(a) Since the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the views of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division as to the scope and applicability of the exemption provided by section 13(b)(1) of the act have been expressed in interpretations issued from time to time in various forms. This part, as of the date of its publication in the Federal Register, supersedes and replaces such prior interpretations. Its purpose is to make available in one place general interpretations of the Administrator which will provide “a practical guide to employers and employees as to how the office representing the public interest in enforcement of the law will seek to apply it.” (Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134)

(b) The interpretations contained in this part indicate, with respect to the scope and applicability of the exemption provided by section 13(b)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the construction of the law which the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator believe to be correct in the light of the decisions of the courts, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and since October 15, 1966, its successor, the Secretary of Transportation, and which will guide them in the performance of their administrative duties under the act unless and until they are otherwise directed by authoritative decisions of the courts or conclude upon reexamination of an interpretation that it is incorrect.

(c) Public Law 89-670 (80 Stat. 931) transferred to and vested in the Secretary of Transportation all functions, powers, and duties of the Interstate Commerce Commission: