The fines for violating Department of Transportation regulations will be a little more expensive in 2025 due to inflation.
Each year, adjustments to the fine amounts are made to account for inflation. In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Dec. 30, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and other DOT agencies announced its new civil penalty amounts.
The increase is based on the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which requires all federal agencies – not just the U.S. DOT – to adjust minimum and maximum civil penalty amounts for inflation “to preserve their deterrent impact.” The law requires annual adjustments of civil penalty amounts using a statutorily mandated formula.
To derive the 2025 adjustment, departments must multiply the maximum or minimum penalty amount by the percent change between the October 2023 and October 2024 consumer price index for all urban consumers. In this case, the previous fine amounts were multiplied by 1.02598.2.
For example, the fine for violating FMCSA’s regulation against knowingly falsifying records will increase from $15,445 to $15,846.
Meanwhile, the maximum penalty for an employer knowingly allowing employee violations of out-of-service orders will increase from $38,612 to $39,615.
A full listing of new fine amounts for FMCSA, as well as the Maritime Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, can be found here.
The final rule, which is based off the 2015 law, does not require a comment period and becomes effective immediately.
However, the new fine amounts do not apply to violations that occurred before then. The rule does not change previously assessed or enforced penalties that the U.S. DOT is actively collecting or has collected. LL
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