The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Wednesday, April 25, announced its final rule amending its rules of practice for motor carrier, intermodal equipment provider, broker, freight forwarder and hazardous materials proceedings.

The agency’s final rule clarifies that paying the full proposed civil penalty in an enforcement proceeding, either in response to a Notice of Claim (NOC) or later in the proceeding, does not allow respondents to unilaterally avoid an admission of liability for the violations charged.

Additionally, FMCSA is establishing procedures for issuing out-of-service orders to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers, brokers and freight forwarders it determines are reincarnations of other entities with a history of failing to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements; these procedures will provide for an administrative review before the out-of-service order takes effect.

Finally, the agency is establishing a process for consolidating its records of reincarnated companies with their predecessor entities. For more information, go to www.regulations.gov; the docket number is FMCSA-2011-0259.