Are city owned trucks exempt from hos?

No, your city owned truck is NOT exempt from any of the DOT rules, or rules of the road. About the only thing it is exempt from is the yearly license fee, as it probably has an "exempt" license plate on it.

You are talking about a 180 mile run, which of itself should not be a big deal. But if you encounter a scale along the way, you must do as instructed at it.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe you will also need to have an up to date log book, showing your hours of service for the past week.

 

Since the trip is 180 miles, you must have an up to date log, with graph for this trip and the preceding 7 days. City drivers that maintain a radius of 100 air miles dont have to do the graph but they still have to maintain proper HOS which I believe (I might be wrong) is a 12hr shift.

 

Yep, once you leave that 100 air mile radius you must have a log book with the last 7 days.

 

That sounds right Bill. When I worked for the county here in Indiana we were exempt from those items. There were times we would run 18 hour days during real bad snow storms to keep the roads clear. We also never went in the scales ( very rarely would have to go near one anyway ) but our trucks had HUGE lettering on them and we never had a problem just driving on by. Just to CYA I would definitely have documented who you talked to name/badge # just to be sure but sounds like you did the right thing by calling and asking.

The reason it exempts you is because a city owned, or any other county, state, whatever is that it is a Government owned vehicle and DOT/FMCSA does not regulate government agency vehicles there is another agency that does that but can't recall the name of it off hand. That was an answer given hear on this forum by dieselbear.

 

Here it is in wrtting!!!
§390.3 General applicability.
(a) The rules in Subchapter B of this chapter are applicable to all employers, employees, and commercial motor vehicles, which transport property or passengers in interstate commerce.
(b) The rules in Part 383, Commercial Driver’s License Standards; Requirements and Penalties, are applicable to every person who operates a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in §383.5 of this Subchapter, in interstate or intrastate commerce and to all employers of such persons.
(c) The rules in Part 387, Minimum Levels of Financial Responsibility for Motor Carriers, are applicable to motor carriers as provided in §387.3 or 387.27 of this subchapter.
(d) Additional requirements. Nothing in Subchapter B of this chapter shall be construed to prohibit an employer from requiring and enforcing more stringent requirements relating to safety of operation and employee safety and health.
(e) Knowledge of and compliance with the regulations.
(1) Every employer shall be knowledgeable of and comply with all regulations contained in this subchapter which are applicable to that motor carrier’s operations.
(2) Every driver and employee shall be instructed regarding, and shall comply with, all applicable regulations contained in this subchapter.
(3) All motor vehicle equipment and accessories required by this subchapter shall be maintained in compliance with all applicable performance and design criteria set forth in this subchapter.
(f) Exceptions. Unless otherwise specifically provided, the rules in this subchapter do not apply to —
(1) All school bus operations as defined in §390.5;
(2) Transportation performed by the Federal government, a State, or any political subdivision of a State, or an agency established under a compact between States that has been approved by the Congress of the United States;
(3) The occasional transportation of personal property by individuals not for compensation nor in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise;
(4) The transportation of human corpses or sick and injured persons;
(5) The operation of fire trucks and rescue vehicles while involved in emergency and related operations;
(6)(i) The operation of commercial motor vehicles designed or used to transport between 9 and 15 passengers (including the driver), not for direct compensation, provided the vehicle does not otherwise meet the definition of a commercial motor vehicle, except that motor carriers operating such vehicles are required to comply with §§390.15, 390.19, and 390.21(a) and (b)(2).
(ii) The operation of commercial motor vehicles designed or used to transport between 9 and 15 passengers (including the driver) for direct compensation, provided the vehicle is not being operated beyond a 75 air-mile radius (86.3 statute miles or 138.9 kilometers) from the driver's normal work-reporting location, and provided the vehicle does not otherwise meet the definition of a commercial motor vehicle, except that motor carriers operating such vehicles are required to comply with §§390.15, 390.19, and 390.21(a) and (b)(2).
(7) Either a driver of a commercial motor vehicle used primarily in the transportation of propane winter heating fuel or a driver of a motor vehicle used to respond to a pipeline emergency, if such regulations would prevent the driver from responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response as defined in §390.5.

 

What can I say, other than ooooops. Didn't mean to misdirect you. I'm glad others were enough on the ball to call it right.

 

Sorry dude, New info for me. Guess thats my lesson for the day.