Anti-Idling Bill Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Another Senate bill you should know about could put more onerous regulations on agriculture.
Jon DeVaney, President of the Washington State Tree Fruit
Association, says SSB 6304 contains a provision that would prohibit trucks over 10,000 from idling longer than 5 minutes …
DeVANEY … “We think that they’re moving a little too fast on that and it could, you know, for an industry like agriculture that exists in the real world and has to move things, you know, it’s really important that we’re able to do that.”
This, DeVaney says after what we’ve seen in the past few years …
DeVANEY … “We thought that maybe policy makers had become more aware of the importance of a reliable supply chain after COVID, but it appears that some of the recollections about exactly how problematic it is if you don’t have access to the trucks that you need, what the consequences of that are, may have faded a little bit.”
But, DeVaneys says it would surely slow things down …
DeVANEY … “Not being able to have reliable vehicles or not being able to maintain the cold chain, for fresh produce for example, will have serious consequences. And we think that some of the anti-idling provisions, for example, can have a negative effect on the ability to keep refrigerated trucks operating properly.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on SSB 6304 and other challenges the anti-idling bill could bring.
Please contact your Senator and ask them to remove the anti-idling provision in SSB 6304 and instead work collaboratively with industry stakeholders to find middle ground.
