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      This handbook

      Subject

      Motor Carrier Law

      Operating authority and registration, driver qualification and hours of service, drug and alcohol testing programs, safety ratings and interventions, hazardous materials, freight broker duties and double brokering, and cargo loss and damage claims.

      01
      Motor Carrier Law

      Cargo Loss and Damage Claims Against a Carrier

      Under 49 U.S.C. 14706 a receiving carrier is liable for the actual loss or injury to property it transports in interstate commerce. The claimant proves delivery in good condition, arrival short or damaged, and the amount of the loss. The carrier escapes only by proving freedom from negligence and one of five excepted causes. The bill of lading may not allow less than nine months to file a claim, or less than two years to sue after disallowance.

      6 min readFederal law

      02
      Motor Carrier Law

      Equipment Leasing and Owner-Operator Protections

      A carrier operating equipment it does not own must have a written lease meeting 49 CFR 376.12. The lease must state the compensation, provide payment within fifteen days of submission of the delivery documents, itemize every chargeback and how it is computed, disclose insurance charges, and account for any escrow fund with interest and its return within forty-five days of termination. Violations may be pursued privately under 49 U.S.C. 14704.

      6 min readFederal law

      03
      Motor Carrier Law

      Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs and the Clearinghouse

      A motor carrier employing drivers who operate vehicles requiring a commercial driver's license must run a testing program under 49 CFR Part 382 using the procedures in 49 CFR Part 40. Six categories of test are required: pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty and follow-up. A full clearinghouse query precedes employment and a limited query runs at least annually. A driver with a violation is prohibited until the return-to-duty process is complete.

      6 min readFederal law

      04
      Motor Carrier Law

      For-Hire and Private Carriage: Which Rules Attach

      A motor private carrier under 49 U.S.C. 13102 transports property it owns, leases or holds as bailee, in furtherance of a commercial enterprise, and not for hire. It needs no operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 13901 and files no evidence of insurance with the agency for ordinary freight. It still needs a USDOT number under 49 CFR 390.19 and must comply with the safety regulations in 49 CFR Parts 390 through 399, including driver qualification, hours of service and inspection.

      5 min readFederal law

      05
      Motor Carrier Law

      Operating Authority: Registration, Numbers and Insurance Filings

      A for-hire motor carrier transporting regulated property in interstate commerce must register with the Secretary under 49 U.S.C. 13901, obtain a USDOT number under 49 CFR 390.19, and have its insurer file evidence of financial responsibility at the minimum levels set by 49 CFR 387.9. Authority does not become effective until the insurance filing and the BOC-3 designation of process agents are both on record. Operating without them exposes the carrier to civil penalties under 49 U.S.C. 521.

      6 min readFederal law

      06
      Motor Carrier Law

      Driver Qualification Files and What Must Be in Them

      Under 49 CFR 391.51 a motor carrier keeps a qualification file for each driver holding the employment application, the state driving record and previous employer inquiries required by 49 CFR 391.23, the annual review under 49 CFR 391.25, the road test certificate or its equivalent, and the medical examiner's certificate. Both inquiries are due within thirty days of the start of employment. The file is retained for the period of employment and three years after it ends.

      6 min readFederal law

      07
      Motor Carrier Law

      Hours of Service: The Driving, Duty and Rest Limits

      Under 49 CFR 395.3 a property-carrying driver may drive up to eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off duty, may not drive beyond the fourteenth consecutive hour after coming on duty, and must interrupt driving for thirty minutes after eight cumulative hours of driving. Weekly limits are sixty hours in seven consecutive days or seventy in eight, and thirty-four consecutive hours off duty restarts that calculation.

      5 min readFederal law

      08
      Motor Carrier Law

      Freight Brokers: Bonds, Duties and Double Brokering

      A broker sells or arranges transportation by motor carrier for compensation and must register under 49 U.S.C. 13904 and maintain financial security under 49 U.S.C. 13906, filed as a surety bond on Form BMC-84 or a trust fund on Form BMC-85. The broker regulations in 49 CFR Part 371 require a record of each transaction, kept for three years and open to the parties. Unauthorized brokerage carries a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. 14916 and liability to the injured party.

      6 min readFederal law

      09
      Motor Carrier Law

      Hazardous Materials: Classification, Packaging and Shipping Papers

      The hazardous materials regulations in 49 CFR Parts 171 through 180 sort materials into nine hazard classes and, for most classes, three packing groups. The entry selected from the table at 49 CFR 172.101 fixes the proper shipping name, the identification number, the labels, the packaging sections and the quantity limits. A shipping paper must state the basic description in the prescribed sequence and carry an emergency response number monitored during transportation.

      5 min readFederal law

      10
      Motor Carrier Law

      Safety Measurement, Ratings and Interventions

      Roadside inspection and crash data are weighted by severity and recency and grouped into behavior categories, producing a percentile rank against carriers with a similar volume of safety events. That measurement selects carriers for intervention. A safety rating under 49 CFR Part 385 is separate: it follows an investigation and may be satisfactory, conditional or unsatisfactory. A proposed unsatisfactory rating removes the carrier's authority to operate after the period stated in 49 CFR 385.13.

      5 min readFederal law

      11
      Motor Carrier Law

      Out-of-Service Orders and Roadside Inspection Levels

      Roadside inspections follow the North American Standard levels, from a full driver and vehicle examination at Level I to a credentials-only check at Level III and a vehicle-only inspection at Level V. Findings that meet the out-of-service criteria stop the vehicle, the driver, or both. Under 49 CFR 396.9 a vehicle placed out of service may not be operated until the required repairs are completed, and the certification of repair on the inspection report must be returned within fifteen days.

      5 min readFederal law

      12
      Motor Carrier Law

      Electronic Logging: Exemptions, Edits and Malfunctions

      A driver required to keep records of duty status must use a registered electronic logging device under 49 CFR 395.8 and the subpart beginning at 49 CFR 395.20. The exemptions are narrow: short-haul drivers, drivers logging eight days or fewer in thirty, driveaway-towaway operations, and older engines. Driving time recorded automatically may be annotated but never shortened or erased, and a malfunctioning device must be repaired within eight days.

      6 min readFederal law