The Truck Leasing Task Force will conduct at least two more meetings before the year is over, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced.
In a notice that is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Sept. 17, FMCSA announced that the Truck Leasing Task Force has scheduled meetings for Oct. 30 and Nov. 20.
Both meetings will be conducted virtually and will provide opportunities for truck drivers who have been involved in lease-purchase arrangements to share their experiences.
The task force, which was established by Congress with the goal of ending predatory lease-purchase agreements in the trucking industry, started in 2023.
For years, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has called out predatory schemes in which a carrier leases a truck to a driver but still largely holds control over the operation. Truckers commonly report owing money to the carrier at the end of the pay period, and there are only limited examples of a truck driver completing the lease.
At a meeting in July, Ryan Kelly of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined several ways that the lease-purchase model is designed to favor the motor carrier.
Future meetings
The Oct. 30 meeting will include a presentation on the History of Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations and Safety in the United States and an update from the Public Court Data Collection Subcommittee on its findings from existing case law on truck-leasing agreements. In addition, the task force will begin drafting its committee report on the equitability of truck-leasing agreements.
For the Nov. 20 meeting, the task force will continue its work on the committee report and receive another update regarding existing case law.
Each meeting is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Eastern. Requests to submit written materials for consideration must be received no later than Oct. 23 and Nov. 13, respectively.
Once the meeting notice is published in the Federal Register, the public will have the opportunity to register here. LL
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