Hammond, IN Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Hammond Code of Ordinances § 97.21(F), part of the Common Council's noise disturbance chapter, lists loading and unloading activity among the specific acts declared to be prohibited noise. The section covers "boxes, crates, containers, garbage cans, containers or other similar objects" handled between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day "in a manner as to cause noise disturbance." That means the timing alone is not the violation; the handling has to actually create a noise disturbance as defined elsewhere in the chapter, but any commercial delivery, restaurant supply drop, or dumpster service that clatters pallets or containers during those overnight hours falls squarely within the prohibited-acts list alongside horn honking, loudspeakers and idling trucks over 10,000 pounds.

Enforcement runs through the Air Pollution Control Department and the Hammond Police Department under § 97.40, which administers the noise control program and can inspect a noise source with the owner's or occupant's consent. A violation notice issued under § 97.60 gives the recipient 30 days to submit data disputing the finding before the Chief of the Air Pollution Control Department affirms or withdraws it, and repeat offenders after three or more violations in a 12-month period can have offending equipment sealed under § 97.61 following a show-cause hearing.

Because § 97.21 opens by stating its list of prohibited acts "shall not be deemed to be exclusive," a delivery operation causing disturbance outside the listed hours can still be cited under the general § 97.20 noise disturbance prohibition. Businesses scheduling freight, trash pickup or box-crushing should keep that activity out of the 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window or keep it quiet enough that it does not carry across a property boundary.