NC hours of service exceptions for farm loads and local haulers

The short version

Hauling farm products in North Carolina can take you off the hours of service clock. The federal agricultural exemption switches off the whole HOS part for qualifying loads that stay within 150 air miles of where they were loaded. [1]

The exemption only works during planting and harvest season as each state defines it. North Carolina law sets that season as January 1 through December 31, so the calendar never shuts it off here. [1][6]

Go past 150 air miles and the normal rules start. From that point you log your time and the 11-hour, 14-hour and 60/70-hour limits apply. [9]

Local drivers who are not hauling farm loads have their own relief. The short-haul exception lets you skip the log if you stay within 150 air miles and get released within 14 hours. [1][11]

This is a plain-language guide, not legal advice. Check the current rule text on eCFR and the NC statutes before you build a schedule around any exception. [1][6]

What the farm exemption covers

The rule is 49 CFR 395.1(k). It covers four kinds of trips. The first is agricultural commodities moving from their source to a place within 150 air miles of that source. [1]

The second and third cover farm supplies. That means supplies moving from a wholesale or retail dealer to a farm within 150 air miles, or from a wholesaler to a retail dealer within 150 air miles. [1]

Farm supplies are products tied directly to growing or harvesting crops, which covers things like seed and fertilizer. Livestock feed counts as a farm supply at any time of year. [2]

The fourth covers livestock moving within 150 air miles of the animals' final destination. Note the difference. For livestock, the circle is drawn around where the animals are going, not where they were loaded. [1]

Livestock is defined broadly. It includes the usual farm animals, insects, and any other living animals raised for commercial purposes, including fish and other aquatic animals. [2]

North Carolina's season runs all year

The federal rule leaves planting and harvest dates to each state. North Carolina answered that in G.S. 20-381(c), which the legislature added in 2009. [1][6]

Under that statute, both planting and harvesting season and planting and harvesting period mean January 1 through December 31. It applies to 395.1(k) and any other federal HOS rule for farm commodities and supplies. [6]

In practice, a driver hauling sweet potatoes in March or feed in July in North Carolina is inside the season. The date is never the problem here. The distance and the cargo are what decide it. [6][2]

Other states set their own dates. If your 150-mile circle reaches into Virginia or South Carolina, confirm that state's season before you count on the exemption across the line. [1]

How the 150 air-mile limit works

Air miles are measured in a straight line, not by road. The short-haul rule states that 150 air miles equals 172.6 statute miles, and road miles on the same trip will usually run longer. [1]

FMCSA's 2018 guidance says the exemption covers the first 150 air miles from the source, no matter how far away the load is going. Once you cross that line, the full HOS rules apply and you must record your time. [9]

Hours you spent inside the radius are not counted against you. Your clock starts when you pass the 150 air-mile point. The rules stay in force for the rest of the trip, even if you later come back inside the circle. [9]

Empty miles are covered too. The same guidance says the exemption applies when you drive an empty truck to pick up a farm load and on the empty trip home after delivery. [9]

The source is where the commodity is loaded onto your empty truck. It can be a field, but also a grain elevator or a livestock sale barn, as long as the product keeps its original form. [9]

Extra stops do not stretch the circle. If you load at several places, the 150 miles are measured from the first one. A new trip, with a new circle, starts only after everything on the truck has been unloaded. [9]

That guidance was dated to expire June 7, 2023, and FMCSA's website blocked our requests, so as of September 2026 we could not confirm a reissue. FMCSA's 2020 rule on farm commodities still relies on it. Ask your carrier or FMCSA for the current version. [9][10]

What counts as a farm commodity

The definition covers any agricultural commodity, non-processed food, feed, fiber, or livestock. The non-processed part applies only to food. Feed, fiber and livestock qualify without it. [2][10]

FMCSA's 2020 rule explains non-processed food. Fruits, vegetables, grains and oilseed crops still count after cleaning, cooling, trimming, cutting, shucking, bagging or packing for transport. [10]

Canned, jarred, dried or frozen food does not count. FMCSA's test is whether the product has lost its original identity and become a different item. It also said officers will use some judgment on close calls. [10]

