FMCSA completed few regulatory items in 2023 as a limited agenda awaits Although a couple of weeks remain in the year, 2023 has not resulted in many changes in regulations related to motor carriers. According to the agency’s website, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued just nine documents characterized as “rules” this year, down […]
NLRB issues final rule on determining joint employer status The National Labor Relations Board issued a final rule addressing the standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. The rule reverses a 2020 rule that had set a higher threshold for joint-employer status by requiring that a putative joint employer possess and […]
FMCSA relaunches effort to revamp safety fitness determinations FMCSA once again is considering changes to its methodology for determining when a motor carrier is unfit. The advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) comes more than six years after the agency withdrew a regulatory proposal to change the way it assigns carrier safety fitness determinations (SFDs). […]
FMCSA to revisit state regulation of drivers’ rest breaks The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken the unusual step of inviting two states to seek relief from adverse regulatory actions that FMCSA itself had executed. During the Trump administration, FMCSA declared that meal and rest break (MRB) regulations in California and Washington were preempted […]
FMCSA close to seeking input on safety fitness determination regulations The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has cleared for formal publication an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that would seek information on how FMCSA might use data and resources more effectively to identify unfit motor carriers and remove them from service. Details […]
DOT to allow oral fluids testing for controlled substances The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final rule that will allow employers in industries regulated by the department’s modal agencies, including FMCSA, to use oral fluid testing in lieu of urine testing for controlled substances. The goal of the rule is to give employers an […]
FMCSA proposes to expand scope of crash preventability review program FMCSA proposed to broaden the scope of existing crash types within the Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP) and to add four new types of crashes to the program. The agency said that the changes would improve the information in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) and […]
FMCSA extends deadlines in broker proceedings, sets March 31 session FMCSA has extended or reopened the comment period in two proceedings related to brokers to accommodate a March 31 public listening session on broker-related matters to be held at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. In November, FMCSA had published interim guidance on the […]
FMCSA proposes to revamp SMS, rejects IRT as ‘overly complex’ FMCSA has proposed substantial changes to the Safety Measurement System (SMS), but the agency decided against incorporating a sophisticated statistical model based on item response theory (IRT) as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences in 2017. Although FMCSA developed an IRT model, it found […]
