Small business groups question standard request brokers made to FMCSA
The Small Business Transportation Coalition (SBTC) recently filed a petition challenging the new standards request that the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) submitted to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after the Supreme Court's ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II. The SBTC argues that the FMCSA should take on a more limited role than what the TIA requests, and suggests that the TIA should seek help from Congress rather than the agency.
At a Glance
- Following a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) is challenging a recent petition filed by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).
- The coalition says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) should play a more limited role than what TIA is requesting. Under the petition TIA filed last month, this new federal standard would help brokers and shippers assess safety risks when selecting carriers.
- "It appears TIA should be knocking on Congress's door, not the agency's," SBTC said in its latest petition. The Supreme Court's ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II et al. dismantled a legal defense brokers previously could use against negligent hiring claims.
Deep Dive
TIA is asking the FMCSA to step in, and its CEO and President Chris Burroughs told Trucking Dive that the agency could provide more information to brokers. He said possible solutions include improving the rating process or expediting regulatory reviews.
"We're open to any ideas," Burroughs said. "We just need clarity." He said the publicly available data currently is severely lacking for brokers and shippers to make reliable decisions about carrier safety.
The industry group wants the agency to better flag carriers that the FMCSA has deemed "unfit for safe operations" and to confirm that carriers are properly registered and have minimum insurance coverage.
TIA also wants the agency to provide a list of "high-risk" carriers.
"Asking the FMCSA to better define 'safe' is not shirking responsibility—it's asking the agency to do its job so that other parties can do theirs more effectively," Burroughs also said in a LinkedIn comment.
SBTC, in turn, argues that the FMCSA should limit the "high-risk" carrier list to only those carriers the agency has rated as "unsatisfactory." The group notes that an unrated carrier does not mean it is unsafe, just that the agency has not yet fully evaluated it.
Burroughs said TIA is seeking relief after the Montgomery ruling through both the FMCSA and Congress, but he added that lawmakers have failed to bring meaningful change for years.
The impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the brokerage industry has already reached some carriers, with C.H. Robinson Worldwide having revised its selection criteria.