Plants that can spoil or lose quality in transit count too. FMCSA's examples include sod, flowers, shrubs, seedlings, live trees and Christmas trees. Timber for lumber and wood pulp do not qualify. [10][2]

Livestock haulers have one more break. The 2020 rule states that the 30-minute rest break does not apply while livestock are on the truck, even outside the 150-mile radius. [10]

Local haulers: the short-haul exceptions

Drivers who are not hauling farm loads can still skip the log on local work. Under 395.1(e)(1), you need no log if you stay within 150 air miles of your normal work reporting location and are released within 14 hours. [1]

Property haulers using it need 10 hours off between shifts. The carrier must keep time records for 6 months showing when you came on duty, total hours each day, when you were released, and the past 7 days for new or part-time drivers. [1]

Those limits are fairly new. FMCSA's 2020 rule, effective September 29, 2020, raised the radius from 100 to 150 air miles and the workday from 12 to 14 hours. [11]

Drivers of trucks that do not need a CDL get a separate option under 395.1(e)(2). You still stay within 150 air miles and return to your work location each day. You may drive until the 14th hour on 5 days, and until the 16th hour on 2 days, in any 7-day stretch. [1]

Log-based drivers who return to their home terminal every day have 395.1(o). Once every 6 days, or after a 34-hour restart, it stretches the 14-hour window to 16 hours. You must have been released at your normal location that day and on the previous five duty tours. [1]

Bad weather gives another cushion. If you hit snow, ice, fog or unusual traffic you did not know about when you set out, you may drive up to 2 extra hours. Since 2020, the driving window stretches with it. [1][2][11]

Farm trucks: covered farm vehicles and the NC CDL waiver

A covered farm vehicle is a farm-plated truck run by the farmer, a family member or an employee. It hauls farm products, livestock, machinery or supplies to or from a farm, and it is not for hire. [5]

Weight sets the range. At 26,001 pounds or less, the truck can go anywhere in the U.S. Heavier trucks qualify anywhere in their home state, or across a state line within 150 air miles of the farm. [5]

Those trucks and drivers are exempt from federal CDL, drug and alcohol testing, medical card, HOS, and inspection and maintenance rules. The exemptions end if the truck carries hazmat that needs placards. [7]

A tenant hauling the landlord's share of the crop under a crop-share lease is not for-hire. A driver hauling farm loads for pay for someone else's farm does not qualify. [5]

North Carolina has its own CDL waiver in G.S. 20-37.16(e)(3). It covers a farm truck run by the farmer or an employee for farm use only, not for hire, and used only inside the state. Forestry trucks that meet the same test count too. [8]

The state waiver has no mileage cap but stops at the state line. If a farm truck crosses into another state, look to the federal covered farm vehicle rules instead. [8][5]

NC intrastate hours are different

North Carolina applies the federal safety rules to trucks that stay in state once they reach 26,001 pounds, carry 16 or more people, or haul placarded hazmat. The rule is 14B NCAC 07C .0101. [12]

The same rule sets its own hour limits for intrastate drivers. You may drive up to 12 hours after 8 hours off, and not after 16 hours on duty. The weekly caps are 70 hours in 7 days or 80 hours in 8 days. [12]

Whether you count as intrastate depends on your last 7 days of work. One run into Virginia this week can put you under the federal limits instead. [12]

What to carry and what to keep

When you are exempt, you have no log to show. No rule names a document for this, but FMCSA's guidance ties the exemption to where a load came from. Our advice: keep the bill of lading or scale ticket that shows what you are hauling and where it was loaded. [9]

Once you pass 150 air miles, start your record of duty status on paper or an ELD. Carriers must keep logs and supporting documents for at least 6 months. You must have the past 7 days with you on duty. [9][3]

Paper logs are allowed instead of an ELD in a few cases. You qualify if you need a log on no more than 8 days in any 30, drive a truck built before model year 2000, or run driveaway-towaway where the vehicle is the load. [4]

Short-haul drivers carry no log, but the carrier must keep 6 months of time records. If you run for a small carrier, ask where those records are kept. An auditor will want them. [1]

Before harvest runs pick up, walk through your routes with your dispatcher. Mark the 150 air-mile point from your usual sources. Our fall farm freight guide covers the crops and counties. [1][9]