Where You Can Idle and Where You Can’t- Part II
When fuel prices are high, the truckers who pay for fuel (owner operators, lease operators, and fleet owners) find themselves shutting their trucks down or changing over to idling reduction technologies in an effort to save money. But even when fuel prices are high, environmental concerns place restrictions on when and where truckers can idle their trucks.
In Part II of this series, we’ll explain the idling rules in Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri and Nevada.
Illinois: The counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry, Will, Madison, St. Claire, and Monroe and the cities of Aux Sable, Goose Lake, and Oswego adhere to the following idling standards.
Maximum Idling Time: 10 minutes within any hour, 30 minutes within any hour if waiting to weigh, load or unload, no limit if the outside air temperature is less than 32 degrees (F) or more than 80 degrees (F).
Exceptions: Traffic conditions, to prevent a safety or health emergency, service or repair, using a power take off for work purposes, government inspection, resting in the sleeper berth, mechanical difficulties.
Fines: $50 for the first offense, $150 for the second and subsequent offense within a one-year period.
Maine:
Maximum Idling Time: 5 minutes in any one hour, 15 minutes in any one hour if the outside air temperature is between 32 degrees (F) and 0 degrees (F), no limit if the outside air temperature is less than 0 degrees (F).
Exceptions: Traffic conditions, to prevent a safety or health emergency, maintenance, service, repair, diagnostics, state or federal inspections, if the engine must idle to provide work-related power, to provide air conditioning or heat during driver rest in sleeper berth, to provide air conditioning or heat while waiting to load or unload, mechanical problems where a driver can provide a receipt of repair within 30 days.
Fines: $25-$50 for the first offense, $150-$500 for each subsequent offense.
Maryland:
Maximum Idling time: 5 minutes.
Exceptions: Traffic conditions, mechanical difficulties, heating, cooling, to provide power for auxiliary equipment, conforming to manufacturer’s specifications.
Fines: Minimum $500.
Massachusetts:
Maximum Idling Time: 5 minutes.
Exceptions: If the vehicle is being serviced, if the engine is needed to provide power (and no other power is available).
Fines: First offense minimum $100, subsequent offenses minimum $500.
Minnesota: There are no state-wide idling regulations but the cities of Minneapolis, Owatonna, and St. Cloud all impose restrictions.
Maximum Idling Time-Minneapolis: 0 minutes between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am in residential areas. This includes refer units.
Maximum Idling Time- Owatonna: 15 minutes every 5 hours in any residential area.
Maximum Idling Time- St. Cloud: 5 minutes on West Germain Street between 8th Ave and 10th Ave.
Exceptions- Minneapolis: Compliance with traffic signals or signs, permitted construction equipment.
Fines- Minneapolis: Maximum of $700 and/or 90 days imprisonment.
Fines- Owatonna: Maximum of $1,000 and/or 90 days imprisonment.
Fines- St. Cloud: Minimum of $200.
Missouri: Only St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis have idling restrictions.
Maximum Idling Time- St. Louis County: 3 minutes
Maximum Idling Time- St. Louis: 10 minutes
Exceptions- St. Louis county: Idling is allowed while the unit is being used for loading, unloading or processing.
Fines- St. Louis County: Maximum of $1,000 and/or 1 year imprisonment.
Fines- St. Louis: Not less than $1 nor more than $500 and/or maximum imprisonment of 90 days.
Nevada: The state of Nevada has idling restrictions as do Clark County and Washoe County.
Maximum Idling Time: 15 minutes
Exceptions: Traffic congestion, when idling is necessary as part of a maintenance procedure performed at a repair facility, to perform a specific, work-related task (limited to maximum of 15 minutes during air pollution emergency), if the vehicles emissions are contained, treated an approved by the Environmental Commission.
Exceptions- Clark County: Traffic congestion, when idling is necessary as part of a maintenance procedure performed at a repair facility, to perform a specific, work-related task (limited to maximum of 15 minutes during air pollution emergency), if vehicle emissions are contained and treated per a Control Officer.
Exceptions- Washoe County: Traveling on a public right of way from one location to another, to perform a specific, work-related task (limited to maximum of 15 minutes during air pollution emergency), when idling is necessary as part of a maintenance procedure performed at a repair facility
Fines: First violation in a 3 year period- between $100 and $500; second violation in a 3 year period- between $500 and $1,000; third violation in a 3 year period- between $1,000 and $1,500; fourth violation in a 3 year period- between $1,500 and $2,500.
Fines- Clark County: Maximum fine of $10,000.
Fines- Washoe County: First offense- no greater than $250; second and subsequent offenses- between $250 and $500.
This information was compiled from various sources including various state and local legal codes and the ATRI.
Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult enforcement officials and/or a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.
