By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor
The new highway law sets an ambitious agenda for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration over the next couple of years.
Most of the requirements in MAP-21 came from the agency’s strategic plan, said administrator Anne Ferro as she introduced a presentation Monday on the agency’s plans to implement the law. (MAP-21 stands for Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century.)
It adds up to 29 new rulemakings within 27 months, not counting those already under way, said the agency’s director of government affairs, John Drake.
Included are provisions that have been headline news, such as the field study on the 34-hour restart in the hours of service rule, and the electronic logging mandate.
But there are numerous smaller provisions that have considerable weight. Starting October, for example, the agency will have authority to levy higher enforcement penalties and declare unsafe carriers as an imminent hazard.
MAP-21 also provides for revised standards for safety grants to states, easier terms for waivers, exemptions and pilot programs and new authority for the agency to order the return of household goods that are being held hostage.
Drake said the agency will be looking for comments on these issues next month. He also spelled out a portion of the agency’s schedule for the next several years.
2013 deadlines
Due July 2013 is a joint report by the Transportation and Defense Departments on how to help U.S. military veterans get truck-driving jobs.
The 34-hour restart study is due next September.
October 2013 will be busy. Due the first of the month are the electronic logging rule and a requirement that states set up standards for how they will automatically notify carriers of drivers’ moving violations and suspensions.
On the same day the agency will owe a national registry rule, reports on hazmat safety permitting and rental truck accidents, new guidelines for safety inspections.
On the last day of the month the agency is supposed to post its entry-level driver training rule.
More in 2014
The agency has until April 1, 2014, to finish work on a written proficiency exam for those seeking operating authority. The test must cover the applicant’s knowledge of the safety rules.
It has until the following October to finish the national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results.
This rule, which has long been sought by the industry, will require carriers to query the clearinghouse when screening applicants for driving job, and annually after they are hired. Third-party service providers could do these searches. The initial proposal for this rule is due this December,
Also due that October is a study of truck size and weight limits ordered up in MAP-21.
Trucking and shipping interests had been pursuing a provision to let states raise the limits in Interstate highways from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds on six-axle vehicles. That provision got into an early version of the bill on the House side, but was struck and replaced by the study.
The study must cover safety, pavement and bridge costs, and diversion of freight from the railroads and other modes.
Funding
Congress debated a lot about money as it wrote MAP-21, but the safety agency held its own on funding. Authorization amounts remain about the same as they have been, Drake reported.
The Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program is the key agency grant program, providing funds to states for safety enforcement. It is authorized for $212 million this fiscal year, and is slated to rise to $218 million in 2014.
Administrative funding also will rise, from $223 million this year to $259 million in 2014.
Grant authorizations for new entrant audits will go up slightly, from $29 million this year to $32 million in 2013 and 2014.
Funding for the Commercial Driver License program will remain at $30 million for the next two years. Also steady is funding for border enforcement, at $32 million, Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks at $25 million, and safety data improvement at $3 million.
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The new highway law sets an ambitious agenda for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration over the next couple of years.
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4/27/2012 – Highway Bill Conferees Face Tough Funding Issues but Share Some Common Ground on Policy
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4/26/2012 – ATA, OOIDA Square Off on EOBR Debate
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4/23/2012 – FMCSA Withdraws Sleep Apnea Proposal
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4/20/2012 – Employee Misclassification Report No Good, Says New York State Motor Truck Association
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4/19/2012 – N.J. Trucking Executive Warns Senate on the True Cost of Tolls
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Once again, the U.S. House of Representatives has kicked the can down the road on highway funding. Despite a presidential veto threat, the Republican legislation extended transportation funding through September — the 10th such extension — and mandates construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline….
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4/17/2012 – Canada Aligns GHG Emissions Regs with U.S.
Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent announced Canada’s alignment with the U.S. regulations for heavy-duty vehicle and engine greenhouse gas emissions for 2014 and later….
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4/17/2012 – N.J. Owner-Operators Need IRS Determination for Non-Employee Status
UPDATED — A number of New Jersey fleets have discovered the hard way — with fines to the tune of $800,000 — that the New Jersey Department of Labor now requires owner-operators to first prove that the Internal Revenue Service already deemed them independent contractors before the state will allow an employee exemption….
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4/16/2012 – California Court Says Employers Must Offer 30-Minute Meal Breaks
California trucking companies will be required to give drivers a 30-minute meal period within the first five hours of driving, according to the California Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Brinker v. Superior Court. …
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4/13/2012 – Truck Dealer of the Year Nominee Educates Nebraska Rep. on Natural Gas
U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., visited Omaha Truck Centers, owned by dealer Trey Mytty, to learn more about natural gas in the commercial vehicle industry….
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4/13/2012 – FMCSA Wants to Study Overweight Trucks’ Connection to Safety
The DOT wants to better understand the safety performance of overweight vehicles — both permitted and illegally overloaded — so it is looking for state agencies to work with in a study of the issue….
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4/13/2012 – Study Finds Few Effects from Diesel Exhaust from EPA-07 Engines
The first results of what is said to be the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the health effects of exposure to new technology diesel engines has found no evidence of gene-damaging effects in the animals studied, and only a few mild effects on the lungs, according to a report issued by the Health Effects Institute….
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4/10/2012 – FMCSA Shuts Down JA Transportation
The U.S. DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration declared New Jersey-based JA Transportation Inc. an imminent hazard to public safety, and ordered the trucking company to shut down its operations….
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4/9/2012 – New Rule for Medical Examiners Nearing Publication
A final rule to establish a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners is close to publication.
