Sacramento, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

68. Subsection A, 'Motor Noises,' covers 'any noise made by the motor of any automobile, truck, tractor, motorcycle, not reasonably required in the operation thereof under the circumstances,' expressly including backfiring and motor racing: squarely covering a delivery truck's engine noise when it exceeds what normal operation requires. Subsection H, 'Loading, Unloading-Opening Boxes,' separately bans 'the creation of a loud and excessive noise in connection with loading or unloading any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates, and containers,' which reaches the banging, dropping and pallet-jack noise that comes with delivery and freight operations outside stores and warehouses.

Neither subsection requires a dBA reading; the standard is whether the noise was 'not reasonably required' (motor noise) or 'loud and excessive' (loading noise) under the circumstances, leaving the city manager or designee, or a citing officer, to make that judgment on the facts. These provisions apply throughout the city and are not limited to nighttime hours, unlike the tool and equipment curfew in the same section, so a delivery truck idling loudly or a crew banging crates together in the middle of a weekday afternoon can still violate the ordinance if the noise is excessive for the circumstances.