Breaking News: New Trucking Regulations

So far this summer has been an uncharacteristically busy one for the trucking industry. It seems like just about every week the Senate is passing a new transportation bill, and it can be a daunting task to keep up with all the new rules and regulations.

But that’s what your friends at TSNAmerica are here for, so take a look below and we’ll go over all the new mandates and bills that have been passed recently or will be coming soon.

Trucking Updates

So far this summer, these are the new mandates and bills that have been either passed or proposed.

Speed Regulator Law:

A newly proposed bill would require the use of speed limiters on heavy trucks is set to be published by the Department of Transportation this week. Details of the bill have not been made public yet, but the bill is expected to pass through the White House and be published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration later this week. However, the bill is expected to include the proposed speed limit and also whether or not the rule will be applied to trucks that are already in use.

E-log Mandate:

Also this week, the final version of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rule that would make the use of electronic logging devices mandatory is supposed to be finished. The rule will not actually take effect until two years after its publication in the Federal Register, but it will require all drivers that must keep duty records to use an electronic logging device.

The rule is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget, although it is expected to be cleared next month on September 21 and published by September 30. in addition to this rule, a corresponding rule.

DRIVE Act:

Also within the last month, the DRIVE Act, which stands for Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy, was approved by the US Senate with a vote of 65 to 34. This is big news for trucking because let’s face it, we all know the highways across our country could use some work. The bill comes at a big time for the industry, as over the last several years 34 short-term extensions have been passed to extend the current method for highway funding, which has proven to be ineffective. The new bill will put over $350 billion into the funding of our nation’s highways, railroads, and public transit systems. While the sponsors of the bill were only able to guarantee the bill’s first three years, the bill is still a huge step forward for the industry.

New Transportation Bill:

In addition to the aforementioned DRIVE Act, the Senate has also been working on another transportation-related bill. Although it’s been 22 years since the last time taxes were raised as an act of Congress, it’s looking more and more likely that those 22 years will be coming to an end soon.

Senator Tom Carper from Delaware announced the TRAFFIC Relief Act of 2015, which would increase fuel taxes by four cents each year for the next four years in order to offset years of inflation. The money would go towards the highway trust fund, and the proposal would index taxes to the rate of inflation after four years and would make a pair of earned income tax credits permanent.

Thanks for reading Trucking Nation, we hope you enjoyed the trucking update. Be sure to stay tuned for more updates from TSNAmerica.

And remember, if you ever have any questions about new trucking regulations or registration requirements, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 803.386.0320, or email us at support@tsnamerica.com.