The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said on February 17 that it has reopened the public comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), regarding property broker transparency.

In a Federal Register notice, entitled “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Transparency in Property Broker Transactions; Reopening of Comment Period,” FMCSA said that the NPRM has been reopened from February 18 to March 20, with FMCSA saying it will also consider comments received between the original comment period end date of January 21 to February 18.

And the organization added that it received a request to reopen the comment period from the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC), saying it is appropriate to reopen the comment period to provide interested parties additional time to submit responses to the NPRM. The NPRM was originally issued last November, which proposes revisions to 49 CFR § 371.3 in response to petitions from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the SBTC.  

In a notice issued yesterday to industry stakeholders, FMCSA said that broker transparency is intended to enable efficient outcomes in the transportation industry by providing the material information necessary for the transacting parties to make informed business decisions.

“Broker transparency also supports the efficient resolution of disputes between parties,” said FMCSA. “Though the current regulations are meant to provide broker transparency, the Agency believes that broker transparency is rare in practice. By reinforcing the regulations, the Agency believes that broker transparency, and its benefits, would become more common.”

The proposed revisions to the NPRM issued in November include:

• Addressing the lack of access to information among shippers and motor carriers that can impact the fairness and efficiency of the transportation system;
• Reframing broker transparency as a regulatory duty imposed on brokers, with the goal of deterring non-compliance; 
• Requiring brokers to provide transaction records to motor carriers and shippers upon request and within 48 hours of that request; and
• Requiring brokers to keep electronic records to make it easier for shippers and motor carriers to review broker records upon request. This also involves revising and modernizing the required contents of the records to include all payments, fees, and charges related to the transaction, helping ensure shippers and motor carriers can resolve issues and disputes around service or payment in a timely and cost-effective manner; and correcting imbalances in negotiating power