Iowa DOT News Release

AMES, Iowa –  Sept. 30, 2008 – An agreement between the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) gives farmers who use large trucks to haul property across the state line the limited ability to do so without meeting commercial driver’s license (CDL) requirements.

Normally, the CDL exemption granted to drivers of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 lbs. or more is limited to the farmer’s home state, unless adjoining states agree to extend the privilege to each other’s citizens. Because of the bi-state agreement, operators of farm vehicles licensed in either Missouri or Iowa are now exempt from the CDL requirement if the farm vehicle meets the following requirements.

• It is exclusively used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery and/or farm supplies to or from the farmer’s farm.

• It is used within 150 air miles of the farmer’s farm.

• It is properly operated as a farm vehicle under the laws of either state.

• It is controlled and operated by a farmer, the farmer’s employee or farmer’s family member, so long as the operator holds a valid driver’s license in either state.

• It is not operated under hire, meaning the farmer does not haul someone else’s property in return for payment, trade or other reimbursement.

Only property owned by the farmer can be transported under the reciprocity agreement. If property is transported for hire, all applicable state and federal motor carrier regulations apply, including the need for the driver to hold a valid CDL and to comply with registration and fuel tax agreements.

“Working with MoDOT, we are able to provide this waiver to assist farmers in both states,” said David Lorenzen, chief of the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement. “This agreement is one more example of how we can come together as states to support Midwest agricultural interests.”

This is the second reciprocal agreement between Iowa and Missouri. In 2007, the states agreed to allow farmers who haul only their own products and equipment within 30 miles of the states’ border an exemption from interstate fuel tax reporting.

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Contact: Chief David Lorenzen at 515-237-3219 or david.lorenzen@dot.iowa.gov