The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a regional emergency declaration on Dec. 23 that waives some regulations for truckers carrying residential heating fuel.
The declaration covers 10 states, including Iowa, and supersedes emergency declarations from several Midwestern governors, including one from Gov. Kim Reynolds issued on Dec. 4.
The Iowa declaration cited a pipeline disruption as the reason for the waiver. The regional 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.
A spokesperson for the Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Company 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 IPR News 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 Nebraska terminals to collect propane. The increased traffic depleted the gas 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 ends earlier. 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.
“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.”
According to McNally, most of the trucks are refueling in Greenwood, Neb., which is one of the only remaining terminals with propane as of Dec. 26.
McNally said that rural residents who use propane are feeling the greatest strain as a result of the heating fuel disruptions because the natural gas lines in cities were not affected.
“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.”
