With much of Louisiana ravaged by the latest summer hurricane to hit the U.S.—more than 1 million in the region were without power Monday morning, Aug. 30—federal restrictions on commercial drivers and fleets were relaxed to help with emergency relief along the Gulf Coast.
Motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the disaster areas created by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana and surrounding states (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas) were granted regulation relief regarding hours of service by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Aug. 29.
Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday, Aug. 30, hours after it made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane. With the storm surge came reports of mass power outages, levee failures, and flooding. Weather forecasters said the storm surges would continue into Monday in Louisiana and Mississippi as Ida moves northeast into Alabama. According to the National Hurricane Center, flooding could extend from the Tennessee and Ohio valleys to the Mid-Atlantic through Wednesday as the storm works its way toward the lower Midwest.
Louisiana State Police urged all motorists to avoid travel as troopers assessed roads around the state on Monday morning.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency last week in anticipation of the storm hitting the Bayou State. On Sunday, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Louisiana, allowing residents and businesses to seek disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Louisiana Motor Transport Association also issued an alert, asking its member fleets to contact the LMTA about any storm-related problems so it could provide support. The Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development issued several warnings about travel across the state over the weekend.
Earlier on Sunday night, LDOTD announced that Interstate 110 and other roads in and around Baton Rouge were being barricaded and closed “out of an abundance of caution.”
“These areas are prone to flooding, and with high winds predicted, DOTD staff closed these locations for safety reasons,” the alert reads. “With the large amount of rain and the unpredictable nature of this storm, roads would become flooded and may not be barricaded. Remember to turn around, don’t drown. With the treacherous weather conditions changing rapidly, DOTD would like to remind people to shelter in place and not drive.”
FMCSA’s emergency declaration offers hours-of-service relief for commercial motor vehicle operations that provide direct emergency relief efforts, such as transporting supplies, goods, equipment, and fuel into the affected states. It also covers drivers transporting people into and from the affected states or providing other assistance in emergency services during the emergency related to Hurricane Ida.
Federal safety rules limit commercial drivers to 14 hours on-duty after 10 consecutive off-duty hours. The same rules limit drivers to 60 hours on duty over seven days or 70 hours on duty over eight straight days. Drivers responding to the emergency would have these restrictions loosened.
Drivers providing “direct assistance” to emergencies are still required to follow local speed limits, traffic restrictions, and fatigue-related restrictions requiring drivers to pull over if their alertness is impaired. Drivers must still follow federal ELD requirements.
This emergency waiver is in effect until Sept. 28 unless the storm-related emergency is declared over earlier.
