DOT fines increase based off 2015 inflation adjustment law

U.S. Department of Transportation agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, have increased fine amounts for regulation violations.

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.

The U.S. DOT announced the latest fine increases this month.

Based off guidance released by the White House Office of Management and Budget in December 2020, the latest adjustment is found by the department multiplying the maximum or minimum penalty amount by the percent change between the October 2020 consumer price index for all urban consumers and the same number for October 2019. In this case, the change was 1.01182%.

For instance, an out-of-service order violation for a driver increased from $1,928 to $1,951. An alcohol prohibition violation (first offense), 49 CFR 392.5, increased from $3,230 to $3,268.

A full listing of all of the DOT fine increases for 2021, including the FMCSA’s increases, can be found here.

Previous DOT fine increases

It is the second set of fine increases in recent months, because the 2020 inflation amounts (1.01764%) didn’t go into effect until January 2021. As part of those increases, an out-of-service violation for a driver increased from $1,895 to $1,928 and a first-offense violation for 49 CFR 392.5 increased from $3,174 to $3,230.

A full listing of those increases, including FMCSA’s increases, can be found here. LL

Other U.S. DOT coverage:

• Infrastructure plan – now is the time, U.S. DOT secretary says.
• GAO report: DOT needs to ‘do more’ to publicize drug and alcohol testing data.