Wyoming Intrastate ELD Rules and Hours of Service

Wyoming takes the federal hours-of-service rules for its intrastate carriers and then changes one paragraph. That paragraph happens to be the one that decides who keeps a log. Under WYDOT's motor carrier rules, a Wyoming intrastate driver who stays within 150 air miles of the normal work reporting location is exempt from the record-of-duty-status section of Part 395, and that section is where the ELD requirement sits. The federal short-haul rule attaches four conditions to the same radius. Wyoming's intrastate version attaches none.

The hour limits are a different matter. The Wyoming rewrite releases the driver from the log, not from the clock. Here is how the rule is built.

Where Wyoming adopts Part 395

The adoption is in WYDOT Motor Carrier rules Chapter 1, effective January 3, 2023. Section 9(a) requires all motor carriers as defined in W.S. 31-18-101, and carriers in interstate commerce, to comply strictly with the USDOT motor carrier safety regulations in 49 CFR Parts 40, 303, 325, 350, 355, 356, 360, and 365 through 399 "for interstate transportation and as amended in Appendix A to these rules for intrastate transportation." Part 395 falls inside that range.

Appendix A is where Wyoming departs. It opens with cross-references that read the federal text for Wyoming: references to "Interstate" mean "Intrastate," references to "Federal" mean "Wyoming," and references to farms and farmers include ranches and ranchers. Then it rewrites a short list of federal sections.

One gap worth knowing: Section 9(a)(iii) names no edition or date of the Code of Federal Regulations. The chapter's effective date is January 3, 2023, but the rule does not say which version of Part 395 it took, so we record the adoption date as unstated.

The 150 air-mile rewrite

Appendix A replaces 49 CFR 395.1(e) for intrastate drivers with this text, quoted in full:

(e) 150 air-mile radius driver. A driver is exempt from the requirements of §395.8 if: (1) The driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location.

Appendix A also defines an air-mile as an international nautical mile of about 6,076 feet, measured in a straight line and not by road.

Set that beside the federal paragraph, 49 CFR 395.1(e)(1). The federal exemption needs all of these at once:

• The driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius (172.6 statute miles) of the normal work reporting location.
• The driver, except a driver-salesperson, 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 (8 hours for a passenger-carrying driver).
• The employing carrier keeps accurate time records for 6 months showing when the driver reported, total hours on duty each day, and when the driver was released.

The federal rule then adds a second paragraph, 395.1(e)(2), for property-carrying drivers who do not need a CDL, with its own return and time-record conditions.

Wyoming's intrastate text keeps the first bullet and drops the rest. It has no 14-hour return, no time-record condition written into the exemption, and no (e)(2). A Wyoming intrastate driver inside the radius meets the exemption on distance alone.

One wording difference is worth flagging to a compliance reviewer. The federal paragraph releases a short-haul driver from 395.8 and 395.11, the supporting-documents section. The Wyoming text names 395.8 only. We report that as written and do not read anything into it.

What the exemption removes, and what it leaves

49 CFR 395.8 is the driver's record of duty status. Paragraph (a)(1)(i) requires a motor carrier to install and require each of its drivers to use an ELD to record duty status, no later than December 18, 2017. Remove 395.8 and the log requirement, paper or electronic, goes with it.

What stays is 49 CFR 395.3. Appendix A does not amend it, so a Wyoming intrastate property-carrying driver runs the federal limits whether or not the driver keeps a log:

• 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving.
• No driving after 14 consecutive hours on duty.
• 11 hours of driving.
• The weekly on-duty limits in 395.3(b).

So the rewrite changes what a driver must record, not how long a driver may work. A carrier that drops logs for its local fleet still has to schedule inside those limits, and an officer can still place a driver out of service for exceeding them: Section 9(d) of the same chapter authorizes that for driving or working in excess of hours of service.

Outside the radius, 395.8 applies as adopted. A Wyoming intrastate driver on a longer run records duty status on an ELD unless one of the federal manual-log cases in 395.8(a)(1)(ii) fits. Appendix A adds no manual-log case of its own.

Three other Appendix A changes that touch hours and drivers

Agricultural growing season. Appendix A defines "agricultural growing season" as January 1 to December 31 of any calendar year. The federal agricultural exception in 49 CFR 395.1(k) lifts Part 395 during planting and harvesting periods "as determined by each State." The appendix does not say which federal section its defined term modifies, and 395.1(k) uses the phrase "planting and harvesting periods" rather than "growing season." If a farm or ranch haul depends on the year-round reading, confirm it with WYDOT or the Highway Patrol before relying on it.

Relief from the weekly limits. Appendix A's note on 49 CFR 390.23 directs any motor carrier seeking relief from 395.3(b), the weekly limits, to contact the Wyoming Highway Patrol in writing. WYDOT also recognizes emergency relief declared by the President, a governor, or their authorized designees when declared as the federal regulations prescribe.

Driver age. Appendix A changes 49 CFR 391.11(b)(1) for intrastate drivers to read "is at least 18 years old." The Wyoming CDL page covers the licensing side.

Who the Wyoming version reaches

The Appendix A changes apply to intrastate transportation only. Section 9(a)(iii) adopts the federal parts unamended for interstate transportation, so interstate work runs on the federal 395.1(e) with all of its conditions.

Appendix A defines a commercial vehicle by reference to W.S. 31-18-101(a)(iii). The weight lines that decide whether a Wyoming carrier needs state operating authority are on the Wyoming intrastate authority page, and the USDOT number with the WY suffix that Wyoming intrastate carriers display is on the Wyoming DOT number page.

Next steps for a Wyoming carrier

1. Sort each driver's work into intrastate and interstate. Only the intrastate work gets the Wyoming rewrite.
2. For intrastate drivers, measure the 150 air-mile radius from the normal work reporting location in a straight line. Inside it, 395.8 does not apply under the Wyoming text.
3. Keep scheduling to the 395.3 limits. The exemption removes the log, not the limits.
4. Put drivers who leave the radius on an ELD unless a federal manual-log case applies.
5. Keep reasonable proof of where and how long drivers worked. The Wyoming text sets no time-record condition, but the hour limits still apply and an officer can still check them.