150 air-mile short-haul calculator.

The exemption in plain terms

Section 395.1(e)(1) of the federal hours-of-service rules exempts a short-haul driver from the record of duty status requirement (395.8) and the ELD rule (395.11) if four conditions hold. The driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius, which the rule states is 172.6 statute miles, of the normal work reporting location. Except for driver-salesperson, the driver returns to that location and is released from work within 14 consecutive hours. A property-carrying driver has at least 10 consecutive hours off duty separating each 14 hours on duty, and a passenger-carrying driver has at least 8. The employing motor carrier keeps accurate time records for 6 months showing the time the driver reports each day, the total hours on duty, the time released, and, for drivers used for the first time or intermittently, the total time for the preceding 7 days under 395.8(j)(2).

The current text of 395.1(e)(1)(ii) says release within 14 consecutive hours. Our source is the eCFR text current through October 29, 2026.

Measuring the radius

An air mile is a nautical mile, which is why the rule can say 150 air miles equals 172.6 statute miles (150 times 1.15078). The measurement is a straight line from the normal work reporting location, not driven distance. The tool takes the latitude and longitude of the reporting location and of the farthest point you reach, in decimal degrees, and computes the great-circle distance on a sphere of radius 3,440.065 nautical miles. Real mapping uses an ellipsoid, so results can differ by a fraction of a percent. A trip that measures 149 to 151 air miles is within the margin where you should confirm with an official measuring tool before relying on it.

The radius is measured from where the driver reports to and is released from work. It is not a limit on how far the truck may travel in total. A driver who leaves the radius on any day loses the exemption for that day and must complete a record of duty status.

Drivers without a CDL

There is a separate rule for operators of property-carrying vehicles that do not require a commercial driver’s license, 395.1(e)(2). Those drivers operate within a 150 air-mile radius, return to the normal work reporting location at the end of each duty tour, and do not drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty on 5 days of any period of 7 consecutive days, or after the 16th hour on 2 days of any 7. They are exempt from the 395.3(a)(2) 14-hour limit and from 395.8 and 395.11, but they cannot use the short-haul provisions of (e)(1), the sleeper berth rule in (g) or the provision in (o). The same 6-month time record is required. This calculator checks the (e)(1) radius, the 14-hour release and the off-duty gap only.

Worked example

A driver reports at a yard in Chicago (about 41.88 N, 87.63 W). The farthest delivery that day is in Detroit (42.33 N, 83.05 W). The great-circle distance is about 206 air miles (237 statute miles), over the 150 limit. The driver is outside the radius on that day, so the exemption does not apply and a record of duty status is required. A delivery to Milwaukee (43.04 N, 87.91 W) is about 71 air miles (81 statute miles) out and inside. If that driver is back and released 13 hours after coming on duty and had 10 hours off before the shift, the (e)(1) conditions are met for the day.

Limits

This checks one day at a time and takes the distances and hours you enter on trust. It does not measure a route, apply the 11-hour driving limit, the 60 or 70 hour rule or the 34-hour restart, cover personal conveyance, or consider state rules. The exemption removes the log requirement but not the driving limits themselves. Use the HOS clock calculator on this site for the driving hours left.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 49 CFR 395.1, scope of rules in this part; short-haul operations (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 49 CFR 395.8, driver’s record of duty status (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 49 CFR 395.2, definitions (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)