Texas Court of Appeals has found Celadon Group liable for a cargo loss in Mexico, rejecting the carrier’s reliance on a released evaluation argument because no alternate rate/value option was offered. Attorneys are recommending that carriers check Mexican liability waivers and released rates in light of the ruling. (Celadon versus Titan Textile, Docket No. 14-02-00906-CV)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s chief safety officer ruled that a carrier may use the Rules of Practice after a claim is issued but before adjudication to require the applicable services center to answer questions, make admissions and provide relevant documents. (Evan Transportation Inc., Docket No. 9733)
A motor carrier transporting a container of new furniture that was part of a continuous movement in foreign commerce found to require authority issued by FMCSA. (Harbor Transport Inc., Docket No. 12045)
A proposed fine was rejected as excessive because the FMCSA field administrator did not take into consideration the factors set forth in the Uniform Fine Assessment Act. (Custom Bus Charter, Docket No. 8158)
A backlog of 140 FMCSA enforcement cases as of June 30, 2003, included 109 that had been pending for more than one year and 48 that had been pending for two years or more. The agency is trying to expedite cases by assigning many of them to administrative law judges.
Q I understand the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is interpreting its new hours-of-service regulations as precluding a driver from logging a single sleeper berth time followed by 10 hours off duty even though the result would mean he has not driven more than 11 hours or been on duty more than 14 hours in any prior 24 hour period. If this is true, it will ruin my drivers’ ability to get miles and get home. Is this right?
A Unfortunately, FMCSA issued a memorandum of enforcement policy on Nov. 25 that concluded:
