11 States Have States of Emergency Due to Winter

It has been around three months since the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) revised its terms for declaring a State of Emergency, so things must be pretty hectic out there in the winter weather when eleven different states are calling on truckers for help.

Details

These eleven states in question, along with their Declarations:

• Alabama
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New York
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas

Some of them involve rain. Others involve the necessity of petroleum fuels to help keep people displaced from the extreme cold warm. Finally, there are some such as Maine that specifically mention road damage caused by the intense weather.

All of the Declarations suspend 49 CFR Part 395, relating to hours-of-service regulations, but contain the usual additional warnings: truckers who have either completed their delivery or state that they are tired must take a ten-hour minimum break.

Each individual Declaration has its own terms for regulatory suspension. If you plan to deliver to any of these states, it is imperative that you read the relevant Declaration in full to make sure you are not violating the terms of the Declaration by mistake. For instance, the delivery of flatscreen televisions would not be justified under the emergency in Texas.

Conclusion

Winter after the holiday season generally tends to be the “slow season” for the trucking industry, but when the Northern Hemisphere is further away from the sun, demand for trucking services such as the delivery of emergency blankets and propane will always have some level of demand.

The expiration date for each of these Declarations varies, but the latest ones, South Dakota and New York, expire on February 11th. Hopefully by then the winter weather will not be as harsh.

We remember when our headquartered state of California suffered its own torrential downpour at the start of 2023. That time was intense, but it was a helpful period that ended a long drought. Hopefully, there is a similar silver lining here for these eleven states going through it right now, such as with Alabama, going through a similar drought situation to what California did a year ago.

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