Clapp Says Major Trucking Rules Coming, but Dates Uncertain
Speaking here Tuesday afternoon at the annual meeting of the National Tank Truck Carriers, Joseph M. Clapp, who became, in October, the first permanent administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the agency will:
- Open the U.S. border to Mexican motor carriers.
LI>Make a decision on hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers.
LI>Announce new rules for commercial driver licenses.
A former chairman of what is now less-than-truckload giant Roadway Corp., Clapp said President Bush wants to comply with the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Clapp said his goal is to have all inspection mechanisms in place so that Mexican trucks can start rolling northbound into the U.S. sometime during the summer which, he noted, does not technically start until June 21.
Clapp also said his staff is in the process of analyzing more than 50,000 comments on the hours-of-service issue made while President Clinton was still in office.
Noting that the issue was a matter of great controversy during the last year of the Clinton administration, Clapp jested "When this is all done I know I’ll be dead, because I’ll be in heaven at that point."
On CDLs, Clapp told the tank truck fleet managers — most of whom are involved in the hauling of hazardous materials — that he will issue new guidelines for drivers wishing to renew the hazmat endorsements on their licenses sometime "in the immediate future," which he later specified as "well before the end of this year."
