FMCSA Fuel-Haul Waiver Adds Ethanol and Heating Oil
FMCSA expanded its nationwide fuel-haul hours-of-service waiver to include ethanol and denatured ethanol, with limited heating-oil carriage. Fleet operators using the relief need to manage its scope, safety conditions and Dec. 16 end date.
FMCSA has expanded its nationwide fuel-haul hours-of-service waiver to cover gasoline, diesel fuel, ethanol and denatured ethanol, while allowing limited heating-oil carriage in qualifying compartmentalized loads.
The waiver, issued October 15 and effective through December 16, 2026, responds to supply disruptions and seasonal fuel demand. It waives the usual property-carrier hours limits in 49 CFR 395.3 for the covered fuel movements.
What the waiver covers
Heating oil can travel under the relief only as part of a compartmentalized load containing covered fuel, and it cannot exceed 75% of the total shipment at loading. The waiver does not suspend requirements unrelated to hours of service, including drug and alcohol rules, commercial-driver licensing, insurance, size and weight limits, or hazardous-materials requirements.
FMCSA also requires a driver moving back to normal operations to take a 10-hour break once their combined waived and normal-duty time reaches 14 hours.
Compliance still needs a paper trail
For fleets that operate fuel-delivery equipment or rely on contracted fuel haulers, the useful work is documenting which loads qualify, when a driver entered and exited waiver operations, and how dispatch restores the regular hours clock. The relief can help protect fuel availability, but it is not a blanket exemption from the rest of a fleet's safety program.
