Safety & regulation
FMCSA expands temporary fuel-hauler hours waiver to ethanol and limited heating-oil loads
· Source: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
FMCSA amended its nationwide interstate fuel-transport waiver to cover ethanol and denatured ethanol, plus compartmentalized loads in which heating oil is no more than 75% of the shipment. The temporary waiver is already in effect through December 16, but it does not suspend CDL, hazardous-materials, insurance or other safety requirements.
Summary and practical context by RoadHouse Recruiting · Reviewed
The amendment broadens an existing waiver; it is not unlimited relief
FMCSA first made the waiver effective September 16 for interstate gasoline and diesel transportation, then amended it October 15 to include ethanol and denatured ethanol. Heating oil qualifies only when it is part of a compartmentalized load with one or more covered fuels and represents no more than 75% of the total load at the time of loading. The waiver expires at 11:59 p.m. on December 16 unless FMCSA revokes it earlier.
Covered drivers may drive up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period
A participating driver may not exceed 16 driving hours in any 24-hour period, even when another exception, exemption or declaration might also apply. The driver must take at least six consecutive hours in a sleeper berth during each 24-hour period, or eight consecutive off-duty hours when no sleeper berth is available. These limits replace only the specific hours-of-service relief described by the waiver.
Rest requests and the transition back to normal operations have explicit rules
If a driver tells the carrier that immediate rest is needed, the carrier must permit the driver to reach a suitable safe location and take at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. A 10-hour break is also required before returning to normal operations when combined waiver and normal operations total 14 hours or more. The waiver covers an empty return to the carrier terminal or the driver's normal reporting location, subject to the same immediate-rest protection.
Eligibility, documents and crash reporting remain carrier responsibilities
Drivers must have a valid CDL and every required endorsement, carry a physical or digital copy of the waiver, and remain free of an out-of-service order or disqualification. Carriers with a conditional safety rating are ineligible. A carrier must report a qualifying crash involving a driver using the waiver to FMCSA within two business days and must track the number of participating drivers for submission if the agency requests it.
The federal waiver directly covers interstate operations
FMCSA says states may not enforce an inconsistent hours rule against qualifying interstate operations while the waiver is active. States may adopt matching relief for intrastate commerce, but the federal action does not automatically create identical intrastate authority everywhere. Carriers should verify the applicable state rule before treating an in-state delivery as covered.
Other safety and operating rules still apply
RoadHouse perspective: dispatch should record the commodity mix, interstate status, waiver start and stop times, required rest, endorsements and the waiver copy for every covered trip. Drug and alcohol testing, CDL rules, insurance requirements, hazardous-material regulations, vehicle size and weight limits, route restrictions and all requirements not expressly waived remain in force.
Understanding the update
FMCSA's signed amendment is the controlling source. Commercial Carrier Journal, Land Line and Transport Topics independently reported its operational effect. This is a temporary, conditional waiver already in force through December 16—not a permanent hours-of-service rule change, not blanket permission to drive 16 hours on unrelated freight, and not automatic intrastate relief in every state.
What it means for drivers and carriers
Fuel carriers using the waiver should document commodity eligibility and interstate status load by load, brief dispatch and drivers on the special rest rules, carry the waiver, and avoid treating the temporary 16-hour limit as a general hours-of-service exemption.
Questions to consider
- Does this specific load contain a covered fuel in the required configuration?
- Is the movement interstate, or has the state separately adopted matching intrastate relief?
- Can dispatch reconstruct the driver's waiver hours, required rest and commodity mix if FMCSA asks?
Read the original reporting
This page provides an original summary and practical commentary. The linked source contains the full reporting. Older stories reflect information available on their published dates.
Read the source at Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ↗ (opens in a new tab)