OOIDA says truckers need flexibility with SEC standards

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to give truckers some flexibility with proposed standards regarding climate-related disclosures.

On June 16, OOIDA submitted comments for the SEC’s proposed rule addressing climate-related disclosures for investors. The proposal sets standards for companies providing certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports.

If finalized in its current state, the rule will require the following:

• Information about a registrant’s climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on its business, results of operations, or financial condition.
• Disclosure of a registrant’s greenhouse gas emissions, which have become a commonly used metric to assess a registrant’s exposure to such risks.
• Certain climate-related financial metrics in a registrant’s audited financial statements.

Truckers are not directly affected by the rule unless they are selling securities to raise capital. However, the rule may affect owner-operators if they have customers that do have to file with the SEC.

“As part of the transportation services performed with or for other businesses, our members generate greenhouse gas emissions that would need to be included in numerous registrants’ reporting,” OOIDA wrote. “As a result, registrants would likely seek to collect information from our members in order to meet their reporting obligations.”

OOIDA is requesting that the final rule “provide flexibility to small businesses that may have difficulty collecting or determining certain information that registrants request of them.”

Whether an owner-operator is affected by another company’s climate-related disclosures varies from one operation to the next.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency categorizes greenhouse gas emissions into three “scopes”:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization (e.g., emissions associated with fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces, vehicles).
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat or cooling.
• Scope 3: The result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain.

Some drivers operate under their own authority as a small motor carrier. Others lease onto another company’s authority as an independent contractor.

“In one example, the rule suggests that a registrant who owns a fleet of trucks could collect data on the total amount of diesel fuel and refrigerant used in their operations to calculate (greenhouse gas) emissions,” OOIDA wrote. “While this may be feasible for a carrier that directly owns and operates their entire fleet of trucks, collecting this information would not be as simple for carriers that utilize leased-on owner-operators.” LL