White House Eases Trucking Regulations To Help Farmers, Ranchers Survive Drought

This story appears in the Aug. 13 print edition of Transport Topics.

With much of the United States still suffering “with the impacts of one of the worst droughts in decades,” the White House announced last week an easing of trucking regulations in an effort to aid farmers and livestock ranchers.

States where a drought emergency already has been declared are automatically eligible for “hours of service and other regulatory relief for those providing emergency assistance,” the White House said.

In states where an emergency has not formally been declared, the Obama administration said the Department of Transportation could process HOS and other waiver requests in one to two weeks.

The Obama administration also said it is expediting a program to allow states to issue special permits more quickly for overweight vehicles on interstate highways that are providing “drought relief,” such as moving heavy loads of grain.

The program, which  was included in the highway bill Obama signed into law during July, is scheduled to be fully implemented on Oct. 1.

Even before the White House announcement, several states in the Midwest already had begun easing trucking rules to combat the effects of the drought.

For example, in late July, Iowa suspended for 60 days HOS rules for commercial drivers aiding in drought relief and waived overweight permits for hay and straw loads up to 90,000 pounds.

Likewise, Kansas has waived overweight and oversize permits, registration and fuel tax permits for trucking companies hauling hay. It also is allowing special nighttime loads.

And in neighboring Missouri, the state’s Department of Transportation relaxed rules through Aug. 31, allowing truckers to transport up to 10% more than licensed weights on most roads to get feed to livestock, and rules for shipments of hay, corn and other crops.

Tom Crawford, president of the Missouri Trucking Association, said that fleets dependent on hauling grains may find themselves in financial trouble.

“This drought is extreme, and we’ve gone a month and half without any movement coming out of the farming community,” Crawford said.

As more grain haulers become desperate, “I just hope the rates don’t go down too much,” Crawford said.

Based on forecasts of low crop yields, “We expect our volume to be down 10% to 20%,” said Bill Vogelsberg, owner of Vogelsberg Grain Co., Yale, Mich., a motor carrier that hauls corn, soybeans and wheat.

He said about 50% of the trucks in his area, which is about 70 miles north of Detroit, rely “in one fashion or another” on the agriculture sector.

“We haul a lot of stuff for agriculture-related companies,” said Ed Davison, operating manager at S K Davison, a trucking company in New Holland, Ill. “We haul steel for companies that make grain bins. But you don’t need grain bins if you don’t have any grain to put in them.”

The drought also has lowered water levels on the Mississippi River and other waterways, which is reducing shipment sizes and slowing freight movements.

“Our members have to make more frequent trips to carry the same amount of commerce,” American Waterways Operators spokeswoman Ann McCulloch said. “River cargo is moving,

but not as efficiently as it normally would.”

Mark Mestemacher, partner at barge operator Ceres Consulting LLC, East St. Louis, Ill., said because of low water levels, some facilities are not able to load. As a result, freight is being trucked to locations where water levels are higher, he said.