FMCSA issues regional Declarations of Emergency, relaxes HOS & weight regs across several states
In accordance with the provisions of 49 CFR § 390.23, the Field Administrator for FMCSA’s Western Service Center and Regional Field Administrators for FMCSA’s Southern Service Center, Eastern Service Center and Midwestern Service Center, have declared that an emergency exists that warrants issuance of a Regional Emergency Declaration and an exemption from Parts 390 through 399 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs ), except as otherwise restricted by the Emergency Declaration.
Such emergency is in response to anticipated fuel shortages due to refinery delays and interruption of delivery through pipelines as a result of damage from Tropical Storm Harvey. Affected States and jurisdictions included in this Emergency Declaration are: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia.
If you intend to utilize the exemptions granted by this declaration, we strongly recommend that you download and read carefully the official declaration by clicking here. You can also visit FMCSA’s webpage at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/emergency/hurricane-harvey-2017 for important resources, links and contact information.
Please note that this declaration authorizes exemptions from Parts 390 through 399 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs ) ONLY. It does not provide any waivers and exemptions from weight limits. Such waivers and exemptions have to be issued by the individual states. If you have overweight/oversize loads to move to the disaster areas, you should check with the states that you have to travel through to determine if any weight waivers have been issued or to obtain the appropriate overweight/oversize permits. Here is the link to all State permitting websites and contact information: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/sw/permit_report/index.htm.
