On a monthly basis, the federal government publishes a Significant Rulemaking Report, updating where major proposed regulations stand in the rulemaking process. The September 2023 report contained news on four Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposals of interest to ICSA members:
Speed Limiters. FMCSA will publish a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) on speed limiters around December 29, 2023. Some trucking industry parties have announced that FMCSA has settled on a maximum 68 mph for truck speed limiters, applicable to model year 2003 and newer trucks equipped with electronic engine control units (ECUs) -- but frankly, we won’t know until the SNPRM is published, and then both the speed limit and related requirements will be open for public comment.
Broker/Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility. FMCSA will publish a Final Rule on broker and freight forwarder financial responsibility on March 29, 2024. The regulations as proposed would bring more certainty to payments made by brokers to motor carriers. Because the proposed regulations would possibly require brokers and freight forwarders to seek new financial backing, the effective date of the Final Rule may be as much as three years away.
Transparency in Property Broker Transactions. Continuing the broker theme, FMCSA will initiate a new rulemaking next year, by October 31, 2024, to possibly require brokers to automatically provide a copy of each transaction record within 48 hours of the service completion. That proposed regulation will also address the “fine print” broker contract provision which waives a carrier’s right to review the record of transactions.
Automatic Emergency Braking. FMCSA will issue its Final Rule on automatic emergency braking (AEB) for heavy trucks on April 30, 2024. This was a joint rulemaking with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The dates shown in the Significant Rulemaking Report are estimates only. ICSA will keep members informed on these and other federal regulations as the documents are officially published in the Federal Register.
Several lawsuits were filed challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) independent contractor (IC) regulation enacted by the Biden Administration and the DOL’s Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su in early 2024.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in a Federal Register notice published April 1, denied a petition from the Institute for Safer Trucking (IST) requesting an investigation of collisions that van-type semi-trailers experience with passenger vehicles and other vulnerable road users.
ICSA representatives attended the TCA Truckload event, the preeminent event hosted by the Truckload Carriers Association, held in our hometown of Phoenix, AZ. We also attended the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), the largest trucking show in North America, held in Louisville, KY.