(a) Findings and declaration of fact. Except as provided in
paragraph (b) of this section, the occupations of motor-vehicle driver
and outside helper on any public road, highway, in or about any mine
(including open pit mine or quarry), place where logging or sawmill
operations are in progress, or in any excavation of the type identified
in Sec. 570.68(a) are particularly hazardous for the employment of
minors between 16 and 18 years of age.
(b) Exemption--Incidental and occasional driving by 17-year-olds.
Minors who are at least 17 years of age may drive automobiles and trucks
on public roadways when all the following criteria are met:
(1) The automobile or truck does not exceed 6,000 pounds gross
vehicle weight, and the vehicle is equipped with a seat belt or similar
restraining
[[Page 265]]
device for the driver and for any passengers and the employer has
instructed the employee that such belts or other devices must be used;
(2) The driving is restricted to daylight hours;
(3) The minor holds a State license valid for the type of driving
involved in the job performed and has no records of any moving
violations at the time of hire;
(4) The minor has successfully completed a State-approved driver
education course;
(5) The driving does not involve: the towing of vehicles; route
deliveries or route sales; the transportation for hire of property,
goods, or passengers; urgent, time-sensitive deliveries; or the
transporting at any one time of more than three passengers, including
the employees of the employer;
(6) The driving performed by the minor does not involve more than
two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day
for the purpose of delivering goods of the minor's employer to a
customer (except urgent, time-sensitive deliveries which are completely
banned in paragraph (b)(5) of this section;
(7) The driving performed by the minor does not involve more than
two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day
for the purpose of transporting passengers (other than the employees of
the employer);
(8) The driving takes place within a thirty (30) mile radius of the
minor's place of employment; and,
(9) The driving is only occasional and incidental to the employee's
employment.
(c) Definitions. For the purpose of this section:
(1) The term motor vehicle shall mean any automobile, truck, truck-
tractor, trailer, semitrailer, motorcycle, or similar vehicle propelled
or drawn by mechanical power and designed for use as a means of
transportation but shall not include any vehicle operated exclusively on
rails.
(2) The term driver shall mean any individual who, in the course of
employment, drives a motor vehicle at any time.
(3) The term outside helper shall mean any individual, other than a
driver, whose work includes riding on a motor vehicle outside the cab
for the purpose of assisting in transporting or delivering goods.
(4) The term gross vehicle weight includes the truck chassis with
lubricants, water and a full tank or tanks of fuel, plus the weight of
the cab or driver's compartment, body and special chassis and body
equipment, and payload.
(5) The term occasional and incidental means no more than one-third
of an employee's worktime in any workday and no more than 20 percent of
an employee's worktime in any workweek.
(6) The term urgent, time-sensitive deliveries means trips which,
because of such factors as customer satisfaction, the rapid
deterioration of the quality or change in temperature of the product,
and/or economic incentives, are subject to time-lines, schedules, and/or
turn-around times which might impel the driver to hurry in the
completion of the delivery. Prohibited trips would include, but are not
limited to, the delivery of pizzas and prepared foods to the customer;
the delivery of materials under a deadline (such as deposits to a bank
at closing); and the shuttling of passengers to and from transportation
depots to meet transport schedules. Urgent, time-sensitive deliveries
would not depend on the delivery's points of origin and termination, and
would include the delivery of people and things to the employer's place
of business as well as from that business to some other location.
[56 FR 58630, Nov. 20, 1991, as amended at 69 FR 75403, Dec. 16, 2004]
