Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Lets Fuel Haulers Drive 16 Hours

Eligible interstate gasoline and diesel haulers may temporarily drive as many as 16 hours in a 24 hour period, substantially more than the normal 11 hour driving limit. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration waiver took effect September 16 and runs through 11:59 p.m. on December 16, 2026, with specific rest, licensing, eligibility and crash reporting conditions.

The comparison requires care because driving time and the overall duty window are not interchangeable. Under the standard framework for property carrying commercial drivers, a driver generally may drive for 11 hours after taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. Driving normally is prohibited beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and a 30 minute break is generally required after eight cumulative driving hours without a qualifying interruption.

What the 16-hour allowance changes

The waiver replaces those hours of service limits for covered fuel transportation with a maximum of 16 driving hours in any 24 hours. That ceiling remains in place even if a driver could otherwise claim another exception, waiver or exemption. By comparison, the standard adverse driving conditions exception can permit up to 13 driving hours within a 16 hour driving window.

Operationally, the policy expands one part of the fuel distribution system: the amount of driving time available to qualifying drivers. Where legal driving time is the constraint, a carrier may gain more flexibility to reach a terminal, deliver a load or return an empty truck to its terminal or the driver’s normal reporting location.

It does not follow that every participating truck can complete proportionally more deliveries. Loading, unloading and waiting at a fuel terminal consume time in a delivery cycle, while receiving hours can restrict when a customer accepts a load. More permitted driving cannot supply a terminal that lacks product or eliminate a queue at a loading rack.

The same boundary applies farther upstream. The waiver does not increase refinery production, pipeline capacity or crude oil supply. FMCSA cited global supply disruptions, anticipated fuel demand increases, acute supply issues and possible effects on fuel availability and costs, but the action does not establish how much additional fuel will move or guarantee lower gasoline or diesel prices.

Longer driving comes with different rest rules

Covered drivers must take at least six consecutive hours in a sleeper berth during each 24 hour period. If the truck has no sleeper berth, the driver must instead receive at least eight consecutive hours off duty. This distinction means a carrier operating both sleeper equipped tractors and day cabs cannot apply one rest schedule across its fleet.

A separate fatigue safeguard applies regardless of the planned schedule. If a driver tells the carrier that immediate rest is needed, the carrier must permit the driver to find a suitable, safe resting location and take at least 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving again.

The transition back to ordinary operations is also controlled. A 10 hour break is required when a driver moving from waiver operations to normal operations has accumulated at least 14 hours in waiver work, or in a combination of waiver and normal work. That condition limits the ability to use the longer allowance and then immediately begin another assignment under ordinary rules.

Eligibility narrows who can use the waiver

The relief does not apply to every fuel carrier or commercial driver. Motor carriers with conditional safety ratings are excluded. Carriers and drivers subject to active out of service orders are ineligible until those orders are formally rescinded.

Participating drivers must hold valid commercial driver’s licenses, possess the endorsements required for the vehicle and cargo, and have no disqualification or loss of driving privileges. They also must carry a physical or digital copy of the waiver. Other requirements including hazardous materials rules, drug and alcohol testing, insurance, vehicle size and weight limits, and applicable state and federal safety regulations remain in force.

For covered interstate operations, states cannot enforce conflicting requirements during the waiver period. States may adopt equivalent relief for intrastate fuel transportation, but the federal action does not automatically change every state’s rules for trips conducted entirely within one state.

Reporting provides an early safety check

A carrier must notify FMCSA within two business days of a federally defined crash involving a driver using the waiver. The required information includes the driver’s duty and driving time before the crash, and carriers must track how many drivers use the relief for possible agency requests. FMCSA also reserves the right to revoke the waiver for an individual carrier, driver or the program as a whole if safety deteriorates.

The policy therefore adds distribution flexibility without removing the regulator’s basic feedback mechanisms. Its practical value will depend on whether driving time not unavailable fuel, terminal congestion or receiving limits is the bottleneck. Unless officials act again, the experiment ends late on December 16 and the normal federal limits resume.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.