Using the 150 Air-Mile Agricultural Commodity Exemption as an Administrator

The 150 air-mile agricultural commodity exemption to the federal HOS regulations allows your drivers to be exempt from keeping a duty status record under certain conditions. The Hours of Service (HOS) mobile app does not have a dedicated mode for applying this exemption. However, your drivers might be able to use one of the following options to apply the exemption to their HOS records. 

Note: Ensure that you have permission from your motor carrier to use one of these options.

Option 1:

• Drivers can drive within the 150 air-mile radius of the source of the agricultural commodity they are transporting without being logged in to the HOS mobile app.
• When the drivers reach the 150 air-mile radius limit, they must log in to the HOS mobile app and start recording their driving time as normal. 
• Vehicles record the driving time within the 150 air-mile radius as unidentified driving time. Drivers should not claim this unidentified driving time in the HOS mobile app. 
• As an administrator, you need to mark the unidentified driving time as exempt and add an annotation stating that the driving time occurred while operating under the 150 air-mile agricultural commodity exemption. To do this:
1. Go to the Unidentified Driving tab of the Hours of Service screen.
2. From the Status drop-down list select "Unidentified" to filter the driving periods that have no driver assigned.
3. Select the check box next to the driving periods that you want to mark as exempt. Make sure that you select only the driving periods that qualify for an exemption.
4. Click Assign (x driving periods selected).
5. From the drop-down box that opens select "Exempt".
   
   
   
6. For the reason, state that the driving time occurred while operating under the 150 air-mile agricultural commodity exemption. Remember that it is your responsibility to ensure that all driving periods marked as exempt were properly identified and qualify for an exemption.
   
   
   
7. Click Exempt Driving Period.

Option 2:

• Drivers log in to the HOS mobile app and record their driving time as normal. 
• Drivers add a comment to the HOS events that were created during the time when they were within the 150 air-mile radius of the source of the agricultural commodity. In the comment, drivers need to state that the driving time occurred while operating under the 150 air-mile agricultural commodity exemption. To do this, drivers can edit the appropriate HOS events.
• The annotation will mean that the FMCSA ignores any violations that might have occurred during the time that the drivers were driving within the 150 air-mile radius of the source of the agricultural commodity.

Option 3:

• If your drivers have permission from their motor carrier, they can use Personal Conveyance mode while they are driving within the 150 air-mile radius of the source of the agricultural commodity.
• When the drivers reach the 150 air-mile radius limit, they must exit Personal Conveyance mode and start recording their driving time as normal.