Farm to Farm Transport of Fuel

Harvest season is approaching and FUELIowa members farm customers will be preparing to get their crops out of their fields.  A popular question that comes up each fall pertains to the requirements applicable to farmers hauling their own fuel to facilitate their harvest.  Farm customers often look to FUELIowa members for guidance on the regulations overseeing their operations.

49 CFR 173.5 provides an exception for agricultural operations transporting agricultural products over local roads and between fields of the same farm.  The farmer must be an intrastate private motor carrier and the movement of the agricultural product must conform to the requirements of the state and be specifically authorized by state statute.  Iowa Code Section 321.450(4) authorizes the exceptions available to farmers transporting fuel in Iowa.

Iowa Code Section 321.450(4) exempts a farmer from the rules applicable to this section when transporting agricultural hazardous material between the sites in the farmer’s agricultural operations unless the material is being transported on the interstate highway system.  Practically speaking, farmers hauling gasoline or diesel tanks intrastate, farm to farm, and on local roads are exempt from the hazardous material regulations. 

An instance where a farmer operates outside the parameters of the exemption occurs when a farmer picks up fuel directly from a FUELIowa members' location.  At this point, the farmer is no longer operating “farm to farm.”  In this scenario, a farmer may haul up to 502 gallons but must comply with shipping paper, placarding, and marking requirements.  Farmers would be exempt from hazardous material training and emergency response requirements.  A farmer hauling over 502 gallons between a FUELIowa member location and their farm is required to comply with all hazmat regulations.