Relaxed Laws on Farm Trucks

Not much fanfare on this but its federal law and exempts farm trucks and drivers from most regulations including annual inspections.
MN State Patrol Website

Here is a copy of what is there. I am not sure if this is good or bad. I see some really bad farm trucks still hauling grains at times.

Relaxed laws for farm vehicles effective August 1


In response to the federal transportation bill known as MAP-21, several Minnesota Statutes relating to the operation of covered farm vehicles go into effect August 1.

Covered farm vehicle (CFV) means a single unit or articulated commercial motor vehicle that:

•Displays a farm license plate or other designation* issued by a state,
•Is operated by a farmer, or a family member or employee of the farmer,
•Transports agricultural commodities, livestock, machinery or supplies to or from a farm,
•Is not used in for-hire carrier operations,
•Does not transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring the vehicle to display placards;
•When the gross vehicle weight (GVW) is 26,001 pounds or less, is operated anywhere in the United States;
•When the GVW is greater than 26,001 pounds, is operated wholly within its state of registry; or when crossing state lines, is operated within 150 miles of the farm
Covered farm vehicles and their drivers are exempt from requirements for:

•Commercial driver license (CDL)
•Medical qualifications (medical cards)
•Hours of service and log books
•Annual inspection and daily vehicle inspection requirements
In addition, covered farm vehicles are only subject to inspection by enforcement personnel if probable cause exists to believe the vehicle or its equipment is unsafe or illegal activity is suspected. Covered farm vehicles are still subject to being stopped, but will be allowed to proceed if there is no probable cause to conduct a complete vehicle inspection.

*Vehicles displaying Minnesota apportioned, truck class, or passenger class license plates, and meeting all other qualifications for a CFV, may complete, print, and carry a CFV self-designation form. The form must be carried in the vehicle and displayed upon demand by enforcement personnel.

For more information, call 651-405-6196, or write to [email protected].

More and more of the junkers are coming out with the rules like they are. Seen ones that the people from Mexico would part out go down the road at a top speed of 30 mph and that"s down hill sometimes. Not a good thing !

Still pretty much like it was before. Still need to have all the working lights, brakes, equipment, etc. Still need DOT#, registration, etc. The complete lack of HOS rules outside the 150 miles radius is different IIRC.

The way I read that, in my pickup, I don't need to have a log book, can run however many hours, and the DOT can't inspect me without probable cause?

dot can inspect you anytime they feel like it, but under these new rules they may let you pass providing the vehicle meets minimum safety regulations instead of picking the vehicle apart until they find or manufacture a violation to write a ticket for

Is this related only to mn statute or nationwide? Nebraska giving sd farmers lots of grief.Paul

We have been operating our Loadstar under a farm license for a year now. In NY you have to stick to the routes designated on the licesne papers. The main thing is to keep the truck road worthy. Ligths, tires, brakes. I make a point of staying withing the speed limits so as to not attract any undue attention. Meet road patrols or pass through speed traps 3-4 times a week and no one has bothered me so far. As long as the truck is in decent looking shape, I don't think they will bother us much.

Iowa does not have farm plates, how would that be handled?

My company owns the truck, my farm owns all the trailers and implements.

Michigan used to have a farm and logging plate or some such that was pretty affordable but I heard a rumor that it was done away with. This state is so hungry for cash it does not surprise me. It makes a lot of sense to pile costs onto farmers who are already getting hammered so they use less trucks. Heck of a lot safer to haul loaded gravity wagons behind a smaller tractor at 10 MPH to the elevator, I guess...right? That's what I drove behind yesterday for most of 15 minutes. Couldn't pass him with a 50' grain auger hitched to my bumper.

I'm a firm believer in annual inspections on all farm trucks that are run on the road. In western Kansas I saw a 60's something Chevy tandem loaded with wheat plow into the back of another truck that had slowed down for our wide loads as we met these two trucks on a highway. The back truck driver was waving out the window to the front truck because he didn't have any brakes. It happened right beside me. Made a big WHUMP sound and then the two trucks were past me. The two trucks started coming at me at impact but got straightened out at the last moment. Wheat flew out of the box of the back truck and over the cab. I looked in the mirror and saw two trucks locked together with smoke and steam and wheat spreading out over the road. I know what getting the sh!! scared out you feels like because I had to go pretty bad after that one.

