FMCSA Proposes Update to Broker Transparency Rule
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) wants to amend its broker rules to ensure transparency, particularly for transaction records.
The Nov. 20 proposal stems from a pair of 2020 petitions from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC).
FMCSA requires brokers to keep internal transaction records and make those records available to the motor carriers and shippers involved. However, the petitions claim that brokers often include contract provisions to waive this requirement and that “motor carriers often face practical hurdles in accessing records.”
The proposal has four major provisions:
Brokers would have to keep their records in electronic form.
It would eliminate the distinction between brokerage and non-brokerage services, which FMCSA says was “rooted in a previous regulatory approach.” Now, records must be kept for charges and payments connected to each shipment in a transaction.
Reframing the obligation to provide records from a right of the transacting party to a regulatory duty on the broker.
Brokers would have to provide requested records within 48 hours
Comments on this proposal may be submitted until Jan. 21. Specifically, FMCSA wants to hear if this rule would have any impact on freight rates or if it will create a substantial burden on the broker side, among other questions.