Truckers will have until 2019 to install electronic logging devices (ELD) if newly proposed legislation becomes law. The ELD Extension Act was submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by Rep. Brian Babin (R, Texas) who announced the bill today.
This week the National Academy of Sciences released its long-awaited study of the FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) program. The report makes recommendations for improving the way FMCSA uses its data to assign safety rankings to carriers, and it recommends that the FMCSA study the impact of returning CSA scores to public view.
This week the FMCSA announced that it has withdrawn its proposed rulemaking which could have called for an increase in carrier liability insurance. That's good news for both carriers and brokers, because a steep increase in insurance requirements would have added extra costs at a time when many carriers are wondering how they're gone to pay for electronic logging devices required by December 18.
I've been an owner-operator for six years, and I was a company driver before that. I have built great relationships with freight brokers, and we share advice and tips to be successful in the spot freight market. I think that most brokers don't realize what a huge impact ELDs will have on their business, starting only seven months from now. Here's what you need to know.
Here are five new regulations that freight brokers should be aware of—either because they apply to brokers directly, or because the rules will have an impact on truckload capacity.
New rules regarding the safe transportation of food will go into effect April 6 for large carriers, brokers and shippers. The new rules, set by the FDA, are intended to keep food safe from contamination during transportation. See if your company must comply this year, or if you have one more year to comply.
The Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) has been postponed, as of this week. Brokers are disappointed that they still won't have a clear guideline to help select safe carriers. The carriers themselves wanted to kill the rule, because the guidelines were based on safety data that carriers consider to be badly flawed.
A number of trucking publications have reported this week that the more restrictive hours of service restart rules—put in place in July 2013 and suspended in December 2014—will be permanently eliminated.
Filing IFTA fuel taxes is all about keeping accurate records. Do you have all your fuel receipts? Do your drivers’ trip sheets cover every mile for all distance traveled? Do you know how many miles were driven in each state or province? And it’s not just about data collection: You also have to hang onto all those records for at least four years.
The trucking industry has spent several months waiting to hear from the FMCSA about when the new Unified Registration System will go in effect. In January, the URS was suspended until further notice.
<p>New rules like the ELD mandate have the potential to force some small carriers out of business and raise freight rates when capacity tightens. There are several other proposed regulations that could also have major impacts on the trucking industry in 2017.</p>
