The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been outspoken about its desire to increase the standards for CDL holders.
But what about brokers?
Before the year is over, FMCSA is expected to unveil a proposal aimed at strengthening the qualifications required to be a broker or freight forwarder.
According to the recently released regulatory agenda, the agency is targeting September for the release of a notice of proposed rulemaking.
“This rulemaking is intended to implement the requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act … The statute requires that brokers and freight forwarders employ, as an officer, an individual who has either three years of relevant experience or can provide satisfactory evidence of their knowledge of related rules, regulations and industry practices,” FMCSA wrote in the regulatory agenda.
The proposal would get out ahead of a potential provision in a highway bill that advanced out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier this year. The House T&I’s BUILD America 250 Act would require the DOT secretary to issue a final rule implementing requirements regarding the experience or qualifications of brokers and freight forwarders within two years of the bill’s enactment. In addition, the transportation secretary would be required to provide the House T&I Committee with frequent status updates until a final rule is issued.
Although the highway bill has made no progress since advancing out of committee on May 22, it appears that FMCSA already has plans to address that provision.
Once FMCSA’s proposal is published in the Federal Register, there will be a public comment period.
What about broker transparency?
Increasing the standards isn’t the only proposal FMCSA is cooking up regarding brokers.
According to the regulatory agenda, the agency could release a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on broker transparency as soon as this month.
The forthcoming proposal dates back to a petition submitted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in 2020 that asked the FMCSA to close loopholes in longstanding broker transparency regulations.
Regulation 371.3 requires brokers to keep records of each transaction. Even more, each party to an individual transaction has the right to review the record. Truckers say that brokers routinely evade the rule by either requiring waivers or telling carriers they can’t provide the records electronically.
Without transparency, OOIDA argues that truckers are at a disadvantage in receiving fair rates and may be victimized by bogus claims. LL
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