Southborough, MA Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Section 130-4(D) of the Southborough noise bylaw prohibits noise that is audible beyond the property line while loading or unloading trucks between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. unless otherwise permitted. Like every item in § 130-4, it applies when the activity generates an unreasonable disturbance. The trigger is audibility at the property line, not a measured decibel level, and the window runs overnight for ten hours.

The heavy-vehicle idling rule in § 130-4(B) carries an exception that matters for deliveries. That section limits engine operation of standing vehicles over 10,000 pounds GVW parked on residential property or on a street or way abutting it, but states that it does not apply to delivery or pickup vehicles that require the operation of the engine to unload or load their cargo or equipment. A delivery driver can therefore keep an engine running to operate a lift or unloading equipment, while the dock noise itself remains subject to the 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. rule in subsection D.

Deliveries also appear in the definition of CONTRACTED WORK in § 130-2: businesses or other entities retained to do work on property that generates noise, including renovation, landscaping, property maintenance, construction, demolition and deliveries. Section 130-3(C)(1) allows Contracted Work noise between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and does not allow Contracted Work on Sundays or Holidays.

Section 130-5 exempts emergency work, permitted events and necessary street or utility work by or for the Town. The Select Board can grant a temporary exception of no more than three days under § 130-7(D), after a hearing if it sees fit. The Police Department enforces the bylaw under § 130-7(A).