7 Key Trucking Items in New U.S. Highway Funding Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – There are several items of importance to Canadian fleets and drivers who haul in United States in highway legislation passed by Congress and signed into law Friday by President Obama.

Know as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), it authorizes spending US$305 billion on highways and transit. But in trucking it’s likely better known for the special provisions that made into the new law – and those that didn’t.

What’s In:

CSA — To put it in a single word, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) chief safety program is dormant. This new law removes from public view major components of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program that score carriers on safety, known as the Safety Management System (SMS). It requires FMCSA to fix the program before to making the scores public again. The agency has 18 months to come up with the changes.

Illegal drug testing — While Canadian standards for testing truck drivers are good enough for U.S. officials, there could be a change in the wind. This new law has a provision that would allow for human hair testing in employment screening as an alternative to urine tests. Proponents of this say hair testing is a more accurate way to see if people are using illegal drugs. Those opposed claim it’s not a proven method.

Insurance — FMCSA must revisit the issue of minimum liability requirements for carriers before making regulations to increase them as previously planned. This has been a hot-button issue in the industry, with many saying the FMCSA really didn’t do its homework as to the impact of increasing the minimums, according to the Mid-West Truckers Association.

Detention Time – The FMCSA is directed by law to study how much time truckers spend waiting at shippers and receivers, including how it affects their pay, schedules and U.S. freight movements.

Money for freight projects – The law creates a new US$10.8 billion program to focus federal aid on eliminating bottlenecks and increasing the capacity of highways designated as major freight corridors as well as for multimodal freight projects.

Alternative fuels — The new law requires the U.S. Transportation Department to identify and set up travel corridors along major national highways for electric, natural gas and propane vehicles and set goals for developing alternative-fueling stations.

Changes in rulemakings — The FMCSA has been ordered to conduct a “regulatory impact analysis” on any new rules it proposes. In other words, the agency is forced to consider how new regulations affect fleets of different sizes and vocations.

What’s Out:

As Congress worked to put together this legislation, there were many proposals that were considered but didn’t make it into the final law. Among those that died were:

 An increase in the number of slots for states to participate in a pilot program allowing tolls to be placed along sections of existing interstates without tolls.

Allowing truckers as young as 18 to drive interstate, down from the current requirement of being 21 years of age or older. However, the law does allow for creating a pilot program for these younger drivers, provided they are military veterans.

Increasing maximum truck weights along federal routes or allowing tandem trailers up to 33 feet, up from the current maximum of 28 feet

Overall, the reaction from the various trucking groups, ranging from those representing fleets to drivers, has generally been positive. While many did not get everything they wanted in the new law, it marks the first time a federal highway funding bill longer than two years has been passed since 2005.

 


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