Florida officials have temporarily eased trucking size and weight restrictions to help ease agricultural hardships related to unusually cold temperatures that are threatening the state’s produce industry.
Gov. Charlie Crist (R) signed the order relaxing the weight, height, length and width restrictions for commercial vehicles transporting vulnerable crops to processing sites.
The order took effect Tuesday and will remain in effect for 14 days, the state’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
The cold snap “has created a serious situation for our state’s agricultural producers, who now must rush to harvest their crops to prevent further losses,” Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said in the statement.
Florida farmers have worked to try to salvage millions of dollars worth of crops as cold temperatures were expected to last through the weekend, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
A freeze warning was issued along the Gulf Coast, including most of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Forecasters said the cold air could force temperatures into the teens in parts of the region by Thursday, AP reported.
