Federal and state transportation officials suggest that truckers should be prepared for darkened midday skies during next week's solar eclipse.
But some authorities are reportedly more concerned about thousands of interested onlookers traveling to get the best view of the phenomenon.
A partial eclipse will be visible throughout the U.S., but a 70-mile-wide swatch spanning from Oregon to South Carolina will see a total eclipse. Transportation Topics reports that some states along that path enacted changes to trucking standards in hope of preventing eclipse-related traffic congestion.
Oregon, Missouri and Idaho were among the states to alter freight schedules, limit over-sized loads or curb Monday deliveries altogether.
In Oregon, which will be the first to see a total eclipse shortly after 10 a.m., officials cautioned against complacency.
“There are some who are in denial — like this is a Y2K thing,” Oregon DOT Motor Carrier Transportation Division spokesman David House told TT. “All we can do is warn them. We can’t suddenly double our highway capacity.”
Government or industry officials in a handful of other states, meanwhile, issued additional information to truckers but did not implement any restrictions.
