Widespread wildfires led to an emergency declaration in Nebraska in mid-March.
That order providing hours-of-service relief for drivers and motor carriers operating in direct assistance was extended on April 10.
This emergency declaration was extended for a second time on Tuesday, April 14, and will remain in effect through May 14.
Wildfires continue to affect people, property and the food supply across the state while posing an immediate threat to public safety and welfare, according to the emergency declaration.
Relief from regulations applies regardless of the trip’s origin, as long as the motor carrier or driver is providing direct assistance to the emergency in Nebraska.
Direct assistance does not include transportation related to long-term rehabilitation of damaged physical infrastructure after the initial threat to life and property has passed.
Routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of emergency relief, do not qualify for the benefit under the declaration.
The latest incident reports said nearly 1 million acres of largely agricultural land in Nebraska have been destroyed by wildfires.
Soon after the declaration was issued, trucking convoys were organized to aid those in need.
In late March, 50-plus trucks loaded with hay bales and other agricultural supplies made separate trips from Oakland, Neb., to Gothenburg, Neb. (250 miles) and Pierce, Neb., to Oshkosh, Neb. (326 miles).
Those convoys were the result of social media posts by farmers and ranchers across the state.
More recently, the Kingsbury County Cattlemen’s Association of South Dakota and farmers in central Iowa mobilized.
The South Dakota convoy traveled more than 400 miles to Arthur, Neb., delivering around 300 hay bales.
“No trucker wanted to be paid,” Brad Sneesby, vice president of the cattlemen’s association, told a local media outlet. “I can’t even describe the generosity.”
Farmers in Jasper and Mitchell counties in Iowa donated more than 200 hay bales, which were delivered to a distribution site in Nebraska.
“It’s the most important commodity to them right now besides their families and the livestock,” Brock Hansen, a farmer from Baxter, Iowa, told KCCI-TV. “They’ll have something to survive and feed their livestock in the meantime.” LL
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