Redundant regulation of violations records gets the ax at FMCSA

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will eliminate a “duplicative regulation” that requires drivers to submit a list of traffic convictions to their employers.

A final rule was published in the Federal Register on March 9.

“FMCSA amends its regulations to eliminate the requirement that drivers operating commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce prepare and submit a list of their convictions for traffic violations to their employers annually,” the agency wrote in the final rule. “This requirement is largely duplicative of a separate rule that requires each motor carrier to make an annual inquiry to obtain the motor vehicle record for each driver it employs from every state in which the driver holds or has held a commercial motor vehicle operator’s license or permit in the past year.”

To make sure motor carriers are aware of traffic convictions for a driver who is licensed by a foreign authority, the FMCSA is updating the rule to require motor carriers to make an annual inquiry into each driver’s licensing authority.

The rule takes effect in May.

FMCSA proposed the rule, which is estimated to save motor carriers $1.6 million annually, in December 2020.

Out of the 86 comments the agency received about the proposal, 71 were supportive and 15 opposed.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association agreed with FMCSA that the redundancy should be eliminated and suggested the agency look for similar duplicative regulations that could be removed.

“We broadly favor the agency’s efforts to remove costly, redundant, and burdensome regulations,” OOIDA wrote in its formal comments. “These types of regulations, which are often more compliance obligations than safety measures, can disproportionally harm small-business carriers who have to cut through the red tape themselves. We encourage FMCSA to review and repeal similar duplicative requirements that have no meaningful impact on highway safety.” LL