FMCSA

Ray Martinez is leaving the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and will be replaced by current FMCSA Chief Counsel Jim Mullen, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced today (Oct. 10). No reason was initially given for his departure. FMCSA was not immediately available...

The Washington Trucking Associations (WTA) wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to rule on whether federal law preempts the State of Washington's meal and rest break regulations. WTA's petition, which was filed in April, will be published for a 30-day public comment period...

Trucking companies can now register for the drug and alcohol clearinghouse being administered and operated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency announced on October 1. Registration will be required in order for authorized users to access the clearinghouse once it...

A federal watchdog has warned the trucking industry's top regulator that more changes are needed to improve how it evaluates carrier safety compliance. In a 27-page report made available on September 27, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General (OIG) asserted that while...

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) awarded over $77 million in grants to help states improve safety and reduce crashes. The funding package, announced on September 25, includes $43.3 million for truck safety technology, $32 million to improve commercial driver's license (CDL)...

Drivers who fear being coerced by their companies – as well as by shippers and receivers – into driving longer periods if new hours of service rules are adopted could be provided some relief if regulators agree to insert changes into the proposal. As was the case during the first listening session...

Federal regulators and a group representing auto insurers are backing conflicting data on the safety implications of new potential hours-of-service (HOS) exemptions for short-haul drivers. The nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which promotes motor vehicle crash safety and is...

State driver licensing agencies (SDLAs) will have three additional years to comply with federal drug and alcohol clearinghouse requirements if a proposed rule is approved. In a proposed rulemaking to be published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on September 6, the agency...

Ten southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are included in an emergency declaration issued by trucking regulators as Hurricane Dorian approaches the east coast of Florida. "This Emergency Declaration addresses anticipated emergency conditions creating a need for immediate...

The issue of driver coercion came up more than once at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) first public listening session regarding proposed changes to existing hours of service (HOS) regulations for drivers. FreightWaves Washington Correspondent John Gallagher examined the...

U.S. trucking and third-party logistics companies are pushing Senate lawmakers to ignore a proposal by their colleagues in the House chamber to make crash safety scores public. The American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Transportation...

Trucking companies and owner operators will have two pricing options for tapping into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse to check on drivers for drug or alcohol violations. Employers can either pay a flat per-query rate of $1.25 for both...

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed major changes to hours-of-service (HOS) requirements, which if implemented will give carriers and drivers more flexibility in how they operate. The long-awaited rulemaking resulted from operational restrictions caused by the...

Federal regulators are moving ahead on transitioning into a long-term crash preventability determination program by seeking comment on expanding the types of crashes that carriers can have removed from a government database that evaluates their safety. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary...

Entry-level truck driver training services and state driver licensing agencies (SDLAs) will likely get two more years to comply with new federal training requirements originally scheduled for implementation in seven months. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed...