Members of West Virginia’s National Guard unload a trailer full of pet food in Charleston, W. Va., this week to distribute to members of the community in need of commodities.The waiver of certain federal rules for drivers carrying emergency loads to the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy has been extended to Nov. 27, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Thursday. As reported last week directly after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the northeast, hours of service rules for trucks carrying relief supplies to states affected by the storm had been lifted until Nov. 13.
The exemption applies only to drivers providing “direct assistance to the emergency relief effort,” FMCSA’s declaration says, and the exemption ends immediately when a driver or vehicle carries a load not deemed an emergency relief load.
“The emergency exemption is issued as a result of extreme weather conditions, shortages, and interruptions in the availability and/or delivery and repair of services and property throughout the States affected in the Eastern Region to include the following: Connecticut, Delaware, the District
of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia,” reads the agency’s declaration.
