Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/625735
commercial carrier journal | january 2016 19 journal news test, but not until the Department of Health and Human Services establishes guidelines for hair testing, due within a year of the law's enactment. Detention time study: The law requires FMCSA to study and produce a report on how truck driver detention at shippers and receivers impacts drivers, their schedules, their pay and impedance of U.S. freight flow. Insurance rule study: The law directs FMCSA to further study carrier liability insurance minimums before initiating a rule to raise them. The provision essentially adds another hurdle to the agency's potential work to increase the amount of liability insurance required to be held by motor carriers, currently at $750,000 for general freight haulers. Changes to FMCSA rulemaking process: In producing new regulations, FMCSA also now must include a "regulatory impact analysis" for each rule based on things such as effects on carriers of different sizes and applications. It also must use data "representative of commercial motor vehicle operators or motor carriers, or both, that will be impacted by the final rule" and to "formulate its estimates and findings based on the best available science." Military veterans: The law requires FMCSA to change rules governing commercial driver's license issuance to allow military veterans with experience operating equipment comparable to a heavy-duty truck to obtain a civilian truck operator job more easily. The changes would let military driving experience count toward skills and driving tests and allow vets to receive their medical certification from Veterans Affairs doctors rather than those in FMCSA's National Registry of Medical Examiners. OUT Under-21 truckers: Though both the preliminary House and Senate bills brought to the con- ference committee included measures to let states enter into compacts to allow 18-21-year-old CDL holders to cross state lines, the final version of the law does not. It instead sets up a con- trolled study, to be performed by FMCSA, that will collect data on under-21 truckers who are former members of the military or reserves and determine the "benefits and safety impacts" of allowing such truckers to drive in interstate commerce. Size/weight reform: No measures to change U.S. truck size and weight standards made it in the law. Some lawmakers and lobbying groups pushed for raising federal weight limits to 91,000 pounds and increasing the maximum-allowed length of tandem trailers to 33 feet. Carrier hiring standards: The House highway bill sought to put in place criteria that bro- kers, shippers and others could use when making carrier hiring decisions. One of the crite- rium – which called for shippers and brokers to hire only carriers with "Satisfactory" safety ratings – could have wreaked havoc on small carriers and owner-operators, said opponents of the measure. Many small trucking companies are "Unrated" by FMCSA. Rebutting court ruling on state labor laws for drivers: An amendment brought from the House would have "clarified congressional intent" of a 1994 federal transportation act govern- ing movement of the country's freight, according to its sponsor, Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.). 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 found that a California law mandating meal and rest breaks for workers in the state superseded FAAAA. The Denham amendment would have spelled out that states cannot regulate truckers who fall under federal hours-of-service regulations. Opponents said the amendment could have derailed efforts by unions and other trucker advocacy groups to reform driver pay and excessive detention time. Tolling changes: Portions of the Senate's original bill would have allowed tolling on exist- ing interstate lanes and use of some toll monies for use outside of the U.S. Interstate System, which for now remains a closed loop. – James Jaillet and Matt Cole Continued from page 10 Use mirrors, not cameras, FMCSA says T he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration denied an exemption request from Atwood Forest Products to install camera systems at the sides and rear of its 15 trucks in place of rearview mirrors. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, all trucks and truck tractors are required to be equipped with two rearview mirrors, one on each side, attached outside. "While Atwood wanted to install the camera system on its vehicles for use in an evaluation study to evalu- ate the safety and economic benefits of eliminating outside mirrors, it did not provide evidence to enable the agency to conclude that motor carriers operat- ing vehicles without any rear-vision mirrors could achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety that would be obtained by com- plying with the regulation," FMCSA said in its denial. Atwood said in its appli- cation the cameras would be located at the back of trailers and the sides of trucks, with a monitor in the cab. – Matt Cole