TRENTON — One big difference for New Jersey's fourth nor'easter this month: no trucks on certain highways.

After dozens of stuck and jackknifed tractor trailers trapped drivers for hours during the last nor'easter, State Police issued a commercial truck ban for the entire length of Routes 78, 80, 280, and 287 that went into effect Tuesday night. No end date was given.

The ban affects:

  • All tractor trailers
  • Empty, straight CDL-weighted trucks
  • Passenger vehicles pulling trailers
  • Recreational vehicles
  • Motorcycles

Truckers already in New Jersey should pull off into a truck stop or service area to wait out the storm, according to State Police, but not onto the shoulders where many trucks got stuck during the March 7 storm and had to be towed. Snow built up in the lanes, and both trucks and cars couldn't move.

State Police sent members of the specialized Urban Search and Rescue team to rescue some stuck drivers.

An exception to the state idling law will allow truckers who pull over to wait out the storm to idle their trucks for 15 minutes, if they are stopped for more than three hours and the temperature is below 25 degrees.

Trucker Tony from Bridgewater said he understands why the ban was put into effect and said it will put some truckers at least a day behind schedule. He hopes that police will go easy in their enforcement of the ban at the beginning. He hopes that truckers will be allowed to leave the state

Gov. Phil Murphy said that he considered a truck ban during the March 7 nor'easter, but ultimately decided against it.

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