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Valenti’s Bakery LLC, a Patterson, New Jersey, commercial bakery, has reached a settlement agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to resolve litigation after a May 2024 follow-up investigation at the company’s facility found previously identified hazards hadn’t been addressed. OSHA initially investigated Valenti’s Bakery in June 2023 after an employee suffered partial […]
President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) on April 28 directing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to strengthen its enforcement of truck driver English proficiency regulations. “Proficiency in English, which I designated as our official national language … should be a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers,” the president said in his […]
A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule issued October 13 limits exemptions from safety regulations during emergency declarations (88 Fed. Reg. 70897). Under the revised regulations, a presidential emergency declaration will continue to trigger a 30-day exemption from FMCSA safety regulations (49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 390 through 399), including hours-of-service […]
On June 6, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)—proposed requirements for automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems on heavy motor vehicles (88 Fed. Reg. 43174). The proposal would require AEB systems on vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms). The […]
On May 2, the Department of Transportation (DOT) adopted a rule recognizing oral fluid drug testing as an alternative to urine testing for safety-sensitive positions in all regulated industries, including aviation, motor carrier, rail, and transit. The final rule (88 Fed. Reg. 27596) becomes effective June 1. The final rule harmonizes DOT and Federal Motor […]
What does 2023 hold for workplace safety and health and commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety? 2022 began with the Supreme Court issuing a permanent judicial stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) “vaccinate-or-test” COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). The year ended with OSHA submitting a final healthcare COVID-19 standard for regulatory review at […]
On December 23, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) denied a request to allow the use of hair testing for determining a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver’s drug use (87 Federal Register (FR) 79061). The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, or “Trucking Alliance,” asked the agency to amend the definition of “actual knowledge” […]
On December 8, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed limiting the scope of regulatory relief provided by emergency declarations, as well as the duration of regional emergency declarations (87 Federal Register (FR) 75206). Under current regulations, when the president, a governor, or the FMCSA issues an emergency declaration, drivers and motor carriers providing […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) proposal for requirements for speed-limiting devices on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) is among the top concerns in the trucking industry, according to a new American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) report. On October 22, the ATRI released its 18th annual top industry issues report, identifying leading industry concerns, such […]
On September 23, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) asked for stakeholder input on a plan to require commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to be equipped with electronic identification (ID) technology capable of wirelessly communicating a unique ID number to the agency (87 Federal Register (FR) 58049). The FMCSA said it is considering regulatory […]