Archive for January 2017

Each and every day, trucking moves America forward, delivering more than 80 percent of the nation’s freight. But the trucking industry’s support of our local communities goes beyond the goods we deliver. The trucking industry gives, and gives big, to charitable organizations across the country. The American Trucking Associations has commissioned the American Transportation Research…

Recently, both federal and state law enforcement officials have told MTAC that they have seen some CDL holders (and their employers) have difficulty complying with the federal regulation regarding physical examinations. These examinations are required to be administered by a Certified Medical Examiner (CME) who is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).…

Excerpt from Yahoo News. The American Transportation Research Institute today released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America, seven of which are in Connecticut. The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS…

Excerpt from Transport Topics article: The Senate Commerce Committee on Jan. 24 approved the nomination of Elaine Chao to be Secretary of Transportation. The panel also approved President Trump’s choice of Wilbur Ross to be Secretary of Commerce. “We hit the ground running at our first markup of the 115th Congress,” said Sen. John Thune…

By Bob Pitcher, State Laws Newsletter. The Connecticut Supreme Court has held that federal law did not preempt various aspects of the state’s regulation of nonconsensual towing. The plaintiff towing company had been called by the state police to remove a disabled trailer from the highway following a traffic accident. For its services, it had…

From FMCSA: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a notice that announces the suspension of the Unified Registration System (URS). During this suspension, entities needing to file will follow the same procedures and forms used to submit information to FMCSA as they do today. The URS 1 final rule was issued to…

From the FMCSA. On Jan. 21, 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update its present Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) methodology and enhance the Agency’s ability to identify non-compliant motor carriers.   The NPRM public comment period ended June 23, 2016. In order to thoroughly evaluate and possibly…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has begun notifying selected truck and bus companies that they will be required to submit their 2016 USDOT drug and alcohol testing program results within 60 days as directed by 49 CFR § 382.403. The Annual Drug and Alcohol Information Survey results are used…

This is a friendly reminder to MTAC members that MTAC’s consultant Mike Glinski is available to answer your questions about complying with state and federal laws and regulations that apply to the commercial trucking industry. Any MTAC members that have questions about complying should call the MTAC office at (860) 520-4455, and MTAC staff will…

Excerpt from Wall Street Journal article: The trucking and rail industries, often at odds in Washington, are teaming up to press the incoming Trump administration to limit the ability of transportation regulators to write new rules. Leaders of the industry trade groups say they are trying to unite transport representatives in Washington, including airline, automobile…