US - The Motor Carrier Protection Act just put forward by two Senators is causing ripples amongst the trucking and shipping industries. The bill proposed by Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican Olympia Snowe from Maine is designed to toughen up the criteria needed by companies wishing to take responsibility for cargo in their care and applicable to all freight brokers and freight forwarders.
Industry critics say that this legislation merely increases the power of the larger carriers
The draft outline of the proposed regulations are as follows; each licensee must lodge a broker bond for $100,000 (currently $10,000), the FMCSA) to lay out specific guidelines for applicants plus tougher regulations overall. Licenses to be reviewed annually or be automatically revoked with costs of licenses set to cover the FMCSA's enforcement budget. The are proposing stricter penalties for defaulters, including an unlimited liability for freight costs against any unlicensed broker or freight forwarder.
In addition each registration will be exclusive to each regulatory authority and documents for every transaction must show the license number and the authority which granted it plus the bond providers and their administration procedures will also be strictly controlled.
Motor carriers will doubtless be divided on the issue. To some it will mean more cost and more administration, with one slip potentially costing them serious money, to others, it will remove completely the rogue elements that plague the industries lower end and feed off smaller haulers made desperate by difficult times.
Pack n send has reprinted part of the article listed in the Handy Shipping Guide. We closely monitor proposed legislation that will affect both cargo shipping and the freight industry.
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