Regulatory Alert FMCSA Grants 90-Day Hours-of-Service Waiver for Gasoline and Diesel Hauls

Thursday, September 17, 2026 – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a 90-day hours-of-service waiver for motor carriers and drivers operating commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce to transport gasoline and diesel fuel. The waiver took effect at 12:00 a.m. on September 16, 2026, and expires at 11:59 p.m. on December 16, 2026.

FMCSA granted the relief to support timely fuel distribution amid global supply-chain disruptions and anticipated increases in late-summer and fall demand, including agricultural harvesting. The agency determined that the limited waiver is in the public interest and, with the conditions below, is likely to achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent the waiver.

Why this matters to energy marketers

Reliable inbound gasoline and diesel deliveries are essential to retail, wholesale, and commercial fuel operations. The waiver gives eligible carriers additional operating flexibility when demand rises, provided they satisfy the waiver's safety, documentation, and reporting requirements. The waiver is relevant both to marketers that operate their own delivery fleets, which are motor carriers in their own right, and to marketers that rely on third-party carriers.

Key operating terms

• Drivers may drive no more than 16 hours in any 24-hour period. That cap applies even if another HOS exception, waiver, or exemption is also in use.
• In each 24-hour period, the driver must take either a minimum six-consecutive-hour break in the sleeper berth or, if there is no sleeper berth, a minimum eight-consecutive-hour off-duty break.
• If a driver says immediate rest is needed, the carrier must allow the driver to stop at a safe location and take at least 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving again.
• The waiver also applies while the driver returns empty to the carrier's terminal or the driver's normal work-reporting location. The 10-hour rest-on-request requirement described above applies during the return trip as well.
• When a driver moves from waiver operations back to normal HOS, a 10-hour break is required if total on-duty time under the waiver—or combined waiver and normal operations—equals or exceeds 14 hours.
• Drivers must carry a physical or digital copy of the waiver and present it to law enforcement on request.
• All other FMCSRs remain in effect, including records-of-duty-status and electronic-logging requirements, CDL requirements, drug and alcohol testing, insurance, hazardous materials, and size-and-weight rules.

Who may use the waiver

Eligible operations are limited to gasoline and diesel transportation. The waiver does not extend to other products that many marketers deliver, such as heating oil, kerosene, propane, or jet fuel. Drivers must hold a valid CDL with required endorsements and must not be subject to an out-of-service order, disqualification, or loss of driving privileges. Motor carriers with a conditional safety rating are excluded. Any carrier or driver under an active out-of-service order is also excluded until the order is rescinded in writing.

Oversight and reporting

Carriers must notify FMCSA by email to MCPSD@DOT.GOV within two business days of any crash, as defined in 49 CFR 390.5T, involving a driver operating under the waiver. The notice must include the crash location; driver and vehicle identifiers; injuries and fatalities; the police-reported cause of the crash, if available; citations; the driver's total on-duty time during the seven consecutive days preceding the crash; and the total on-duty and driving time during the work shift preceding the crash. Carriers must also collect and provide to FMCSA on request the total number of drivers who operated under the waiver. Carriers should begin tracking waiver use now so they can respond promptly to any such request. FMCSA may revoke the waiver in whole or as to a specific carrier or driver if safety declines.

State preemption

While the waiver is in effect, states may not enforce interstate rules that conflict with it for drivers and carriers operating under the waiver. States may adopt matching relief for intrastate operations. The federal waiver does not itself cover intrastate deliveries. Unless a state adopts matching relief, intrastate operations remain subject to that state's hours-of-service rules.

Energy marketers should confirm that their carriers understand and satisfy the eligibility and operating conditions before using the waiver. Marketers that operate their own fleets should apply the same review to their own drivers and operations. Each participating driver must carry a physical or digital copy of the waiver, and carriers should retain a copy with their compliance materials.

Marketers should also keep in mind that the waiver permits additional hours but does not require them. Federal rules prohibit motor carriers, shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries from coercing drivers to operate in violation of the FMCSRs (49 CFR 390.6), including pressuring a driver who has requested rest to keep driving. Compliance with the waiver also will not, by itself, shield a company from liability if a fatigued driver is involved in a crash. Marketers should consider adopting a written policy that driver rest requests will be honored without penalty.

To read FMCSA’s Grant of Waiver, click here.

This alert is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.