FMCSA Working on Extensive Rulemakings Ordered by New Transportation Funding Law

This story appears in the Sept. 3 print edition of Transport Topics.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials said they already are working on some of the more than two dozen rulemaking mandates contained in the new transportation reauthorization law signed in July.

In a briefing here last week before FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, John Drake, director of governmental affairs, said the agency will be very busy over the next two years not only meeting the 29 rulemaking mandates but also the 34 required changes to truck and bus safety programs and 15 requests for studies.

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro told the advisory committee the $105 billion, two-year legislation was a “significant bipartisan accomplishment” that not only will fund highway infrastructure but also includes a number of significant safety provisions.

The new law maintains or slightly increases funding levels in most areas over the prior law, according to the agency’s analysis.

“The number of safety initiatives that this bill advances for the commercial vehicle community and for FMCSA to implement is just plain exciting,” Ferro said. “We’re on a roll, and you’ll see just how much we have to do. But most of it was, in fact, our business agenda, our strategic plan.”

FMCSA has been working on a new proposed electronic logging device rule since a court rejected an earlier version a year ago, and it plans to introduce a supplemental or revised proposed rule early next year.

That timeline would allow the agency to introduce a final rule in October 2013 to meet a new congressional mandate, officials said.

In addition, Drake said that by early next year, the agency hopes to release a proposed safety fitness determination rule that will explain how it will use the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s safety measurement system scores to assign ratings to carriers.

Also expected by early next year is a final unified registration system rule that will combine three databases to better identify reincarnated carriers, a proposed drug and alcohol clearinghouse rule, and a “patterns of safety violations” proposal aimed at increasing enforcement for truck and bus executives who turn a blind eye to unsafe business practices, FMCSA said.

The agency has identified a number of in-progress provisions included in the law that it hopes to implement sometime this October.

They include:

• Reducing the safety review of new-entrant trucking com-panies to 12 months from 18 months.

• Increasing enforcement penalties and its authority to put truck and bus operators who pose an “imminent hazard” immediately out of business.

• Improving standards for states seeking commercial vehicle safety grants.

• Making it easier for carriers to apply for waivers, exemptions and pilot programs by eliminating a formal requirement for a Federal Register announcement.

• Granting additional authority to order the return of household goods held hostage by movers.

The agency also is developing rules mandated in the new law that will expand its authority over the operations of brokers and freight forwarders, require a new written proficiency exam for carriers seeking operating authority and create new registration requirements, Drake said.

In addition, by October 2013, the agency plans to issue a mandated proposed rule to establish minimum driver-training requirements, complete an hours-of-service field study and finish studies on hazmat safety permits and rental truck accidents.

Drake added that FMCSA “has not lost sight of” a number of prior legislative requirements, including plans to implement a slate of hazardous materials regulations, a companion plan with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to enhance emergency authority for hazmat transportation and conducting background checks for Canada- and Mexico-domiciled drivers hauling hazmats.