[Sixstrings]

A new rule being proposed by the federal Department of Transportation would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a part of DOT, wants to adopt standards that would reclassify all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles, officials said. Likewise, the proposal, if adopted, would require all farmers and everyone on the farm who operates any of the equipment to obtain a CDL, they added.

The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass the same tests and complete the same detailed forms and logs required of semi-tractor trailer drivers.

Drivers would keep logs of information including hours worked and miles traveled. Vehicles would be required to display DOT numbers. A CDL in Virginia costs $64 for eight years, or $8 per year, not including the cost of an instructional class and the written test.

If the DOT reclassifies farm vehicles and implements as commercial vehicles, the federal government will have regulatory control over the nation’s farm workers, estimated at over 800,000, by requiring them to have commercial drivers licenses.
That possibility worries county farmers and others in Halifax County interested in agriculture.

“I have a CDL, but very few farmers have one,” said Nathalie farmer Ronnie Waller. “This is just another bureaucratic hurdle for the farmer.

“It’s hard enough fighting Mother Nature, insects and all…now we have to fight the federal government,” he added.
http://www.gazettevirginian.com/index.php/news/34-news/3739-proposed-rule-on-farms-called-absurd

Good thing about this is if it's enforced, it will crack down on illegal migrant farm labor. But that doesn't make sense, the gov has never been serious about illegals.. the nation may starve to death if all farm tractor drivers had to suddenly prove their legal residency.

So I dunno what the angle is here.. but if the rule goes through, anyone operating motorized machinery on a farm will have to get a CDL licence. And keep time logs just like a truck driver, taking required rest breaks and the logs have to show that, etc. If your logs don't match up, you may get a big fine from DOT same thing truck drivers go through.

[DomusAlbion]

This actually makes some sense (I can't believe I said that! ) for large commercial farms. The large combines around here are as big as a house and often are driven on the local roads to get from one field to the next. The driver of these rigs should have a CDL especially if they are taking it out on the road. They always have a truck with a "WIDE LOAD" sign lead the way and they drive around 20 mph at max but still there are occasional accidents with other inattentive drivers.

Having said that I have to add that I hate what the bureaucracies (Fed and State) are doing to our nation. Unfortunately this rule will probably be applied to all farm vehicles and my wife will have to have a CDL to drive our JD Lawn Tractor to mow the yard.

[Oakley]

Unfortunately this rule will probably be applied to all farm vehicles and my wife will have to have a CDL to drive our JD Lawn Tractor to mow the yard.

Your wife mows the lawn! I need advice on how to pull that off.

[Pops]

This bit of sensationalist "they're stealling our freedom!" has been debunked by AR11.

the rule is about driving hiway speeds on hiways

[DomusAlbion]

Unfortunately this rule will probably be applied to all farm vehicles and my wife will have to have a CDL to drive our JD Lawn Tractor to mow the yard.

Your wife mows the lawn! I need advice on how to pull that off.

We have about an acre of our land that encompasses the household compound and orchard/garden. This is all in lawn type grass and she loves to get on our JD X320 lawn tractor and mow the entire area. She will even mow the pastures with the big JD tractor when time allows. She loves the farm!

[dolanbaker]

Unfortunately this rule will probably be applied to all farm vehicles and my wife will have to have a CDL to drive our JD Lawn Tractor to mow the yard.

Your wife mows the lawn! I need advice on how to pull that off.

My wife tried, and hit the tree!

[AgentR11]

Don't make me break out my linky stick.

The rule does not have squat to do with requiring a CDL for driving your tractor on your farm. None. Nada. Zilch. In fact, the proposed reg goes out of its way to define stuff like tractors and whatnot, and SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES THEM from the requirement, just so morons like the above reporter would have no excuse for their stupidity.

OTOH, if you are driving a rig from farm to farm, on the highway, as you go about crop-sharing a plethora of fields; and you are driving that rig without a CDL, then yeah, you will feel an impact... BUT YOU SHOULD FEEL AN IMPACT BECAUSE WHAT YOU ARE DOING SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. If you're gonna drive a commercial vehicle, on the highway, GET A DANG CDL.

There is one possible real nuisance in this mess, and that is delivery of harvest from field to silo; you'll need a CDL to drive that vehicle, even if it is just a few miles. OTOH, local economy could likely take care of this easily enough; I know around our parts, the guy with the big tractor will hire himself out to make short work of various surrounding fields; I see no reason that the farming guy with a CDL wouldn't be able to do the same for other small operators. Or from the other vantage, something a small operator could take up if they were in good health, get a CDL, drive odd jobs to cover the cost and make a bit of loose change.

One thing I do know, if you're driving a truck, on the road, and using it for a business transport purpose, you have no business doing so without a CDL. This reg makes it uniform for the nation.

[Dreamtwister]

Or it provides another regulatory infraction they can use to punish small operators, or raw milk sellers.

Never really understood that particular crusade...

[AgentR11]

Or it provides another regulatory infraction they can use to punish small operators, or raw milk sellers.
Never really understood that particular crusade...

I'll make this one simple.

Feds have the constitutional authority and obligation to set the rules of interstate commerce.
Its more clearly written than the dang first amendment.

Raw milk sellers were most certainly engaging in interstate commerce.
Raw milk sellers were most certainly violating the rules written by the feds.

What more do you need to know?

Do we ditch the constitution when we don't like a feature?

