U.S. Legislative Updates

DOT Reopens Hours of Service Record

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has placed four additional research studies in the official rulemaking docket for the Hours-of-Service (HOS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The four studies are:

The Impact of Driving, Non-Driving Work, and Rest Breaks on Driving Performance in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations;
Hours of Service, and Driver Fatigue-Driver Characteristics Research;
Analysis of the Relationship Between Operator Cumulative Driving Hours and Involvement in Preventable Collisions; and
Potential Causes Of Driver Fatigue: A Study On Transit Bus Operators In Florida.

FMCSA is reopening the HOS NPRM comment period to allow for public review, and discussion of these studies.

DOT Sets New CDL Standards

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a final rule requiring anyone applying for a commercial driver's license (CDL) to first obtain a commercial driver's learner's permit (CLP). The rule also requires all state licensing agencies to use a CDL testing system that meets the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators CDL knowledge and skill standards, and prohibits the use of foreign language interpreters to reduce the potential for testing fraud. Prior to this new rule, CDL applicants were not required to first obtain a learner's permit, and CDL testing systems were not uniform nationwide.

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on AFVs and Electric Vehicles

On May 19, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on proposed legislation to reduce oil consumption through the promotion of advanced vehicle technologies, and accelerated deployment of electric-drive vehicles.

S. 734, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act, directs the Department of Energy to move beyond traditional partnerships to include more American-based automotive suppliers, and commercial truck manufacturers. Under the bill, the Department of Energy would partner with public and private sector entities to conduct research programs on a wide range of passenger vehicle, and medium and heavy duty commercial vehicle technologies - in particular, hydrogen, and advanced batteries.

S. 948, the Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2011, creates limited, short-term "deployment communities" across the country in order to help jump-start the market penetration of electric vehicles, by allowing the deployment communities to serve as models, and help determine best practices for the nationwide use of electric vehicles. The bill would also create a competitive grant process for companies to electrify their fleets, and make it easier for the federal government to acquire more electric vehicles.

NAFA Endorses Legislation to Stop Oil Speculation

In a letter to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), NAFA expressed support for the "Stop Tax-breaks for Oil Profiteering and Commodity Speculation Act," a bill that will reduce excessive speculative trading in oil and natural gas. Senator Wyden is the sponsor for the STOP Act, which will be introduced in the U.S. Senate in the near future.

In the letter, NAFA's Executive Director Phil Russo, CAE, said, "The major challenge facing many fleet managers is fuel price volatility. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the fleet manager to anticipate spikes in fuel costs, when those spikes are the result of speculators like hedge funds."

The STOP Act will take away the unfair tax breaks for speculators. Under current tax law, commercial buyers - such as fleets - who need to buy oil, or other fuels or futures contracts, in order to run their businesses, pay ordinary income tax on any profits from such trading. By contrast, for-profit speculators often pay lower capital gains rates on their oil and gas trading profits. Unlike commercial businesses that try to consume less oil when prices rise, speculators react to rising prices by buying more oil and futures contracts. This distorts the normal supply-demand balance of the markets, and increases the price of the commodity. The "Stop Tax-breaks for Oil Profiteering and Commodity Speculation Act" will level the playing field between speculators and commercial users of futures markets.

NAFA Fleet Management Association
125 Village Blvd., Suite 200
Princeton, NJ 08540

Telephone: 609.720.0882 Fax: 609.452.8004