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Transportation Updates and

Regulatory News (TURN)

A quarterly publication of the Agricultural Marketing Service

www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/transportation/turn

November 2019

Motor Carrier Safety Advisory 

Committee Discusses Automated 

Driving Systems

On September 30 and October 1, 2019, the 

federal advisory Motor Carrier Safety Advisory 

Committee discussed Automated Driving 

Systems (ADS) for commercial vehicles. The 

committee was asked to provide the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) 

with recommendations on regulatory 

provisions, workforce issues, and other 

concerns for a potential rulemaking. As part of 

the preparations for ADS, the U.S. Department 

of Transportation released Preparing for the 

Future of Transportation, Automated Vehicles 

3.0. Comments can be viewed at docket 

number DOT-OST-2018-0149.

Public Listening Sessions on Flexibility 

within the Hours of Service of Drivers

FMCSA held public listening sessions on the 

proposed rulemaking to provide flexibility 

within the hours of service of drivers. The 

webcast listening sessions, held in Washington, 

DC on September 17, 2019 and in Dallas, Texas 

on August 23, 2019, were transcribed and can 

be viewed at docket number 

FMCSA-2018-0248.

The flexibility proposed includes: (1) allowing 

the 30-minute rest break to be satisfied by a 

driver using on duty, not driving status; (2) 

modifying the split sleeper berth exception to 

allow a driver to spend a minimum of 7 hours in 

the berth combined with a minimum 2-hour offduty period, provided the combined periods 

total 10 hours (rather than the current 8 hour/2 

hour split); (3) allowing one off-duty break of at 

least 30 minutes, but not more than three 

hours, that would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour 
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driving window; (4) extending by two hours the 

time driving permitted to account for adverse 

conditions; and (5) lengthening the short-haul 

driver's maximum on-duty period from 12 to 14 

hours and extending the distance limit from 100 

to 150 air miles. 

The American Trucking Association requested a 

30-day day extension of the comment period

that was scheduled to end on October 7. The

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance requested a

45-day extension. FMCSA granted a two-week

extension to October 21.

Proposed Extension of Compliance

Date for States' Query of the Drug and

Alcohol Clearinghouse

On September 6, 2016, FMCSA, proposed to

extend the compliance date, from January 6,

2020 to January 6, 2023, for States to utilize the

Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Drug and

Alcohol Clearinghouse to check drivers’ records

for violations of drug and alcohol tests. FMCSA 

will utilize the additional time to issue a 

rulemaking to address the concerns of the 

American Association of Motor Vehicle

Administrators. Beginning January 6, 2020,

States may voluntarily utilize the Clearinghouse

prior to issuing, renewing, upgrading, or 

transferring a CDL. Comments can be viewed at 

docket number FMCSA-2019-0120.

Public Meeting on the Electronic

Logging Device Technical

Specifications

On September 6, 2019, FMCSA hosted a public

meeting in Washington, DC for Electronic

Logging Device (ELD) manufacturers on

Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 395—

Functional Specifications for All Electronic

Logging Devices (ELDs). Topics included the data

transfer process and mandatory transition to

ELDs (by December 16, 2019) of motor carriers

using automatic onboard recording devices.

Comments can be viewed at docket number 

FMCSA-2010-0167. 

Update on Driver Detention Impacts 

on Safety and Productivity 

On September 4, the American Transportation 

Research Institute released an update showing 

an increase in the Driver Detention Impacts on 

Safety and Productivity from 2014 to 2018. 

Drivers, paid by the mile and limited to 14 hours 

on-duty time by FMCSA hours of service rules, 

lose income while waiting to load and unload at 

shipper and receiver facilities. The analysis 

found, “In the 2018 dataset, over a third of the 

respondents (36.5%) who operate refrigerated 

trailers (reefer) indicated experiencing delays of 

four or more hours.” The report will 

supplement FMCSA’s June 10, 2019 request for 

data on driver detention during loading and 

unloading and the impact of such delays on 

safety. Comments can be viewed at docket 

number FMCSA-2019-0054. 

Misclassifying Workers as 

Independent Contractors Does Not 

Violate the National Labor Relations 

Act

Many truck drivers prefer to work as 

independent contractors for employers, while 

many other truck drivers complain they have 

been misclassified as independent contractors 

by their employers, and denied employer 

provided benefits and legal protections. The 

classification issue has been the subject of 

driver protests, litigation, court rulings, 

regulations, and legislation over many years, 

especially in California. 

On August 29, 2019, “The National Labor 

Relations Board held that employers do not 

violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) 

solely by misclassifying employees as 

independent contractors. The Board majority 

held that an employer’s communication to its 
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workers of its opinion that they are 

independent contractors does not, standing 

alone, violate the NLRA if that opinion turns out 

to be mistaken. According to the decision, such 

communication does not inherently threaten 

those employees with termination or other 

adverse action if they engage in activities 

protected by the NLRA, nor does it 

communicate that it would be futile for them to 

engage in such activities.”

Fees for the Unified Carrier 

Registration Plan and Agreement to be 

Reduced

On August 27, 2019, FMCSA proposed to reduce 

the “annual registration fees States collect from 

motor carriers, motor private carriers of 

property, brokers, freight forwarders, and 

leasing companies for the Unified Carrier 

Registration (UCR) Plan and Agreement for the 

2020, 2021, and subsequent registration years. 

The proposed fees for the 2020 registration 

year would be reduced below the 2018 

registration fee level that was in effect by 

approximately 12.82 percent to ensure that fee 

revenues do not exceed the statutory 

maximum, and to account for the various 

excess funds held in the depository.” Comments 

can be viewed at docket number 

FMCSA-2019-0066.

Cost of Congestion to Trucking in the 

2019 Urban Mobility Report

On August 22, 2019, Texas A&M Transportation 

Institute (TTI) released the

2019 Urban Mobility Report which included the 

section entitled “What are the impacts of 

congestion on trucking and trucking on 

congestion?” The report found that the cost of 

congestion to trucking 2017 dollars is $20.5 

billion in “wasted time and fuel.” Trucks 

accounted for 12 percent of the total cost of 

vehicle congestion ($166 billion), but only 7 

percent of the total vehicle traffic volume.

FMSCSA to Operate a Streamlined 

Crash Preventability Determination 

Program

On August 5, 2019, FMCSA provided notice of a 

streamlined crash preventability determination 

program, to remove crashes found to be not 

preventable from the Safety Measurement 

System prioritization algorithm; make 

appropriate notations in the Pre-Employment 

Screening Program; and review the 

preventability of additional types of 

crashes. Comments can be viewed at docket 

number FMCSA-2014-0177.

Photo credits: 

Truck: Burt Barnes

All other photos: USDA

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, 

employer, and lender.