‘Musical gas’ comes slowly to city delivery trucks

Although a new ordinance mandates that all LP gas delivery trucks operating in Cuenca use music instead of beeps to alert customers, the city says 40% of trucks have not made the change.

Many LP gas trucks are still beeping.

The ordinance went into effect August 1.

Carlos Orellana, chair of the Environment Pollution Committee that wrote the ordinance, said he will meet with gas distributors next week to push for compliance.

“The companies understood that the new law too effect August 1,” Orellana said. “As far as we know, all delivery trucks are now equipped to play music so we will remind the companies that they need to instruct their drivers that the beeping has to end.”

Orellana said the ordinance can be enforced with fines but says he prefers to use persuasion, at least at first. “There is a cultural element to the change. The drivers have been beeping for years. On the other hand, it’s a practice that creates noise pollution and disturbs neighborhoods and the time has come to end it.”

If talking to the gas distributors isn’t successful in ending the beeps, Orellana said fines will be imposed.