Same with this thing. If you want to drive a vehicle on public roads to engage in commerce, GET A DANG CDL. If you don't qualify for a CDL, you do not belong on the road driving a vehicle for commerce.

[Loki]

OTOH, if you are driving a rig from farm to farm, on the highway, as you go about crop-sharing a plethora of fields; and you are driving that rig without a CDL, then yeah, you will feel an impact... BUT YOU SHOULD FEEL AN IMPACT BECAUSE WHAT YOU ARE DOING SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. If you're gonna drive a commercial vehicle, on the highway, GET A DANG CDL.

Utter nonsense. Tell me Agent, how many years have you been farming? I'm guessing none, zero, zip.

And how does my driving a tractor or pickup truck to our leased field 2 miles away constitute “interstate commerce”? ALL of our produce is sold in state.

The vast majority of business-related driving doesn't require a CDL. Why single us farmers out? If you've ever driven a work vehicle or your personal vehicle on work-related errands without a CDL, you're a hypocrite. It amazes me how eager otherwise reasonable people are to slap arbitrary regulations on other people.

Thankfully the DOT bureaucrats---under pressure from Congress----rethought this idiotic rule and decided against it. This would have been yet another blow to small farmers. It's hard enough to get good, legal workers on small farms given the low pay and hard physical labor, it'd be nearly impossible if most of your employees had to have a CDL. Not to mention the onerous, expensive record keeping this would have required.

[AgentR11]

And how does my driving a tractor or pickup truck to our leased field 2 miles away constitute “interstate commerce”? ALL of our produce is sold in state.

While its possible that you are telling me that the produce is CONSUMED in state (not just single step sold, selling to someone who then ships across state lines still invokes interstate commerce for *ALL* steps in the chain), most do not, and you know they do not. Most sell to an accumulator, which then ships product by rail to processing.

Thankfully the DOT bureaucrats---under pressure from Congress----rethought this idiotic rule and decided against it. This would have been yet another blow to small farmers. It's hard enough to get good, legal workers on small farms given the low pay and hard physical labor, it'd be nearly impossible if most of your employees had to have a CDL. Not to mention the onerous, expensive record keeping this would have required.

Look, my point was that people were saying this reg would cause a CDL to be required to drive a tractor on your farm; when the reg most specifically and directly states that a tractor will NOT require a CDL to be used on a farm. I dislike dishonesty; and the claim that it would require such was ABSOLUTELY DISHONEST.

I still think people should be required to have a CDL to drive a heavy truck on the highway transporting product. If you think that's to much of a burden, so be it. We simply disagree there.

[Cog]

Again the progressives never seem to find a problem with increased regulations and costs to people trying to make a living. What a surprise.

[Loki]

While its possible that you are telling me that the produce is CONSUMED in state (not just single step sold, selling to someone who then ships across state lines still invokes interstate commerce for *ALL* steps in the chain), most do not, and you know they do not. Most sell to an accumulator, which then ships product by rail to processing.

I'm not talking about what “most” farmers do, I'm talking about what the farm I work at does. I know exactly where our produce ends up, I personally deliver most of it. ALL of it is sold directly to the consumer via a CSA or to small locally owned restaurants---all exclusively in the state of Oregon. Every last head of lettuce, every last tomato. There is no middle man that ships our veg across state lines.

So tell me again why I should have a CDL to drive a tractor or pick up truck to our leased field 2 miles away. Should a real estate agent have to have a CDL to drive their personal car to meet prospective buyers? Should an office gopher have to have a CDL to pick up a ream of paper from the office supply store? Should a pizza delivery guy have to have a CDL to deliver pizzas to your door in his beat-up 1984 Geo Metro? How about a bike messenger?

What you're arguing is absurd. Kind of surprising from someone who is obviously intelligent, generally level headed, and politically conservative.

[peeker01]

I bought a 40 foot diesel motorhome with air brakes a couple of years ago. More than once,
I have wished I knew a little something about airbrakes. Came close to wrecking it twice, before
I got the brakes adjusted and the leaks fixed. The CDL test covers most of these issues.
I imagine driver rest issues are being tackled too.

[AgentR11]

So tell me again why I should have a CDL to drive a tractor or pick up truck to our leased field 2 miles away. Should a real estate agent have to have a CDL to drive their personal car to meet prospective buyers? Should an office gopher have to have a CDL to pick up a ream of paper from the office supply store? Should a pizza delivery guy have to have a CDL to deliver pizzas to your door in his beat-up 1984 Geo Metro? How about a bike messenger?

If you read the reg, then you will know that a CDL is not required for what you are talking about. In fact, it goes to some length to explain the interstate commerce part, and you selling your stuff to the end user will not qualify as interstate commerce. The folks the reg is going after are in fact engaged in interstate commerce, and are choosing to drive heavy trucks (not pickups) from harvester to silo; and claiming the guy at the railroad is the end user. That's BS and you know its BS.

You folks act like you're afraid to read regs. They aren't complicated. You can even pull the dang things up on the web, even add your public commentary via the web now.

Pizza guy wouldn't need a CDL.
You wouldn't need a CDL either.

What you're arguing is absurd. Kind of surprising from someone who is obviously intelligent, generally level headed, and politically conservative.

Public highways are public space, and you ought to be tested and licensed to drive heavy, dangerous vehicles on them for commercial purposes. Why is that anti-conservative?