You can take the breaks in either order. It's important to remember that the breaks pause the 14-hour clock; they do not reset the clock. Once a full 10-hour break occurs, you'll have a full 14-hour clock. The split sleeper berth rule cannot be used if you're in violation of your 11-, 14-, 8- or 70-hour clock.

Yes, under current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations in 2026, the split sleeper berth provision allows drivers to "pause" their 14-hour consecutive on-duty clock. To do this, a driver must split their required 10 hours of off-duty time into two qualifying periods. For property-carrying drivers, one period must be at least 7 hours (spent in the sleeper berth) and the other at least 2 hours (spent off-duty or in the sleeper). When used correctly, neither of these periods counts against the 14-hour limit. This effectively "pushes out" the end of the driver's working window, providing much-needed flexibility to handle loading dock delays or heavy traffic without violating hours-of-service (HOS) rules. However, it is a "pause," not a "reset"; the 14-hour window only fully restarts once a full, consecutive 10-hour off-duty break is completed.