TIA 2019 Policy Forum
The Transortation Intermediaries Association (TIA) recently held its annual DC Fly-In and Policy form which Zmodal attended. This event comprised of nearly 100 TIA members representing traditional truck, LTL and multimodal providers as well as other supplies to the third party logistics industry meeting with over 200 members of Congress and their staff to support FMSCA’s Motor Carrier Safety Selection Standard
The event provides attendees with great industry and policy briefings, and also provides an important opportunity for TIA members to meet their members of congress and voice support for the 3PL industry. Zmodal had opportunity to talk to several congressmen and senators on this topic.
The major issue discussed was the selection process for motor carriers under the FMCSA.
Under past and current regulation, a trucking provider is considered safe to hire legally if it posses correct insurance, is licensed and did not have an “unsatisfactory “ rating from FMCSA, however there are flaws in this process. FMCSA scores are based on audits, so it is very common for a great and very safe carrier to not be rated due to not commiting an act that might spark an audit. Around 85% of carriers are unrated, and some shippers and 3PLs might be hesitant to hire a carrier that is unrated. TIA’s stance is that FMCSA needs to move to a data based standard to rate all carriers. Liability also arises when a carrier has an accident and potential blame lands on the 3PL. A national standard is very important as it removes any subjective or regional guidelines that can arise in absence of a national standard and fully relies on data. For third party logistics providers, it is a liability issues, but more importantly a safety issue. No legitimate 3PL wants to knowingly hire an unsafe motor carrier and for safe motor carriers, having a national standard would make them standout from competitors that might not. The new proposal will hopefully be introduced to congress by the end of the year and is currently enjoying bi-partisan support.
For Zmodal, as a third-party multimodal logistics provider providing intermodal, rail and trucking services, this legistlation is important as a gives us better tools to make safer carrier selections using a federal standard that is based on objective data.
Stay tuned for more updates from Zmodal. If you need any help moving freight give us a call! Moving freight has never been easier with our digital intermodal and trucking platform that is used as a customer dashboard for our customers!
