LITTLE ROCK (04-30) – Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas
Department of Transportation (ARDOT) are distributing 100,000 masks to commercial truck
drivers at weigh stations and rest areas across the state. This is part of a coordinated effort
with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)to distribute one million
protective masks to law enforcement agencies throughout the country for further
distribution to commercial truckers.

“Our officers are glad to be a part of this massive effort to distribute one million masks to
truck drivers who are traveling our nation’s highways and keeping our supply chain
operational during the pandemic,” stated Arkansas Highway Police Chief Jay Thompson. “We
appreciate that FEMA supplied the masks, and our state partners are working together to
ensure the masks reach America’s truck drivers at our rest areas and weigh stations.”

State and local partners, in conjunction with FMCSA, continue to assist in the distribution of
the masks to ensure that they are supplied directly to truck drivers who are maintaining the
nation’s supply chain during this crisis. Arkansas was the first state in the country to receive
and begin distributing the masks.

“We are happy be a part of this effort to support the commercial transportation industry in
Arkansas. This emergency has truly opened the eyes of many about how important the role
of a truck driver is to this country,” said Lorie Tudor, ARDOT Director, “In addition, at the
suggestion of the Arkansas Trucking Association, we have granted permits to food truck
operators to provide hot food to truck drivers in designated Arkansas rest areas. We want to
do our part during this crisis.”

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