16-hour short-haul exception

Scope

This exception applies to drivers of property-carrying CMVs who need to drive beyond the normal 14-hour limit before returning to their work-reporting location.

Regulatory citations

• 49 CFR 395.1(o) — Property-carrying driver

Key definitions

• Duty tour: While not defined in the regulations, the term “duty tour” is generally accepted to mean the period from the time the driver begins to work until the time of release from work. It can also be referred to as the driver’s workday.
• Normal work-reporting location: While also not defined in the regulations, the term “normal work-reporting location” is generally accepted to mean the location at which the driver normally goes on duty at the start of the workday.
• Property-carrying commercial motor vehicle: A self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a highway to transport property when the vehicle:
  • Has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or gross combination weight rating (GCWR), or gross vehicle weight (GVW) or gross combination weight (GCW), of 10,001 pounds or more, whichever is greater; or
  • Is transporting hazardous materials of a type or quantity that requires placarding.

Summary of requirements

The so-called “16-hour short-haul” or “big day” exception allows eligible drivers to extend the 14-hour period by up to two hours once per week. Under the exception, drivers must:

• Meet certain conditions. A driver can drive a CMV after the 14th hour after coming on duty, but not after the 16th hour, if the driver:
  • Was released from duty at the normal work-reporting location for the previous five duty tours, and
  • Returns to the normal work-reporting location and is released from duty within 16 hours on the day the exception is used, and
  • Has not used this exception in the previous six consecutive days or since the driver’s last 34-hour restart, if the driver had a restart in the previous six days.

• Comply with the 11-hour driving limit. Drivers claiming this exception must still comply with the 11-hour driving limit, but they essentially have an extra two hours in which to complete that driving.
• Complete a log. Short-haul drivers who normally use the 150-air-mile exception and do not complete a standard grid log will have to complete a log on days when they use the short-haul exception, because they are working beyond the 14-hour limit (see the 150 -air-mile-radius driver topic for more information). Note, however, that drivers of non-CDL CMVs who use the 150-air-mile exception are already eligible for two 16-hour days per week and are NOT also eligible to use the exception described above (i.e., to get three 16-hour days per week).

Note that a 34-hour restart will allow a driver to use this exception more than once every six days, but a restart will not affect the requirement that the driver must have returned to the normal work-reporting location for the previous five duty tours.

A driver who works but does not drive a CMV after the 14-hour limit has not used this exception. Drivers may do non-driving work after the 14-hour limit without need for an exception.