Can a Teen Drive for Work Before 18?

Under federal law, most on-the-job driving before 18 is banned. Hazardous Occupations Order 2, at 29 CFR § 570.52, declares the occupations of motor-vehicle driver and outside helper on public roads particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18. The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #43 summarises the same order: operating motor vehicles on public roads is banned, with a narrow daylight exception that applies only to 17 year olds under strictly limited circumstances.

This is general information about the federal floor, not legal advice. State rules can be stricter, and the stricter standard is the one that governs.

What is banned for everyone under 18?

Order 2 finds that, except for the 17 year old exemption below, the occupations of motor-vehicle driver and outside helper on any public road, highway, in or about any mine, logging or sawmill operation, or certain excavations, are particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18.

Two definitions from the regulation itself matter:

• A driver is “any individual who, in the course of employment, drives a motor vehicle at any time.”
• An outside helper is “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.”

A teenager who never holds the wheel can still be inside the ban if the job puts them on the outside of the vehicle as a helper. The regulation’s definition of a motor vehicle covers automobiles, trucks, truck-tractors, trailers, semitrailers, motorcycles, and similar vehicles designed for transportation, and excludes vehicles operated exclusively on rails.

What about a 16 year old?

Nothing in the exemption reaches age 16. Fact Sheet #43 is blunt on the age cut: the limited driving allowance is for 17 year olds. A 16 year old may not drive on public roads as part of the job, and may not work as an outside helper under Order 2.

That includes commuting between job sites in an employer vehicle, running parts across town, and moving a crew truck. Private driving to get to work in the family’s car is a different question from driving as a duty of the job. Order 2 is about employment.

What may a 17 year old do?

Only when all of the criteria in 29 CFR § 570.52(b) are met at once. Quoting the structure of the rule rather than inventing a shorter version:

1. The automobile or truck does not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, has seat belts for driver and passengers, and the employer has instructed the employee that the belts must be used.
2. The driving is restricted to daylight hours.
3. The minor holds a State licence valid for the type of driving involved and has no record of 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 towing; route deliveries or route sales; transportation for hire of property, goods, or passengers; urgent, time-sensitive deliveries; or transporting more than three passengers at one time, including the employer’s employees.
6. No more than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day to deliver the employer’s goods to a customer (urgent deliveries remain banned).
7. No more than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day to transport passengers other than the employer’s employees.
8. The driving takes place within a 30 mile radius of the minor’s place of employment.
9. The driving is only occasional and incidental to the employee’s employment.

“Occasional and incidental” is defined in the same section: no more than one-third of the employee’s worktime in any workday and no more than 20 percent of the employee’s worktime in any workweek.

Miss any one of those conditions and the exemption fails. A clean licence does not rescue a night shift. A daylight run does not rescue a route-delivery job.

Why pizza and prepared-food delivery are out

Parents meet this rule on summer “driver” ads. The regulation defines urgent, time-sensitive deliveries as trips subject to timelines, schedules, or turnaround times that might impel the driver to hurry. It states that prohibited trips “would include, but are not limited to, the delivery of pizzas and prepared foods to the customer,” bank deposits under a deadline, and shuttling passengers to meet transport schedules.

So a 17 year old who otherwise fits the exemption still may not take those trips. An employer who advertises pizza delivery to 16 or 17 year olds is advertising work Order 2 does not allow.

Does an apprenticeship change any of this?

No. Fact Sheet #43 lists limited exemptions from Hazardous Occupations Orders 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 17 for apprentices and student-learners who meet written conditions. Order 2 is not on that list. A registered apprentice under 18 remains inside the driving ban and the narrow 17 year old conditions, same as any other minor employee.

That is one reason many construction programs prefer to wait until 18: the person who can lawfully drive the truck is often the person the crew needs, and Order 2 will not stretch to cover a 16 year old apprentice behind the wheel. Age and hazardous-work rules for apprentices more generally are in what age a teen can start an apprenticeship.

What this looks like for one family

The following example is illustrative rather than a real household.

Maren is 17, licensed, and has finished a state-approved driver education course. A landscaping company offers afternoon work and asks whether she can drive a light pickup between two yards about eight miles apart.

Her father reads Order 2 before anyone answers. The truck is under 6,000 pounds. The trips would be in daylight. There is no pizza bag and no route book. Even so, the job description says “help with deliveries between sites,” and the manager cannot say how much of the day would be driving.

Until that share is written down and stays under one-third of each workday and 20 percent of the week, the exemption is not safe to claim. Maren takes the job as a yard worker who rides as a passenger. The company keeps a licensed adult on the wheel. That is duller than the advert, and it is lawful.

How do I check my state?

Fact Sheet #43 states that when both federal and state youth employment laws apply, the law with the stricter standard must be obeyed. A looser state rule does not weaken federal Order 2. A tighter state night-driving or age rule can close doors the federal exemption appears to leave open.

Start with the Department of Labor’s Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment table (as of July 15, 2025 on the page checked for this article), note the table’s date, and treat it as a pointer. Then call your state labor office if the job involves any driving. The broader age and hours map sits in child labor laws, explained for parents.

If the worry is safety rather than age, what your teen can do if a job feels unsafe covers the different route for that.

Wage and Hour Division complaints about child labor are free and confidential. This page is not a substitute for advice from your state labor department or a lawyer when real pay or a real injury is on the line.