Company seeks intrastate exemption for under-21 drivers

A company that transports concrete for wind turbine foundations is asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow under-21 drivers to operate in a state other than where they reside.

In a notice that was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, June 11, Wisconsin-based 3 North LLC requested a five-year exemption that would allow three of its under-21 drivers to operate intrastate in “a state other than their state of domicile.”

Regulations limit commercial drivers ages 18-20 to intrastate – or one-state – operations. A commercial driver must be at least 21 years old to operate interstate.

Under 3 North’s request, the exempted drivers would not operate a commercial motor vehicle to travel from one state to another.

“The applicant utilizes a fleet of specialized construction equipment mounted on a straight truck chassis to transport concrete for wind turbine foundations,” FMCSA wrote in the notice. “The applicant stated that it uses a different set of CDL holders to drive the commercial motor vehicles across state lines. The exemption request is applicable to three drivers who operate the commercial motor vehicles in the state where work is being performed, but only after they have been driven to the state by CDL holders over the age of 21.”

The company told FMCSA that it believes the exemption would have no impact on highway safety because the three drivers would be operating commercial motor vehicles for only 20 miles once they are transported to another state.

As part of the application, 3 North suggested that denying the exemption would prevent the company from providing renewable energy.

“The applicant believes that, absent the exemption, the progress toward green, renewable energy could be delayed, potentially causing the energy sector to postpone its transition away from carbon-generating sources of power,” FMCSA wrote in the notice.

How to comment

FMCSA will accept comments on the exemption request through July 11. Comments may be made here or by going to Regulations.gov and entering Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0125. LL

Check out Landline.media for more stories about exemption requests.