Bowie, MD Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Section 13-3 of Bowie's Chapter 13 lists specific noises the City Council has already declared loud and unnecessary, and loading and unloading activity is one of them. Under § 13-3.A(7), it is unlawful to create loud and excessive noise while loading or unloading any vehicle, dumpster or container, or while opening and breaking down bales, boxes and crates, once that activity happens during "nighttime" as § 13-1 defines it: 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The same clause sits inside the broader § 13-3.A prohibition on any loud or raucous sound that causes unreasonable annoyance or disturbance to nearby residents, so a citation still turns on whether the noise actually disturbed someone in the vicinity, not merely on a decibel reading.

Enforcement has a built-in check: § 13-3.B says no municipal infraction citation issues unless a City code enforcement officer personally observes the violation, or the City receives a sworn affidavit-form complaint from at least two witnesses who live in separate households, are each 18 or older, and have personal knowledge of the noise. That two-witness rule means a single anonymous complaint about a 3:00 a.m. delivery is not enough on its own to trigger a citation. Violations of § 13-3 are municipal infractions under § 13-6, and § 13-6.B makes each hour the loading noise continues a separate, additional violation, so a drawn-out overnight unloading job can generate more than one citation.