# Oilfield operations: waiting time at a well site — Federal hours-of-service exemptions by commercial driver operation type

For Oilfield operations: waiting time at a well site, cfr citation is 49 CFR 395.1(d)(2); who qualifies is specially trained drivers of commercial motor vehicles that are specially constructed to service oil wells; what it exempts from is on-duty time shall not include waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site; radius or condition is Waiting time shall not be included in calculating the 14-hour period in § 395.3(a)(2); baseline limit (for context) is § 395.3(a)(2): a driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty, recorded from its source on 2026-08-28; source re-checked 2026-08-30.

- **Exemption:** Oilfield operations: waiting time at a well site _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **CFR citation:** 49 CFR 395.1(d)(2) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Who qualifies:** specially trained drivers of commercial motor vehicles that are specially constructed to service oil wells _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **What it exempts from:** on-duty time shall not include waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Radius or condition:** Waiting time shall not be included in calculating the 14-hour period in § 395.3(a)(2) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Baseline limit (for context):** § 395.3(a)(2): a driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty. _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (2) In the case of specially trained drivers of commercial motor vehicles that are specially constructed to service oil wells, on-duty time shall not include waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site. Such waiting time shall be recorded as “off duty” for purposes of § 395.8 , with remarks or annotations to indicate the specific off-duty periods that are waiting time, or on a separate “waiting time” line on the record of duty status to show that off-duty time is also waiting time. Waiting time shall not be included in calculating the 14-hour period in § 395.3(a)(2) .

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-395/subpart-A/section-395.1

Last verified: 2026-08-30. Review by: 2027-08-28.
Part of [Federal hours-of-service exemptions by commercial driver operation type](https://referencesource.org/federal-hours-of-service-exemptions-by-operation-type/).