Agricultural Exceptions and Exemptions to the FMCSA Hours of Service (HOS) and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Rules

FMCSA Updates Guidance For Agricultural Exemption From HOS and CDL Rules

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published on its website update guidance on Agricultural Exceptions and Exemptions from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Hours of Service and Commercial Driver’s License Rules.

The guidance notes that Congress provided four statutory exemptions to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations that may apply to agricultural operations:

1. Covered farm vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more operated by a farmer or an employee of the farmer are exempted from the HOS and CDL regulations if the vehicle is operated anywhere in the State of registration or across State lines within a 150-air mile radius of the farm or ranch with respect to which the vehicle is being operated. Covered farm vehicles of 26,000 pounds or less are exempt throughout the country.
2. Drivers who transport agricultural commodities within a 150-air mile radius of the farm or ranch with respect to which the vehicle is being operated are exempted from the HOS regulations. FMCSA has recent published proposed guidance on the use of this exemption.
3. Drivers who transport commercial bees in interstate commerce are exempted from the HOS regulations 30-minute break requirement if there are bees on the vehicle.
4. Drivers who transport livestock in interstate commerce are exempted from the HOS regulations 30-minute break requirement if there is livestock on the vehicle.
   In addition, for certain times during drivers’ operations when they are not under dispatch or involved in the transportation of an agricultural commodity, hours driven may be considered personal conveyance and not counted against the daily and weekly limits. Further explanation can be found in the recently published proposed guidance on personal conveyance.

In addition, for certain times during drivers’ operations when they are not under dispatch or involved in the transportation of an agricultural commodity, hours driven may be considered personal conveyance and not counted against the daily and weekly limits. Further explanation can be found in the recently published proposed guidance on personal conveyance.

Originally posted on the Idealease Safety Bulletin.

The FMCSA website begins:

Generally, the jurisdiction of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) covers transportation in interstate commerce, in vehicles with a gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating, or a gross combination weight or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. In addition, vehicles with a gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating; or a gross combination weight or gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more may require a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations do provide an exception for the transportation of horses and other animals to shows and events, as well as cars, boats and other similar items. In these cases, when the transportation in question is not business related (neither for compensation, nor where the driver is engaged in an underlying business related to the move), none of the regulatory requirements apply, even if prize or scholarship money is offered. This includes the Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations, requirements for Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) and CDL regulations, unless required by the driver’s home state.