The provisions of this chapter requiring a certificate or permit to operate as a motor carrier do not apply to the intrastate transportation described below:

(1) the transportation of students to or from school or school activities in a school bus inspected and certified under section 169.451 and the transportation of children or parents to or from a Head Start facility or Head Start activity in a Head Start bus inspected and certified under section 169.451;

(2) the transportation of solid waste, as defined in section 116.06, subdivision 22, including recyclable materials and waste tires, except that the term "hazardous waste" has the meaning given it in section 221.012, subdivision 18;

(3) a commuter van as defined in section 221.012, subdivision 9;

(4) authorized emergency vehicles as defined in section 169.011, subdivision 3, including ambulances; and tow trucks equipped with proper and legal warning devices when picking up and transporting (i) disabled or wrecked motor vehicles or (ii) vehicles towed or transported under a towing order issued by a public employee authorized to issue a towing order;

(5) the transportation of grain samples under conditions prescribed by the commissioner;

(6) the delivery of agricultural lime;

(7) the transportation of dirt and sod within an area having a 50-mile radius from the home post office of the person performing the transportation;

(8) the transportation of sand, gravel, bituminous asphalt mix, concrete ready mix, concrete blocks or tile and the mortar mix to be used with the concrete blocks or tile, or crushed rock to or from the point of loading or a place of gathering within an area having a 50-mile radius from that person's home post office or a 50-mile radius from the site of construction or maintenance of public roads and streets;

(9) the transportation of pulpwood, cordwood, mining timber, poles, posts, decorator evergreens, wood chips, sawdust, shavings, and bark from the place where the products are produced to the point where they are to be used or shipped;

(10) the transportation of fresh vegetables from farms to canneries or viner stations, from viner stations to canneries, or from canneries to canneries during the harvesting, canning, or packing season, or transporting sugar beets, wild rice, or rutabagas from the field of production to the first place of delivery or unloading, including a processing plant, warehouse, or railroad siding;

(11) the transportation of unprocessed dairy products in bulk within an area having a 100-mile radius from the home post office of the person providing the transportation;

(12) the transportation of agricultural, horticultural, dairy, livestock, or other farm products within an area having a 100-mile radius from the person's home post office and the carrier may transport other commodities within the 100-mile radius if the destination of each haul is a farm;

(13) the transportation of newspapers, telephone books, handbills, circulars, or pamphlets in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less; and

(14) transportation of potatoes from the field of production, or a storage site owned or otherwise controlled by the producer, to the first place of processing.

The exemptions provided in this section apply to a person only while the person is exclusively engaged in exempt transportation.

History: 1983 c 371 s 20; 1984 c 520 s 5; 1985 c 299 s 17; 1988 c 544 s 4; 1989 c 122 s 2; 1989 c 250 s 5; 1990 c 462 s 4; 1991 c 284 s 5; 1991 c 333 s 32; 1992 c 578 s 1,19; 1993 c 117 s 9,30; 1994 c 519 s 1; 1994 c 603 s 20; 1994 c 628 art 3 s 18; 1998 c 403 s 20; 1998 c 405 s 9; 1999 c 238 art 2 s 42; 2001 c 213 s 30; 2009 c 64 s 25; 2010 c 320 art 1 s 18; 2016 c 158 art 1 s 80