The ATA Litigation Center will host the Forum for Motor Carrier General Counsels July 25-28 at the Lodge at Vail in Vail, Colo. The program will feature sessions on the new hours rules, owner-operator class action litigation, driver background check requirements, negligent highway/retention liability, freight claims issues and insurance options and considerations. The forum also features a full-day symposium on highway accident litigation. For more information, visit www.truckline.com/insideata/litcenter.
American Trucking Associations told the Small Business Administration that it supports the agency’s proposal to simplify and restructure size standards by adopting 200 employees as the ceiling for small trucking companies in place of the current $21.5 million revenue limit. ATA argued the 200-employee size standard should be applied consistently for all agencies, regulations and laws.
The District of Columbia, beginning July 1, will require use of hands-free devices when talking on wireless phones while driving. Violators are subject to a $100 fine. Similar legislation takes effect in New Jersey on the same date and already is in place in New York.
Z Transport was ordered to pay $89,725 for failing to execute a written lease agreement with an owner-operator as required by the truth-in-leasing regulations. [Bonkowski v. Z Transport, (N.D. Ill.)]
Q As a motor carrier, we recently filed a bond claim with a broker’s surety for a shipment originating in the United States and delivered to British Columbia. The bonding company denied the claim, stating that the bond does not cover loads that ship outside the United States. Is this correct?
A No. A broker must register and obtain a bond if it arranges for the transportation of property subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (See 49 U.S.C. 13904). The definition of a broker includes one who, as a principal or agent, arranges for transportation by motor carrier for compensation, without restriction to whether the traffic moves exclusively in domestic interstate commerce. FMCSA has also expressed jurisdiction over transportation occurring within the United States even if it represents a portion of transportation between the United States and a foreign country. (See 49 U.S.C. 13501.) Foreign and domestic motor carriers and property brokers must comply with federal licensing, bonding, insurance and designation of agent requirements. (See Sec. 13904, 13906 and 13304.)
To understand the scope of the federal regulations, recognize that FMCSA would have authority over this load even if it originated in Washington state and crossed no other state line before entering Canada. The courts and the Interstate Commerce Commission deemed that a shipment moved in interstate commerce when it had an immediately prior or subsequent movement outside the state and there was a fixed intent on the shipper’s part that the traffic move from origin to ultimate destination – via an intrastate warehouse or break bulk facility. [See Texas v. U.S., 866 F.2d 1546 (5th Cir. 1989).]
