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The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 became law in October of that year. However, because of the complexities involved and the need to hire and train new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) personnel (safety investigators, auditors, and vehicle inspectors), the industry did not begin feeling the pain until Fall of 2002. When the hammer finally did fall, fines levied by FMCSA jumped from an average of $3,000 to ranges as high as $25,000 [since increased] just from a single compliance review. Repeat offenders began facing much higher penalties than this, to include, company out-of-service orders and increased criminal prosecutions.

Previously, trucking companies receiving an unsatisfactory FMCSA safety rating were usually allowed to continue operations. Now, they are given a maximum of 60-days (45-days for hazardous materials and passenger carriers) to improve (49 CFR 385.11); if not, FMCSA issues the company an out-of-service order. A similar fate awaits companies that do not pay, negotiate, or appeal their fines within 90-days from the date of notification (49 USC 13905(d)).

Despite their growth, FMCSA remains one of the smallest of Federal agencies with only about 1,000 field investigators, auditors, and vehicle inspectors to monitor over 500,000 truck and bus companies nationwide. Because of this demanding workload, callers to FMCSA seeking technical assistance are often told that all regulatory personnel are out on assignment, and it is unknown when they will return. Unfortunately, it is going to get worse, before it gets better.

In February of 2002, I left FMCSA to open a commercial vehicle safety consulting firm here in San Diego, CA with two other retired California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officers. This transition to private practice was predicated on news that the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (with fines/penalties still deemed excessively harsh by the industry) was finally about to be implemented. As our consulting firm has now entered its seventh year of operations, I feel it is time for me to pull-away, just a bit, and devote time to assisting Judges and Attorneys as they tackle the complexities associated with this comparatively narrow, but nonetheless technically challenging field of commercial vehicle safety. There are probably less than twenty consultants nationwide able to offer such services at this level. Please view the rest of this website, to include my Résumé/CV. Thank you.

r/ jim