December 21, 2021

Government Affairs Update

CTA will be closed December 24, 27 & 31 - Happy Holidays!

The next issue of the 5th Wheel will be sent on Tuesday, January 4.

SFMTA "Raises" Its Transportation Permit Fees

Recently, CTA members Reeve Trucking and Taylor Heavy Haul informed the Government Affairs team that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) was planning to increase their Extra-Legal Truck Permit Fees. Beginning January 1st, 2022, SFMTA proposed to increase the price for a Single Trip Permits from $16.00 to $45.00 and continue increasing the fee to $50.00 on January 1, 2023. Additionally, Annual Permits are to more than double in price and increase from $90.00 to $225.00 beginning January 1st, 2022 and continue growing to $250 January 1st, 2023. SFMTA cites inflation, cost of living and the “ever complexity of extralegal transport through a dense urban environment” as part of the reasons for the increases. Unfortunately, what the SFMTA is trying to do is against the law. Following the notification from CTA members, the Government Affairs team sent the SFMTA a letter informing them that these increases violate state law and we are asking them to revise the fees to be in accordance with state law. We will update our members on the SFMTA response as soon as we hear back from them.

OSHA Issues Vaccine-or-Test Guidance

Following last week's order from the Sixth Circuit Court lifting the temporary pause of the national Vaccinate-or-Test Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), OSHA has released this statement with additional guidance:

"To account for any uncertainty created by the stay, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the ETS.

"To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.

OSHA will work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance."

Additionally, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and a number of other groups have filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court seeking to reinstate the stay with the hope the vaccinate-or-test requirements will be paused again before the new January 10th deadline.

For now, OSHA has clarified that it does not expect employers to be in compliance with the requirement on the timeline it had originally specified.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Rich Pianka with ATA

Reminder: Medium & Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Infrastructure Workgroup Meetings

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is hosting a series of workgroup meetings to discuss challenges and solutions for building fueling infrastructure to support growing zero-emission fleets in response to the proposed Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation.

The meetings are held in collaboration with the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and the Governor's Office of Business Administration and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Input from these discussions will inform the Advanced Clean Fleet regulatory development process.

The third meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 12, 2022 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM and will focus on Electricity and the Grid.

Group Asks for Personal Conveyance Limits

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has petitioned FMCSA for a second time to more clearly define the term “personal conveyance” in hours of service regulations. It is asking the agency to add a maximum distance or time limit to the rules.

Read more in this PrePass blog.

CTA Highlights

CTA Circle Club Executive Partner - TEC Equipment

TEC Equipment is the west’s largest full service truck and trailer dealership, with 29 locations throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. Offering new and used trucks and trailers, parts, service, leasing, insurance, financing and more. As the West’s leading full-service truck and trailer dealership, we deliberately and consistently delight and inspire our customers every day by providing products and services with an exceptional customer experience.

Contact Bill Day at (626) 222-1770 or bday@tecequipment.com

Friday, January 21, 2022
7:30-10pm

TOP GOLF
4627 Koval Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 963-0024

The Truckers United Fraternity Super Offspring of the Boss (TUFSOB) scholarship program provides financial support towards furthering the educational goals of trucking's next generation and the industry’s future leaders. Any allied/carrier members can nominate a student to receive scholarship awards through the TUFSOB program.