Trucking · Trucker Daily Log
150 air mile exemption rules explained
The 150 air-mile exemption in 49 CFR 395.1(e)(1) lets a driver skip the daily log if they stay within 150 air miles (172.6 statute miles) of the work reporting location, return there and are released within 14 consecutive hours, and have 10 consecutive hours off between shifts. The carrier keeps a time record instead of a log.
The four conditions you must meet every day
49 CFR 395.1(e)(1) is the short-haul exception for property-carrying drivers, and it is checked one day at a time. To use it on a given day, all of the following must be true. First, you operate within a 150 air-mile radius of your normal work reporting location. An air mile is a nautical mile measured in a straight line, so 150 air miles equals about 172.6 statute (road) miles as the crow flies, not as the road winds. Second, you return to the work reporting location and are released from work within 14 consecutive hours of coming on duty. Third, you have at least 10 consecutive hours off duty between each 14-hour on-duty period (8 hours for passenger carriers). Fourth, your carrier keeps the time records described below.
The driving limit itself does not change: 49 CFR 395.3 still caps driving at 11 hours within the 14-hour window, and the 60-hour in 7 days or 70-hour in 8 days limits still apply. The exemption only changes what record you keep and whether the 30-minute break applies.
The radius is measured from the normal work reporting location, which is the place you usually start your day. If a carrier assigns you to a different yard for a week, the radius is measured from that yard for those days, and the carrier's time records should say where you reported.
What replaces the log: the carrier's time record
Instead of a daily record of duty status, 395.1(e)(1)(iv) requires the motor carrier to maintain and retain, for 6 months, accurate time records showing three things for each driver: the time the driver reports for duty each day, the time the driver is released from duty each day, and the total number of hours on duty each day. For a driver used for the first time or intermittently, the record must also show the total time on duty for the preceding 7 days.
A time clock punch, a dispatch system, or a written sheet all qualify as long as those fields are captured and the records can be produced on request. The records belong to the carrier, but a driver who is the owner-operator is also the carrier and has to keep them. An inspector who stops a short-haul driver will ask which exception the driver is using and may later request the time records from the carrier.
The time record must be truthful. If you were on duty from 5:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., the record shows 12 hours 45 minutes, not a rounded 12. Falsifying a time record is treated the same as falsifying a log.
The 30-minute break and the short-haul driver
49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii) requires a 30-minute interruption after 8 cumulative hours of driving without one. Drivers who qualify for the 395.1(e)(1) exception on a given day are exempt from that break requirement. This is one of the practical benefits of staying inside the exception.
The moment you leave the exception on a day, the break rule comes back. FMCSA guidance says that as soon as it becomes evident you will exceed the 150 air-mile radius or the 14-hour limit, you must begin recording duty status for that day and, if you have already accumulated 8 hours of driving, take a 30-minute break before driving further.
The break can be off duty, sleeper berth, or on duty not driving, as long as you are not driving for 30 consecutive minutes. For a local driver who is unexpectedly sent across a state line, this usually means a 30-minute stop at the far end before the return trip.
Exception days and the 8-in-30 paper log rule
On any day you break one of the conditions, the exception is lost for that day only. You must complete a full record of duty status for that day, covering all 24 hours from midnight, not just the part after you crossed the radius. The next day, if you are back inside 150 air miles and 14 hours, you are back on time records.
The count that matters for equipment is in 49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)(iii): a driver who must complete a record of duty status on not more than 8 days within any 30-day period may use a paper log or a logging software printout instead of an ELD. The window is rolling, not calendar. Count back 30 days from today; if today would be the 9th exception day inside that window, the ELD requirement applies to the vehicle.
Carriers should track this count per driver. A simple way is to keep exception-day logs in a folder with the dates listed on the cover; a driver on the 7th or 8th day is a signal to dispatch to keep that driver local for the rest of the window. A browser tool like Benchlet Trucker Log that produces the standard grid on a phone makes the occasional exception day a five-minute job rather than a reason to install an ELD in a truck that rarely needs one.
The non-CDL 150 air-mile variant
A separate provision, 49 CFR 395.1(e)(2), covers drivers of property-carrying vehicles that do not require a commercial driver's license. Those drivers may operate within a 150 air-mile radius and return to the work reporting location each day, and they get a longer window: they may not drive after the 14th hour on 5 days of any 7-day period, and not after the 16th hour on 2 days of any 7-day period. The 11-hour driving limit and the 10-hour off-duty requirement still apply, and the same time records are required.
This variant is common for landscaping, construction, delivery, and utility fleets running vehicles between 10,001 and 26,000 pounds gross weight. It does not apply to CDL drivers, who use 395.1(e)(1) and its strict 14-hour limit.
The same exception-day logic applies: break the conditions and you log that day; more than 8 log days in 30 and the ELD rule applies.
What an inspector will ask and how to answer
At a roadside inspection, expect three questions: what hours-of-service exception are you operating under, where is your work reporting location, and how many hours have you been on duty today. Answer with the section number (395.1(e)(1) or (e)(2)), the address of your yard, and your start time. You will not have a log to show, and that is fine; the inspector may call the carrier for the time record.
If you are on an exception day, you must have the current day's log with you and the logs for the previous 7 days on which a log was required. If today is your first exception day in the last week, that is one page. Make sure the header fields, grid, remarks, and totals are complete before you are stopped, not after.
Carriers that get audited are asked for 6 months of time records for each short-haul driver plus every exception-day log. Gaps in either are what generate violations, far more than the occasional long day itself.
Frequently asked questions
How far is 150 air miles in road miles?
About 172.6 statute miles, measured in a straight line from the work reporting location. Because roads are not straight, the actual driving distance you can cover is usually somewhat more than 172 road miles, but the radius itself is a straight-line circle.
Does the 30-minute break rule apply to short-haul drivers?
Not on days when the driver meets all the conditions of 395.1(e)(1). On a day the driver exceeds the radius or the 14 hours, the break rule applies again for that day.
What happens if I go past 150 air miles once?
You lose the exception for that day only and must complete a full record of duty status covering the whole day. If you need a log on 8 or fewer days in any 30-day period, the log can be on paper.
Do I need an ELD if I sometimes run over the radius?
Only if you need a record of duty status on more than 8 days in any 30-day period, under 395.8(a)(1)(iii). Up to 8 days, paper logs or printouts are allowed.
What records does the carrier keep for a short-haul driver?
For 6 months: the time the driver reports for duty, the time released, and total hours on duty each day, plus the preceding 7 days total for a driver used for the first time or intermittently.
