CDL Short-Haul Exception: 150 Air-Mile & 14-Hour Guide

The federal short-haul exception can replace a standard driver log with carrier time records—but only on a day when every condition is satisfied. It does not erase driving limits, turn local work into off-duty time or create a permanent “local driver” exemption.

This guide explains the federal baseline in 49 CFR 395.1(e). Use it with the ProntoCDL hours-of-service basics, 34-hour restart and recap guide and yard move versus personal conveyance guide. State rules, intrastate operations, carrier policy and the facts of a particular trip may require a separate review.

The short-haul exception in one table

The same paragraph covers both property- and passenger-carrying drivers, but their underlying driving limits and required off-duty periods differ. A CDL driver should never borrow the property-carrier numbers for a passenger operation or assume that “short haul” means the whole of Part 395 disappears.

What 150 air miles actually means

The regulation equates 150 air miles to 172.6 statute miles. Measure the radius in a straight line from the driver’s normal work reporting location—not along the roads traveled. A route may wind through many more road miles and remain inside the circle; a shorter highway route can leave the circle if its destination crosses the boundary.

The center is the normal work reporting location. It does not automatically move to each warehouse, customer, fuel stop or temporary parking location. Before dispatch, the carrier should know which reporting location applies and use a consistent mapping method to test every stop and road segment against the radius.

Short haul is a recordkeeping exception, not unlimited hours

A qualifying driver is exempt from the standard RODS requirements in 49 CFR 395.8 and 395.11 for that day. The carrier keeps a simpler time record instead. The driver still accumulates on-duty and driving time, and those hours still matter when calculating daily and 60/70-hour limits.

For a property-carrying driver, 49 CFR 395.3 still limits driving to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off and prohibits driving after the 14th consecutive hour. The driver must also remain within the applicable 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day limit. The exception changes how the day is documented; it does not authorize another minute of driving.

Which records replace the daily log?

The motor carrier must maintain accurate and true time records showing:

• the time the driver reports for duty each day;
• the total number of on-duty hours for that day;
• the time the driver is released from duty; and
• for a driver used for the first time or intermittently, the total on-duty time during the immediately preceding seven days.

The carrier must retain these records for six months. A payroll punch, dispatch system or electronic timecard may do the job only when it reliably captures every required field and produces a truthful record. A route label such as “local” or a start-and-finish mileage total is not enough by itself.

Qualification is decided one duty day at a time

A driver can qualify Monday, fail Tuesday and qualify again Wednesday. Use a pre-dispatch check rather than a job-title assumption:

1. Confirm the reporting location. Identify the actual place where the driver begins and ends the duty tour.
2. Map the full planned route. Include pickups, deliveries, fueling, maintenance and foreseeable detours.
3. Check the 14-hour return-and-release requirement. Waiting, inspection, loading and other work can consume the window even when the truck barely moves.
4. Verify the required prior rest. Property and passenger operations use different rest periods.
5. Check driving and cycle availability. Short-haul time still counts toward the applicable limits.
6. Choose the correct record method before departure. Have a RODS plan ready if the route or duty period changes.

Common scenarios

What happens when the day stops qualifying?

Crossing the radius, missing the return-to-reporting-location condition or remaining on duty beyond 14 consecutive hours means the short-haul exception does not cover that day. The record must tell the complete story. Do not begin a paper grid only at the boundary and leave earlier work invisible; reconstruct the full 24-hour RODS with the correct off-duty, driving and on-duty-not-driving periods.

49 CFR 395.8 permits manual RODS when a driver needs a standard log on no more than eight days in any 30-day period. A fleet should monitor that rolling total before a ninth nonqualifying day creates an ELD requirement. “Eight times this month” is not an adequate check because the federal test is a moving 30-day window, not necessarily a calendar month.

The 30-minute break on a failed short-haul day

Property-carrying drivers who actually qualify for either short-haul exception are excluded from the 30-minute interruption rule in 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii). If the driver knows before or early in the day that the trip will not qualify, the normal break rule applies.

An unforeseen delay can create a harder situation. FMCSA guidance says a driver who first becomes aware after eight driving hours that the short-haul limits cannot be met is not automatically in violation for lacking an earlier break. The driver should annotate the RODS with the reason and take the break at the earliest safe opportunity. This guidance does not extend the 11-hour driving limit or the 14-hour window.

Short-haul records, ELDs and carrier systems

A carrier may keep short-haul time records electronically even when an ELD is not required. Some fleets keep all drivers logged into an ELD for consistency. Others use a timekeeping system for qualifying days and issue paper logs for occasional nonqualifying trips. Any method must preserve one accurate HOS story.

A strong system should:

• identify the normal reporting location assigned to each driver;
• flag a planned stop outside the 150-air-mile radius;
• warn dispatch before the 14-hour return-and-release deadline;
• carry all on-duty hours into the rolling 60/70-hour calculation;
• count RODS days across a rolling 30-day period; and
• retain time records, RODS and supporting documents for the required period.

If an ELD fails rather than the trip losing short-haul eligibility, use the separate steps in the ProntoCDL ELD malfunction guide.

Short haul versus other HOS provisions

Do not combine unrelated exceptions by name alone. The adverse-driving-conditions exception addresses certain unforeseen road or weather delays; the short-haul exception addresses recordkeeping when daily radius, return and rest conditions are met. Personal conveyance is off-duty personal movement, while short-haul driving is still on-duty commercial work. Each rule has its own eligibility test.

Practical takeaways

• Measure 150 air miles as a straight-line radius—172.6 statute miles—from the normal work reporting location.
• Plan to return and be released at that location within 14 consecutive hours.
• Track every on-duty hour because short-haul work still counts toward daily and 60/70-hour limits.
• Keep the four required time-record fields and retain them for six months.
• Recheck eligibility every duty day; “local driver” is not a permanent federal status.
• When the exception fails, create a complete RODS for the day and watch the eight-days-in-30 ELD threshold.
• Annotate an unforeseen failed day accurately and never let recordkeeping confusion become unsafe driving.

CDL short-haul exception FAQ

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