Last fall a neighbor called me over to replace a rusted brake line on his 70's something C70 tandem grain truck. It had a double hydra vac setup and when I bled the brakes the hydra vac for the tag wouldn't bleed. No fluid came out. I'm no expert by any means when it comes to hydra vacs but I know fluid should come out when I crack the line. He didn't act concerned about it. I WAS concerned and told him my Kansas story but he didn't want to interrupt harvest to get it fixed. I did all I could do and left. Jim

Did you miss the line re being subject to inspection only for probable cause? JD Seller posted the exact copy.

It doesn't take much to have a probable cause: a suspected light burnt out, not seeing a shoulder belt, etc. A local drug dealer was recently stopped, searched and convicted of drug possession. He was pulled over on probable cause because he didn't use his turn signal in a roundabout. I have no pity for drug dealers, but no one, even the police, uses turn signals in the local roundabouts, there isn't enough time between exits to signal properly.

I would agree, all commercial, including farm vehicles on road should pass inspection.

Hyd. brakes scare me so much I got rid of them all. Even my old off road dump(dirt) truck has air brakes.

Most farm semi trucks I see seem to be reasonably well maintained, at least there are few obvious problems. A few of the older single and double axle straight trucks I see headed to and from the Co-op at harvest time are a completely different story. Wow, some of those old derelicts look, sound, and wobble around the road like they couldn't have passed an inspection in the last twenty years.

I can understand extending the next required inspection to every second or third year for farm trucks after they have passed an inspection with no problems, or passed with flying colors, and they are only used less than say 500 miles per year, especially for a late model trucks in good condition. The owner has proven that the truck is maintained and it is road worthy. Odds are reasonably good that the truck's owner will continue the timely maintenance and the truck will not become a hazard to the public before the next required inspection. I believe any truck that fails an inspection should have mandatory annual inspections for the next 2, 3, or 5 years until the owner can repeatedly demonstrate that the truck is again being maintained in road worthy condition.

To exempt marginal trucks from any inspections removes one of the last incentives to maintain those trucks. If the truck is subject to inspections, the owner will at least have to fix the major problems to pass the next inspection before he can renew it's registration. So there is some incentive to keep things in good condition. If the truck is exempt from any inspections, lack of any maintenance won't cause the owner any problem unless the truck is an accident or a traffic stop. Those have never happened yet, so why spend any extra money on maintenance if you won't get caught?

Maybe the problem with the derelict trucks I see is that they are not being brought in for annual inspections and they are running unlicensed. That does not sound like a good reason to make them exempt.

I have been bothered more in South Dakota, but then I am farm plated in Nebraska. I REFUSE to put DOT numbers on my pickup, and I REFUSE to buy a fuel permit for it also.
Been in lots of states, with big trailers on, and South Dakota is the only state to ever bother me.

This is a federal statue.
Every state has until Oct 1, 2015 to get on board.

You guys better read the fine print before you start jumping for joy.
This only cover hauling farm products to market.
Load a tractor to take to town for some needed repairs and all this is out the window.


Question 4: Is the transportation of farming equipment from a farm to a repair shop, either by the farmer or the shop, covered by the 150 air-mile HOS agricultural exemption in Sec. 32101(d) of MAP-21?
Answer 4: No. The exemption for the transportation of farm supplies is limited to movements from a wholesale or retail distribution point to the farm. There is no exemption when farm supplies are moved from a farm to another point.

500 miles a year wouldn't let us empty one of our bins and haul it the ethanol plant. It definitely wouldn't let us haul enough corn to fill the bins. I've ran nearly that in a day just on gravel. Can't imagine guys that have a 50 or 100 mile trip to the elevator.

We try to keep on top of repairs. Having a brake cam over trying to get the last few 1/16s out of a set of brake shoes just doesn't pencil out when you consider the cost of a road repair or having the truck down for a day.

You can let some small stuff go, but you really need to keep the important stuff up. Drivetrain, lights, tires, brakes, suspension.

What really gets me is the little old single axle trucks that haul 3-4 tons of grain and still can't manage to hit 35, getting out on a 65 mph highway. The guy going fast gets the blame, but it's the slow guy who causes more accidents.

(quoted from post at 08:22:31 08/19/14) The way I read that, in my pickup, I don't need to have a log book, can run however many hours, and the DOT can't inspect me without probable cause?

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Is your pickup a Commercial Motor Vehicle? Does it have a GVWR or CGVWR over 10,000 lbs.? Are you using it solely in relation to your business?

Its tagged Farm, in Nebraska.

Doesn't answer the question. Is it a Commercial Vehicle? DOT, the FMCSR guys, aren't going to care a bit about a farm plated pickup under 10K GVWR. Your state DOT might, but that's state law, not Federal.