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49 CFR 390.11: A trucking company's duty to require compliance

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49 CFR 390.11: A trucking company's duty to require compliance
Law read on2026-11-06[1]

49 CFR 390.11 addresses a narrow question: what must a motor carrier require when a regulation places a duty or prohibition on a driver? Under 49 CFR 390.11, whenever part 325 of subchapter A or the referenced subchapter prescribes a driver duty or prohibition, the motor carrier must require its observance. The obligation described in 49 CFR 390.11 therefore connects a driver's regulatory requirement to a corresponding carrier responsibility.[1][2][3]

49 CFR 390.11 also expressly addresses a motor carrier who is a driver, stating that the driver is likewise bound. Reading that requirement requires attention to the applicability rules in 49 CFR 390.3T and the selected definitions in 49 CFR 390.5T. This entry examines those saved provisions together, separating the compliance requirement from the definitions and exceptions that determine its regulatory context.[1][2][3]

Contents

What the cited provisions say

49 CFR 390.11 makes the carrier's obligation conditional on a duty or prohibition prescribed for a driver within the specified regulatory material. Under 49 CFR 390.11, whenever part 325 of subchapter A or this subchapter prescribes a driver duty or imposes a driver prohibition, the motor carrier must require its observance. The saved text of 49 CFR 390.11 does not identify a particular training format, supervision procedure, or documentation system.[1][2][3]

49 CFR 390.3T(e)(1) separately requires every employer to know and comply with regulations in the subchapter that apply to the carrier's operations. Under 49 CFR 390.3T(e)(2), every driver and employee must receive instruction concerning, and comply with, applicable regulations in that subchapter. For required motor vehicle equipment and accessories, 49 CFR 390.3T(e)(3) requires maintenance consistent with applicable performance and design criteria. Meanwhile, 49 CFR 390.3T(d) permits employers to require and enforce more stringent requirements concerning operational safety and employee safety and health.[1][2][3]

Who and what the provisions cover

49 CFR 390.3T(a)(1) generally applies the subchapter to employers, employees, and commercial motor vehicles transporting property or passengers in interstate commerce. Under 49 CFR 390.5T, a driver is anyone operating a commercial motor vehicle. The motor carrier definition in 49 CFR 390.5T encompasses for-hire and private carriers, their agents, officers, representatives, employees responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching drivers, and employees concerned with equipment or accessory installation, inspection, and maintenance; it also includes employer and exempt motor carrier.[1][2][3]

Under 49 CFR 390.5T, a commercial motor vehicle is a self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property that meets at least one criterion: a gross vehicle weight rating, gross combination weight rating, gross vehicle weight, or gross combination weight of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; design or use to transport more than 8 passengers, including the driver, for compensation; design or use to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, without use to transport passengers for compensation; or use to transport material found hazardous by the Secretary of Transportation under 49 U.S.C. 5103 in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.[1][2][3]

Conditions and exceptions

Unless otherwise specifically provided, 49 CFR 390.3T(f)(1) excludes school bus operations as defined in § 390.5T, while retaining §§ 391.15(e) and (f), 392.15, 392.80, and 392.82. Unless otherwise specifically provided, 49 CFR 390.3T(f)(2) through (5) exclude from the subchapter's rules transportation performed by the Federal government, a State, a State political subdivision, or an agency established under a congressionally approved compact between States; occasional transportation of personal property by individuals neither for compensation nor in furtherance of a commercial enterprise; transportation of human corpses or sick and injured persons; and operation of fire trucks and rescue vehicles while involved in emergency and related operations.[1][2][3]

Unless otherwise specifically provided, 49 CFR 390.3T(f)(6) excepts operation of commercial motor vehicles designed or used to transport between 9 and 15 passengers, including the driver, not for direct compensation, provided the vehicle does not otherwise meet the commercial motor vehicle definition; their motor carriers and drivers must nevertheless comply with §§ 390.15, 390.19T, 390.21T(a) and (b)(2), 391.15(e) and (f), 392.80, and 392.82. Section 390.3T(f)(6) nevertheless retains §§ 390.15, 390.19T, 390.21T(a) and (b)(2), 391.15(e) and (f), 392.80 and 392.82 for their carriers and drivers.[1][2][3]

Unless otherwise specifically provided, 49 CFR 390.3T(f)(7) excepts a driver of a commercial motor vehicle used primarily to transport propane winter heating fuel or a driver of a motor vehicle used to respond to a pipeline emergency, if the regulations would prevent the driver from responding to an emergency condition requiring immediate response as defined in § 390.5T. That emergency definition and the school bus definition referenced in 49 CFR 390.3T(f) are not among the saved definition units.[1][2][3]

49 CFR 390.3T(a)(2) applies the cited coercion rules concerning certain safety regulations to carriers, shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries, and those concerning certain commercial regulations to commercial motor vehicle operators, for drivers operating in interstate commerce. Section 390.3T(b) applies part 383 to interstate and intrastate operators of vehicles defined in § 383.5 and their employers; § 390.3T(c) makes part 387 applicability dependent on §§ 387.3 or 387.27.[1][2][3]

For intrastate hazardous-material carriers and vehicles, 49 CFR 390.3T(g) applies part 386; part 387 to the extent provided in § 387.3; and part 385, subparts A and E, plus §§ 390.19T and 390.21T, for carriers subject to § 385.403. Section 390.3T(g)(4) excepts intrastate carriers operating prior to January 1, 2005, from § 390.19T(a)(1). For intermodal equipment providers, § 390.3T(h) applies part 385 subpart F, part 386, this part except § 390.15(b), and parts 393 and 396.[1][2][3]

Source date and limits

The saved-source date is 2026-11-06. The source set consists of eCFR material from the National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register: 49 CFR 390.11, 49 CFR 390.3T, and the selected definitions from 49 CFR 390.5T. That date describes the saved material, not a verification of the law currently in effect.[1][2][3]

This entry maintains statute-only scope, here limited to the supplied federal regulatory text. Judicial interpretation is outside its coverage. References to other provisions identify connections present in the saved text; their substantive contents are not reconstructed from titles or citations. The discussion does not establish liability, fault, insurance coverage, damages, or litigation deadlines for a particular event. It provides general reference information about the carrier compliance requirement and its saved regulatory context, rather than legal advice or an assessment of an individual dispute.[1][2][3]

On related publications

Law checked on against the primary sources cited below. Statutes and rules change; read the current official text before relying on a deadline or rule.

References

  1. abcdefghijklmn "49 CFR 390.11, Motor carrier to require observance of driver regulations". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 390.3T, General applicability". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdefghijklm "49 CFR 390.5T, Definitions". National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Official source. Checked . Source record