FMCSA ISSUES RULEMAKING ON VEHICLE LEASE/INTERCHANGE

The FMCSA has published a notice of intent to issue a rulemaking concerning revisions to its May 27, 2015, final rule titled “Lease and Interchange of Vehicles: Motor Carriers of Passengers.”

In the final rule, FMCSA’s intent was to identify the motor carrier operating a passenger-carrying CMV that is responsible for compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), and ensure that a lessor surrenders control of the CMV for the full term of the lease or temporary exchange of CMVs and drivers.

The action was “necessary” to ensure that unsafe passenger carriers cannot evade FMCSA oversight and enforcement by entering into a questionable lease arrangement with another carrier that exercises no actual control over those operations.

FMCSA received numerous petitions for reconsideration of the final rule and determined that amendments should be considered in response to some of the petitions.

To advance the new rulemaking effort, the agency will hold a public roundtable discussion to consider four changes to the rule: excluding “chartering” or “subcontracting” from the leasing definition; changing CMV marking requirements to locate temporary markings; changing the requirement that carriers notify customers within 24 hours to when they subcontract; and expanding the 48-hour delay for preparing a lease to include emergencies when passengers are not aboard a bus.

The roundtable is scheduled for October 31st, to give all stakeholders the opportunity to speak about these issues and provide the Agency with information on how to address them. A docket for this rulemaking will be released in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

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