National City, CA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 11.32.200 sets the clock. A vehicle can stop in a loading zone to load or unload materials only if it is a commercial vehicle, and never beyond the time necessary and in no event for more than twenty minutes. The materials category is narrow: commercial deliveries, plus the delivery or pickup of express and parcel post packages and United States mail. Passenger loading, which includes personal baggage, is capped at three minutes. The last subsection tells enforcement to accommodate necessary and reasonable loading or unloading without permitting abuse of the privileges granted.

Two companion sections apply the clock to the paint. Section 11.32.210 bars anyone from stopping, standing or parking in a yellow loading zone for any purpose other than loading or unloading passengers or material for the time permitted, and § 11.32.220 does the same for a passenger loading zone, where only passengers can be loaded. Alleys follow a parallel rule under § 11.32.230: nothing except the loading or unloading of persons or materials, within the § 11.32.200 limits.

The zones come from § 11.32.180. The City Engineer designates loading zones within a business district, in front of the entrance to any place of business or any hall or place used for public assembly, and adjacent to an official United States Postal Service mailbox. Adjacent businesses must give written approval, and a business that requests a zone pays a one-time fee, set by the City Engineer, for recoverable installation and maintenance costs. No more than one-half of the total curb length on any block can be reserved for loading. Yellow paint marks loading zones and white paint marks passenger loading zones, and under § 11.32.190 the yellow restriction runs from seven a.m. to six p.m. on any day except Sundays and holidays.