MONTPELIER, Vt. — An executive emergency declaration order in Vermont that grants motor carriers and drivers relief from maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicle requirements has been extended until Aug. 24.
The order was first enacted on Aug. 9 after heavy flooding in the state.
“The extension of the emergency declaration provides regulatory relief for commercial motor vehicle operations while providing direct assistance supporting emergency relief efforts related to the emergency resulting from the severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in the state of Vermont,” the executive order states. “By execution of this extension of the emergency declaration, motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the storm and flooding emergency in the state of Vermont are granted emergency relief from 49 CFR § 395.3, maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles, subject to the restrictions and conditions set forth herein. Direct assistance does not include transportation related to long-term rehabilitation of damaged physical infrastructure or routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of this emergency declaration, after the initial threat to life and property has passed.”
The order notes that “Direct assistance terminates when a driver or commercial motor vehicle is used in interstate commerce to transport cargo or provide services that are not in support of emergency relief efforts related to the emergency as set forth in this extension of the emergency declaration, or when the motor carrier dispatches a driver or commercial motor vehicle to another location to begin operations in commerce.”
Linda Garner-Bunch has been in publishing for more than 30 years. You name it, Linda has written about it. She has served as an editor for a group of national do-it-yourself publications and has coordinated the real estate section of Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper, in addition to working on a variety of niche publications ranging from bridal magazines to high-school sports previews and everything in between. She is also an experienced photographer and copy editor who enjoys telling the stories of the “Knights of the Highway,” as she calls our nation’s truck drivers.
