California Meal Break

Note

California Meal Break is supported on Samsara Driver App version 52.3.7161 or later.

California Intrastate drivers are required to comply with the California labor laws for Meal and Rest breaks in certain scenarios. There are many considerations to determine if your drivers are required to comply with these laws. To learn more, read the regulation for Labor Law 512.

This meal break is designed specifically for drivers who log California Intrastate rules. Enabling this feature means that the driver is unable to keep track of both the 8 hour Interstate HOS break and the 5 hour California Meal Break at the same time.

Effect on Driver Behavior

If the driver is enabled for California Meal Breaks, the Samsara Driver App provides custom rest break dial to provide visibility to the driver. The Samsara Driver App provides the following driver experience for California Meal Breaks:

• Instead of a 0:00 hour dial, this the rest break provides a 5:00 hour dial.

  

• If you previously had your California drivers configured with a Federal Property rest break, then they will notice a change from an 8:00 hour dial to a 5:00 hour dial.

• The dial will only count down with accumulated On Duty time which can include Driving, On Duty, Yard Move.

• The Samsara Driver App warns drivers when they are approaching a 5 hour meal-break violation.

• The dial will reset when it reaches 30 minutes of consecutive Off Duty time.

• Unlike normal HOS rules where the driver can only be in violation in the Driving status, the 5 hour meal break will show a violation if the driver is On Duty not Driving past the 5 hour mark.

• After a 30 minute Off Duty period has been achieved, the 5:00 hour dial will reset for the second meal break that is required after 10 hours of working.

Note

Samsara does not enable the driver to waive either the first or the second meal break. The break is required even if the driver works fewer than 6 hours (first meal break) or fewer than 12 hours (second meal break). The 5:00 Until break clock will reset after a 30 minute Off Duty period has been met. This may mean that a driver will be prompted to take second meal break before the 10 hour period for the second break has been met.

Enable the California Meal Breaks for Drivers

Depending on the scope, there are different options to enable California Meal Breaks for drivers:

• Configure Meal Breaks for Drivers at the Group Level

• Override the Group Ruleset to Enable Meal Breaks for a Specific Driver

• Configure Meal Breaks for Drivers in Bulk

Configure Meal Breaks for Drivers at the Group Level

1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. Select Compliance.

3. Configure a State Override Driver Ruleset for California.

   

   California rulesets apply when the driver is in California and is not performing Interstate commerce. Make sure to set the Rest Break setting to California Mealbreak (off-duty/sleeper).

4. Save your changes.

Override the Group Ruleset to Enable Meal Breaks for a Specific Driver

1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. Select Organization > Drivers.

3. Locate the driver for which you want to configure the California Meal Break.

4. In the row for the driver, select ( ... ) > Edit.

5. In the Driver-Specific Ruleset Override section of the driver profile, enable the California Cycle, state, Restart period, and 30-min Rest Break Required as California Mealbreak (off-duty/sleeper).

   

6. Save your changes.

Configure Meal Breaks for Drivers in Bulk

1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

2. Select Organization > Drivers.

3. From the More Actions menu, Download CSV. Samsara creates a CSV file containing all drivers and driver profile settings.

4. Edit the CSV file to set the California Mealbreak (off-duty/sleeper) field to TRUE for the relevant drivers and then save the file.

   

5. On the Drivers page, select More Actions > Upload CSV.

6. Upload your CSV file.

7. Preview and then Confirm the changes.

Visibility of California Meal Breaks

You can view California Meal Breaks throughout Samsara reports.

Driver Log

The Driver log displays California Meal Break violations as a unique violation type.

HOS Violations

You can filter for this violation type in the HOS Violations report. This enables you to identify when and how long drivers have gone past their meal break requirement.

To warn drivers who approach meal break violations, you can also configure advanced alerts.