12 R Washington Street
Lynn, MA 01904-3306
DOT Number: 638928
ICC# MC300615

Date: 08/01/2013

Dear Professional Driver,

I have been sharing with you copies of the Out-of-Service Orders issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These Out-of-Service Orders include both Commercial Property and Passenger Carring Motor Carriers. Have you wondered why this OOS blitz is occurring? Back on October 6, 2012 President Obama signed, into law, a new 2 year transportation reauthorization bill titled: Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (“MAP-21” Public Law 112-141). This transportation bill sustains our Country’s Highway Trust Fund providing States with 2 years of steady funding to build roads, bridges, and transit systems in the effort to restore America’s infrastructure. The bill also provides the means for the Department of Transportation to improve safety across all forms of transportation.

The MAP-21 Act is broken down into 8 Divisions with each Division further divided into Titles and Sections. J & S Transport needs to be particularly familiar with: Division C: Transportation Safety and Surface Transportation Policy. Within this Division, there are two Titles specific to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) who regulates our industry:

Division C, Title II – Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012
And

Division C, Title III – Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2012

Division C, Title II – Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012

Raises the bar for motor carriers, drivers and vehicles to operate safely on our roadways through increased accountability by:

➢ Providing greater scrutiny while investigating motor carriers in the new Entrant Program
➢ Holding motor carriers and drivers to the highest safety standards to continue operations
➢ Determining Safety Fitness of new operators
➢ Providing the means to remove the highest risk drivers, vehicles, and carriers from our roads and prevent them from operating
➢ Addressing “Reincarnated” Carriers
➢ Outlining Carrier financial responsibilities
➢ Outlining the requirements for Registration and USDOT Numbers
➢ Increasing penalties for carriers operating without current registrations and proper permits
➢ Revoking registrations as a result of being an imminent hazard

Division C, Title III – Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2012:

Focuses on the safe transportation of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation and provides resources to the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to carry out its critical safety mission by:

➢ Providing training for Emergency Responders, hazardous material inspectors and investigators
➢ Providing for Hazardous Material Enforcement Training that establishes uniform performance standards for hazmat inspectors and investigators
➢ Improving data collection, research, analysis and reporting using advanced technologies
➢ Improving Transportation Safety through Inspections, Highway Routing and the evaluation of flammable liquids in external product piping of cargo tank motor vehicles (a.k.a. Wet Lines)
➢ Establishing standard operating procedures and objective criteria for the handling of special permits and approvals
➢ Improving the hazardous material safety permit program including determining whether a hazmat safety permit issued by a State is equivalent to the Federal permit
➢ Strengthening the enforcement of the Hazmat Regulations including increasing civil penalties for violations and making it a violation when a carrier refuses to grant access to authorized enforcement personnel

The purpose of MAP-21 is two-fold; to create jobs for thousands of construction workers to restore America’s infrastructure while giving Regulatory Agencies the means to improve the safety of the Motor Carrier Industry. You can view this Act using the following link:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr4348enr/pdf/BILLS-112hr4348enr.pdf

Be Safe!

Steve