What is the agricultural exemption for hours of service?

Under 49 CFR 395.1(k), during state-designated planting and harvesting periods, Part 395 does not apply to drivers hauling agricultural commodities within 150 air-miles of the source, farm supplies within 150 air-miles of the distribution point, or livestock within 150 air-miles of the final destination.

Does the ag exemption mean no ELD?

Inside the radius during the season, no record of duty status is required. On an ELD you annotate the record to explain the exemption, as 49 CFR 395.28(c) requires.

What happens after 150 air-miles?

Part 395 applies. Under FMCSA’s 2018 guidance the driver records hours from that point, and the rules continue for the rest of the trip until the driver is back within 150 air-miles of the original source.

Who sets the planting and harvesting season?

Each state, under 49 CFR 395.1(k). Check the designation for every state on the trip with the state or FMCSA’s published table.

Do livestock haulers need a 30-minute break?

Not while the livestock are on the vehicle, under 49 CFR 395.1(v). The other limits apply outside the 150 air-mile radius of the final destination.

What is a covered farm vehicle?

A farm-plated straight truck or articulated vehicle operated by a farm or ranch owner, employee or family member, hauling farm goods, not for hire. Under 390.39 and 395.1(s) it is exempt from hours of service and several other rules, with a 150 air-mile limit across state lines above 26,001 pounds.

Are frozen vegetables an agricultural commodity?

No. Non-processed food under 49 CFR 395.2 excludes products significantly changed to extend shelf life, such as by canning, jarring, freezing or drying.

Where is the source for the 150 air-miles?

Under FMCSA’s 2018 guidance, the point where the commodity is loaded onto an empty truck, which can be an intermediate site like an elevator or sales barn if the product keeps its original form. With several pickups, the first one counts.

Agricultural Exemption From Hours of Service: 150 Air-Miles and…

By Vadym Starynets, editor and publisher · Checked against the eCFR text as of September 18, 2026 · How we work

During the planting and harvesting periods each state sets, 49 CFR 395.1(k) takes drivers hauling agricultural commodities, farm supplies or livestock completely out of the federal hours-of-service rules while they are within 150 air-miles of the source (or, for livestock, of the final destination). No 11 or 14-hour limit, no logs, no ELD. Beyond 150 air-miles, Part 395 applies in full for the rest of the trip.

The rule

Section 395.1(k): "The provisions of this part shall not apply during planting and harvesting periods, as determined by each State, to drivers transporting":

agricultural commodities from the source to a location within a 150 air-mile radius from the source;
farm supplies for agricultural purposes from a wholesale or retail distribution point to a farm or other location where they will be used, within 150 air-miles of the distribution point;
farm supplies for agricultural purposes from a wholesale distribution point to a retail distribution point, within 150 air-miles of the wholesale point; or
livestock "within a 150 air-mile radius from the final destination of the livestock."

"The provisions of this part" means all of Part 395: the driving and duty limits in 395.3, the 60/70-hour limit, the 30-minute break, the record of duty status in 395.8 and the ELD rules in subpart B.

What counts as an agricultural commodity

The definitions are in 395.2, clarified by an interim final rule effective December 9, 2020 (85 FR 74909):

Agricultural commodity: "any agricultural commodity, non-processed food, feed, fiber, or livestock."
"Any agricultural commodity": horticultural products at risk of perishing or degrading in quality during transport, "including plants, sod, flowers, shrubs, ornamentals, seedlings, live trees, and Christmas trees."
Non-processed food: food in a raw or natural state, not significantly changed after harvest to extend shelf life "such as canning, jarring, freezing, or drying." It includes fresh fruits and vegetables and cereal and oilseed crops that have been only minimally processed by "cleaning, cooling, trimming, cutting, chopping, shucking, bagging, or packaging" for transport.
Livestock: livestock as defined in the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act (7 U.S.C. 1471), "insects, and all other living animals cultivated, grown, or raised for commercial purposes, including aquatic animals."
Farm supplies for agricultural purposes: "products directly related to the growing or harvesting of agricultural commodities during the planting and harvesting seasons within each State, as determined by the State, and livestock feed at any time of the year."

So bagged salad greens can qualify (cut, bagged), frozen vegetables do not (frozen), and grain moved from a field to an elevator qualifies. Livestock feed counts as a farm supply all year.

Planting and harvesting periods: set by each state

The exception only runs during the periods "determined by each State," so the dates can differ from one state to the next. FMCSA publishes a table of each state’s designation, but it is on FMCSA’s own website, which could not be read from our system, so we do not reproduce it. Before relying on the exception, check your state’s designation with the state agriculture or transportation department, or FMCSA’s table, for each state the trip touches.

Where the 150 air-miles are measured from

For commodities, the radius is drawn around the source. For farm supplies, around the distribution point. For livestock, around the final destination, so a livestock hauler is exempt on the last 150 air-miles of the trip, and Part 395 applies before that. All are air-miles (straight line), not road miles.

FMCSA’s 2018 guidance on the commodity radius

FMCSA published four guidance answers on June 7, 2018 (83 FR 26374). Their substance:

Empty trips (Question 34). The exception applies while driving unloaded within 150 air-miles of the place where a commodity will be loaded, and on the part of an unloaded return trip within 150 air-miles of where it was loaded, "provided that the trip does not involve transporting any non-agricultural cargo and the sole purpose of the trip is to make a pick-up or delivery of agricultural commodities."
Going past 150 (Question 35). The exception covers "the initial 150 air-miles from the source of the commodity, regardless of the distance to the final destination. Once a driver operates beyond the 150 air-mile radius of the source, 49 CFR part 395 applies." The driver is then subject to the limits and "must record those hours," and once Part 395 starts to apply on a trip, it continues for the rest of that trip "until the driver crosses back into the area within 150 air-miles of the original source."
What a source is (Question 36). "The point at which an agricultural commodity is loaded onto an unladen commercial motor vehicle." It can be an intermediate storage or handling site, if the commodity keeps its original form and is not significantly processed. The guidance’s examples: a sales barn where cattle are loaded, a place where heads of lettuce are stored, and a grain elevator where grain is collected and dried, as long as the grain is not milled. After all products are unloaded, a new trip can have a new source.
Several pickups (Question 37). "The first place where the commodity was loaded is the measuring point for the 150 air-mile radius."

