OOIDA maintains bid for broker transparency

The time is now for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to do something about the lack of broker transparency.

That’s the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s message to the agency.

“We believe the agency must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking and promote broker transparency as soon as possible,” OOIDA wrote in an Aug. 17 letter to FMCSA. “Updating these regulations will protect carriers from unlawful brokers and help protect the public by providing a marketplace in which each party behaves in a clear and transparent manner.”

FMCSA announced in March that it would issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to address the issue. Although the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Spring 2023 Unified Regulatory Agenda projected the notice to be unveiled in June, the industry is still waiting for the proposal to be published in the Federal Register.

“Since the agency’s rulemaking announcement in March, instances of rampant broker abuse and fraud persist,” OOIDA wrote. “Motor carriers are victimized through unpaid claims, unpaid loads, double-brokered loads or load-phishing schemes on a daily basis. If broker transparency regulations and enforcement can be improved, then disputes between motor carriers and sureties will be reduced, there will be less need for litigation, less need for FMCSA intervention and the economic health of the broker/motor carrier component of the transportation industry will be stronger.”

Petition

OOIDA petitioned FMCSA in 2020 to begin the rulemaking process for more transparency in trucking transactions with brokers.

OOIDA’s petition asked the agency:

• To require brokers to automatically provide an electronic copy of each transaction record within 48 hours after the contractual service has been completed
• To explicitly prohibit brokers from including any provision that requires a carrier to waive their rights to access the transaction records

Regulation CFR 371.3 already requires that brokers keep records of each transaction with a carrier and that each party to the transaction has a right to view these records. OOIDA asked the agency to begin enforcing that regulation and to eliminate any loopholes that allowed brokers to sidestep the rule. The Small Business in Transportation Coalition also petitioned the agency.

FMCSA granted the petitions in March, but it is still unknown what the agency will propose to fix the problem.

Persistence

In the meantime, OOIDA has remained vigilant in its efforts to prompt FMCSA to take action. Since its petition in May 2020, OOIDA wrote follow-up letters in September 2022 and this past March.

OOIDA’s latest plea for change reused portions of its 2022 letter for emphasis.

“Listening to our members, we know that improving broker transparency remains a top priority for small-business motor carriers,” OOIDA wrote. “While their concerns may intensify during more challenging economic times, there is constant frustration caused by brokers skirting federal transparency requirements without recourse. As conditions in the trucking industry change, and more carriers face challenges, we can assure you that FMCSA and others in the federal government will continue to hear about the lack of broker transparency from small-business truckers.”

Improving broker transparency will improve highway safety and driver retention, OOIDA wrote. LL