Washington's latest answer to record fuel prices is aimed at the trucks that deliver the fuel. This week the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a nationwide waiver of the hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers transporting gasoline and diesel. It took effect September 16 and runs for 90 days, through December 16. Drivers working under it can run up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period instead of the usual 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window. On Friday AAA's national average for diesel stood at $6.448 a gallon, the highest it has ever recorded, up 39 cents in a week and 98 cents in a month.
What the waiver allows
As reported by Land Line, Overdrive and CDLLife, the waiver sets aside the federal limits in 49 CFR 395.3 for drivers hauling gasoline or diesel anywhere in the country and replaces them with a ceiling of 16 hours in any 24-hour period. Rest does not disappear. According to CDLLife's account of the FMCSA order, a driver must still take at least six consecutive hours in the sleeper berth once in every 24 hours, or eight consecutive hours off duty if the truck is a day cab.
Two more protections are written into the order, Land Line reports. If a driver tells the carrier they need rest, the carrier must let them go immediately to a safe place and take at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. A 10-hour break is also required when a driver moves back to normal operations and the combined time, under the waiver and under the regular rules, has reached 14 hours or more. The empty trip back to the terminal or the driver's normal reporting location is covered by the waiver, so the return leg does not push a driver into violation.
Who does not qualify
The Department of Transportation said the waiver is for carriers and drivers "in good standing" and excludes "anyone with a conditional safety rating or an active out-of-service order." Land Line adds the paperwork side: the driver needs a valid CDL with every endorsement the load requires, must carry a paper or digital copy of the waiver to show an officer on request, and the carrier must be able to tell FMCSA, if asked, how many of its drivers operated under it.
The waiver covers gasoline and diesel only. None of the reports we reviewed extend it to propane, heating oil, jet fuel or ethanol, which have been handled through separate and mostly regional declarations in the past. It also does nothing for a dry van, reefer or flatbed driver who burns the fuel rather than hauls it: those drivers are under the normal rules today exactly as they were last week.
Why now
FMCSA said it acted "to respond to global supply disruptions, anticipated increases in the demand for gasoline and diesel fuels in the late summer and fall, and to mitigate impacts on the costs and availability of fuel for transportation service providers, agricultural harvesting, and the traveling public as the demand increases." Land Line notes that U.S. refineries are running close to full capacity with the usual fall maintenance shutdowns still ahead, and that the Energy Information Administration's latest short-term outlook has fuel prices rising through at least the end of the year. The publication puts the extra money Americans have spent on diesel since the conflict with Iran began early this year at $49 billion.
The price record is being rewritten almost daily. AAA's diesel average was $6.056 a week ago, $5.468 a month ago and $3.709 a year ago, which makes Friday's $6.448 about 74% higher than last September. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy framed the waiver as part of a broader effort: "From unleashing American energy production to alleviating short-term supply chain pressures, the Trump Administration is constantly taking action to lower fuel prices. Our great American truckers will continue to haul the products that power America and keep our economy moving."
A waiver moves fuel faster. It does not make fuel cheaper.
Hours-of-service relief helps a terminal that has product but not enough driver hours to get it to the stations and truck stops that are running low. It can prevent local outages and the price spikes that follow them. It does not add a barrel of refining capacity or change the price of crude. A 90-day waiver that lasts until mid-December also tells you how long Washington expects the supply chain to stay tight. If you buy diesel for a living, plan the fourth quarter around current prices, not around the hope that they fall.
Checklist
If you haul fuel, and if you only buy it
Fuel haulers: read the waiver text itself before you run on it, and keep a paper or digital copy in the truck. An officer can ask for it at any stop.
Check your carrier's safety rating. A conditional rating takes the whole carrier out of the waiver, and a driver under an out-of-service order cannot use it either.
Annotate your ELD for every shift run under the waiver, and track the combined hours: once waiver time plus regular time reaches 14 hours on the way back to normal operations, a 10-hour break is mandatory.
If you are tired, say so. The order requires your carrier to let you stop right away for 10 consecutive hours off duty. A waiver is permission, not an obligation, and fatigue with 8,000 gallons behind you is still fatigue.
Everyone else: nothing changes in your hours. What changes is your fuel budget. At 6.5 miles per gallon, $6.448 diesel is 99 cents a mile before any other cost, so re-run your break-even rate before you accept the next load.
Sources: Land Line (OOIDA), "Record fuel prices drive hours-of-service relief," September 17, 2026; CDLLife, "HOS waived for trucks hauling fuel amidst skyrocketing diesel prices," September 2026; Overdrive, "FMCSA waives HOS regs for gas, diesel haulers," September 17, 2026; U.S. Department of Transportation statement, September 16, 2026; AAA national average fuel prices, September 18, 2026.
Rules and fuel prices, explained for the people who drive
FMCSA orders, waivers and the numbers behind your fuel bill, for carriers, owner-operators and fleet managers, on Qrylo.