Static educational checklist — not a calculator. No punch grids, no 12/56 overtime engines, no live petroleum-bulk math. Spot common FLSA § 7(b)(3) / 29 CFR Part 794 wholesale / bulk petroleum red flags: when an independently owned local enterprise engaged in wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products may use the partial overtime exemption (1½× after 12 in a workday or 56 in a workweek — greater of), and when payroll wrongly parks ordinary after-40 overtime, motor-carrier drivers, refineries, or out-of-gate distributors under Part 794. Distinct from the hospital § 7(j) 8/80, fire/police § 7(k), remedial-education § 7(q), special-detail § 7(p), and premium-credit cheat-sheet pages.
Baseline — what § 7(b)(3) / Part 794 require (and do not)
Under 29 U.S.C. § 207(b)(3) and 29 CFR Part 794, an independently owned and controlled local enterprise (including one with more than one bulk storage establishment) engaged in the wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products may operate under a partial overtime exemption if: (A) annual gross volume of sales is less than $1,000,000 exclusive of excise taxes; (B) more than 75% of annual dollar volume is made within the State where the enterprise is located; and (C) not more than 25% of annual dollar volume is to customers engaged in the bulk distribution of such products for resale. Qualifying employees must receive compensation for employment in excess of forty hours in any workweek at a rate not less than one and one-half times the applicable minimum wage, and — per §§ 794.140–.142 — hours over 12 in any workday or over 56 in the workweek (whichever number is greater) must be paid at 1½× the regular rate, without pyramiding daily and weekly overtime. Hours between 40 and 56 that are not already paid at 1½× the regular rate must still meet the statutory 1½× minimum-wage floor. This page does not compute petroleum-bulk overtime — it only flags compliance red flags.
Checklist — petroleum bulk-station § 7(b)(3) red flags
Non–independently-owned / non-local / non–wholesale-bulk force-fits. Flag major oil company branches, vertically integrated refiners, national chains with central ownership/control, retail-only gas stations with no wholesale/bulk distribution, and non-petroleum enterprises parked under Part 794 because “we deliver fuel sometimes.” § 7(b)(3) reaches an independently owned and controlled local enterprise engaged in wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products — not every truck that hauls gasoline.
$1M / 75% in-state / ≤25% bulk-resale gate failures. Flag enterprises that ignore the annual gross-sales ceiling (exclusive of excise taxes), that ship most volume out of state, or that sell more than 25% of dollar volume to other bulk distributors for resale — then still claim the § 7(b)(3) partial exemption. Fail any statutory gate and the week returns to ordinary § 7(a) after-40 overtime.
After-40 at 1½× MW myths that skip the 12/56 greater-of rule. Flag handbooks that treat “pay 1½× federal minimum wage on every hour over 40” as the whole exemption, while hours over 12 in a workday or over 56 in the workweek stay at straight time. § 794.142 requires 1½× the regular rate on the greater of daily-over-12 or weekly-over-56 hours; § 794.141’s 1½× minimum-wage floor on hours 40–56 does not erase that greater-of premium.
Pyramiding daily + weekly overtime. Flag payroll that stacks daily-over-12 hours on top of weekly-over-56 hours and pays both buckets. Part 794 uses the greater number, not the sum — 10 daily OT hours and 8 weekly OT hours means 10 hours at 1½× RR, not 18.
Motor-carrier § 13(b)(1) / DOT collapses. Flag CDL drivers, interstate for-hire carriers, and safety-affecting motor-carrier employees force-fitted into petroleum-bulk § 7(b)(3) (or the reverse: local bulk yard clerks parked under a full § 13(b)(1) overtime exemption). Motor-carrier and petroleum-bulk are separate statutory schemes with different gates and different overtime outcomes.
Contrast: ordinary FLSA after-40 overtime remains the default when neither exemption fits.
Hospital 8/80 / fire-police § 7(k) / § 7(b) CBA mixups. Flag manuals that paste the petroleum 12/56 schedule onto hospital § 7(j) 8-and-80 agreements, public-agency fire/LE § 7(k) work periods, or § 7(b)(1)/(2) collective-bargaining 1,040/2,080-hour guaranty plans. § 7(b)(3) is a private local petroleum-distribution partial exemption — not a public-safety, hospital, or CBA overtime system.
State-floor / daily-OT overlays. Flag multi-state distributors that assume a federal § 7(b)(3) 12/56 schedule also erases a stricter state daily-OT, seventh-day, or weekly threshold for the same hours (for example California LC 510 or Kentucky KRS 337.050 floors). Federal partial exemptions do not automatically erase stricter state floors where they apply.
Stub / regular-rate / enterprise-proof gaps. Flag wage statements that never show which hours were claimed under the 12/56 greater-of rule, missing annual sales / in-state / bulk-resale gate workpapers, regular-rate recomputation skipped when nondiscretionary bonuses or shift differentials land in the same workweek, and excise-tax-inclusive grosses used to “prove” the $1M ceiling. Without Part 794 enterprise proof and clear stubs, every bulk week becomes an after-40 fight.