Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed an emergency order granting a temporary exemption from Hours of Service (HOS) requirements in state law for drivers of commercial vehicles delivering anhydrous ammonia or other fertilizers to Minnesota Farmers. The emergency order, which went into effect on May 10 and continues for 30 days, came in response to cold, wet weather that has delayed the planting season, as well as “delivery delays due to infrastructure damage” caused by flooding.
“These weather events have delayed and shortened the spring planting season, causing farmers in multiple states to begin fieldwork at the same time and increasing the demand for anhydrous ammonia and other fertilizers,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
Minnesota’s temporary HOS exemption for ammonia and other fertilizers follows similar measures approved by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on April 23 (GM April 26, p. 1), and by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on April 8 (GM April 12, p. 31), with both citing a “compressed spring planting schedule” and increased fertilizer delivery demands facing farmers. The North Dakota waiver will remain in effect through May 31, while the Montana order will expire at midnight on June 6.
The fertilizer industry has been dealing with a trifecta of transportation issues this spring, including significant delays for barges on flooded portions of the Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, as well as limitations on rail traffic in parts of the Midwest due to flooded tracks and washed out bridges. The trucking industry has been impacted as well, by both a critical driver shortage and the mandated use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) for most commercial haulers.
The ELD mandate went into effect in December 2017, and essentially forces drivers to abide by HOS restrictions, which state that long-haul truckers are only permitted to drive a maximum of 11 hours in a consecutive on-duty window of 14 hours, after which they must be off duty for 10 hours. Drivers are also currently required to take a 30-minute break at some point in their 14-hour work day, although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in September 2018 said it was reconsidering that limitation, along with possible changes to the 14-hour work day.