diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 728a1a9..9ddd2f7 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ ARG COG_VERSION
 
 FROM r8.im/${COG_REPO}/${COG_MODEL}@sha256:${COG_VERSION}
 
+ENV REQUEST_TIMEOUT=600
+
 # Install necessary packages and Python 3.10
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends software-properties-common curl git openssh-server && \
diff --git a/src/handler.py b/src/handler.py
index 669f2e0..4a73942 100644
--- a/src/handler.py
+++ b/src/handler.py
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 import time
 import subprocess
+import os
 
 import runpod
 import requests
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter, Retry
 
+TIMEOUT = int(os.environ.get("_RUNPOD_REQUEST_TIMEOUT", "600"))
+
 LOCAL_URL = "http://127.0.0.1:5000"
 
 cog_session = requests.Session()
 retries = Retry(total=10, backoff_factor=0.1, status_forcelist=[502, 503, 504])
-cog_session.mount('http://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retries))
+cog_session.mount("http://", HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retries))
 
 
 # ----------------------------- Start API Service ---------------------------- #
@@ -21,9 +24,9 @@
 #                              Automatic Functions                             #
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
 def wait_for_service(url):
-    '''
+    """
     Check if the service is ready to receive requests.
-    '''
+    """
     while True:
         try:
             health = requests.get(url, timeout=120)
@@ -42,11 +45,18 @@ def wait_for_service(url):
 
 
 def run_inference(inference_request):
-    '''
+    """
     Run inference on a request.
-    '''
-    response = cog_session.post(url=f'{LOCAL_URL}/predictions',
-                                json=inference_request, timeout=600)
+    """
+    response = cog_session.post(
+        url=f"{LOCAL_URL}/predictions",
+        json=inference_request,
+        timeout=TIMEOUT,
+    )
+    if response.status_code != 200:
+        print(response.status_code)
+        print(response.text)
+    print(response.text)
     return response.json()
 
 
@@ -54,9 +64,9 @@ def run_inference(inference_request):
 #                                RunPod Handler                                #
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
 def handler(event):
-    '''
+    """
     This is the handler function that will be called by the serverless.
-    '''
+    """
 
     json = run_inference({"input": event["input"]})
 
@@ -64,8 +74,9 @@ def handler(event):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    wait_for_service(url=f'{LOCAL_URL}/health-check')
+    wait_for_service(url=f"{LOCAL_URL}/health-check")
 
     print("Cog API Service is ready. Starting RunPod serverless handler...")
+    print(f"Using request timeout of {TIMEOUT}s")
 
     runpod.serverless.start({"handler": handler})