FMCSA Extends Nebraska Emergency HOS Relief Through July 14, 2026

Under the extension, FMCSA grants emergency relief from 49 CFR 395.3 (maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles) for motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the Nebraska emergency. FMCSA also states the relief applies regardless of the trip’s origin, as long as you are providing direct assistance to the emergency in Nebraska.

Important limits still apply. FMCSA emphasizes this is not a blanket waiver of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). Requirements like drug and alcohol testing (49 CFR Part 382), CDL rules (49 CFR Part 383), and insurance/financial responsibility (49 CFR Part 387) remain in effect, along with other rules not specifically relieved in the declaration.

For Central Ohio fleets that run irregular lanes, emergency relief can be helpful—but it also creates documentation risk if dispatch treats it like a free pass. Build a simple paper trail in your load documentation showing why the run was direct assistance (e.g., BOL notes, customer emails, dispatch instructions) in case you need to explain the exemption later.

FMCSA also draws a bright line between direct assistance and routine commerce. The declaration says direct assistance does not include routine commercial deliveries or mixed loads where a nominal amount of qualifying relief freight is added just to obtain the declaration’s benefits. If you are not sure your load qualifies, treat it as normal HOS and run it under your standard ELD and dispatch policies.

Need a quick refresher on recordkeeping expectations? See our guide: ELD compliance checklist.

FMCSA states that direct assistance terminates when the driver/CMV is used in interstate commerce to transport cargo or provide services that are not supporting emergency relief, or when the motor carrier dispatches the driver/CMV to another location to begin normal operations in commerce. Once direct assistance ends, the carrier and driver are subject to 49 CFR 395.3 again.

There is a limited “return empty” allowance: after finishing direct assistance, the driver may return empty to the carrier’s terminal or the driver’s normal reporting location without complying with 49 CFR 395.3 (with conditions noted in the declaration). FMCSA also notes that when moving from emergency relief to normal operations, a property-carrying driver must take a 10-hour break when the total time engaged in emergency relief (or a combination of emergency relief and normal operations) equals or exceeds 14 hours.

If you are planning emergency runs, communicate these end-of-relief rules to dispatch and the driver up front so you do not accidentally trigger a log violation when the load ends.