More Haulers Get Breathing Room under Fuel Emergency

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October 26, 2026

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(Landline Media) An emergency waiver from hours-of-service requirements, issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has been in effect since mid-September. That order remains in effect through Dec. 16, but was recently amended by FMCSA.

Following a request from the Renewable Fuels Association, drivers and motor carriers transporting ethanol are now covered by this emergency.

“Because ethanol blending occurs at fuel terminals immediately before distribution, delays in ethanol delivery can have similar effects on fuel supply as delays in gasoline transportation,” director of regulatory affairs, Maddie Jenks, wrote in an Oct. 5 letter to FMCSA.

FMCSA said that adequate gasoline and diesel supplies are critical to the movement of people, products and supplies as well as the harvesting and transport of agricultural crops.

Fuel reports released on Friday, Oct. 23, showed a national average price per gallon well above $6 for diesel.

“Temporary hours-of-service flexibility should be provided for the interstate motor carriers transporting gasoline, diesel fuel, ethanol and denatured ethanol to address potential increases in transportation and agricultural harvesting demands,” FMCSA said in its amended emergency order.

Heating oil is also covered under this order as long as it is no more than 75% of the total shipment.

Motor carriers must submit to FMCSA the number of drivers operating under this emergency upon request.

States may adopt the same waiver or policy for intrastate commerce. READ MORE

Related articles

Ahead of Midterms, Republicans Court Iowa Farmers With Fuel Plans (Inside Climate News)
Frustrated farmers could become a midterm problem for Republicans (The Hill; includes VIDEO)
New Agri-Pulse poll captures dour farm outlook heading into midterms (Agri-Pulse)

Excerpt from Inside Climate News: As farm costs climb, top Trump officials are promoting diesel relief and biofuel policies in their visits to the battleground state.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Vice President J.D. Vance have all traveled to Iowa in the last month, either in their official capacity or to campaign with GOP candidates. President Donald Trump visited Sioux City last Thursday and plans to return to Iowa before Election Day.

Though widespread frustration over affordability could fuel Democratic gains nationwide, Trump’s trade wars, the war in Iran and his support for the oil and gas industry have hit Iowa farmers particularly hard. The state is a leading producer of corn, soybeans and biofuels made from both crops.

With Iowa’s closely watched midterm elections roughly a week away, the Trump administration has rolled out a series of measures aimed at winning over farmers whose livelihoods depend heavily on federal fuel and agricultural policies.

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The war in Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have exposed how much Iowa farmers rely on fossil fuel imports. Spiking diesel prices have left growers paying almost twice as much per gallon this harvest as last year. That amounts to thousands of dollars of additional costs each day, even on smaller acreages.

Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs have driven up the price of farm machinery and other essential materials, like fertilizer. Retaliatory tariffs from countries like China are devastating U.S. commodity crop exports and depressing market prices.

U.S. farm debt is projected to hit a record $605 billion this year, raising concerns about a repeat of the farm crisis of the 1980s. Back then, soaring debt, plunging land values and federal policies that encouraged consolidation contributed to widespread foreclosures of family farms.

Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would offer American farmers $8 billion in one-time fuel relief payments.

The National Corn Growers Association welcomed the announcement with cautious optimism.

“We appreciate the administration recognizing how the high cost of inputs, especially diesel fuel prices during harvest time, is adding to the economic pain of America’s farmers,” the organization wrote in a statement. Still, they added, “We urge Washington to focus on durable, bipartisan, long-term solutions that will result in lasting improvements to the farm and national economy.”

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Even if the war ends today, Iowa farmers are unlikely to see an immediate drop in prices, McCormick (James McCormick, a professor emeritus of political science at Iowa State University) said. Prices on refined oil products like diesel and gasoline could remain high for a year or more after the conflict ends.

Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, described last Monday’s fuel relief announcement as a “Hail Mary pass” by Trump to fix a problem his own policies created. “We need genuine efforts to help farmers now while fixing the real causes of our current situation. We need to conclude the war without sacrificing our farmers’ bottom lines,” Lehman said in a statement.

As farmers face mounting financial pressure, many are looking to biofuels for a potential economic lifeline.

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At a Farm Bureau office in Peosta, Iowa, earlier this month, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency would preserve overall ethanol purchases by reallocating all the renewable fuel blending waivers it granted to small refineries this year.

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Though Iowa’s Republican incumbents have championed year-round E15, Congress has yet to pass legislation allowing its nationwide sale, either as a standalone measure or as part of a long-delayed Farm Bill. That lack of progress could hurt Republicans in Iowa’s congressional races, McCormick said.

While Trump has endorsed year-round E15, that position appears to conflict with his support for oil and gas industry interests.

Reducing transportation emissions was a key goal when Congress established the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2005. Although growing corn for ethanol and converting land for agricultural production generate greenhouse gas emissions, higher-ethanol blends generally produce fewer emissions from a vehicle’s tailpipe than conventional gasoline.

Yet in Trump’s second term, the EPA repealed the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which had provided the legal and scientific foundation for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The agency subsequently rescinded all federal emissions standards and requirements for on-road vehicles.

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Ahead of the election, the Iowa Farmers Union has endorsed all five Democrats running for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats from Iowa. It marks the first time the union has endorsed a candidate for federal office in years. READ MORE

Excerpt from The Hill: The Trump administration has been rolling out financial assistance packages and projects for farmers in hopes of shoring up the electorate in next week’s midterm elections. Yet they may be right to be anxious about the voting bloc’s turnout.

“Yes, I think they’re nervous. Yes, I think they should be, and yes, I think that farmers are pretty ticked off,” said Amy Frederiksen, a former Minnesota Republican Senate majority leader.

Frederiksen said farmers “don’t want to vote for a lot of the Democrats’ nonsense.”

“They want to vote for Republicans, but this is their business, these are their families, and it doesn’t appear that anyone’s listening,” she said.

Republican House and Senate candidates in farm states like Ohio, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska are facing unexpectedly tight races this midterm season. Some have pressured the Trump administration and Congress to address the rising costs for farmers.

Trump won 69 percent of the rural vote in 2024, but recent polls have shown that the voting group is not happy with how they’ve fared under Trump since the election.

“It has to be a reflection of tariffs, input costs, food costs, markets being barred, and diesel and gas prices,” Frederiksen said.

A poll from KFF and The Associated Press found that roughly 6 in 10 rural voters disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, and the group overwhelmingly named the cost of living as the top issue they want a candidate to talk about.

Farmers are struggling with prices amid the ongoing Iran war. The average price of diesel per gallon is roughly $6.35, and fertilizer costs have also risen. Ninety-four percent said their financial situation has worsened or remained the same from last year, a survey released by the American Farm Bureau Federation in April found.

Still, the KFF/AP poll shows that rural Republican voters still trust the GOP more to handle issues like healthcare and the cost of living, meaning it’s more likely Republican voters might skip the polls next week instead of voting Democrat. READ MORE

Excerpt from Agri-Pulse: As farmers, ranchers and agribusiness leaders head to the voting booths Tuesday, new research indicates they are very concerned about the farm economy and their ability to be profitable over the next 12 months. Results from the Agri-Pulse Research Network: The Political Pulse of Agriculture, show 62% of respondents said they feel U.S. agriculture is headed in the wrong direction, while 24% were unsure. Only 14% said the country was headed in the right direction. The national survey, powered by the Stratovation Group, was conducted throughout October and concluded today with 170 participants.

Asked to rate President Trump's approach to agriculture based on the impact to the ag economy on a scale of 1-10, with a 1 signaling "extremely disapprove" and 10 "extremely approve," the president scored an average of 3.7. READ MORE