Highland Park residents call on Middletown to curb early‑morning idling trucks and air/noise impacts

A Highland Park resident told the Middletown Township Board on June 12 that refrigerated trucks and tractor‑trailers regularly idle near homes and create intolerable noise and exhaust early in the morning.

Bob Feather (96 Highland Parkway) said the problem has worsened over years and that trucks often park and run engines for long stretches in front of homes. He said he has taken decibel readings himself and reported readings of about 82 dB near 6 a.m., which he contrasted with township ordinance limits (55 dB between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; 75 dB between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., as cited in his remarks).

Township staff responded that engineers performed decibel readings in two coordinated studies (one targeted based on resident input), met with shopping‑center representatives including Redner’s to determine delivery times, and prepared a report that staff said they would share again with residents. Staff acknowledged some readings depend on whether refrigerated trucks happened to be present during measurements and said they would try to coordinate more targeted readings when trucks were known to be present.

Feather proposed operational changes such as limiting refrigeration truck deliveries to 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and urged the township to follow through on previously suggested solutions. Officials said they would continue to pursue enforcement options and recommended residents use the channels staff offered to coordinate targeted measurements and follow up.

The exchange highlighted tension between residents’ quality‑of‑life concerns and the operational realities of a commercial delivery schedule; staff said they have engaged engineers and met with property managers but residents said follow‑through has been uneven.