The U.S. DOT has increased fines across the board for violations of federal trucking regulations, it announced Wednesday.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is required by Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 to adjust fine amounts each year based on inflation.
A Final Rule that will be published in the Federal Register Wednesday, April 12, will make the new fine amounts effective 10 days following the rule’s publication. The 2015 Act requires FMCSA issue the inflation adjustments by Jan. 15 each year, meaning the agency missed its deadline. FMCSA says delaying the implementation further than 10 days “would be contrary to the public interest.”
Last year, the agency issued a “catch-up” adjustment, which raised some fines and lowered others. This year, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget provided guidance to FMCSA for a cost-of-living adjustment multiplier of 1.01636. Given this multiplier, all of the fine amounts increased, as seen below:
