• 1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO 64029 | Subscribe to Daily News Updates

  • Contact Land Line

  • In This Issue:

    • Virtual boots on the ground

    February 01, 2023 |

    One of the easiest ways to make your voice heard on proposed regulations, without even having to leave the sleeper of your truck, is filing comments on the proposals. Consider it your virtual boots on the ground in the fight for your rights as a trucker.

    The road to a regulation becoming reality is generally a long one, so it’s important to not only know what is in the regulation pipeline but also to jump on every opportunity to make your opinions known. Generally speaking, on the path to becoming a final rule the public gets two or three chances to weigh in on a proposed new regulation or change to one.

    It may sound mundane and not really effective, but commenting is your voice in the rulemaking process. And the kicker is that agencies are required to consider each and every comment submitted.

    However, it tends to be one of the most underutilized forms of advocacy by truckers.

    Take speed limiters from last year, for example. It appeared to be one issue that all truckers are passionate about. Yet, out of some 3 million-plus truckers, about 11,000 truckers took advantage of their right to comment on the proposed regulation. Of course, OOIDA did, but that’s not enough. Truckers must be involved in this critical part of the process.

    Don’t let the process intimidate you. It’s actually pretty simple.

    The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, for example, collects comments on its “docket” located at Regulations.gov.

    The following steps will walk you through finding the docket that is open for comments and into the comment process.

    • Go to Regulations.gov.
    • Fill in the “search” field with the Docket ID and either hit enter or click on “search.”
    • Click on the title of the docket you want to comment on. Once on that page, there will be a “comment” button that you should click on.
    • Type in your comment. You will want to be aware that if you enter personally identifiable information in this portion of the form that will be publicly displayed.
    • Select what your comment is about from the drop down. Generally speaking, most comments from individuals will be “public comment.”
    • Enter your email address. You can opt in to receive confirmation that your comment was received and get a tracking number.
    • Designate that you are “an individual.”
    • The form requires you enter at least yourfirst and last name before submitting.
    • Click on the reCAPTCHA.
    • Hit “submit comment.”

    Before you start through the electronic process on the internet, be sure you have the correct docket ID. This is how the system knows what you are specifically talking about in your comments.

    The docket ID identifies a regulatory action the agency is putting in the record for public view and possible comment.

    It will contain a series of letters and numbers separated by dashes. For example, FMCSA-2022-0004 is the docket related to the speed limiter proposal. The dashes are critical when looking up a particular rulemaking. When you’re searching for a specific document to comment on, if you use the dashes incorrectly – or not at all – you won’t find the document you’re looking for.

    You can have someone else do it for you online, too. A friend or relative can be a big help. The steps are the same except that on the first page they should click that they are submitting for a third party and fill out their info as the representative. The other fields for organization and such are unnecessary.

    Of course, submitting comments electronically via the internet isn’t your only option. If you prefer to handwrite or type it out and fax it? Easy enough. On the top of the page include the docket ID. Make sure to include your name. Then you can:

    • Fax comments with the docket ID number to 202-493-2251.
    • Mail comments with the docket ID number to:

    Docket Management Facility

    U.S. Department of Transportation

    Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE

    Washington, D.C. 20590-0001

    Or, if you are super ambitious, hand deliver comments between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except on federal holidays to the ground floor of the U.S. Department of Transportation Building, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, D.C. LL

    « Previous Page: Petition efforts offer path for influence Next Page: OOIDA’s Calls to Action »