§ 570.52 Occupations of motor-vehicle driver and outside helper (Order 2).

(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 § 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 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]