UCRA Board Prohibits Early Fee Collection – Last week, SLN reported that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had issued what the agency termed “regulatory guidance” to the effect that states that participate in the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement could collect fees for 2010 at the rates in effect for 2009, if the states did not include trailing equipment in the fee calculation.  Then, according to FMCSA, states could go back and reassess carriers for any difference, once the federal rulemaking to set the 2010 fees is completed later this year.  On March 11, the UCRA Board of Directors held its first meeting since FMCSA’s notice, and voted ten to one to prohibit states from collecting any UCRA fees for 2010 until FMCSA publishes a final rule resetting fees for the program, or until further notice from the Board.  Judging from the discussion at the Board meeting, the members felt that attempting to collect under the FMCSA guidance would lead to severe administrative problems for the program.  The Board’s resolution has been circulated to all of the states that participate in the UCRA.  The federal rulemaking to set the 2010 fees is now at the federal Office of Management and Budget for final review.  Its issuance may be anticipated by the middle of June.

MoDOT Implements Further Cost Saving Measures

Workforce to be Reduced by Approximately 400; No Lay-offs Planned

 JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn today announced dramatic cost savings measures and a plan to keep major highways in good condition and to improve smaller highways as less funding is available for new construction.   The department will save $203 million over the next five years by cutting costs and eliminating 400 salaried positions without lay-offs by June 30, 2013.

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ATRI NEEDS YOUR OPINION

Hours of Service Survey

ATA has commissioned the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) to collect and analyze motor carrier safety and operational data to help inform the upcoming hours-of-service (HOS) rulemaking process. ATRI has developed an online survey which can be found on the ATRI website www.atri-online.org.   
 
 MoTA strongly encrouages it's members to complete this short survey by March 24,  2010.  The data collected by ATRI from this effort will be cleansed of identifying information and aggregated to ensure that the results are not attributable to any one company.  The results will be used by ATA to continue to educate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) leadership and staff on driver and carrier operational practices and safety experience under the current rule.

Please take this opportunity to provide your input into this review of the hours-of-service review.

Alerts

Special Announcement
 
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has launched a Web site where trucking companies can register for access to a safety database to screen applicants for driving jobs.
 
The Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) allows motor carriers and individual drivers to purchase driving records from the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Records are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Records purchased through PSP will contain the most recent five years of crash data and three years of roadside inspection data from the FMCSA MCMIS system.
 
Fees to use the program are based upon company size. Firms with less than 100 trucks pay $25 per year for access and $10 per record; firms with more than 100 trucks pay a $100 annual fee, and $10 per record. Each account allows for up to 10 individual users, regardless of company size. Owner-operators and drivers can access the site for free with a charge of $10 per requested record.
 
Although the data is not available yet, carriers and third party driver service providers can start registering for the Pre-Employment Screening Program at www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has announced an opportunity for diesel vehicle and diesel equipment owners and operators in St. Louis, Kansas City and southwest Missouri to receive financial assistance to purchase equipment to reduce diesel emissions through Missouri's Clean Diesel Program.

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