A B757-200 PIC RPT ON FATIGUE AND HOW IT MAY HAVE BEEN RELATED TO SHORT LAYOVERS; LONG DUTY DAYS AND AN EVENTUAL MISINTERP OF THE MEL REQUIREMENTS WHILE PERFORMING A PREFLT UNDER THE EYES OF AN ACR INSPECTOR AT PHL; PA.

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PART 1: OUR PREVIOUS DUTY DAY; CONSISTED OF 14 HRS 45 MINS ON-DUTY; FLYING 8 HRS 45 MINS HARD-TIME; ON A DOMESTIC DUTY PAIRING; ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR 13 HRS 28 MINS OF ON-DUTY TIME; AND 7 HRS 7 MINS OF 'HARD' FLYING TIME; WITH 4 LEGS. THE SCHEDULED REST PERIOD WAS ORIGINALLY 11 HRS 51 MINS; BLOCK-TO-BLOCK; BUT DUE TO THE WX; THE ACTUAL BLOCK-IN TO BLOCK-OUT REST PERIOD WAS 10 HRS 54 MINS (CHOCK-TO-CHOCK). AFTER TRAVEL TO AND FROM THE HOTEL AND WAITING FOR A VAN; THE TIME WAS REDUCED TO 10 HRS 14 MINS; BECAUSE THE COMPANY REQUIRES THE CREW TO BE AT THE ARPT; THE NEXT DAY; 1 HR PRIOR TO DEP; THE ACTUAL REST PERIOD WAS REDUCED TO APPROX 9 HRS 14 MINS. ALLOWING FOR 1 1/2 HRS TO PREPARE CLOTHES; ETC; AND 'UNWIND' AND THEN GO TO BED AND THEN ALLOW 1 HR AFTER WAKE-UP; THE ACTUAL REST WAS ONLY ABOUT 6 HRS 29 MINS AFTER A 14 HRS 45 MINS DUTY-DAY; AND 8 HR 45 MINS ACTUALLY FLYING TIME. THE FOLLOWING DAY WAS SCHEDULED FOR 6 HRS 27 MINS ACTUAL FLYING; AND AN ON-DUTY DAY OF 9 HRS 44 MINS. SUGGESTION: CREW REST SHOULD START; ONLY AFTER THE CREW HAS CHKED IN AT THE HOTEL; AND CONTINUE UNTIL THEY LEAVE THE HOTEL; WITH A MINIMUM OF 10 HRS AT THE HOTEL. THIS WILL ALLOW 1 HR PRIOR TO BED; 8 HRS OF SLEEP; AND 1 HR TO ARISE AND GET READY TO LEAVE THE HOTEL. PART 2: BECAUSE I WAS STILL TIRED FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY; I WAS NOT 'CRISP;' AND MAY HAVE MISINTERPRETED AN MEL CONSTRAINT; WHILE AN FAA INSPECTOR WAS OBSERVING OUR PERFORMANCE. OFTEN; MINIMUM OVERNIGHT HOTELS; REQUIRE MORE TIME IN TRANSPORTATION THAN LONGER PERIOD OVERNIGHTS; BECAUSE TRANSPORT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY SCHEDULED FOR THE CREW. PLEASE; RECOMMEND '10 HRS AT THE HOTEL.'