Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued a proclamation on Thursday, October 29, that suspends the state's hours-of-service rules for crews and drivers delivering fuel into or within Iowa, in a move aimed at easing restrictions on the transportation of, and access to, motor fuels across the state.
Source: Office of Governor Kim Reynolds via EIN Presswire
The proclamation took effect immediately and continues through 11:59 p.m. on November 28, 2026, the governor's office said. It suspends the regulatory provisions of the Iowa Code that set hours of service for the crews and drivers who deliver diesel, gasoline and gasoline blends, ethanol and biodiesel.
What the order does — and what it does not do
Hours-of-service rules limit how long a commercial driver may drive and work before taking rest, and they exist to keep tired drivers off the road. Suspending them for fuel delivery means tanker crews hauling diesel, gasoline, ethanol and biodiesel can legally run longer days to move fuel from terminals to farms, truck stops, heating suppliers and filling stations inside Iowa, and to bring fuel into the state.
The governor's announcement addresses hours of service only. It does not announce any change to commercial driver's licence requirements, vehicle safety rules or other trucking regulations, and it applies only to crews and drivers delivering the listed fuels — not to freight drivers in general.
Why Iowa is acting now
The proclamation is titled a proclamation for 'ease of access to transportation fuels,' and it lands in the middle of Iowa's harvest season, when diesel demand from farm machinery peaks and fuel must keep moving to rural communities spread across a large agricultural state. Iowa's hours-of-service provisions sit in Iowa Code section 321.449, the same provision the governor's office has suspended in earlier fuel proclamations posted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
It is also the latest in a run of Iowa fuel measures this autumn. Earlier in October the governor issued a separate proclamation suspending state penalties for using dyed diesel on highways to haul specified farm products, a measure that runs into February 2027, and in September a harvest proclamation allowed overweight loads of farm products to move without a permit. Together the measures show a state government repeatedly loosening transport rules to keep fuel and farm goods moving.
Fuel haulers running into or inside Iowa — including on the I-80 and I-35 corridors that cross the state — are the drivers directly covered until November 28. General freight drivers are not covered by this proclamation, and the relief ends at the Iowa state line: hours-of-service rules in neighbouring states are unchanged.
Part of a wider fuel-price backdrop
Iowa is not alone in reaching for emergency fuel tools this month. Georgia's governor extended a suspension of that state's motor fuel taxes — 33.3 cents a gallon on gasoline and 37.3 cents on diesel — through November 30, citing global market volatility and high fuel prices. The two states are using different tools, a tax break in Georgia and a driving-hours waiver in Iowa, but both are responding to the same pressure on fuel supply and prices ahead of the Thanksgiving travel period.
What happens next
The relief runs through 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, November 28, 2026. Fuel delivery drivers and carriers should watch for any extension or early end to the proclamation as that date approaches, and in the meantime keep records showing their loads are the covered fuels, since the waiver applies only to fuel delivery work.