Work Zone Awareness Week
Work zone crashes can be very costly and dangerous, often resulting in injury or even death. Studies of work zone crashes show that most can be avoided. Here are tips to help avoid these incidents.
FMCSA Seeks White House Approval for New Online Registration System
Possibly time to say goodbye to MCS-150, BOC-3 and Other Forms
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is requesting approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a new information collection request (ICR) titled “FMCSA Registration System (FRS).” In an April 19 Federal Register posting, FMCSA said it will replace its Unified Registration System (URS) with a new online registration system, to be named the FMCSA Registration System. FMCSA said the new system is part of an effort to clean up the bad actors in the industry, which the agency now fully admits are in the system today.
The new system will allow anyone required to register under the agency’s commercial or safety jurisdiction to do so online, including:
- New entrants applying for safety and/or operating authority registration for the first time
- Existing registrants that already have a USDOT number and/or operating authority wishing to apply for additional authorities
- Mexico-domiciled carriers that wish to operate beyond the U.S.-Mexico border commercial zones
- Registrants updating their records to reflect name and address changes as well as reinstatements of operating authority for motor carriers, freight forwarders, and brokers
- Registrants that request a voluntarily suspension of their safety and/or operating authority registration with FMCSA
It will also apply to designated agents and those entities providing proof of financial responsibility requirements, such as insurance companies and broker bond agents, FMCSA noted. According to FMCSA, the new FRS will eliminate a number of forms currently used by motor carriers and others in the transportation industry, including the MCS-150, BOC-3, OP-1 and more, integrating them all into a new online system.
The agency will accept comments on the proposed information collection through June 18. FMCSA will also host a webinar on May 29 to review what it terms “a more user-friendly registration system that manages the registration life cycle of regulated entities." ICSA will post registration information for the May 29 event when it becomes available.
Why Not to Do Non-DOT Post-Accident D&A Test
Non-Department of Transportation post-accident drug and alcohol testing potentially changes a non-liable accident into the detonator of a nuclear verdict.
Update on Legal Action Against DOL IC Rule
Several lawsuits were filed challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) independent contractor (IC) regulation enacted by the Biden Administration and the DOL’s Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su in early 2024.