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Plowing Through the Regulations: A Farmer’s Guide to Iowa Transportation
We appreciate our Iowa farmers and want to make sure you can navigate the laws, regulations, and exemptions that pertain to farm transportation. Use our Farm Guide to help you get started.
- Covered Farm Vehicles
Learn about the registration and operational guidelines for covered farm vehicles in Iowa. - Permits
Learn about permit requirements for Iowa farmers transporting overweight or oversize loads and exemptions for certain farm equipment, such as tractors and grain wagons. Get details on permits for specific types of farm vehicles, like livestock transports or implements of husbandry. - Driver's Licensing Requirements
Get detailed guidance on driver’s licensing requirements for operating farm vehicles in Iowa. - Farm Vehicle Registration
Learn about registration, licensing, and operational requirements for farm vehicles and equipment. Get detailed information on the rules, exemptions, and procedures for registering and operating farm-related vehicles, as well as specific tolerances and restrictions on vehicle weights. - Anhydrous Ammonia Nurse Tanks
Learn about the Iowa and federal regulations for the safe operation, identification, and maintenance of anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks. Get detailed requirements for compliance to ensure safety and proper identification of these tanks during transport and use.
Frequently Asked Questions
List items for Farmer Safety FAQs
If you are an intrastate, private motor carrier operating in Iowa and have already obtained a USDOT number, you do not need to cancel the number. It will not trigger any new or different safety or operating requirements, and will remain available to you in the future. You are not, however, required to display the number on any vehicles at this time.
Interstate commercial motor carriers or intrastate, for-hire motor carrier, must have and display a USDOT number.
A farmer performs an intrastate movement if the product he or she is transporting never leaves the state of Iowa until it is processed as a final product.
The U.S. DOT has determined that a farmer performs interstate movement if the product he or she is transporting will continue in interstate commerce. For example, a farmer’s movement of grain from farm to elevator, where it is known (or assumed to be known) that the grain will continue in interstate commerce, constitutes the first leg of an interstate movement. How or when the farmer is paid for his or her product, or when he or she has any connection with the shipment after he or she drops it off at an elevator, is irrelevant in the court’s eyes for purposes of defining movement of commodities in interstate commerce.
A farmer is any person who operates a farm or is directly involved in the cultivation of land, crops or livestock that are owned by that person or under direct control of that person. (CFR Title 49 part §390.5)
A farm vehicle driver is a person who drives only a commercial motor vehicle that is controlled and operated by a farmer as a private motor carrier of property; and is being used to transport either agricultural products, farm machinery or farm supplies to or from a farm; and is not be using in the operation of a for-hire motor carrier; and is not carrying hazardous materials of a type and quantity that requires the commercial motor carrier to be placarded; and is being used within 150 air-miles of the farmer's farm.
A commercial motor vehicle is any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate or intrastate commerce to transportation passenger or property when the vehicle:
- Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more; or
- Is designed or used to transport 16 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
- Is used in transportation hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding.
Agricultural operation means the operation of a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting agricultural commodities or farm supplies for agricultural purposes.
Agricultural commodities mean any agricultural commodity, nonprocessed food, feed, fiber or livestock, including insects.
Farm supplies for agricultural purposes means products directly related to the growing or harvesting of agricultural commodities and livestock feed at any time of the year.
Livestock means cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), fish used for food, and other animals designated by the Secretary of the U.S Department of Transportation (at his or her sole discretion) that are part of a foundation herd (including producing dairy cattle) or offspring.
Yes.
No. The farm exemption only covers operators of farm vehicles that are controlled and operated by "farmers" as defined in §390.5.
Yes, a sod farmer is eligible for the farmer waiver.
Yes.
Full question: May a farmer who meets all of the conditions for a farm waiver be waived from CDL requirements when transporting another farmer’s products absent any written contract?
Answer: If a farmer is transporting another farmer's products and being paid for doing so, he or she is acting as a contract carrier and does not meet the conditions for a farm waiver. The existence of a contract, written or verbal, is not relevant to the CDL waiver provisions.
Full question: Are commercial motor vehicle drivers employed by a partnership, corporation or an association engaged in farming exempt from the CDL requirements under the farmer waiver (49 CFR 383.3(d)) or is the waiver only available to drivers employed by a family owned farm?
Answer: The purpose of the farmer exemption was to give relief to family farms (53 FR 37313, Sept. 26, 1988). The conditions for the waiver were established to ensure that the waiver focused on this type of farm operation. However, ‘‘farmer’’ is defined in §390.5 as ‘‘any person who operates a farm or is directly involved in the cultivation of land, crops, or livestock which (a) [a]re owned by that person; or (b) [a]re under the direct control of that person.’’ Since farming partnerships, corporations and associations are legal ‘‘persons,’’ Iowa exempts drivers working for these organizations from the CDL requirements, provided they can meet the strict limits imposed by the waiver conditions.
See the Quick Reference below in the question about farm wagons.
See the Quick Reference below in the question about farm wagons.
