CDLTest360

The 150 Air-Mile Exemption Explained

How the FMCSA 150 air-mile short-haul exemption works — who qualifies, why paper time records replace RODS, and how the old 100 air-mile rule changed in 2020.

Difficulty
Reading time
6 min
Applies to
Class A, Class B, Property carriers
Official source
FMCSA — Hours of Service

The 150 air-mile exemption is the property-carrying short-haul exception in 49 CFR 395.1(e)(1). Drivers who stay close to home base and finish their day inside 14 hours are excused from keeping a graph-grid log or running an electronic logging device.

What "150 air miles" actually means

Air miles are nautical miles measured in a straight line — not road miles. One air mile equals 1.15 statute miles, so a 150 air-mile radius is about 172.6 statute (road-map) miles measured straight out from your work reporting location. The roads you drive can be longer than that; what matters is the straight-line distance from the reporting location to the farthest point you reach.

The four conditions you must meet

  • You start and end your day at the same work reporting location.
  • You stay within a 150 air-mile radius of that location.
  • You are released from duty within 14 consecutive hours of coming on duty.
  • Your carrier keeps time records for 6 months showing your report time, release time, and total on-duty hours each day.

Meet all four and no RODS or ELD is required for that day. Break any one of them and you must complete a full log for that day.

What the exemption does not excuse

This is the part most drivers get wrong on the knowledge test. The exemption only removes the paperwork. You still must obey:

  • the 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty;
  • the 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving;
  • the 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day limits;
  • all vehicle inspection, medical certification, and drug and alcohol requirements.

How the 100 air-mile rule became 150

Before the FMCSA Hours of Service final rule took effect on September 29, 2020, the property-carrying short-haul exception used a 100 air-mile radius and a 12-hour duty limit. That rule expanded the radius to 150 air miles and the duty limit to 14 consecutive hours, matching the standard 14-hour driving window. Older study material and older state manuals may still say 100 air miles and 12 hours — the current federal numbers are 150 and 14.

Passenger-carrying drivers are different

The 150 air-mile radius applies to property-carrying drivers. Passenger-carrying drivers under 395.1(e)(2) keep the older 100 air-mile / 12-hour short-haul limits. If a test question mentions a bus or a passenger vehicle, use 100 air miles.

A worked example

You report to the yard in Orlando at 6:00 a.m., run local deliveries as far as Daytona Beach and Lakeland (both well inside a 172-mile straight line), and clock out at the same yard at 6:45 p.m. — 12 hours 45 minutes on duty. You met all four conditions, so your carrier just records "06:00 in, 18:45 out, 12.75 hours." No log, no ELD entry.

Change one detail: a late reload pushes your release time to 8:30 p.m., which is 14 hours 30 minutes. You have exceeded the 14-hour condition, so you must prepare a full RODS for that entire day.

Study it in practice questions

Air-mile and logbook questions show up regularly on the General Knowledge test. Drill them in the app to lock in the 150/14 and 100/12 split before test day.

How to study this guide

A short, high-yield loop for locking in the material on this page before you sit the CDL exam:

  1. 1.Read the TL;DR quick answer at the top of this guide and re-write it in your own words. If you can't, read the body once and try again — that's the fact you're being tested on.
  2. 2.Walk through the common-mistakes section below. Every item on that list is a real reason drivers have failed this question in the past.
  3. 3.Take the linked practice test. Aim for 90% or better on the Hours of Service section before you move on.
  4. 4.The day before your official DMV test, re-read only the TL;DR box and the common-mistakes list on every guide you studied. That's your final review.

Why this matters for your CDL exam

Hours of Service is one of the sections the CDL written exam draws from directly. Examiners score against the exact language of the FMCSA CDL Manual, which is why every guide on CDLTest360 keeps the regulatory wording where it matters and only rewrites the surrounding explanation. If you understand the 150 air-mile exemption explained at the level of this page — the numbers, the definitions, and the reasons behind them — you'll recognize the correct answer even when the question is phrased differently than the practice tests you've seen.

One more thing worth knowing: the CDL written exam does not test memorization for its own sake. It tests whether you can apply these rules on the road, so anywhere in this guide you see a number, a step, or a component name, pair it in your head with when a driver would actually use it. That mental link is what turns a fact you read into an answer you can pick under time pressure on exam day.

Common mistakes
  • Measuring 150 miles by road instead of straight-line air miles (150 air miles = about 172.6 road miles)
  • Using 100 air miles and 12 hours — those were the pre-September 2020 property-carrying numbers
  • Thinking the exemption also excuses the 11-hour driving limit, 30-minute break, or 60/70-hour limits
  • Applying the 150 air-mile radius to passenger-carrying drivers, who still use 100 air miles and 12 hours
  • Forgetting that you must return to the same work reporting location to qualify

Frequently asked questions

How many road miles is a 150 air-mile radius?
About 172.6 statute (road-map) miles, measured in a straight line from your work reporting location. One air mile equals 1.15 statute miles.
Do I still need an ELD under the 150 air-mile exemption?
No. If you meet all four conditions for the day, no record of duty status and no ELD record is required. Your carrier keeps simple time records instead.
What happens if I go over 14 hours on a short-haul day?
You lose the exemption for that day and must prepare a complete record of duty status for the entire day. Going over the limit more than 8 days in any 30-day period also requires an ELD.
Was this rule always 150 air miles?
No. Until the FMCSA Hours of Service final rule took effect September 29, 2020, the property-carrying short-haul exception used a 100 air-mile radius and a 12-hour duty limit.
Does the 150 air-mile exemption apply to bus drivers?
No. Passenger-carrying drivers use the 100 air-mile radius and 12-hour duty limit under 49 CFR 395.1(e)(2).

Test your knowledge

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About this guide

This guide is part of the CDLTest360 Learning Center, a free set of study materials written for drivers preparing for the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) written exam in the United States. Every fact on this page comes from the current FMCSA CDL Manual or, where a state rule differs, the state DMV manual. Numbers, definitions, and procedures are quoted or paraphrased from those official sources; the surrounding explanation, the examples, and the common-mistakes list are original to CDLTest360.

The Learning Center is written by CDL instructors and reviewed against the federal regulations on a rolling basis. If you spot something that doesn't match what your local DMV taught you, state rules take precedence over anything on this site — always confirm the number with your state's CDL manual before your exam.