Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020:
Comment period opens on brokers’ request to rescind transparency regs
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting comments through Jan. 25, 2021, on a request from freight brokers asking the agency to rescind certain regulations pertaining to brokered transaction transparency.
In its petition, the Transportation Intermediaries Association requests that FMCSA rescind 49 CFR 371.3(c) concerning the rights of parties to a brokered transaction to review the records of the transaction.
TIA argues that the regulation, established in 1980, doesn’t apply in today’s marketplace. The group adds that the spot market is “one of the most transparent marketplaces in the world,” noting that load boards, the internet and rate quotes in person-to-person communications within the industry “provide the rate transparency that was intended by 49 CFR 371.3 when commissions paid by carriers to brokers were common.”
The group also asks FMCSA for regulatory guidance regarding “dispatch services,” which TIA says it believes are essentially unlicensed brokers. TIA believes FMCSA should publish regulatory guidance explaining that the legal duties of a dispatch service allow them to be an agent for one motor carrier, and that anything further requires a brokerage license and compliance with the financial responsibility requirements applicable to brokers.
FMCSA is asking commenters to provide responses to seven questions, which can be found here. Comments on TIA’s request can be made here through Jan. 25.
Trucker busted with $25M of alleged liquid meth at U.S./Mexico border
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Pharr International Bridge in Pharr, Texas, intercepted a tractor-trailer with alleged liquid methamphetamine worth $25 million.