If the gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of a farm wagon and a truck or truck-tractor used in interstate commerce is greater than 10,000 pounds, the combination vehicle meets the definition of a commercial motor vehicle and is subject to the FMCSR, including annual inspection requirements.
If the gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of a farm wagon and a truck or truck-tractor used in intrastate commerce is greater than 26,000 pounds, the combination vehicle meets the definition of a commercial motor vehicle and is subject to the FMCSR, including annual inspection requirements.
Quick reference for determining whether farmers, drivers or agricultural operations are exempt from federal motor carrier safety regulations Title 49 CFR Parts 382-397
Part 382 - Drug and alcohol testing programs
Drivers are subject to drug and alcohol testing if they operate a CDL class motor vehicle beyond 150 miles from the farm or ranch including:
- Pre-employment, post accident, reasonable suspicion, and random alcohol and controlled substance testing.
- Documentation of supervisor’s two-hour training for reasonable suspicion.
- Documentation of driver’s receipt of training materials.
Part 383 - Commercial drivers license (CDL)
Drivers are subject to a CDL beyond 150 miles from the farm or ranch, when operating a CDL class motor vehicle within Iowa; or at any point beyond the state line.
Part 390 - General applicability and definitions
Private intrastate agriculture operations must comply with 390 but are exempt from USDOT numbers and marking requirements.
Private interstate agriculture operation must comply with all sections of Part 390 including USDOT number and marking requirements.
For hire agriculture operations both in intrastate and interstate commerce must comply all sections of Part 390 including USDOT number and marking requirements.
Part 391- Qualification of drivers
Rules adopted under this section concerning driver qualifications do not apply to trucks moving implements of husbandry, and special trucks operating intrastate.
Physical and medical qualifications for a driver shall not apply to a farmer or a farmer's hired help when operating a vehicle owned by the farmer while it is being used in connection with the intrastate transportation of agricultural commodities or feed.
Driver age qualifications do not apply to drivers for private and for-hire motor carriers that operate solely intrastate except when the vehicle being driven is transporting a hazardous material in a quantity which requires placarding. The minimum age for the exempted intrastate operations is 18.
Interstate drivers operating straight trucks within 150 air-miles of the farm are exempt, beyond 150 air-miles no exceptions.
Drivers operating truck tractors combo vehicles beyond state lines must be physically qualified and carry a medical examiner’s certificate.
Interstate drivers operating motor vehicles beyond 150 air-miles of the farm shall maintain driver files that include:
- Driver application for employment
- Motor vehicle record (MVR)
- Inquiry to previous employers
- Copy of medical examiners certificate
- Drivers road test documentation
- Annual driver’s certification of violations and annual review of driving record
- Driver data sheet, new employee or intermittent driver
- Entry level driver training certification
Part 392 - Operating commercial motor vehicles
There are no exemptions to part 392.
Part 393 - Parts and accessories necessary for safe operation
There are no exemptions to part 393.
Part 395 - Hours of service (HOS)
Rules adopted under this section shall not apply to a driver operating intrastate for a farm operation as defined in section 352.2, or for an agricultural interest when the commercial vehicle is operated between the farm as defined in section 352.2 and another farm, between the farm and a market for farm products, or between the farm and an agribusiness location
Interstate agriculture operations are exempt from HOS within 100 air-miles of the farm. Beyond 100 air miles of the farm or ranch a log book is required.
Part 396 - Inspection repair and maintenance
All drivers and motor vehicles must comply with lubrication; unsafe operation forbidden; inspection of vehicles in operation; driver vehicle inspection reports; periodic inspection; and inspector qualifications.
Part 397 - Hazardous materials (HM) driving and parking rules
Before transporting hazardous materials in any quantity, see Part 173.5 intrastate agriculture exceptions and requirements.
Full question: Do I need a drivers license to operate my farm tractor or other self-propelled implements of husbandry on a public highway.
Answer: Drivers with a suspended or revoked driving privilege may not operate implements of husbandry on a public highway. A license is required if the implement is not operated farm site to farm site or travels more than 2 miles from the farm.
Exemptions for Covered Farm Vehicles
On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law a two-year federal-aid highway reauthorization bill, Moving Ahead for the Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, Pub. L. No. 112-141). This Act, which became effective Oct. 1, 2012, includes provisions that exempt commercial motor vehicles operating as "covered farm vehicles" from certain Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).
Previously, federal law only exempted farmers and farm helpers from the requirement to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) while operating within a 150 air-mile radius of the home farm. The MAP-21 exemptions broaden this exemption by expanding the geographic area in which covered farm vehicles may be operated and parts of the FMCSRs that covered farm vehicles and their operators are exempted from. The exemptions are described below.
List items for Covered Farm Vehicle Exemptions
For purposes relevant to farm operations, a CMV is any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway to transport goods that meets the following criteria.
- In interstate (between states) commerce, a CMV is a single vehicle that has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or gross vehicle weight (GVW) of more than 10,000 pounds; or a combination vehicle that has a combined weight rating (CWR) or gross combined weight (GCW) of more than 10,000 pounds.
