FMCSA Hours of Service Exemptions: Complete Guide for Motor Carriers

By CarrierLens Compliance Team • Last updated: 2026-05-01

FMCSA's hours of service rules — which cap driving time at 11 hours, on-duty time at 14 hours, and weekly time at 60/70 hours — include several specific exemptions and exceptions for drivers who meet defined operational criteria. Misapplying an exemption or failing to properly document its use are common HOS compliance violations found in FMCSA audits. This guide covers every major HOS exemption under 49 CFR Part 395.

Short-Haul Exemption (150 Air-Mile Radius)

The short-haul exemption under 49 CFR §395.1(e)(1) is the most widely used HOS exemption. It eliminates both the ELD requirement and the HOS logging requirement entirely — not just a relaxed version of the rules, but zero log requirement.

Conditions — ALL must be met every day the exemption is claimed:

• Driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location
• Driver returns to the work reporting location within 14 consecutive hours
• Driver does not drive after the 11th hour
• Driver is subject to the standard 10-consecutive-hour off-duty requirement
• Driver has not used the short-haul exemption more than 8 days in any 30-consecutive-day period (for CDL drivers)

150 Air-Mile Radius Exception for Non-CDL Drivers

Under §395.1(e)(2), drivers who do not hold a CDL may use a 150 air-mile radius exemption with slightly different conditions: the driver must return to the work reporting location within 12 (not 14) consecutive hours, and the maximum driving window is 10 (not 11) hours. These non-CDL short-haul drivers are not required to maintain logs when the exemption applies.

Agricultural Commodity Exemption

Under §395.1(k), drivers transporting agricultural commodities or farm supplies are exempt from the HOS regulations under specific conditions:

• Transportation is within a 150 air-mile radius of the source of the commodity
• It occurs during the planting and harvesting seasons as determined by each state
• Commodities must be unprocessed — raw agricultural products, livestock, or farm supplies

States publish annual planting and harvesting season dates. Transportation of processed agricultural products (e.g., packaged food, canned goods, finished livestock products) does not qualify.

Adverse Driving Conditions Exemption

Under §395.1(f), a driver may extend the 11-hour driving limit by up to 2 hours (to 13 hours maximum) and extend the 14-hour on-duty window by up to 2 hours when the driver encounters adverse conditions that could not have been known before departure:

• Snow, ice, fog, or other severe weather
• Traffic conditions caused by accidents or road closures not reasonably foreseeable when the trip started

The driver must annotate their log or ELD record noting the adverse conditions encountered and the additional time used. This exemption does not extend the 60/70-hour weekly limit, does not restart the 10-hour off-duty requirement, and cannot be used if the conditions were foreseeable before departure.

The 16-Hour Short-Haul Exception

Under §395.1(o), a property-carrying driver may extend the 14-hour on-duty window to 16 hours — but subject to strict limits:

• May only be used once every 7 consecutive days
• Driver must start and end at the same location
• Driver must not have used the exception in the preceding 6 consecutive days
• Driver may not drive after the 16th hour from coming on duty

This exception does not add additional driving time (the 11-hour driving limit still applies) — it only extends the on-duty window. Carriers that use this exception regularly in violation of the once-per-7-days limit face acute violations during compliance reviews.

Emergency Condition Exemption

Under §395.1(b), FMCSA or a state governor may declare an emergency that temporarily suspends or modifies HOS regulations for operations directly supporting emergency relief. Common examples include natural disasters, fuel shortages, and public health emergencies. These exemptions are issued with specific geographic and operational scope — carriers must verify that their specific operations fall within the declared exemption before claiming it.

Oilfield Operations Exemption

Under §395.1(d), drivers used to transport oilfield equipment (including servicing equipment) may take up to 10 non-consecutive hours of off-duty time if the driver uses at least 8 of those hours in the sleeper berth. This allows flexible split-duty scheduling in oilfield service operations where standby time is common.

Documenting HOS Exemption Use

Even when an exemption eliminates the log requirement, carriers should maintain records showing that the exemption conditions were met on each day claimed. For the short-haul exemption, time records (start time, end time, location) provide documentation. For the adverse conditions exemption, ELD annotations or handwritten notations on paper logs provide the required documentation. FMCSA investigators who discover that drivers claimed exemptions without meeting all conditions can cite violations for every day the exemption was incorrectly applied.