Truckers hauling fuel or direct emergency relief loads in the red states are exempt from hours of service regulations temporarily.Hours of service regulations for truckers hauling gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, propane and other home heating fuels in 26 states have been suspended, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced today.
The exemption also applies to carriers and drivers “providing direct assistance to the emergency in the States of Texas and Louisiana.” The waiver for fuel haulers and relief load haulers will remain in effect until the emergency situation has been declared over or until Sept. 24 — whichever time is shorter, says FMCSA.
The agency has declared a Regional Emergency Declaration in the 26 states, highlighted in the map above, “in anticipation of a regional shortage of fuel products,” it says, stemming from the damage inflicted by Hurricane Harvey.
Some of the country’s largest refineries, accounting for nearly a third of the entire country’s refinery capacity, have been shut down or slowed due to the torrential flooding and other damage wrought by the storm.
The agency says carriers and drivers can obtain more resources at fmcsa.dot.gov/harvey.
