20 Oct IMPORTANT UPDATE: KGFA receives official clarification on COVID-19 truck weight exemptions
Kansas Grain and Feed Association has received updated guidance from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) regarding the COVID-19 truck weight exemption set forth in Governor Laura Kelly’s Executive Order 20-65. The exemption allows for a 10 percent weight waiver (up to 90,000 pounds) on trucks hauling essential goods for direct relief of the COVID-19 pandemic.
KDOT and KHP have now determined that the overweight hauling of grain as part of the normal harvest season is not part of direct COVID-19 relief, and would not qualify for the overweight exemption referenced in Governor Laura Kelly’s Executive Order No. 20-65.
In addition, KDOT and KHP provided the following guidance and clarification on the COVID-19 truck weight exemption under Executive Order 20-65:
- Hauling grain that is directly supporting feeding livestock due to shortages of feed for livestock from the COVID-19 pandemic, would qualify for the overweight permit.
- If grain is hauled in direct support of COVID-19 relief and is for livestock feed, then the motor carrier can obtain an Emergency COVID-19 Relief Permit which expires on December 31, 2020.
- Only livestock and livestock feed qualify for this emergency truck weight exemption. Pesticides and fertilizer do not qualify.
In reaching this determination, KDOT and KHP stated that they followed the exemptions set forth in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Sept. 11, 2020 extension of its Emergency Declaration 2020-002.