In March, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to create a new exception for commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) at railroad grade crossings in specific situations.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Oct. 15 he will withhold $40 million from California because it is failing to enforce English-language requirements for truckers. DOT launched an investigation into state commercial driver’s license (CDL) requirement enforcement following a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn. The driver was licensed in California. Duffy said the investigation found significant failures in the way California is enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders. California had issued the driver a commercial license, but these English speaking rules were issued after the crash.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is the first state to ask the US DOT to waive its requirements for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program since a court ruled the requirements are likely unconstitutional. The DBE program requires 10 percent of federal highway construction funds to be paid out to small businesses owned by "socially and economically disadvantaged" individuals - generally defined as women, African Americans, native Americans and Hispanic Americans, and other defined disadvantaged groups. The program is purported to help remove barriers so qualifying businesses can participate in federally assisted contracts. A U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky last year found that the race- and gender-based presumptions used by the DOT likely violate constitutional protections. US DOT agreed with that finding.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed revised regulations to implement President Trump’s Executive Order entitled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance.” The proposal would adjust the “Beyond Visual Line of Sight” (BVLOS) limits to aid in the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones into the national airspace system. The proposal would also update requirements for manufacturers, operators, and drone traffic-management services to keep BVLOS drones safely separated from each other and from manned aircraft.
A coalition of 21 state attorneys general and the Arizona state legislature urged a Kentucky federal court to approve a proposal from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would end core provisions of its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, reports the American Road and Transportation Builders Assn (ARTBA). In the amicus brief filed June 16, the Republican state officials expressed support for a recent “consent order” in which the department has agreed to stop enforcing race- and gender-based goals on federal-aid projects, pending court approval.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently approved 180 infrastructure grants worth $3.2 billion from more than 3,200 projects that were awarded by the previous administration without project agreements. USDOT announced that it has approved 329 grants so far this year.
Those approved grants include a wide range of modal administration programs, from airport improvement grants to rail, port, and highway infrastructure initiatives.
President-elect Donald Trump has picked former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary.
“During his time in Congress, Sean was a respected voice and communicator in the Republican Conference, advocating for Fiscal Responsibility, Economic Growth, and Rural Development. Admired across the aisle, Sean worked with Democrats to clear extensive Legislative hurdles to build the largest road and bridge project in Minnesota History,” the Trump transition team said in a statement.
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