CoViD19 Trucking help as things unfold.

[marek4792]

(03-23-2020 )kozakvod Wrote:  

(03-23-2020 )hhow55 Wrote:  Shelter in place order issued for Dallas county Texas effective midnight tonight

Add Denton County too. Effective 11:59pm 3-23-20 for all NON-ESSENTIAL businesses and personal.

I will be in Irving tomorrow morning working on my truck, if they come by and tell me I can't do that or I'll be fined, fine, I'll go home. Otherwise I will continue business as usual.

from my understanding anything trucking related including maintenance is exempt from stay at home orders.

[kozakvod]

(03-23-2020 )marek4792 Wrote:  

(03-23-2020 )kozakvod Wrote:  

(03-23-2020 )hhow55 Wrote:  Shelter in place order issued for Dallas county Texas effective midnight tonight

Add Denton County too. Effective 11:59pm 3-23-20 for all NON-ESSENTIAL businesses and personal.

I will be in Irving tomorrow morning working on my truck, if they come by and tell me I can't do that or I'll be fined, fine, I'll go home. Otherwise I will continue business as usual.

from my understanding anything trucking related including maintenance is exempt from stay at home orders.

That's what I understood as well. BUT, sometimes these code enforcement guys can get pretty high on their pony. And it's my guess that it's those guys the cities will use to enforce the lock down.

[Chamberpains]

So far in the States on the East Coast and the Canadian border all trucking operations are still fully in operation. Even with the shelter in place orders. Just call all places you're going to deal with ahead of time before you get there. Just to ensure they are still in operation. There is a lot of confusion with these shutdowns.

Also on the East Coast I'm finding traffic is very light. But I'm finding a lot more awful driving going on. People speeding, Way faster than they normally do. Like 80 mph plus. Distracted driving also seems to be awful right now. People mindlessly swerving all over the roads. Don't let down your guard just cause traffic volume is low. There are a lot of strange things happening right now with people driving.

[snailexpress]

Last Saturday load BOL was with magic letter on the top.
   

[Lonestar10]

Midwest flatbed freight isnt showing any signs of slowing down more like we cant move fast enough. most places are observing the 6 foot rule have you set bols down and walk away or put bols in a tin can and shippers requiring phone calls to check in and get loaded. nothing severe just cautious

[Waterloo]

Letters were sent out the other day in Michigan, like Snail posted above. Michigan is a $500 fine and or imprisonment without the letter. No one allowed out of the house until April 13th I believe. We only have a few cases. North Dakota is heading in the same direction. And we are still working, as all of our competition has went out of business.

[DVT873]

Department of Homeland Security Link. Does anyone know for sure if this is what most states will go by?
https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidanc...-workforce

[JimT]

(03-25-2020 )DVT873 Wrote:  Department of Homeland Security Link. Does anyone know for sure if this is what most states will go by?
https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidanc...-workforce

As the DHS has stated, that is only federal guidance, suggestions:

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Wrote:"We recognize that State, local, tribal, and territorial governments are ultimately in charge of implementing and executing response activities in communities under their jurisdiction, while the Federal Government is in a supporting role."

However it's likely most states will adopt similar lists with some fuzzy areas that are open to interpretation.

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CVSA announced today that Roadcheck 2020 would be rescheduled. No new date was provided.
https://www.cvsa.org/news-entry/2020-roa...postponed/

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New York / NYC has become the current hotbed of new coronavirus cases. Over 30,000 cases state wide with just over 20,000 in NYC (as of Wednesday March 25th). If you are heading in there, be extra cautious. The city and most of the state is under stay at home / shelter in place orders. Yet many delivery points, including some job sites, are still in operation!

Also note that NYC is still actively and aggressively ticketing trucks despite near completely empty city streets.

According to the NY Governor they expect the number of new cases per day to continue to rise until around mid-april when it should start to peak. This means that NY, particularly NYC (and likely surrounding areas such as NJ and CT), will be an increasingly hazardous place to be. While there are not currently any restrictions on where trucks can travel (beyond the usual), I wouldn't be surprised if some roads or communities become temporarily off limits due to safety concerns or medical support activities.

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FMCSA announced that anyone who's CDL or medical card expires on or after March 1, 2020 may continue to operate and be considered in compliance due to many DMV's and Medical Examiners suspending operations for now. The waiver is in effect until June 30th.

However they do not intend to suspend drug testing requirements. They did say that refusals or postponements for valid reasons, such as lack of available locations or concern over viral exposure, are allowed under the rules and should be documented accordingly by the motor carrier.

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PA, in response to overwhelming pressure from industry all the way up to the federal government, has announced it will reopen most of the rest areas and the facilities across the state. Most are already reopened.

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And now I share with you an excerpt from my soon-to-be latest smash hit, #ThankATrucker (inspired by Disney's Moana):

Code:

What can I say except you're welcome
For the Tide(tm), the Sunny-D(tm), the Skyy [Vodka]
Hey, it's okay, it's okay
You're welcome
I'm just an ordinary semi-truck guy
Hey!
...

[Chamberpains]

DVT873,
Every state is different and there responses will be different. PA has followed that order pretty closely. It's already pretty relaxed on company's that are still operating. BUT, they are having the state police along with government officials going to bars, restaurants and large gathering places and threatening them with citations and fines and possible operating and liquor license revocation if they continue to operate like nothing is going on.



For the most part I'm seeing businesses adopt their own ways of "social distancing". Like leaving entrance doors open, having signs to stay a certain distance from each other, verbally taking check in information and operating by delivery only. One place I deal with is having us yell our information through the glass door to check in at the scale house... be prepared to do some normally odd things till people calm down and figure this out.

I can also say tempers with people are getting a bit hot. I'm finding people flaring up over normally small problems. Remember to stay calm. All these inconveniences are temporary and your interactions with companies will go faster if you just comply with what policies they have in place. Starting a screaming match and threatening companies to not deliver something will only end in you being denied entry and stuck with the freight until you calm down and comply with what they are gonna have you do to begin with..... I've watched this happen twice now.