A two-year federal waiver from hours-of-service regulations for truckers delivering anhydrous ammonia fertilizer has been granted to help the agriculture industry.


U.S. Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer and Sam Graves from Missouri announced that they successfully helped to secure a two year federal waiver that will ensure the timely delivery of agricultural supplies to farmers across the country. Luetkemeyer and Graves, who are both farmers, both serve on the House Agriculture Committee.

After working with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Anne Ferro, Luetkemeyer and Graves announced the waiver, which extends the agricultural operations exemption for a motor carrier in the distribution system provided that the motor carrier is delivering anhydrous ammonia, none of the transportation movements exceed a 100 air-mile radius, and the motor carrier has a satisfactory safety rating.

Luetkemeyer and Graves believe that Congress intended for this agriculture activity to be included when the hours-of-service waiver provision of law was created. They sought the waiver after concerns were raised about the interpretation of the FMCSA hour-of-service exemption for agricultural operations, in particular the delivery of anhydrous ammonia during the planting season.