Carriers Facing Increased Regulatory Scrutiny, Executives Say

INDIANAPOLIS — Motor carriers are not only facing an increasing number of new regulatory initiatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but they also have become the target of stepped up enforcement from several other federal agencies, trucking executives and transportation attorneys said.

Increasingly, agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, Department of Labor and Occupational Safety and Health Administration have taken enforcement policy positions that have made the operating environment for motor carriers and trucking start-ups very challenging, said Richard Reiser, vice president of government affairs for Werner Enterprises.

Reiser spoke at a law conference here last week that was sponsored by the law firm of Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary PC.

“It clearly makes life more difficult and the chances of a new company starting — with the high cost of equipment, high cost of fuel, the financing it takes — in a regulatory environment that is much more difficult than it was 50 years ago,” Reiser said.

Even companies such as less-than-truckload carrier FedEx Freight are finding the current regulatory environment difficult, said the company’s senior vice president and general counsel, Robert Rhea.

“We struggle with it, and we’re a very large company,” Rhea said. “It’s a problem for everyone, the regulatory regime and the cost of complying.”

For additional coverage, see the May 27 print edition of Transport Topics.