Federal Government Issues Guidance to Define Vehicle Service and Repair as Essential Service
By Camille Sheehan
BETHESDA, Md. 鈥� March 20, 2020 鈥� The Federal government has issued guidance to state and
local governments to include the vehicle service and repair industry in the
definition of essential services for the purposes of emergency orders that
require non-essential businesses to close.
Released on March 19, The Department of
Homeland Security memorandum entitled 鈥溾�� includes
a list of 鈥淓ssential Critical Infrastructure Workers鈥� 鈥渢o help State and local
officials as they work to protect their communities, while ensuring continuity
of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and
national security.鈥�
Of major importance to the auto care industry, the 鈥�: 鈥淎utomotive repair and maintenance facilities鈥�
and 鈥淓mployees who repair and maintain vehicles, aircraft, rail equipment,
marine vessels, and the equipment and infrastructure that enables operations
that encompass movement of cargo and passengers鈥�.
鈥淭he 世博体育 has been working tirelessly on the Federal, State
and local level to educate officials on the need to include Transportation
Services on the list of essential businesses that should remain open during
emergency shutdown orders in order to ensure the mobility of the public and
most importantly emergency service personnel. This Federal directive hopefully will provide important guidance to State and local officials in the development of any emergency orders,鈥�
according to 世博体育 president and CEO, Bill Hanvey.
Additionally, 世博体育 has been working
with retail and industry associations to document State responses to the
COVID-19 virus. The following link,
courtesy of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) . 世博体育 advises the public to to check this document on a frequent basis for new
developments. The link can also be found on the Association鈥檚 Coronavirus industry resource page located at the association's coronavirus webpage.
Please reach out to Aaron Lowe, senior vice president, government and regulatory affairs at aaron.lowe@autocare.org or Tom Tucker, director, state affairs at tom.tucker@autocare.org for additional information or if you have any questions.