# Your RV transport drivers run under an exemption most dispatch software has never heard of.

![A dispatch manager checking the gross weight of a recreation vehicle against a driver assignment screen in a plant yard office, used to show where the exemption is actually enforced.](https://neurobird.com/rvtransport/rvtransport-hero.webp)
*The weight check belongs at assignment, not at the weigh station.*

> RV transport is the driveaway movement of recreation vehicles from a manufacturing plant to a dealer, usually before first retail sale. It is a regulated freight operation with an unusual wrinkle: a standing FMCSA exemption lets qualifying drivers move RVs without a commercial licence, but only inside limits on weight and on the vehicles covered. Dispatch, driver files and the proof that a load stayed inside those limits are what this work actually turns on.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/rvtransport/
- Product: Neurobird RV Transport Inspection Tracking Platform
- Niche: RV transport
- Buyer: driveaway companies, RV manufacturers and dealers
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-25

## What Neurobird RV Transport does

- Flag any unit whose gross or combined weight puts the movement outside the exemption before dispatch.
- Hold each driver's qualification record against the movements they actually ran, not in a plant cabinet.
- Record the date and stage of sale for every unit so pre retail movements can be evidenced later.
- Keep an export that answers an audit with dates, weights and driver files already assembled.

## How it works

1. **Assign** A unit is matched to a driver and the system checks gross weight against the 26,000 pound line, so an out of scope movement is caught before anyone leaves.
2. **Move** The movement carries its own record: origin plant, destination dealer, dates, and the sale stage that determines whether the exemption applies at all.
3. **Evidence** Driver files, weights and dates stay attached to the movement, so an audit two years later is a search rather than an excavation.

## From the source material

> The exemption renewal is for 5 years and covers employees of all driveaway companies, RV manufacturers, and RV dealers transporting RVs between manufacturing sites and dealer locations and for movements prior to first retail sale.

Source: FMCSA, RVIA exemption renewal, 87 FR 30378, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-05-19/html/2022-10762.htm

## Industry context

- **26,000 pounds** RVs with a gross vehicle or gross combined weight above 26,000 pounds are not covered by the driveaway exemption. (source: FMCSA, RVIA exemption renewal, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-05-19/html/2022-10762.htm)
- **5 years** The exemption is granted for 5 years and covers driveaway companies, RV manufacturers and dealers moving units before first retail sale. (source: FMCSA, RVIA exemption renewal, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-05-19/html/2022-10762.htm)
- **102 inches** The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 extended a 102 inch width requirement to commercial trucks. (source: FHWA, federal size regulations, https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/size_regs_final_rpt/index.htm)
- **96 inches** Federal width limits began at 96 inches on the Interstate system under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. (source: FHWA, federal size regulations, https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/size_regs_final_rpt/index.htm)

## Pricing

- Single yard: $140 per month
- Multi plant: $360 per month
- Fleet: $720 per month

## Questions

### What is RV transport?

It is the movement of recreation vehicles under their own wheels from a manufacturing plant to a dealer, generally before the unit has been sold to a retail customer. Drivers deliver the vehicle by driving it, which is why it is called driveaway. The work sits under motor carrier safety rules, but a long standing FMCSA exemption changes which licensing requirements apply, provided the movement stays inside the conditions the exemption sets out.

### Does an RV transport driver need a commercial licence?

It depends on the weight. The FMCSA exemption covers employees of driveaway companies, RV manufacturers and dealers moving units between plants and dealers before first retail sale. But RVs with a gross vehicle weight or gross combined weight exceeding 26,000 pounds are explicitly not covered. Above that line the ordinary commercial driver licensing rules apply, so weight is the first thing to check at dispatch rather than the last.

### How long does the exemption last?

The renewal runs for 5 years from its effective date. Because it is a docketed decision rather than a permanent rule, it has to be renewed, and the operating assumptions of an entire fleet depend on someone tracking that date. It is a calendar item worth owning explicitly.

### What size limits apply on the Interstate?

Federal width limits started at 96 inches under the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act and were extended to 102 inches for commercial trucks by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982. Length limits vary by configuration, with specific provisions for automobile and boat transporters.

### Can we use this today?

Not yet. It is in development and open for early access. We would rather build the exemption logic with operators who live inside it than guess at how the trade works.

## Sources

- [FMCSA, RVIA exemption renewal, 87 FR 30378](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-05-19/html/2022-10762.htm)
- [FHWA, federal size regulations for commercial motor vehicles](https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/size_regs_final_rpt/index.htm)
- [FMCSA regulations, 49 CFR Parts 300 to 399](https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/