To address one of the biggest challenges truck drivers face, access to a hot meal, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is temporarily opening the state\u2019s 86 rest areas to food trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTruck drivers are the lifeblood of the economy and their jobs have never been more critical than now,\u201d said Governor Mike DeWine. \u201cI\u2019ve heard from many in the trucking industry that finding a place to eat while they\u2019re on the road has been tough, but we\u2019re here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal regulations prohibit commercial activity at rest areas, with limited exceptions. Last week, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced they would temporarily suspend enforcement of those regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTruck drivers are delivering food and goods essential to our homes and medical supplies to healthcare providers. They should be able to have easy access to a hot meal,\u201d said ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks. \u201cWe thank FHWA for recognizing these are unique times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mobile food vendors must download a permit from the ODOT website and display it at all times while operating. They must also abide by state and local food service regulations as well as social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure the safety and health of staff and customers. The Ohio State Highway Patrol will regularly monitor rest areas to enforce compliance with all Ohio laws and regulations by the commercial food truck vendors who elect to set up operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVending at Ohio\u2019s rest areas is provided by sightless and visually impaired merchants. They rely on the sale of beverages and snacks for their income. In order to ensure they are not directly competing with these vendors, mobile food trucks will not be permitted to sell prepackaged snacks or any drinks other than coffee,\u201d Marchbanks said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to note that this temporary permission for food truck vendors to set up in ODOT-administered rest areas is intended to help provide options for truck drivers, not to replace the goods and services offered by retail operations along Ohio\u2019s interstates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To address one of the biggest challenges truck drivers face, access to a hot meal, the Ohio Department of Transportation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2301,499],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-7vQ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 00:36:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}