Truckload Authority - April/May 2019

CapItol recap
Employers must conduct both electronic queries within the
clearinghouse and manual inquiries with previous employers to cover the
preceding three years. Once the clearinghouse has been up for three years,
the electronic query will be all that’s needed.
For drivers, failure to consent to a required test will have the same
effect as a failed test, with the driver being prohibited from performing a
safety-sensitive function, such as operating a CMV.
At the recent Mid-America Trucking Show, Joe DeLorenzo, FMCSA
director of enforcement and compliance, gave a presentation to raise
awareness the clearinghouse.
“I came here with a bit of a mission on the drug and alcohol
clearinghouse rule,” DeLorenzo said to MATS attendees. It has come to
the agency’s attention the clearinghouse has been flying under the radar, a
bit, and not enough drivers seem to know about it or they haven’t gotten
a full explanation of what the clearinghouse will contain and what it will
be used for.
DeLorenzo said drivers have said to him, “Well, I don’t do drugs, so I
don’t have to worry about this.”
“Actually, that’s not the case,” DeLorenzo said. “Everybody needs to
know about this and get going on it.”
Starting in January, carriers will be required to query the database as
part of the new-driver hiring process to ensure that the candidate does not
have any failed tests or refusals in the previous three years. Carriers can
only gain access to a driver’s record and make the mandatory query with
the consent of the driver, and the only way a driver can give that consent
is to be registered in the clearinghouse.
So, technically, drivers are not going to be required to register in the
clearinghouse, DeLorenzo said. However, if you ever want to get hired
anywhere again you’ll have to be registered.
“If you’re just kind of staying where you’re at, no intention of leaving,
or if you are working for yourself, or if you are nearing retirement, you
may decide not to register,” he said. “But in an industry with 100%-plus
turnover, I know people are always looking for a new job, a different job,
a better job. Any driver who’s going to apply for a new job after this rule
goes into effect is going to have to have an account and is going to have
to be able to go in.”
For more information on FMCSA’s new Drug and Alcohol
Clearinghouse resource website, visit clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov.
Efforts to slow tolling underway
The trucking industry is continuing its efforts to do something about
states imposing discretionary tolls on already existing highways.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA), along with three
motor carriers representing the industry, has appealed a recent decision
by the federal district court in Rhode Island to dismiss a challenge
to Rhode Island’s RhodeWorks truck-only toll program on procedural
grounds.
On the same day that ATA filed its appeal, the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) appealed a ruling issued
April 4 in a class-action lawsuit regarding tolls on users of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“Truck-only tolling, and tolling in general, doesn’t make much
sense,” said TCA’s Vice President of Government Affairs David Heller.
“We as Americans have become rather savvy about looking where our
money goes in terms of charitable donations, and the same could be
said of tolling. Why would you commit dollars to a program on which
you are not getting the ultimate return? The administrative costs alone
for tolling exceed that of increasing the fuel tax. If we are looking at
getting the best bang for our buck, we need to be talking about raising
the fuel tax because the administrative costs in doing that are primarily
quite a bit different than if tolling were to be exacerbated.”
Then there is the issue of diversion.
“Truck-only tolls make no sense because, guess what, trucks aren’t
the only vehicles that use these roads,” Heller said. “They are also
Truck-only tolling, and tolling in general, doesn’t make much sense, says
TCA’s David Heller. “Let’s keep trucks and passenger vehicles on the routes
they are used to doing and pass a fuel tax increase so we can pay for the
wear and tear on these roadways.”
being used by passenger vehicles. It makes no sense, to say nothing of
the fact of the diversion that goes along with these tolls. People will
divert onto secondary roads, which are not designed for that increased
traffic, whether it be heavy trucks or passenger vehicles. Let’s keep
trucks and passenger vehicles on the routes they are used to doing and
pass a fuel tax increase so we can pay for the wear and tear on these
roadways.”
In its challenge, ATA contends that Rhode Island’s truck-only toll
scheme is unconstitutional because it discriminates against interstate
trucking companies and impedes the flow of interstate commerce. In
its decision dismissing the case, the district court did not address the
merits of that constitutional claim. Instead, it held only that ATA’s
challenge could not proceed in federal court.
The state argued that the federal court cannot restrain the collection
of state taxes, such as tolls, and state matters should be adjudicated in
state court.
Rhode Island Trucking Association President Christopher Maxwell
said the judge’s decision doesn’t speak to the merits of the claims, only
the venue in which to bring them.
The Rhode Island Trucking Association is a member of the national
trade group.
“Since RhodeWorks was first proposed, the trucking industry has
been strong and united in opposition to this extortionate plan. We’ve
warned politicians in Rhode Island that these truck-only tolls were
unconstitutional and should be rolled back,” said ATA President and
CEO Chris Spear. “It is unfortunate that Gov. [Gina] Raimondo and her
administration did not heed those warnings. While we are disappointed
the district court’s decision means further delay in seeing these tolls
rolled back, our appeal of the dismissal of our case on a technicality
should demonstrate to the state that this fight is by no means over,
and we look forward to establishing the unconstitutionality of Rhode
Island’s discriminatory tolls on the merits.”
In its suit, ATA, along with Cumberland Farms, M&M Transport
Services, and New England Motor Freight, argued that the RhodeWorks
plan violates the Constitution’s Commerce Clause by discriminating
against out-of-state trucking companies, and by designing the tolls in a
way that does not fairly approximate motorists’ use of the roads.
Meanwhile, Connecticut officials have been watching the Rhode
Island case closely. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, who ran for office
supporting tolls only on the trucking industry, included two tolling
options for lawmakers to consider in his new budget: tolling just
trucks or tolling everyone. Lamont’s administration has estimated
10 Truckload Authority | www.Truckload.org TCA 2019