De Pere, WI Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 150-25 targets the loud exhaust bark produced when a truck driver uses engine braking instead of, or along with, the wheel brakes. Subsection (a) defines a "compression brake" as a device fitted primarily to trucks that converts the engine from an internal combustion engine into an air compressor for the purpose of braking, whether or not it is used together with the vehicle's ordinary wheel brakes.

Subsection (b) states the prohibition directly: no person can use a motor vehicle within city limits with the compression brake engaged or activated on that vehicle or any unit that is part of it. The section carves out only two situations. First, engaging the brake to avert imminent danger is allowed, so a driver facing a sudden hazard is not in violation. Second, the ban does not apply to fire trucks or fire equipment, since emergency apparatus needs every braking tool available in a call.

Because the section reaches "any unit which is a part thereof," the prohibition covers combination vehicles such as a tractor pulling a trailer, not just a single truck body. The rule was added to the Code by Ordinance No. 19-29 on December 17, 2019, and carried forward from the prior codification at section 150-132. It sits in Chapter 150, the same traffic chapter that houses De Pere's other moving-vehicle rules, so a violation is enforced by the De Pere Police Department alongside routine traffic stops rather than through a separate noise ordinance.