Commercial Driver License (CDL)
You are a commercial driver and DO NEED a CDL if
you operate one of the following:
♦ A vehicle or vehicle combination with a Gross Ve-
hicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 26,001 lbs. or more.
♦ A vehicle that must be placarded for transportation
of hazardous material regardless of the GVWR.
♦ A passenger-carrying vehicle with a seating capacity
of 16 passengers or more, including the driver.
Farm Vehicle Exemption:
(TCA 55-50-102)
You are exempt if you meet ALL of the following
criteria:
♦ Controlled and operated by the farmer or
farmer’s employee and used exclusively for farm
use;
♦ Used to transport agricultural products, farm
machinery, or farm supplies, both to and from
the farm;
♦ Not used in operations of common or contract
for-hire motor carriers;
♦ Not carrying hazardous materials of a type or
quantity that would require the vehicle to be
placarded;
♦ Used within 150 air miles of the farmer’s farm.
(For Example: A farmer owns a backhoe he has pre-
viously used for his own personal use on his farm or
property. Someone asks the farmer to do some back-
hoe work. The first time the farmer transports the
backhoe to the other person’s property he has crossed
the line from being a farmer to a private/for-hire mo-
tor carrier and must comply with ALL applicable fed-
eral regulations.)
Health Card Requirements
You will need a health card signed by your doctor, which
verifies that you are physically fit to drive, if any one of
the following applies to the vehicle you are driving:
♦ A vehicle or combination vehicle with a GVWR of
10,001 lbs. or more.
♦ A vehicle which must be placarded for transporting
a hazardous material regardless of GVWR.
♦ A passenger-carrying vehicle with a seating capacity
of 16 passengers or more, including the driver.
Farm Vehicle Exemption:
You are exempt if you meet ALL of the following cri-
teria:
♦ Used within 150 air miles of the farmer’s farm.
♦ Not in the for-hire business. You are carrying your
own agricultural products, farm machinery, or farm
supplies, either to or from the farm.
♦ Not transporting hazardous material.
(A person driving a vehicle which is involved in a cus-
tom harvesting operation is exempt from the health
card requirements.)
Requirements for Hauling Loose
Material in an Open Truck Bed
Any truck with an open bed operated on any highway,
road, and street open for public use in this state, shall
be loaded so that any material remains at least 4” be-
low the sides of such bed, measured at the front, back,
and sides (but such load may be piled higher in the
center). * This does not apply to farm produce
going to market. (TCA 55-7-109)
Any motor vehicle hauling loose materials shall be
required to have such material either in an enclosed
space or fully covered by a tarpaulin, unless the loose
material is secured in such a way as to reasonably en-
sure it will not fall or be blown off the vehicle.
Motor vehicles hauling crushed stone, fill dirt and rock,
soil, bulk sand, coal, phosphate muck, asphalt, concrete,
other building materials, forest products, unfinished
lumber, agricultural lime and agricultural products which
are loaded in compliance with the 4” requirement, are
allowed to haul such material uncovered without a
tarpaulin.
* However, this exemption will not apply if a law
enforcement officer sees any part of the mate-
rial blowing off the vehicle. (TCA 39-14-503)
Width & Height Requirements
No motor vehicle or any trailer or semi trailer, with a
width, including any part of the load, exceeding 8’ 6”,
or height, including any part of the load, exceeding 13’
6”, shall be operated on any highway. This shall not
apply to farm tractors or farm machinery temporarily
moving on any highway. The maximum width restric-
tions shall not apply to a trailer utilized for trans-
porting seed cotton or rolled alfalfa bales; provided,
that the width, including any part of the load, shall not
exceed 10’, and is performed during daylight hours
upon an interstate highway system. (TCA 55-7-202)
Safety Chain Requirements
Any trailer, semi trailer, utility trailer, or pole trailer
operated on the highways of Tennessee is required to
have a safety chain of sufficient strength.
* However, gooseneck trailers, trailers attached
by fifth wheels, field seeding, tillage, and harvest-
ing equipment are exempt. (TCA 55-7-114)
Safety chains are required on these items:
at the time of manufacture, or
♦ If they are being towed on state or local roads at a
speed greater than 25 mph.
Trailer Brake Requirements
Every trailer or semi trailer of gross weight of 3,000
lbs. or more operating on a highway shall be equipped
with brakes on all axles and a breakaway device so that
in case of an accidental breakaway, the brakes shall be
automatically applied. Trailers between 1,500 and 3,000
lbs. shall have brakes on one axle. Trailers under 1,500
lbs. need not be equipped with brakes. These require-
ments shall not apply to trailers that are not required
to be registered and licensed and which are used by or
on behalf of farmers. (TCA 55-9-204)
♦ Transporting farm products or livestock from farm
to market;
♦ Transporting agricultural products, equipment, ma-
terials or supplies from market to farm or from farm
to farm;
♦ Delivering such trailer to any farm.
Trailer Tag Exemption
License tags are not required on trailers owned by farm-
ers and used for agricultural purposes or hauling live-
stock between farm and market in Tennessee. Note:
55-4-111)
Log Book
Farmers operating a vehicle or vehicle combination with
a GVWR of 10,001 lbs. or more and traveling over 100
air miles from home must keep a duty status record
(driver’s log).
No one is permitted to drive a motor vehicle after
having worked 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days or
after having worked 70 hours in any period of 8 con-
secutive days.
Driver is exempt from the log requirements if:
♦ Travel is within a 100 air mile radius of the farm;
♦ The farmer, except as a salesperson, returns to the
farm and is off work within 12 consecutive hours;
♦ At least 8 consecutive hours off duty separate each
12 hours on duty;
♦ Does not exceed 10 hours maximum driving time
following 8 hours off duty;
♦ Has a work schedule record for the past 6 months.
Title and Registration for Farm
Vehicles
Motor vehicles used exclusively for the movement
of farm products for the grower from the point of pro-
duction to the first market, or operated as farm trucks,
joint tag for combined farm trucks. However, motor
v
ehicles operated commercially as part of a businessventure or for delivery service to customers by dair-
ies, hatcheries, and the like are not eligible for a joint
tag. (TCA 55-4-113)
♦ “Logging and lumbering trucks” are those trucks used
for hauling logs, pulpwood, bark, wood chips, and
wood dust from the woods to the mill or for hauling
lumber, bark, wood chips, and wood dust from the
mill to a loading or storage place.