FMCSA Strongly Supports ATA Motion to Stay HOS Decision

Last month members and staff of the Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA) met with the top trucking regulator, John Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The group urged the agency's support of the American Trucking Associations' motion to stay the recent court decision vacating the 11- and 34-hour provisions of the hours-of-service (HOS) rules pending their reconsideration by the agency. We are pleased to announced that the FMCSA has done just that. In its letter to the Court, the Administration agreed with ATA that a stay was needed to "prevent substantial disruption of trucking operations," the agency cited timing concerns and significant transition costs to the industry related to a rule change, costs it noted that could "have to be incurred again." FMCSA also pointed to disruptions and! confusion in HOS enforcement if the rules were changed. FMCSA suggested that the Court grant a 12-month stay during which it would conduct a new rulemaking to consider new data and address the procedural shortcomings identified by the Court. We are still waiting for the Court's decision on whether or not to grant the stay, and we will keep you posted.

UCRA Up & Going

Carriers and other entities subject to the new Unified Carrier Registration Agreement started registering for UCRA and paying their fees last Monday, September 10. States will be sending out information notices and UCRA registration materials to carriers nationwide. States will not be sending bills for UCRA, however; the UCRA fees are self-reported by carriers according to fleet size. The national on-line UCRA registration site is available to any carrier subject to UCRA. It's at www.ucr.in.gov. You can both register there and pay on-line. The system seems to be working smoothly for the most part, and programming problems are being fixed quickly, we understand. Beware of the fees for using a credit card for the payments, however; those can be stiff for higher levels of fee. You should be issued a receipt for! your payment, but, unlike SSRS, there is no UCRA credential - neither the receipt nor anything else - is required to be carried in a vehicle. One last thing: the states have agreed they will not issue tickets for nonpayment of UCRA fees before November 15, but they may not feel bound by that date, and the penalties may be high in some states. Source: American Trucking Associations

Minnesota Trucking Association - October Events:

MTA Driver of the Month Selection Meeting (October 1)

• MN Chamber of Commerce's Vehicle Fleet Efficiency Workshop (October 2)
• World's Largest Truck Convoy for Special Olympics Minnesota (October 6)
• MTA Safety Council Adopt-A-Highway Clean-up (October 10)
• MTA Safety Council Meeting (October 10)
• Minnesota Commercial Vehicle Inspection Certification (October 15)
• MTA Maintenance Council Vendor Night (October 17)
• ATA Management Conference & Expo 2007 (October 21-24)
  
  *Visit the Minnesota Trucking Assocation at www.mntruck.org for more information!