The Red Bank council will direct police to crack down on delivery trucks idling in town. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
At four bucks a gallon and more for diesel the economics of leaving the engine running on a delivery makes little sense. There’s the environmental-damage factor, too.
But members of the Red Bank council, after receiving complaints from tenants downtown, say the fumes from idling delivery trucks are wafting into the above-business dwellings and spoiling sweet spring breezes.
So the governing body, in hope of clearing the air, is directing police to enforce a state law against idling in town, specifically targeting delivery trucks, which Mayor Pasquale Menna said are the main offenders.
“There is no reason on earth if a truck is making a delivery to a restaurant that it keeps (the engine) idling,” he said.
According to state law, adopted in May of last year, no vehicle may keep its engine running longer than three minutes while stopped. Local police have the authority to issue a ticket, which carries a minimum fine of $250, but Menna said the borough isn’t looking to go on a summons spree.
“We don’t want to fine anybody,” he said. “We just want to tell them you can’t idle your engine and, more importantly, you’re just blowing money over to the Middle East.”