- In intrastate (only within Iowa) commerce, a CMV is single vehicle that has a GVWR or GVW of more than 10,000 pounds; or a combination vehicle that has a CWR or GCW of more than 26,000 pounds; or a combination vehicle with a power unit that has a GVWR or GVW of more than 10,000 pounds, regardless of the weight rating or gross weight of the trailer weight.
A CMV is also a vehicle of any size, whether operated interstate or intrastate, that transports hazardous materials in an amount that requires placarding.
The federal law defines covered farm vehicles as vehicles that:
- Are operated by a farm/ranch owner or operator, or an employee or a family member of the farmer or rancher.
- Transport agricultural commodities, livestock or machinery or supplies to and from a farm or ranch.
- Are NOT operated for-hire.
- Are NOT transporting hazardous materials in quantities requiring placarding.
Where a vehicle can be operated and remain within the definition of a covered farm vehicle (and therefore within the exemptions) depends upon the weight of the vehicle. (Weight means a single vehicle's GVWR or GVW; or a combination vehicle's CVW or GCW, whichever is greater). A vehicle that weighs:
- 26,000 pounds or less can be operated anywhere in Iowa and in any other state under the exemptions.
- More than 26,000 pounds can be operated anywhere in Iowa and across state lines, when operated within 150 air miles of the farm/ranch's operation.
Yes. To be considered a covered farm vehicle, MAP-21 requires that the vehicle be equipped with a special license plate or other designation by the state of registration that will allow law enforcement personnel to identify the vehicle as a covered farm vehicle. Pending release of the final FMCSA rules, Iowa farm operators have two options for identifying their vehicles as covered farm vehicles.
- Vehicles registered as a special farm truck and display either a special farm plate or the "F" sticker on the vehicle plate will be recognized as meeting the MAP-21 marking requirements.
- Vehicle owners that do not have a special farm plate or "F" sticker can complete a "Designation as Iowa Covered Farm Vehicle" form online or at any Iowa county treasurer's office. There is no fee required. The completed form must be carried in the power unit of the covered farm vehicle during all operation under the exemptions and must be available for inspection by law enforcement personnel.
These options have been approved by the FMCSA and have been communicated to all states bordering Iowa.
Under MAP-21, drivers may utilize the following exemptions when operating a CMV within the scope of the covered farm vehicle exemptions.
- No CDL is required (exemption from 49 CFR § 383).
- No enrollment and testing in a company-based controlled substance and alcohol testing program are required (exemption from 49 CFR § 382).
- No physical examination and Medical Examiner's Certificate are needed (exemption from 49 CFR § 391, subpart E).
- Hours of service regulations do not apply (exemption from 49 CFR § 395).
Covered farm vehicles and their operators are not subject to the inspection, repair and maintenance provisions of 49 CFR § 396, but must comply with other FMCSA safety regulations, including the general provisions of 49 CFR § 390, remaining driver qualification provisions of 49 CFR § 391, driving provisions of 49 CFR § 392, and provisions regarding parts and accessories necessary for safe operation under 49 CFR § 393.
Covered farm vehicles remain subject to inspection by motor vehicle enforcement officers and other law enforcement personnel under these regulations and under state motor vehicle laws.
All vehicle weight, width, height and length regulations, not otherwise temporarily exempted by a valid Iowa emergency proclamation, remain in effect. All vehicles, including farm vehicles, must abide by posted weight and load limits on roads and bridges in Iowa.
The MAP-21 exemptions do not waive or affect the travel authority, registration, fuel tax or vehicle marking (USDOT number) requirements for CMVs that are operated interstate. For information regarding these requirements, please see the 2012 Iowa Truck Information Guide at pages 30 (International Registration Plan), 38 (Fuel taxes and permits), 40 (Unified Carrier Registration System), and 46 (Interstate vehicle markings). An electronic copy of the guide is available.
The operator of a covered farm vehicle is not required to hold a CDL to operate a vehicle within the scope of the covered farm vehicle exemptions. A class C operator’s license is sufficient for operation of a covered farm vehicle, including a truck-tractor/semitrailer combination, within the scope of the covered farm vehicle exemptions.
If you have questions about entering neighboring states, please contact their office for any local laws specific to your situation.
- Kansas: Transportation Division
785-271-3145 - Nebraska: Nebraska State Patrol, Carrier Enforcement Division
402-471-0105 - Minnesota: Minnesota State Patrol
651-405-6171, option 3 - Wisconsin: Motor Carrier Enforcement
608-267-9762 - South Dakota: Motor Carrier Headquarters
605-773-4578 - Illinois: State Patrol Commercial Vehicles Section
217-782-6629 - Missouri: Missouri State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
573-526-6128
Stay Informed: Contact CMVU
Officers with the Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit (CMVU) are available to meet with local farmers in the counties or communities where they live to provide an overview of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Iowa DOT rules applicable to farmers and special exemptions to which they may be eligible. Contact CMVU.