The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a regional emergency declaration on Tuesday that waives some regulations for truckers carrying residential heating fuel. The declaration covers 10 states, including Nebraska. It supersedes executive orders from several Midwestern governors, including one from Gov. Jim Pillen issued on Monday.
The executive order cited a pipeline disruption as the reason for the waiver. The regional emergency declaration specified a pipeline break and operations issues associated with the “Mid-American Pipeline System.” It also cited an unexpected shutdown of a refinery in Illinois for the disruption in the distribution of propane.
MidAmerican Energy Company is based in Iowa, but a spokesperson said its infrastructure was not involved in the disruption. The FMCSA declaration included a typo when referring to the Mid-America Pipeline System owned by Enterprise Products Partners L.P.
Rick Rainey, vice president of public relations at Enterprise Products, told Nebraska Public Media via text that, “there was never a problem with the Mid America Pipeline involving a break,” and that, “there was an issue with some product in the line that did not meet proper specifications.”
Lynne McNally, executive director of the Nebraska Propane Gas Association, said that the disruption affected terminals in Iowa and Kansas, forcing trucks from those states to go to Nebraska terminals to collect propane. The increased traffic depleted the fuel at some terminals, McNally said, and created long wait times at others.
“That counts toward your hours of service,” McNally said. “So by the time you got going and got your supply, you’re probably out of hours so then you can’t even get your fuel to the people who heat their homes with it.”
To meet heating fuel needs in the affected states, truck drivers carrying propane, natural gas and heating oil are allowed exceed the normal limits on driving hours until Jan. 15, unless the emergency is ended earlier. In addition to Nebraska, the declaration covers Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
The suspended federal regulation (49 CFR part 395.3) is in place to avoid driver fatigue, but it is often waived in emergency situations, especially in the winter. Pillen has issued five executive orders doing so since taking office in 2023, according to the governor’s office.
“It seems strange because the weather’s been very good,” McNally said. “But because of the pipeline issues, an hours-of-service waiver was necessary to be issued.”
McNally said most of the trucks are refueling in Greenwood, Nebraska, which is one of the only remaining terminals with propane.
Nebraska Trucking Association president Kent Grisham said that much of the additional time that drivers spend in their trucks is in line to refill their tankers. He said he’s confident the state’s carriers will continue to operate safely.
“It really just adds flexibility,” Grisham said. “What it does not do is allow for a driver who is fatigued or who has been driving for many hours, it does not allow for them to continue to drive.”
Whether drivers stay in Nebraska or deliver to other states, most don’t travel farther than 500 miles from the fuel terminal, Grisham said.
“We’re not talking about someone who is going to be driving across multiple states from coast to coast,” he said.
McNally said rural residents who use propane are feeling the greatest strain as a result of the heating fuel disruptions.
“Propane is considered typically a rural fuel because it’s very portable,” she said. “So you don’t need seven or eight miles of gas line to get to a single home. You can just bring it there via truck.”