Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out his congestion mitigation plan Monday April 2, 2018 In Midtown Manhattan. The plan started March 19 in parts of Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn and Roosevelt Ave in Queens. The six-month pilot will ban deliveries from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Also, deliveries will be forced to take place on one side of the street.
We saw that City DOT went to some merchants in the Manhattan Zone during the week of March 26th to explain the plan to them. Though week before a ban takes effect (during a holiday week no less) is not enough time to change the delivery schedule.
A few hours before the ban went into effect in Queens and Brooklyn we heard from a company that delivers into the affected zone who was shocked that the city would try this and angry that they had only heard about it the weekend before implementation. The company was also concerned about increased enforcement, particularly enforcement that falls on them when the customer is unable to change the delivery time.
Since it is the receiver NOT the truck that sets the delivery schedule and customers are still going to demand goods and services when they need them. Trucks and their customers must work together to change deliveries to fit the Mayor’s schedule if possible and document why that is or isn’t an option.
Keep an eye out for increased enforcement. Make sure you know about any tickets and carefully document all deliveries.
Affected companies should reach out to the Mayor’s office as well as the City Council Members (Keith Powers in Manhattan, Laurie Cumbo, Steve Levin, and Brad Lander in Brooklyn, and Francisco Moya, and Danny Dromm in Queens) in whose district these bans fall.
The City Council’s Committee on Transportation is holding a hearing on Tuesday, April 10th to discuss the delivery ban. Please let us and/or the Trucking Association of New York (TANY) know of any issues this ban is causing your business from tickets, to problems with customers accepting early or late deliveries, or companies that can’t or won’t comply. The industry is compiling information to present to City Hall and DOT, any information you or your customers can give will be helpful.
More information on the areas of the city impacted as well as full details on the Clear Curbs and Clear Lanes initiatives is available below.
(*Note: newyorktruckstop.com is not affiliated with the Trucking Association of New York [TANY]. However, Zach Miller, co-publisher of this site and a member of TANY, is the chair of TANY’s Metro Region Government Affairs Sub-Committee. Any questions? Reach Zach directly at zach@newyorktruckstop.com)
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