Jacksonville Beach, FL Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Chapter 18 does not mention deliveries, loading, or unloading. The vehicle limit that reaches a delivery truck is Table II in Sec. 18-3(d)(2), titled Noise Level Limits for Moving Motor Vehicles. Row (1) covers trucks and buses at eighty-five (85) dB(A) measured fifty (50) feet from the source. Row (2) covers passenger cars, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles at seventy (70) dB(A) at the same distance. Table II prints one figure per vehicle class, with no separate daytime and nighttime number.

The footnote explains the test. The measurement is made as the vehicle drives past, and if the reading is above the listed figure at any time, the vehicle is in violation of the chapter. Distances are measured from the center of the vehicle or the center of the driving lane in which it is being driven. Under Sec. 18-3(c), readings are taken with a sound level meter on the slow response, and officials of the city who are qualified to operate the apparatus make the measurements.

Subsection (e) applies Table II in two situations. A stationary vehicle breaks the rule when it is started, operated, or repaired in a way that creates noise above the Table II limits. A moving vehicle breaks it when operated above those limits on public streets, highways, driveways, parking lots, and ways open to vehicle travel. Normal operation, meaning normal acceleration, deceleration, and operation at maximum normal speeds in all gears and ranges up to the speed limits in effect, is the baseline measured against the limit.

The exemption list in Sec. 18-3(g) covers items such as air conditioners and lawn mowers, safety signals and warning devices, authorized emergency vehicles responding to an emergency, and permitted temporary activities. It does not name delivery or courier trucks.

Two nearby rules reach delivery vehicles differently. Sec. 18-6 makes it unlawful for a driver to operate a sound amplification system that is plainly audible outside the vehicle from fifty (50) or more feet while moving or parked on any street, highway, parking lot, or other public property. Sec. 28-11 is a parking rule, not a noise rule: it bars commercial motor vehicles from stopping to deliver on listed downtown blocks, with exceptions for mail trucks and private parcel couriers.