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Due to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) extensions, and in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Kansas Division of Vehicles will offer on April 1, 2020 limited service to allow custom harvesters the opportunity to schedule appointments for CDL services. You can call today to schedule an appointment today. Appointments can be made at the following locations: - Colby Drivers License Office 990 S Range Ave, Colby, KS Contact for Appointment - Jackie Gray (785) 213-7099 - Dodge City Driver’s License Office 2601 Central Ave, Dodge City, KS Contact for Appointment - Brian Brunt...

At 11 a.m., today, Governor Laura Kelly issued Executive Order #20-16 establishing a statewide "stay home" order effective 12:01 a.m., Monday, March 30, 2020 and is in conjunction with the previously developed Kansas Essentials Function Framework (KEFF) shared earlier this week. The KEFF is based on national critical function guidelines established for pandemic and other disaster response efforts. The Governor’s Order directs all individuals within the state of Kansas to stay in their residences unless performing an essential activity including but not limited to: Performing, or going to or from work...

Courtesy of: Ag Retailers Association The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) advocates, influences, educates and provides services to support its members in their quest to maintain a profitable business environment, adapt to a changing world and preserve their freedom to operate. The stimulus package passed by Congress contained a number of agriculture provisions to aid farmers and farm suppliers amid the COVID-19 crisis. Find key portions of the bill below to know what kind of help is available to you under the bill from USDA Rural Development, Small Business Administration, and other agencies. U.S....

The employee can carry this letter with them to provide to law enforcement if asked about violating the County Public Health Order. The letter states that the company is an essential business, and that the employee performs essential activities for the company. For this reason, the employee may travel and work in the county during the emergency order. DOWNLOAD LETTER...

FMCSA Hours of Service Waiver Extended to Fertilizer and Animal Feed On Friday, March 13, President Trump declared a nationwide state of emergency on the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.  Following the President’s declaration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a nationwide Emergency Declaration. The emergency declaration suspends hours of service (HOS) regulations in all 50 states and Washington D.C. for drivers who are directly transporting supplies (including food) which are “incident to the immediate restoration of essential services” related to the COVID-19 emergency. In order to fall under the waiver,...

FMCSA has issued a waiver in response to COVID-19 outbreaks as several states are experiencing employee absences or have closed offices.  As a result, many drivers are unable to renew their CDLs or are unable to provide medical certificates.  In addition, many medical providers nationwide have canceled appointments to dedicate resources to the COVID-19 response.  As a result, drivers are unable to obtain physicals to comply with the regulations. Among the provisions, this waiver extends the expiration of CDLs due for renewal on or after March 1, 2020 until June 30,...

Beginning Friday, March 20, 2020, at least 14 Kansas counties have issued emergency “stay at home” orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these local orders defines, and exempts, “essential businesses.” Earlier this week, Governor Laura Kelly issued Executive Order #20-15. This Executive Order establishes a “Kansas Essential Functions Framework (KEFF)” to identify a state-wide list of “essential businesses.” The KEFF is based on national critical function guidelines established for pandemic and other disaster response efforts. The Governor’s Order identifies agribusiness, grain storage, and biofuel production as essential functions and...

Governor’s Executive Order Does Apply to Agriculture Products However, be ready to answer some questions about your load Governor Laura Kelly's Executive Order 20-09 (view by clicking the button below or HERE) allows a 10% weight waiver for motor carriers of essential services and food supplies. For our members’ clarification of the Executive Order, we requested clarification from the Kansas Highway Patrol if the waiver applies to the following: transport of agricultural crop inputs (seed/pesticide/fertilizer/diesel) from import/manufacturer to the end user/farmer transport of grain from farm to elevator transport of grain from...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association has partnered with Kansas Grain and Feed Association and Kansas Cooperative Council to work on behalf of the agribusiness and shared cooperative industries during this uncertain time. As a follow-up to the communication KARA provided earlier today regarding essential business definitions, please see below. Background and the Law: Kansas law grants each county health officer the authority to declare a pandemic emergency within its own county and to issue a “quarantine/stay at home” Order. These Orders are derived from the county health officer, and enforced by the County...

KARA members - Throughout this unprecedented time in our country, we have been working non-stop to ensure COVID-19 executive orders from Topeka do not impede on your ability to feed the world. In coordination with 15 agriculture-related organizations, known as the Kansas Agricultural Alliance, we spearheaded the effort to send the letter below to Governor Laura Kelly and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam this morning.We implored the governor to designate the agriculture commodity community as an essential service if she decided to deploy a “shelter in place” or “quarantine” order. We...

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