FMCSA Issues Rule Increasing Most Motor Carrier Civil Penalties

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an interim final rule increasing — and in some cases decreasing — its motor carrier civil penalties for violations of federal regulations.

In an announcement scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on June 27, the agency said several laws require periodic “catch-up” adjustments based on cost-of-living increases, Those adjustments result in most penalties jumping from 10% to more than 105%.

The adjusted penalties go into effect Aug. 1, the agency said.

The rule provides for some of the more serious penalties to be assessed on a daily basis if a carrier fails to take corrective action or obey out-of-service or suspension orders.

Although most of the penalty increases are computed using a formula, others are left to the discretion of the agency, according to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015.

“Congress has stated in the Adjustment Act that increasing penalties over time will deter violations,” FMCSA’s rule said. “Therefore, with this deterrence, FMCSA infers that there may be some safety benefits that occur due to this final rule.”

It added, “The deterrence effect of increasing penalties, which Congress has recognized, cannot be reliably quantified into safety benefits, however.”

The largest increase was for each day a carrier conducts operations after a suspension or revocation, which more than doubled to $22,587 from $11,000.

The penalty for operating in violation of an out-of-service order jumped 41%, to $22,587 from $16,000, according to the rule.

By contrast, the agency decreased the penalty for a driver operating a commercial vehicle during the period the driver was placed out of service to $1,782 from $3,100.

The penalty for serious violations of hazardous materials regulations remained the most costly, increasing to $179,933 from $175,000.