FMCSA issues guidance addressing State and local shelter in place restrictions
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released guidance today regarding truck drivers who are making deliveries to areas that have shelter in place and other restrictions in place.
“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is aware that States, localities and territories have implemented or may consider implementing quarantine or travel restrictions that impact movement within their jurisdiction and on persons entering from certain locations within the United States and U.S. territories with sustained community transmission of the COVID-19 disease, as caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2.”
The FMCSA guidance goes on to say that States, localities, and territories may wish to consider the truck drivers and other workers have been identified as Critical Workers by the Department of Homeland Security, previously covered here.
The CDC’s March 28, 2020 Travel Advisory for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which urged residents of those States to refrain from domestic travel for 14 days, expressly excluded “employees of critical infrastructure industries, including but not limited to trucking.” The CDC Advisory noted that these employees “have a special responsibility to maintain normal work schedules.”
The CDC also provided guidance specific to drivers delivering supplies into New York City urging drivers to stay in their trucks as much as possible when loading and offloading and to stay at least 6 feet from others when they do have to exit the truck.
FMCSA wrote that they realize “that long haul drivers may be on the road for days or weeks at a time,” and when drivers return to their domicile location, they should follow the recommendations of the State or local officials in the areas in which they live.
