The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended the public comment period on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for transparency in broker transactions (https://www.prepassalliance.org/what-fmcsa-proposes-for-broker-transparency/). Comments may now be filed by March 20, 2025.
“Broker transparency” relates to the visibility of details of a business transaction with a broker. Specifically, FMCSA has proposed:
- Brokers must keep records in an electronic format. FMCSA seeks to eliminate the practice of some brokers to offer viewing of transaction records only at their place of business. Instead, brokers must transmit records electronically.
- Records must include itemized charges and fees. FMCSA proposes that the transaction records include the dates of payment from the shipper to the broker and from the broker to the motor carrier, as well as providing a full itemization and explanation of any brokerage services, charges and fees. The Agency’s stated goal is full visibility to all parties in a transaction.
- Brokers must provide records upon request. The NPRM does not propose that brokers automatically transmit transaction records. Rather, if the NPRM is adopted, brokers would be required to respond to a party’s request for records.
- Brokers must provide records within 48 hours. To allow parties to resolve any issues in a timely manner, brokers would be required to provide transaction records within 48 hours of a request.
Comments may be filed by going to https://www.regulations.gov/ and entering Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0257-0001.