Do North Dakota intrastate drivers need ELDs?

Yes, when they must keep a record of duty status. NDAC 38-04-01-02 adopts 49 CFR Part 395, including amendments, and makes it binding on carriers operating within or through North Dakota. The ELD requirement sits in Part 395 at 49 CFR 395.8. The Highway Patrol's 2026 Motor Carrier Handbook says CMV drivers must keep that record on an ELD unless an ELD exemption applies, and that no ELD is needed when no record of duty status is required, as under the 150 air-mile exemption in NDCC 39-32-02(5).

How do North Dakota's intrastate driving limits differ from federal?

On all three numbers. NDCC 39-32-02(2) allows 12 cumulative hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty (federal: 11), bars driving after the end of the 16th hour after coming on duty (federal: 14), and bars driving after 70 hours on duty in any 7 consecutive days (federal: 60 in 7 or 70 in 8). The Highway Patrol handbook adds that drivers on the intrastate rules get no 34-hour restart and may elect the federal rules instead.

Which North Dakota intrastate trucks are outside the hours rules?

NDCC 39-32-02(1) exempts vehicles under 26,001 pounds unless they carry placarded hazardous materials or meet the passenger thresholds, along with authorized emergency vehicles and tow trucks working at a law enforcement officer's request. Subsection 4 exempts agricultural hauls within 150 air miles of the source, with a planting and harvesting season that runs January 1 through December 31.

North Dakota walkthrough

North Dakota Intrastate ELD Rules and Hours of Service

North Dakota sets its own intrastate hours clock by statute (12 driving, 16 on duty, 70 in 7) and adopts the federal ELD rule for intrastate carriers.

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026 · 6 min read

A North Dakota carrier that never leaves the state answers to two rule sets at once. The first is a statute: NDCC chapter 39-32 gives intrastate drivers their own hours clock, with numbers the legislature wrote. The second is a rule: NDAC 38-04-01-02 adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations, Part 395 included, so the electronic logging device requirement comes along with them. The clock is North Dakota's. The device rule is federal.

The statutory clock: 12, 16, 70

NDCC 39-32-02(2) says a motor carrier may not permit or require an intrastate driver to drive, and the driver may not drive, in three cases:

more than 12 cumulative hours following 10 consecutive hours off duty;
for any period after the end of the 16th hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty; or
after having been on duty for 70 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days.

Put the federal rule in 49 CFR 395.3 beside it and every line moves. The federal rule allows 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window, and caps the week at 60 hours in 7 days or 70 in 8. North Dakota adds an hour of driving, stretches the window by two hours, and keeps a single 70-in-7 cycle.

Why the state can do this

States cannot write intrastate hours rules freely. 49 CFR 350.305(d) sets the outer edge: a 12-hour driving limit, provided the driver may not drive after more than 16 hours on duty, and weekly prohibitions at 70 hours in 7 consecutive days or 80 in 8. North Dakota's 12, 16 and 70-in-7 are the figures that paragraph names, so the statute sits at the federal edge on every line.

Who the clock reaches, and who it skips

NDCC 39-32-01 defines an intrastate driver as one who will be operating a commercial motor vehicle within North Dakota for a seven-consecutive-day period. Section 39-32-02(1) then takes three groups out of hours regulation altogether:

drivers of authorized emergency vehicles;
drivers in intrastate commerce whose vehicle's gross weight and gross weight ratings are all under 26,001 pounds, unless the vehicle carries hazardous materials requiring a placard or meets the passenger thresholds;
tow truck drivers operating at the request of a law enforcement officer.

The weight line matches the adoption rule. NDAC 38-04-01-02 exempts intrastate vehicles of 26,000 pounds or less from all of the adopted federal safety regulations, with the same placard and passenger conditions. A light intrastate truck in North Dakota is outside both the state clock and the federal parts. The 26,000 pound line decides safety rules only. The North Dakota DOT number page explains why a heavier intrastate truck still needs no USDOT number.

Two more exemptions lift the hours limits by activity. Subsection 3 covers emergency relief during an emergency the governor declares. Subsection 4 covers agricultural commodities and farm supplies, including farm equipment and machinery, hauled for agricultural purposes within 150 air miles of the source or distribution point, during planting and harvesting seasons that the statute sets at January 1 through December 31. The season never ends, so a North Dakota farm haul inside that radius is off the clock all year.

The adoption that brings the ELD in

NDAC 38-04-01-02 adopts 49 CFR Parts 382, 385, 386 (subparts F and G), 387, 390 through 393, 395, 396 and 397, "including amendments." NDAC 38-04-01-03 repeats the point: the regulations include such amendments as the U.S. Department of Transportation may promulgate. The adoption rolls forward, so the ELD requirement in 49 CFR 395.8 applies as the federal text now reads. NDAC 38-04-01-01 makes the adopted rules binding on all motor carriers and their employees while operating within or through the state, and the Highway Patrol enforces them.

The Highway Patrol's 2026 Motor Carrier Handbook, Section 05, states the result plainly: CMV drivers must keep a record of duty status with an ELD unless the driver qualifies for an exemption, and the device must be on FMCSA's registered list. The handbook lists the federal ELD exemptions: vehicles manufactured before model year 2000, drivers who keep a record of duty status on no more than 8 days in a 30-day period, and two driveaway-towaway cases.

The short-haul exemption that removes the log

An ELD is only required when a record of duty status is. NDCC 39-32-02(5) excuses an intrastate driver from keeping one when all four conditions hold:

The driver operates within 150 air miles of the normal work-reporting location or the vehicle's official worksite.
The driver returns to the work-reporting location and is released within 14 consecutive hours (driver salespeople are excepted from this condition).
At least 10 consecutive hours off duty separate each 14 hours on duty.
The carrier keeps accurate time records for 6 months showing when the driver reports for and is released from duty each day.

Miss one condition on a given day and the driver needs a log for that day. The handbook's agricultural section makes the same point for farm hauls: past 150 air miles from the source, a record of duty status is required, and it must be an ELD unless an ELD exemption applies.

Three traps worth naming

No 34-hour restart. The handbook states that a driver using the intrastate rules is not eligible for the 34-hour restart. Federal 49 CFR 395.3(c) lets a 7- or 8-day period end with 34 hours off; the state's 70-in-7 has no 34-hour reset.

The federal rules stay available. The handbook says intrastate drivers may use the federal hours rules in place of the state rules. Pick one ruleset per driver, set the ELD ruleset to match it, and keep the carrier's records consistent with that choice.

Interstate work changes the ruleset. The state clock covers intrastate drivers only, and interstate commerce puts the driver on the federal rules. The handbook opens Section 05 with that line: all interstate CMV drivers must comply with the federal hours of service regulations. The North Dakota intrastate authority page covers what else changes once a carrier runs interstate.