8 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch Membership in OTA Provides Opportunity to Address the Challenge of Change By Gregg Dal Ponte, OTA’s Director of Regulatory Compliance REGULATORY COMPLIANCE THE THEME OF this year’s OTA convention was, “Change. Challenge. Opportunity.” Does that theme have any application to a regulatory perspective? I think the answer is a resounding, yes! Philosophers have observed that there is nothing certain in this world. Only “change” is constant and that is the harsh truth that we have to learn to accept. FleetOwner magazine wrote in 2011, “The ongoing drumbeat of regulatory change will continue to place the heaviest pressure on the trucking industry’s ability to provide efficient freight service in the eyes of many carriers and experts—and most believe there will be no let up, despite the potential risks reduced freight efficiency poses to U.S. economic growth.”1 In the decade that followed publication of that sentiment, the transportation industry has certainly been witness to robust federal rulemaking. Considering the following overview. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other agencies have undertaken significant changes thus far in 2022. The new entrylevel driver training rule went into full effect on February 7. This requires any driver applying to take a CDL skills test, hazardous materials endorsement test, or passenger endorsement test to have completed specific training at an entity listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry. Canadian provinces moved from an educational approach to an enforcement approach when it comes to the country’s ELD mandate. Now carriers operating in Canada need to use an ELD that is accredited by one of the third-party certification organizations. Clearinghouse participation by states has become mandatory. States need to put processes in place over the next three years to: ` Not issue a CDL or CLP to a driver listed as prohibited in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, and ` Downgrade the CDL, or CLP of a driver within 60 days of being listed as prohibited in the Clearinghouse. Registration opened in July of this year for fleets looking to participate in Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program, which will study how younger drivers operate in interstate commerce. Up to 3,000 commercial drivers between 18 and 20 years old will be accepted into the program, which is backed by the departments of Transportation and Labor, and is part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Professional drivers younger than 21 are not permitted to operate beyond their home state. This pilot program would grant those drivers exemptions from this federal law. FMCSA is seeking up to 1,000 motor carriers to participate in the program, according to Nikki McDavid, chief of the Commercial Driver’s License Division in the FMCSA’s Office of Safety Programs. The agency is also looking for fleets of all sizes and operations across the country to gather as much diverse data, she added. In a final rule published in the Federal Register which became effective on May 6 of this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) updated its regulations to expand the area on windshields where safety technology devices can be mounted. The FMCSA regulations previously required devices with vehicle safety technologies to be mounted not more than 4 inches below the upper edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers, or not more than 7 inches above the lower edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers, and outside the driver’s sight lines to the road, and highway signs and signals. FMCSA modified that regulation (Section 393.60(e)(1)(ii)) to increase from 4 inches to 8.5 inches below the upper edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers where safety technologies can be mounted. The agency also revised the definition of “vehicle safety technology” to include more devices. Vehicle safety technology is now be defined in the regulations as follows: Vehicle safety technology includes systems and items of equipment to promote driver, occupant, and roadway safety. Examples of vehicle safety technology systems and devices include a fleet-related incident management system, performance or behavior management system, speed management system, lane departure warning system, forward collision warning or mitigation system, active cruise control system, transponder, braking warning system, braking assist system, driver camera system, attention assist warning, Global Positioning
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