The Missouri and Iowa departments of Transportation have inked an agreement that gives farmers who use large trucks to haul property across the state line the limited ability to do so without meeting commercial drivers license requirements.

Normally, the CDL exemption granted to drivers of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 lbs. or more is limited to the farmer’s home state, unless adjoining states agree to extend the privilege to each other’s citizens. Because of the bi-state agreement, operators of farm vehicles licensed in either Missouri or Iowa are now exempt from the CDL requirement if the farm vehicle:

• Is used exclusively to transport agricultural products, farm machinery, and/or farm supplies to or from the farmer’s farm.
• Is used within 150 air miles of the farmer’s farm.

• Is properly operated as a farm vehicle under the laws of either state.

• Is controlled and operated by a farmer, the farmer’s employees or farmer’s family members, so long as the operator holds a valid drivers license in either state.

• Is not operated under hire, meaning the farmer does not haul someone else’s property in return for payment, trade or other reimbursement.

Only the farmer’s own property can be transported under the reciprocity agreement. If property is transported for hire, all applicable state and federal motor carrier regulations apply, including the need for the driver to hold a valid CDL and to comply with registration and fuel tax agreements.

“This is very good news, “ said Jan Skouby, MoDOT Motor Carrier Services Director. “Farmers are often ticketed because they assume the exemptions from safety regulations given to farmers by their own state extend into neighboring states. That is NOT the case...unless the states enact a reciprocal agreement like this one.”

This is the second reciprocal agreement between Iowa and Missouri. In 2007, the states agreed to allow farmers who haul only their own products and equipment within 30 miles of the states’ border an exemption from interstate fuel tax reporting.