Food Trucks in Rest Areas to Serve Commercial Truck Drivers
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a notice to State Departments of Transportation that the agency is suspending enforcement measures for states that choose to permit commercial food trucks to operate and sell food in designated federally funded interstate highway rest areas. By statute, commercial activity in the federally funded interstate right-of-way is prohibited with limited exceptions; however, given the extreme and unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, Administrator Nason is choosing not to take remedial measures against states that allow food trucks to provide food in rest areas off the federally funded interstate right-of-way for the duration of the national emergency.
Temporary Relief for Companies Transporting Hand Sanitizer
Last week, PHMSA issued
a temporary relief notice
for companies shipping hand sanitizer. The temporary relief is to help facilitate the increased availability of sanitation products during this public health emergency. The current relief applies to hand sanitizer products meeting certain specifications and shipped by highway only.
State Updates
Legislative Update
Major changes are expected to the 2020 legislative session. Below are a list of known impacts:
- Last week, the Assembly and Senate leadership confirmed that the legislature would not reconvene on April 13 and would, instead, reconvene on May 4. The legislature recessed on March 20.
- The Speaker of the Assembly has provided instruction to committee chairs that any bills heard upon reconvening should be urgent, related to COVID-19 recovery and should not increase workloads for agencies. Legislators are in the process of prioritizing their bills packages, eliminating 80-90% of proposals.
- Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting has advised members of the Assembly that all member budget requests would be rejected. The State is expected to adopt a “keep the lights on” budget by June 15 with no new expenditures and reassess other spending items in August when a clearer picture of revenues emerges. The Legislative Analyst Office has warned that decreased revenues would likely lead to needed program cutbacks.
- In response to a March 20 California Labor Federation letter to the Governor which called for, among other things, expanded paid sick and family medical leave and a presumption of workers compensation liability for workers in essential businesses who contract COVID-19, the California Chamber of Commerce submitted a response letter which includes 88 organizations, including CTA.
Child Care for Essential Workforce
Governor Newsom issued an
executive order
expanding access to child care for essential workers. Specifically, the order allows the California Department of Education and the Department of Social Services to waive certain administrative requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the order will allow eligibility for childcare to prioritize essential workers.
Closed Rest Areas
While CalSTA and Caltrans have made it a priority to keep rest areas open, roughly 20% are closed due to weather conditions, construction or a shortage of cleaning supplies. CalSTA is working to reopen those rest areas that are currently closed. Use Caltrans online
QuickMap feature
to receive real-time status updates and details on road conditions, rest areas and other facility information.
