after delivering one, even if the towing unit no longer meets the definition of a CMV.
• Operating a motorcoach when luggage is stowed, the passengers have disembarked, and the driver has been directed to deliver the luggage.

Notice the pattern. Most of the “no” items on that list are moves that help the carrier get the load, the truck, or the passengers where they need to go. (The passengers-aboard and out-of-service items are about safety and hours limits instead.) That’s the line.

Your Carrier Can Be Stricter Than FMCSA

Federal guidance sets the outer limit, not the floor. Under 49 CFR 395.28(a)(1), the carrier configures which special driving categories, Personal Conveyance and Yard Move, are available on the ELD. Motor carriers decide whether to allow PC at all and “can establish personal conveyance limitations.” Some ban it outright. Some ban it while the truck is loaded. If your company policy is tighter than the federal guidance, you follow the company policy. Dispatchers and ops managers, put this in writing and make sure drivers have it.

Yard Move: What FMCSA Actually Says

Yard Move is simpler in one way: it’s always On-Duty Not Driving. You’re working. The status just recognizes that shuffling a truck around a lot isn’t the same as running down the highway.

Where a Yard Move Can Happen

FMCSA published proposed yard-move guidance on January 4, 2021, at 86 FR 179-181, under Docket FMCSA-2020-0118, as a proposed revised Question 9 under 49 CFR 395.2. Comments were due February 3, 2021. The proposal describes a yard move as one where “the movement of the CMV occurs in a confined area on private property.” Locations it lists include:

• An intermodal yard or port facility.
• A motor carrier’s place of business.
• A shipper’s privately owned parking lot.
• A public road, but only if and while public access to the road is restricted through traffic control measures.

That last one matters. Crossing an open public street between two lots isn’t a yard move just because the lots belong to the same customer. The road has to be closed off to public traffic while you’re on it.

Current status: this is still a proposal as far as we can tell. As of November 2026, we could not find a final version of this yard-move guidance in the Federal Register. FMCSA’s July 2026 notice on CCS Transportation’s exemption request still describes a yard move as movement on private property, and says that without an exemption, trips between facilities on public roads must be logged as driving. Treat the proposal as FMCSA’s current thinking, not settled rule, and check with your carrier.

Plain Examples: Which Status Fits?

Example A: Done at the Receiver, Nowhere to Park

You finish unloading, you’re out of hours, and the receiver won’t let you stay. You drive to the first safe truck stop reasonably available and shut down. That fits PC under FMCSA’s guidance. If you drive past that first available spot to get closer to tomorrow’s pickup, you’ve turned a rest move into a business move.

Example B: Done at the Receiver, Heading Back to the Terminal

Same unload, but you drive back to your company terminal. FMCSA specifically lists “time spent traveling to a motor carrier’s terminal after loading or unloading from a shipper or a receiver” as NOT personal conveyance. Log it as driving.

Example C: Dinner Run From the Truck Stop

You’re off duty at a truck stop and bobtail to a restaurant down the road. That’s on FMCSA’s list of valid PC uses, assuming your carrier allows it.

Example D: Dropping the Truck at the Shop

You’re off the clock, so you figure you’ll take the tractor to the dealer for service on PC. Wrong. Taking a CMV to a facility for maintenance is specifically excluded from PC.

Example E: Shuffling Trailers in the Drop Yard

You’re hooking and dropping trailers inside your carrier’s yard. That’s a yard move: On-Duty Not Driving.

Example F: Crossing the Street to the Overflow Lot

The shipper’s overflow lot sits across a public road with normal traffic. Under the proposed guidance, that road counts only while public access is restricted by traffic control measures. If cars are passing freely, don’t call it a yard move.

ELD Mechanics: Where Logs Go Wrong

You Have to Select It Before You Roll

Your carrier decides whether those categories are turned on in the first place. If PC isn’t enabled on your ELD, go Off Duty and annotate the record instead. If it is, under 49 CFR 395.28(a)(2) you select the category before the status starts and deselect it when the status ends.

Under 49 CFR 395.28(a)(1), a carrier “may configure an ELD to authorize a driver to indicate that the driver is operating a commercial motor vehicle under” two special driving categories: authorized personal use (personal conveyance) and yard moves. Here’s the trap: if you forget to select PC or Yard Move, you can’t go back and edit that automatically recorded driving time into the special category later. FMCSA’s ELD FAQ says the driver can only “make an annotation in the ELD record identifying the start and end of the special driving category.” The driving time stays driving time on the record. Pick the status before the wheels turn.

PC Looks Different on the Graph

According to FMCSA, “Personal conveyance will be reflected on the ELD using a different style line.” An officer looking at your graph-grid will see PC segments immediately. If those segments line up with a trip toward your next load or your terminal, expect questions.

Good Habits That Keep You Clean

• Annotate every PC and Yard Move segment with a short reason: “to nearest safe parking after unload,” “dinner,” “yard shuffle at terminal.”
• Know your carrier’s PC policy before you need it, especially if you’re loaded.
• Clear the status as soon as the move ends so it doesn’t bleed into real driving.
• If you’re ever unsure, log it as driving. Burning some clock is cheaper than a falsification finding.

A Note on the Guidance Dates

The 2018 PC guidance listed its own dates: “This guidance is applicable on June 7, 2018 and expires June 7, 2023.” FMCSA’s June 20, 2023 notice, “Regulatory Guidance: Clarification of Reissuance Dates” (88 FR 39904-39906), lists the PC guidance as FMCSA-HOS-395.8-Q26 with those same dates. That notice also explains that publishing current guidance to the DOT guidance portal effectively reissued it, and that March 3, 2020 “is therefore the reissuance date for all guidance FMCSA published in the Portal as of that date.” It cites FAST Act section 5203, which requires FMCSA to reissue an updated version of guidance within 5 years when that guidance wasn’t practical to put into regulation.

As of October 2026, FMCSA’s personal conveyance page still carries this same 2018 text, and we found no newer personal conveyance guidance.

Bottom line for fleet and safety managers: check the current status of any guidance before you build policy around it, and recheck it during your regular policy reviews.

Where to Go for Edge Cases

Real life throws situations no list covers. When you hit one, go to the source:

• FMCSA Personal Conveyance Guidance (Federal Register, June 7, 2018)
• FMCSA Proposed Yard Move Guidance (Federal Register, January 4, 2021)
• FMCSA ELD FAQ: Recording HOS Data
• FMCSA Clarification of Reissuance Dates (June 20, 2023)

Personal conveyance is your time, used for yourself, after the carrier has fully cut you loose. A yard move is still work, done in a confined private area or on a road that’s actually closed to the public. Most write-ups come from blurring those two ideas: calling a business move “personal,” or calling an open-road hop a “yard move.” Ask one question before you touch that button: who does this move serve, me or the load? Answer it honestly, select the status before you roll, annotate what you did, and your logs will hold up at the scale house and in the audit.