Transportation

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on March 28 submitted for review to the White House Office of Management and Budget a notice of proposed rulemaking intended to add flexibility to FMCSA’s hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — Legislation reintroduced by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) on March 13 would require at least two certified crew members on all freight trains operated in the United States.

Washington — Heidi King’s nomination to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was approved for a second time by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on April 3.

Washington — The validity of a perceived shortage of commercial motor vehicle drivers is again in the spotlight after a recent analysis conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Washington – Bipartisan bills introduced in the House on March 12 would exempt certain segments of the commercial motor vehicle industry from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mandate on use of electronic logging devices to record truck driver hours of service.

Washington — Legislators from both chambers of Congress have introduced bills intended to reduce injuries and deaths that result when passenger vehicles slide under large trucks.

Washington — Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would require the secretary of transportation to create a working group to determine obstacles to safe operation for livestock, insect and agricultural haulers in an effort to reform federal hours-of-service and electronic logging device regulations.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comment on a petition that aims to amend hours-of-service requirements for haulers of livestock, insects and aquatic animals, allowing for a 16-hour on-duty period after 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time, the agency announced in the Feb. 6 Federal Register.

Washington — The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s “failure to establish a final tank car specification for poison/toxic inhalation hazard tank cars and an aggressive schedule for removing nonconforming tank cars from service” jeopardizes safety among fleets, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its investigation of a chlorine release from a ruptured rail tank car in West Virginia.

Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a proposed rule that would allow civilians to operate drones at night and over populated areas without a waiver, amending current regulations that prohibit such activities.