Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/619872
January 2016 | Overdrive | 23 website and app to operation as quickly as possible," the agency said in announc- ing the change. "All information on passenger carriers remains available, and enforcement users and motor carriers can view safety data by using their login information." The bill directs FMCSA to study issues such as carriers' crash risk and its cor- relation to CSA scores, CSA's rankings methodology, accuracy of the CSA data, incorporating crash fault accountability and how the public uses CSA scores in making business decisions or overall safety determinations regarding carriers. The report is to be produced within 18 months. Lawmakers also prohibited use of SMS BASIC "alerts and the relative per- centile for each BASIC developed under the CSA program" to be used for carrier safety ratings until FMCSA acts on the required CSA revamp. The object of the forthcoming Safety Fitness Determina- tion rule is to use roadside inspection and violation data to produce carrier safety ratings. That rule's proposed version cleared the White House Office of Man- agement and Budget in mid-December. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and The American Trucking Associations applauded the highway funding bill's passage. Here are its other key regulatory changes: DRUG TESTING REFORM. The bill allows carriers to test drivers via hair test in lieu of a urine test, but not until the federal Department of Health and Human Services establishes guidelines for hair testing. The bill requires DHHS to produce those guidelines within a year. DETENTION TIME STUDY. The bill requires FMCSA to produce a report on how truck driver detention at shippers and receivers impacts driver schedules and pay, as well as the impedance of U.S. freight flow. INCREASE IN LIABILITY IN- SURANCE. Congress directs FMC- SA to study carrier liability insurance minimums further before initiating any rule to raise them. This adds another hurdle to the agency possibly increasing the liability insurance minimum required of carriers, currently at $750,000 for general freight haulers. RULEMAKING PROCESS. In producing new regulations, FMCSA must now include a "regulatory impact analysis" addressing matters such as the effects on carriers of different sizes and applications. MILITARY VETERANS. The bill requires FMCSA to change rules govern- ing commercial driver's license issuance to allow military veterans with experi- ence operating equipment comparable to a heavy-duty truck to obtain a civilian truck operator job more easily. One change would allow vets to receive med- ical certification from Veterans Affairs doctors rather than those in FMCSA's National Registry of Medical Examiners. WINDSHIELD-MOUNTED TECH. The bill slightly loosens federal regulations for windshield-mounted devices, coming in response to growing interest in dashcams and more. Under-21 truckers: Though both the preliminary House and Senate bills included measures to let states enter into compacts with one another to allow 18-21-year-old CDL holders to cross state lines, the final version of the bill does not. It instead sets up a study to collect data on under-21 truckers who are former members of the military or reserves. FMCSA will study the "ben- efits and safety impacts" of allowing them to drive in interstate commerce. Size/weight reform: Some lawmak- ers and lobbying groups pushed for raising federal weight limits to 91,000 pounds and increasing maximum tan- dem trailer lengths to 33 feet, but no changes made it in the bill. 'Carrier hiring standards': The House highway bill sought to put in place criteria that brokers, shippers and others would have been encour- aged to use when making carrier hir- ing decisions. Critics say the measure could have chilled business opportu- nities for hundreds of thousands of small carriers and owner-operators unrated by FMCSA. No version was included in the bill. State labor laws for drivers: The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act forbids states from enacting laws that interfere with prices, routes or services of motor carriers. But a federal appellate court decision last year said that a California law mandating meal and rest breaks for workers in the state superseded FAAAA. A House amendment would have spelled out that states cannot regulate truckers who fall under federal hours of service regulations, said its sponsor, Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.). Opponents, however, said the amendment could have derailed efforts by unions and other groups to reform driver pay and excessive detention time. Tolling changes: Portions of the Senate's original bill would have allowed tolling on existing interstate lanes and use of some toll monies out- side of the U.S. Interstate system. The FAST Act killed that provision. What didn't make it As a sign of the growing concern over excessive detention time, the bill requires FMCSA to report on how it affects drivers and the entire supply chain. Max Heine