The 2018 notice states that the guidance "expires June 7, 2023," after which FMCSA would decide whether to withdraw it, reissue it, or put it in the regulations. We found no later Federal Register notice doing either. Treat these answers as FMCSA’s stated reading of 395.1(k), and check FMCSA’s guidance portal for current status.

Livestock and bees: the break rule outside the radius

Outside the 150 air-miles, livestock and bee haulers still get one relief. 395.1(v): the 30-minute break in 395.3(a)(3)(ii) does not apply to a driver transporting livestock in interstate commerce "while the livestock are on the vehicle." 395.1(u) says the same for commercial bees while the bees are on the vehicle. The 11 and 14-hour limits and the logs apply as normal.

Covered farm vehicles: a separate exemption

Farmers’ own trucks have a broader exemption. 395.1(s): Part 395 does not apply to drivers of "covered farm vehicles," defined in 390.5 as a straight truck or articulated vehicle that is:

registered in a state with a farm plate or other designation that identifies it as a farm vehicle;
operated by the owner or operator of a farm or ranch, or an employee or family member;
used to transport agricultural commodities, livestock, machinery or supplies to or from a farm or ranch; and
not used in for-hire operations (a tenant hauling the landlord’s share of crops under a crop share lease is not for-hire).

A covered farm vehicle of 26,001 pounds or less may use the exemptions anywhere in the US. Above 26,001 pounds, only in the state of registration, or across state lines within 150 air-miles of the farm or ranch. Under 390.39(a) the exemptions cover CDL requirements (Part 383), drug and alcohol testing (Part 382), physical qualification (Part 391 subpart E), hours of service (Part 395) and inspection and maintenance (Part 396). 390.39(c) says these are in addition to the other agricultural exceptions, including 395.1(k), and can be combined as long as each one is fully met.

Recording it

Inside the radius during the season, no record of duty status is required. On an ELD, the driver still has to explain the gap: 395.28(c) requires a driver operating under any exception in 395.1 that is not personal use or a yard move to "annotate the driver’s ELD record to explain the applicable exemption." 395.28(b) also lets a carrier configure an ELD to show a driver as exempt from ELD use altogether.

When the driver goes past the radius and Part 395 starts to apply, the hours count from that point under FMCSA’s guidance, and the driver must record them. If the driver needs a record of duty status on not more than 8 days in any 30-day period, 395.8(a)(1)(ii)(A)(1) allows paper logs instead of an ELD; see paper logbook rules.

Before claiming the exemption: five checks

Season. Is today inside the planting or harvesting period the state has designated?
Cargo. Is the load an agricultural commodity, farm supplies for agricultural purposes, or livestock as 395.2 defines them, with nothing processed and no non-agricultural cargo mixed in?
Radius. Is the truck within 150 air-miles of the right point: the source, the distribution point, or for livestock the final destination?
Direction of the trip. For commodities, is the trip from the source? An empty leg qualifies only when its sole purpose is an agricultural pickup or delivery, under the 2018 guidance.
Record. Is the ELD record annotated, and is there a plan for recording hours from the point the truck leaves the radius?

Worked examples

Example 1, applying 395.1(k)(1) and the 2018 guidance. Suppose a state designates July to November as its harvest period. A driver loads corn at a field in October and hauls it to an elevator 90 air-miles away, then returns empty to the field. The whole day is within 150 air-miles of the source, the load is a non-processed food, the empty return is for the sole purpose of the next pickup. Part 395 does not apply; no hours limit and no log. The ELD record is annotated with the exemption.

Example 2, going past 150. Same driver takes a load to a mill 230 air-miles from the field. The first 150 air-miles are exempt. From the point the truck crosses the 150 air-mile line, Part 395 applies for the rest of that trip and the driver records the hours from there, until back within 150 air-miles of the original source.

Example 3, livestock. A cattle hauler loads at a sales barn 400 air-miles from a feedlot. Part 395 applies for the first 250 air-miles, but with no 30-minute break while the cattle are on board (395.1(v)). Once within 150 air-miles of the feedlot, the exemption in 395.1(k)(4) applies.

Example 4, out of season. The same corn haul in a month the state has not designated. 395.1(k) does not apply at all, and the normal rules, including any short-haul exception the driver qualifies for, govern.

Common mistakes

Assuming it is always harvest season. The exception runs only in the state’s designated periods.
Measuring livestock from the pickup. For livestock, the radius is around the final destination.
Carrying processed products. Frozen, canned, dried or milled products are not non-processed food.
Mixed loads. Under the 2018 guidance, the empty-trip reading does not apply if the trip carries non-agricultural cargo.
No ELD annotation. 395.28(c) requires one.
Confusing 395.1(k) with covered farm vehicles. One is about the load and the season, the other about who owns and drives the truck.

The limits that apply outside the exemption are on the hours of service rules page, and the HOS calculator tracks them from the moment you leave the radius. For local operations out of season, see the short-haul exemption.

The agricultural exemption from hours of service