150 Air Mile Radius Map (DOT Short-Haul)
The FMCSA short-haul exception lets certain commercial drivers work without a record of duty status inside a 150 air-mile radius of their normal work reporting location. This tool draws that circle — correctly measured in air miles (nautical miles), not statute miles.
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Click the map to drop a circle · drag the white center dot to move · drag the outlined edge dot to resize · up to 12 circles.
This is a planning sketch, not a compliance determination.
The circle is a straight-line (great-circle) radius. Whether a specific trip qualifies for the short-haul exception depends on the regulation's exact wording, road distances, elapsed time, driving hours and your carrier's operations — decide with your safety department or counsel, never from a map alone. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Why 150 air miles is 172.6 statute miles
An “air mile” is the international nautical mile — exactly 1,852 meters, the unit aviation and marine navigation use. A regular U.S. statute mile is 1,609.344 meters. So the DOT's 150 air-mile radius works out to:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| 150 air miles | 173 mi statute · 278 km |
| 1 air mile | 1,852 m = 1.15078 statute miles |
| 150 statute miles (often drawn by mistake) | only 130 nmi air miles — ~11% too small |
Drawing a 150 statute mile circle understates the regulatory radius by about 22 statute miles at every bearing — enough to wrongly exclude real qualifying locations, or to mislead a dispatcher. The map above defaults to the correct 173 mi circle; the preset row also includes a 150-statute-mile circle so you can see the difference.
How dispatchers use this map
- Terminal planning. Center the circle on the driver's normal work reporting location and check whether a customer or delivery point falls inside the radius before committing to short-haul scheduling.
- Recruiting territories. Show candidates which depots sit inside their qualifying radius.
- Shared references. Copy link encodes the circle in the URL — send it to a driver or safety manager and they see the exact same circle. PNG and KML exports work for documents and Google Earth.
Remember the exception also involves time and duty constraints, not just distance — the circle answers only the geography question. For the regulatory text, see 49 CFR 395.1(e) on eCFR, and verify road mileage for any real trip with your ELD or dispatch system.
Other radius questions?
The general-purpose radius map tool handles any distance in miles or kilometers, and the ZIP code radius tool lists every ZIP inside a circle.
Explore more map tools
Radius Map
Draw circles in miles or kilometers.
ZIP Code Radius
List every ZIP code inside a radius.
KM Radius Map
Radius presets in kilometers.
Start with the 150 air mile radius map above — free, no signup, no usage caps.
Frequently asked questions
What is an air mile?
In DOT regulations, an air mile is the international nautical mile: 1,852 meters, or about 6,076 feet. 150 air miles equal 172.6 statute miles (277.8 km). The name comes from aviation, where distance is measured over the curved Earth rather than along roads.
Why do other tools draw 150 air miles as 150 regular miles?
They treat 'mile' as the statute mile by habit. That produces a circle about 11% too small (150 statute miles = 130.4 air miles). This tool defaults to the correct 172.6-statute-mile circle and shows both for comparison.
Does the circle measure road miles?
No — it is a straight-line (great-circle) radius, which is what 'air mile' means. A delivery 150 air miles away could be 180+ road miles away. Use your ELD or a routing system for actual trip mileage.
Is a driver automatically compliant inside this circle?
No. The short-haul exception combines the radius with conditions on driving hours, elapsed duty time, return to the reporting location, and vehicle type (49 CFR 395.1(e)). Treat this map as a geography sketch and confirm compliance with your safety department — this page is not legal advice.
Page last updated . Data sources and methodology are described in the sections above and in About.