FMCSA’s regulatory guidance under review

The time is now for truck drivers to tell the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which of its regulatory guidance documents need changes.

FMCSA has hundreds of regulatory guidance documents that are aimed at providing clarification on how truck drivers and motor carriers can comply with regulations.

The public has through Thursday, Sept. 26 to submit comments to the agency. Specifically, FMCSA wants to know if any of its existing guidance documents need “updated or eliminated.”

Regulatory guidance isn’t legally binding because it doesn’t go through the rulemaking process. However, law enforcement officers often rely on the documents to determine whether a trucker is compliant with a rule.

Public comment period

FMCSA is required to conduct a comprehensive review of its regulatory guidance at least once every five years. The agency previously conducted a review in 2020.

On Aug. 13, FMCSA published a notice that opened a 30-day comment period.

“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be reviewing its existing guidance documents to evaluate their continued necessity and determine whether they should be updated or eliminated,” the agency wrote. “As part of this review, FMCSA invites the public to identify and provide input on existing guidance documents that are good candidates for revision or rescission.”

On Sept. 11, the agency announced that it was extending the comment period for 14 days. The extension was prompted by a petition from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance that said 30 days was not an adequate amount of time to provide meaningful feedback on more than 1,300 documents.

CVSA has previously petitioned FMCSA to change its guidance regarding personal conveyance, which is the movement of a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while off-duty. FMCSA has denied CVSA’s petitions on the topic twice in recent years.

To comment on personal conveyance or any of FMCSA’s regulatory guidance documents by Thursday, Sept. 26, click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0208. LL