The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
If you are a farmer or rancher, you may or may not be familiar with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration?
The FMCSA is the lead federal government agency responsible for regulating and providing safety oversight of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), FMCSA’s mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
FMCSA partners with industry, safety advocates, and state and local governments to keep our nation’s roadways safe and improve CMV safety through regulation, education, enforcement, research, and technology.
Most of FMCSA’s regulations pertain to commercial trucking. However, agricultural operations have some exemption to the FMCSA’s regulations.
On Dec. 20, 2017, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a Federal Register notice proposing regulatory guidance concerning the transportation of agricultural commodities, which includes livestock and requested public comment on the proposals.
The final guidance clarifies the applicability of the “Agricultural commodity” exception in 49 CFR 395.1(k)(1) to the “Hours of Service of Drivers” regulations.
• This guidance is limited to the application of the 150 air-mile exception for the transportation of “agricultural commodities.”
• This regulatory guidance clarifies that the following operations are not subject to the Hours-of-Service Regulations while operating within 150 air-mile radius of the source of the commodity:
1. Drivers operating unladen vehicles traveling either to pick up an agricultural commodity, as defined in 395.2, or returning from a delivery point; and
2. Drivers engaged in trips beyond 150 air-miles from the source of the agricultural commodity are not subject to the hours of service regulations until they exit the 150 air-mile radius.
The guidance also clarifies many longstanding questions about what can be considered a “source” of an agricultural commodity:
• The guidance clarifies that a source may not only be the farm or ranch where the agricultural commodity originates, but also may include intermediate storage and loading facilities, such as grain elevators or sale barns, provided the product still meets the definition of an agricultural commodity.
• The guidance also clarifies that when agricultural commodities are loaded at multiple sources during a trip only the first loading point can be considered a source.
While this guidance focuses specifically on how the agricultural commodities exception impacts a driver’s daily and weekly hours-of-service limits, it also should be considered when determining the applicability of the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) rule more broadly.
Thus, motor carriers utilizing the agricultural commodities exception – like other exceptions to the HOS rule – will be able to take advantage of an exception from the ELD requirements if they do not operate outside of the 150-mile radius more than 8 days out of every 30.
However, transporters of livestock and insects are not required to have an ELD at this time. This statutory exemption was extended through December 7, 2018, by the continuing resolution and will remain in place until further notice. Drivers do not need to carry any documentation regarding this exemption.
However, this past week livestock groups are disappointed about a regulatory decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration denying an exemption application over hours-of-service rules for hauling livestock.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rejected a proposal by livestock groups to extend the hours-of-service rules for hauling livestock.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) handed down the decision Monday (November 28, 2022) to deny an application from several livestock and agricultural groups over the hours-of-service (HOS) rules.
The livestock groups asked FMCSA back in 2019 to allow a total of 15 hours in a 16-hour period. Right now, livestock haulers are permitted to drive in an exemption zone of 150-mile radius to a destination that doesn’t count toward HOS limits.
The livestock groups requested to add the 15-hour drive limit outside of that 150 air-miles radius. The request applied to all livestock, insect and aquatic animal haulers and their drivers.
Typically, HOS limits drivers to 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Drivers are required to at least a 30-minute break after driving for eight cumulative hours. Drivers may not drive beyond 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty.
Groups making the request were the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Livestock Marketing Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Association and the National Aquaculture Association.
The livestock groups said the maximum driving and on-duty limits under the HOS rules could place livestock at risk and impose more burdens on livestock haulers in rural areas of the country.
For more information on FMCSA’s regulations go to: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/