Bloomington, IL Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 28-194(D)(2)
- First-offense fine
- $100 minimum
- Repeat-offense fine
- $250 minimum per violation
- Time restriction
- None; enforceable any hour
- Enforcing agency
- Bloomington Police Department
- Proof standard
- Witness testimony or 70 dB(A) reading
Summary
In the City of Bloomington, Illinois, City Code § 28-194 bans loud and raucous noise from loading or unloading vehicles, or opening and destroying boxes, crates and containers, anywhere in the city. The rule targets delivery-truck and warehouse noise that disturbs neighbors and applies at any hour, with no time-of-day exception for the loading activity itself. The Bloomington Police Department enforces it citywide.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, cause to be made or continued, or allow to be made, any loud and raucous noise emanating, transmitting, broadcasting, or projected from any public or private location or premises occupied by or under the person's ownership or control at the time the noise is produced. ... Loading, unloading, opening boxes. The creation of loud and raucous noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers. ... Penalty. ... Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $100 for the first offense and not less than $250 for any subsequent offense. A separate and distinct offense is deemed committed each day such violation continues.
Full Breakdown
Bloomington's noise ordinance, City Code § 28-194 (Ch. 28, Sec. 107), was rewritten by Ordinance No. 2024-083 on November 12, 2024, and Subsection D(2) singles out loading and unloading. The section defines loud and raucous noise as any sound that, by its volume, duration or nature, annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, health, peace or safety of a reasonable person anywhere in the city, and Subsection C makes it unlawful to make, continue or allow such noise from any location a person owns or controls.
Subsection D(2) lists the creation of loud and raucous noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers as one of the specific acts that count as a violation. -to-dark window: it can be enforced at any hour a delivery truck, forklift or dock crew creates noise loud enough to disturb neighboring inhabitants. Prosecutors can prove a violation either through the testimony of people who heard the noise or through recorded decibel readings taken under Subsection E's 70 dB(A) property-line standard.
The Bloomington Police Department is the enforcing agency, responding to complaints from residents and businesses near warehouses, loading docks and delivery routes. Subsection F exempts sounds in manufacturing districts measured inside the district's own boundary, emergency repairs, and City-sponsored or permitted outdoor events, but a delivery truck idling or a crew banging open crates outside those categories is not covered. Subsection G sets the penalty at not less than $100 for a first offense and not less than $250 for each subsequent offense, with every day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
A first violation of § 28-194 draws a fine of at least $100; a second or later violation is at least $250, and Bloomington treats each day the noise continues as a separate offense, so repeat deliveries at the same address can multiply the fines. Officers may cite based on witness testimony alone or on a sound-level meter reading above 70 dB(A) at the property line.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bloomington limit what hours delivery trucks can unload?
How does Bloomington prove a loading-noise violation?
What is the fine for noisy deliveries in Bloomington?
Are warehouses in manufacturing districts exempt from the loading-noise rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bloomington
Compare Bloomington to another location·View the Illinois noise from specific sources overview
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