Exempt Commodities / Government Freight / Leasing Regulations
I am a retired Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Investigator with more than 45 years in transportation. For the past 11 years I have been a transportation consultant assisting those who would like to get their own motor carrier or broker authority.
Every day I answer your transportation questions. The majority of the questions deal with property brokers and owner-operator leasing. The questions that I answer each month come from questions emailed to me during the previous month. All answers are up-to-date. With the cost of fuel continuing to increase, I also teach the truth about fuel surcharge.
Q:
I have transported 15 loads from a broker for the last two months and have not been able to get paid for even the first load. What can I do to get paid?
A:
Q:
I want to start a trucking company, but I only want to use owner-operators. I don't want to own any trucks. Can this be done?
A:
You don't need to own any trucks to start a trucking company. Many insurance agents will not understand this. You will need to use your current vehicle as the insurance company will need some vehicle in order to obtain your liability and cargo insurance.
Q:
I want to broker U.S. government freight. How do I go about this and find loads?
A:
The experience I have had with the movement of government freight is that they will require you to be a "common" carrier instead of a "contract" carrier or broker. The reason for this is that a common carrier must have on file with the FMCSA their cargo insurance. And the government wants to be able to verify from the FMCSA website exactly how much cargo insurance you have. On the other hand, contract carriers and brokers cannot file their cargo insurance as they are not required by the FMCSA to have this insurance.
Q:
Does a logistics company that negotiates rates between a shipper and trucking company need contract, common or broker authority?
A:
The logistics company will definitely need a broker's authority as you are arranging the transportation between the shipper and carrier. Carriers cannot broker loads unless they also have a broker's license.
Q:
How do I tell what authority someone has? They fax me their authority, but I don't know if they are common, contract or broker.
A:
Look at the top of the authority. If it says "Certificate" the carrier has common carrier authority. If it says "Permit" the carrier has contract carrier authority. If it says "License" they are a broker. Many today have all three depending on how they want to do business.
Q:
I am leased to a motor carrier and I don't think they are paying me correctly. What are the regulations governing leasing?
A:
The leasing regulations can be found in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations under Part 376. To obtain your copy, go to your search engine such as www.google.com and type in the regulation you want such as 49 CFR 376. This will bring up the regulation you are looking for.
Written By: Rex Evilsizor