The rule was cleared last week by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the last stage before publication in the Federal Register….
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4/5/2012 – Three Oregon Ports of Entry to Switch to Phone-based Services
The Oregon Motor Carrier Transportation Division is closing its registration offices at three ports of entry and replacing over-the-counter services with phones and fax machines truck drivers can use for registration and over-dimension permit services….
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3/30/2012 – No Highway Bill, So Congress Extends Program for 90 Days
Congress yesterday passed a 90-day extension of the federal highway program, the ninth extension since the program formally expired in October 2009….
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3/30/2012 – Nasstrac Joins HOS Legal Battle
Nasstrac, the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council, has joined in the legal efforts to challenge a lawsuit regarding reduced daily driving hours for truckers, reports the Journal of Commerce….
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3/28/2012 – CSA Changes Available for Review
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is previewing a half-dozen important changes it plans to make in the CSA safety enforcement system.
In the announcement in yesterday’s Federal Register, the agency also discussed a controversial decision it recently made to back away from plans to clarify crash accountability data in CSA….
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3/27/2012 – FMCSA Urged to Step Up Effort Against Reincarnated Carriers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could step up its effort to catch reincarnated carriers by making better use of the data it has, according to the Government Accountability Office….
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3/26/2012 – FMCSA Officials Get Input on EOBRs at Mid-America Trucking Show
LOUISVILLE, KY — Officials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration got an earful Friday about a number of issues relating to hours of service, electronic onboard recorders, and how trucking companies use EOBRs and other in-cab technologies to harass drivers….
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3/22/2012 – House Will Push Highway Extension
The House, unable to resolve internal differences regarding its five-year, $260 billion highway bill and opposed to the Senate’s two-year, $109 billion measure, is going to push for a three-month extension of the current program….
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3/22/2012 – Cummins to Have 2014-compliant Engines in Service by 2013
LOUISVILLE, KY — Cummins Inc. says it will be ready to ship its full line-up 2014-compliant heavy-duty diesel and natural gas engines a full year ahead of deadline, and they’ll feature improved reliability and fuel economy….
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3/21/2012 – ATA: Common Sense Must Govern CSA Crash Accountability Decisions
American Trucking Associations‘ leaders expressed serious concern over the recent decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to continue to count every truck-involved crash in CSA scores, including those the truck driver could not have prevented….
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3/16/2012 – ATA, TCA File Issue Statements with Court in HOS Challenge
The American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association each filed motions to intervene with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in litigation challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recently published hours-of-service regulations….
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3/15/2012 – Dealer Plans to Participate in New Wisconsin Job-Training Program
Peterbilt dealer JX Enterprises hosted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as he signed Assembly Bill 450, popularly known as Wisconsin Wins, into law this week….
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3/15/2012 – Senate Passes Highway Bill, 74-22
In an unusual display of bipartisanship, the Senate passed a two-year, $109 billion highway bill by a vote of 74 to 22.
All of the Senate’s Democrats and half of its Republicans voted for the bill….
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3/14/2012 – Senate Close to Passing Highway Bill
The Senate is close to passing a two-year, $109 billion highway bill that could become a model for what the House will do with its transportation legislation.
The bill, called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), would streamline the federal transportation program, accelerate project delivery, eliminate earmarks, increase financing resources and fund improvements in freight distribution….
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3/12/2012 – FMCSA Stops Plan to Determine Accountability in CSA Crash Data
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week reversed course on a long-planned correction in its CSA safety enforcement system.
The agency was close to proposing a way for carriers to get an assessment of fault in the crashes used to determine their safety rating, but on Thursday Anne Ferro told industry representatives that the agency will not go ahead after all….
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3/9/2012 – House May Default to Senate’s Highway Bill
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) yesterday gave the clearest indication yet that Congress will go with a short-term highway bill like the one the Senate is close to passing.
“The current plan is to see what the Senate can produce…
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3/9/2012 – ATD Study: EPA Grossly Underestimated Emissions Systems Costs
A report released yesterday by The National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers questions the Environmental Protection Agency’s cost analysis of 2004-2010 emissions control mandates. Data collected by ATD shows EPA’s cost estimates were off by a factor of between two and five….
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3/8/2012 – Obama Visits DTNA Truck Plant, Addresses Energy Issues
President Barack Obama toured Daimler Trucks North America‘s Mount Holly, N.C., manufacturing plant Wednesday and spoke on alternative fuel technologies while praising DTNA’s commitment to natural gas….
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3/8/2012 – Volvo Trucks First U.S. Manufacturer to Achieve Dual Energy Certifications
Volvo Trucks‘ New River Valley assembly plant in Dublin, Va., is the first U.S. facility to be certified to the ISO 50001 standards under a pilot program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy….
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3/7/2012 – Obama to Visit North Carolina Daimler Trucks Plant
President Obama will visit a Daimler Trucks North America plant in North Carolina today, where he’s expected to tout the economy, job growth and fuel-efficiency standards….
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3/2/2012 – New Jersey Bill Would Make Owner-Operators Employees
A proposed New Jersey bill, A1578/S1450, dubbed the “Truck Operator Independent Contractor Act,” seeks to define drayage and parcel delivery owner-operators as employees of the companies they provide services for, rather than independent contractors….
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3/2/2012 – Movement but Not Much Progress on Highway Bill
As the Senate lumbers through debate on its highway bill, and the House considers changes to its approach, the outcome may be a short-term surface transportation program that preserves funding near current levels. …
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