FMCSA Ends Quarterly Financial Reports, Provides Shorthaul Drivers HOS Flexibility

Trucking companies no longer will be required to file quarterly financial reports to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency recently announced in the Federal Register.

That was one of several regulatory changes or proposed rules that FMCSA published during the week of Dec. 16.

Motor carriers that haul property or household goods are subject to quarterly reporting if annual gross transportation revenue exceeds $3 million.

Although the agency is eliminating that requirement, carriers still would have to file an annual financial report, according to the agency. The rule also applies to passenger bus services with annual operating revenue of more than $5 million.

The rule goes into effect Jan. 14 and will affect 110 truck and bus companies. FMCSA estimates it will save the industry about 200 work hours per year and an estimated $9,990 annually.

“This paperwork burden is removed without an adverse impact on safety or the agency’s ability to maintain effective commercial regulatory oversight over the for-hire trucking and passenger-carrying industries,” FMCSA said.

The only opposition to the change came in a public comment from SJ Consulting Group of Sewickley, Pa., after the rule first was proposed in June 2012. The firm uses information from the reports to advise motor carriers, shippers and potential buyers of trucking companies, according FMCSA’s notice in the Federal Register.

“It stated that the quarterly report filings provide useful insight into the U.S. trucking industry, such as operating statistics that are not available from other public sources, particularly for private carriers,” FMCSA said.

The American Trucking Associations and National Motor Freight Traffic Association filed comments in support of the proposal during a 60-day public comment period. “A third commenter, a private citizen from Florida, supported eliminating the reporting requirement, noting the change will save motor carriers significant time,” according to FMCSA.

FMCSA also took other actions during the same week:

n Shorthaul drivers who exceed distance and time limits exempting them from the 30-minute break rule would not be in violation if they rest at the “earliest safe opportunity” and note the reasons why they missed the break in their logbook, according to a regulatory guidance FMCSA published in the Federal Register.

Hours-of-service rule changes require commercial drivers to take a 30-minute break after eight hours, but FMCSA does enforce the rule against shorthaul drivers. Shorthaul drivers qualify for an exemption if they “remain within the required radius of operation [100 or 150 air miles], or, in the case of the 100 air-mile radius driver, when a CMV driver cannot complete the duty day within 12 hours of its start.”

But drivers occasionally may have to exceed those limitations for unforeseen reasons. In those cases, FMCSA says drivers should take a break at the “earliest safe opportunity” and note in their record-of-duty logs why they didn’t rest sooner.

“When the driver first learns of the changes to his or her itinerary and subsequent ineligibility for the shorthaul exemption, the driver may have already missed the first mandatory rest break of the break rule; i.e., more than eight hours may have elapsed since the driver was last off duty, or in the sleeper berth, for at least 30 minutes,” the agency said.

n FMCSA has proposed reducing or eliminating a three-year rule for vision-impaired drivers seeking an exemption from eyesight standards, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The agency seeks public comment on whether to do away with the rule, which requires a driver to show three years of safe intrastate driving with the vision deficiency, or reduce the time period to one year. FMCSA also proposed two additional changes to eligibility criteria for the Vision Exemption Program. They include adding “major offenses” such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the list of disqualifying violations; and requiring drivers seeking an exemption to obtain a medical examiner’s certificate declaring the driver is otherwise physically qualified. FMCSA is accepting public comments on the proposed rule until Jan. 17

n FMCSA also extended to Jan. 21 the deadline for public comments on proposed enhancements to the agency’s Safety Measurement System website. FMCSA initially opened a 60-day comment period that was scheduled to end Dec. 6.