The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has approved a petition from the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) concerning training standards for freight forwarders and brokers.
Although the official notice of approval has yet to appear in the Federal Register, FMCSA closed the petition for rulemaking and notified TIA of its approval in a letter dated March 11.
TIA originally petitioned the agency in June 2023, urging the implementation and enforcement of existing provisions regarding experience and training prerequisites for brokers and freight forwarders entering the market. This call for action stems from a specific provision within the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, enacted in 2012.
That provision said that, “a broker or freight forwarder must employ as an officer an individual who has three years of relevant experience or provides the Secretary of Transportation with satisfactory evidence of the individual’s knowledge of related rules, regulations and industry practices.”
“Unfortunately, incidents of fraud have only increased over the past decade, culminating in a plague of fraud in 2023,” TIA wrote. “Today’s marketplace remains filled with fraudulent entities and criminal actors who sully the marketplace at the expense of all regulated entities and ultimately impose an estimated $800 million per year upon American consumers.”
Highlighting concerns over the proliferation of unscrupulous brokers, freight forwarders, and motor carriers, often referred to as “reincarnated” or “chameleon” entities, TIA underscored the need for rigorous enforcement, especially amid the market disruptions caused by the global pandemic.
“The U.S. Congress, through MAP-21, sought to address these concerns through the TIA-supported legislative language, but unfortunately and inexplicably, the agency has failed to implement several key provisions, including the experience or training requirement,” the group wrote. “At the very least, these requirements could help to mitigate rampant fraud by criminals who are entering the marketplace on a regular basis with hundreds of different authorities.”
To obtain operating authority from FMCSA, TIA recommends that brokers either employ individuals with relevant experience or select candidates who have completed an FMCSA-certified course from an accredited institution. The suggested course duration ranges from 30 to 90 hours and can be completed online or in person.
“TIA urges the agency to take immediate action regarding this petition,” the group wrote. “The actions requested will strengthen the registration process of brokers and freight forwarders and weed out bad actors. These changes will improve safety throughout the supply chain by barring criminal and otherwise irresponsible actors from the marketplace.”
Source: Land Line
