Mark Schremmer
The U.S. Department of Transportation is taking the first steps toward decreasing the regulatory burdens on trucking and other applicable industries.
This week, the DOT announced more than 50 proposals or final rules aimed at streamlining the Code of Federal Regulations. The actions made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the National Traffic Safety Administration target “redundant” rules with “no real-life application,” the DOT said in a news release.
“Big government has been a big failure,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, my department is slashing duplicative and outdated regulations that are unnecessarily burdensome, waste taxpayer dollars and fail to ensure safety. These are commonsense changes that will help us build a more efficient government that better reflects the needs of the American people.”
Deregulatory focus
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the administration has promised to roll back regulatory burdens on businesses.
On Jan. 31, Trump issued an executive order requiring that at least 10 regulations be identified for elimination before a new regulation is issued.
In April, the DOT asked the public to help identify regulations that could be modified, repealed or amended without hindering safety. The public, including truck drivers, responded with more than 900 comments providing recommendations on regulations they believed could be removed.
Many of the comments from truckers focused on big-ticket issues, such as hours-of-service regulations, the electronic logging device mandate and the speed limiter proposal. Although these initial deregulatory actions do not address any of those concerns, the DOT did take steps toward removing some of the mundane requirements that are often “duplicative.”
FMCSA’s actions
On Tuesday, May 27, FMCSA announced a total of 20 proposals or final rules set to be published in the coming days.
One of those proposals involves rescinding the requirement that rear impact guards must be permanently marked or labeled with a certification from the manufacturer. There were instances of motor carriers being cited for missing or faded labels. However, FMCSA is moving the focus to the condition of the guards and not the label.
“The certification label or marking provides motor carriers purchasing new trailers or new impact guards to replace damaged devices with a means to determine whether the equipment is certified as meeting the FMVSS,” the agency wrote. “However, the labeling or marking requirement has proven problematic for motor carriers when the label or marking becomes illegible or wears off during the service life of the trailer or guard.”
Another proposed deregulatory action involves the requirement that an ELD operator’s manual be placed in the commercial motor vehicle. The DOT said that if that information is needed, it can be found online.
In all, FMCSA is issuing two final rules and 18 notices of proposed rulemaking.
The final rules involve:
Both of the final rules take effect as soon as they are published in the Federal Register.
The notices of proposed rulemaking involve:
- Definition of “medical treatment”
- Exceptions for certain military personnel
- Driver vehicle examination report disposition
- Electronic driver vehicle inspection reports
- ELD operator’s manual
- Auxiliary fuel tanks
- Brakes on portable conveyors
- Labeling requirements for rear impact guards
- Fuel tank overfill restriction
- License plate lamps
- Liquid-burning flares
- Retroreflective sheeting on semitrailers and trailers
- Tire load markings
- Spare fuses
- Vision standards grandfathering provision
- Railroad grade crossing stopping exception
- Removal of obsolete references to “water carriers”
- Self-reporting requirements
Comments on each of those proposals will be accepted through July 29. Once those comments are reviewed, the agency will determine whether or not to move forward with a final rule.
