New Idaho Law OKs Truck Idling for Resting Drivers
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A new Idaho law takes effect July 1 allowing commercial vehicles to idle when drivers are resting inside and also when perishable goods are being delivered.
Enacted March 12 by Gov. Brad Little (R), House Bill 533 amended existing sections of Section 49-937 of the Idaho Code on vehicle mufflers and noise prevention to make it legal for commercial motor vehicles to idle and use refrigeration in certain circumstances.
Rep. Clay Handy (R) — himself a trucking company executive and member of the House Transportation and Defense Committee — shepherded the legislation. He acted as the bill’s floor sponsor for its Feb. 8 introduction. He has twice served as president of the Idaho Trucking Association and is president of Paul, Idaho-based Handy Truck Line, which was founded in 1928. The bill’s sponsor in the Senate was Sen. Cindy Carlson, a business owner who serves on the Education, Agricultural Affairs and Transportation committees. She has more than three decades of business experience co-founding multiple businesses with her husband that encompass logging, trucking, ranching and backcountry freight.
Handy
The new law will permit commercial vehicles to idle to enable the use of a vehicle’s heating or air conditioning system as long as the vehicle is parked when the driver is resting or sleeping. The provisions of the new law also apply to the use of auxiliary power units to provide heating or air conditioning to the vehicle.
Another section of the new law notes that a refrigerated commercial vehicle while parked is allowed to operate while carrying perishable commodities and/or pharmaceuticals, as long as that vehicle complies with state law for having a muffler in good working order.
The new law, backed by ITA CEO Allen Hodges, was determined to cause no additional expenditure of state or local funds at the state or local level of government and have no fiscal impact.
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