15 - hour rule violation (Passenger)
395.5(a)(2) is a Hours violation under 49 CFR §395.5(a)(2). It falls in the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC with a severity weight of 7/10.
Last updated May 2026
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Notes
DSMS: YIn plain English
In plain terms, 395.5(a)(2) is cited for 15 - hour rule violation (Passenger). It falls under the FMCSA rules on hours of service and logging.
Severity 7/10. A fresh citation counts at the 3× time weight — up to 21 points toward the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC — then tapers to 2× after 6 months and 1× after a year, dropping off the score at 24 months.
General guidance from the violation’s FMCSA classification — not legal advice, and not a substitute for the inspector’s findings or 49 CFR.
If this violation was written incorrectly, here are the angles trucking-safety managers use to contest it. Playbook: Hours of Service.
Common ways to challenge this code
The ELD device produced or recorded incorrect duty-status data because of a malfunction, time-zone defect, or edit-history that overwrites driver entries.
Evidence that wins
The duty time the officer flagged was actually Personal Conveyance under FMCSA Regulatory Guidance, and qualifies as off-duty.
Evidence that wins
Driving time exceeded the 11-hour limit because adverse driving conditions extended the maximum driving window by up to 2 hours under §395.1(b)(1).
Evidence that wins
A 7/3 or 8/2 sleeper-berth split was correctly applied and resets the 14-hour driving window, but was scored as a continuous driving violation.
Evidence that wins
Common pitfalls — avoid these
Same BASIC category — ranked by national citation volume
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving after being on duty more than 70 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days. Date and Time:
11 hour rule violation (Property)
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving after being on duty more than 80 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days at the time of inspection. Time:
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving after being on duty more than 70 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days at the time of inspection. Time:
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving beyond the 20th hour after coming on duty following 8 consecutive hours off duty at the time of inspection. Time:
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving more than 15 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty at the time of inspection. Time:
HOS (Alaska Passenger) - Driving after being on duty more than 80 hours in any period of the previous 8 consecutive days. Date and Time:
HOS (Alaska Property) - Driving after being on duty more than 70 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days. Date and Time:
395.5(a)(2) is the FMCSA roadside-inspection violation code for "15 - hour rule violation (Passenger)", part of the Hours group, cited under 49 CFR §395.5(a)(2).
395.5(a)(2) falls under the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC in the FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS).
395.5(a)(2) carries a severity weight of 7 out of 10. Higher weights indicate violations more closely tied to crash risk, and they count more toward a carrier's Hours-of-Service Compliance score.
No. 395.5(a)(2) is not an out-of-service violation, so on its own it does not trigger an out-of-service order at the roadside.
The point contribution of 395.5(a)(2) depends on its severity weight (7/10) multiplied by a time weight of 3, 2, or 1 based on how recent the inspection is. You can calculate the exact contribution with the CSA points calculator.
Keep the ELD accurate and annotated; Plan around available hours; Never falsify a log.
Yes. If you believe 395.5(a)(2) was recorded in error, you can file a Request for Data Review (RDR) through the FMCSA DataQs system with supporting evidence. A successful challenge can remove or correct the violation on your record.
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