WASHINGTON — Violation of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules will cost, in some cases, a lot more in 2023 than ever before.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has published a final rule that will increase civil penalty amounts imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations.
The new fine amounts include FMCSA regulations.
The DOT emphasized the rule will only apply to violations taking place after it became effective Jan. 6. The rule does not change previously assessed or enforced penalties that DOT is actively collecting or has collected.
The fine increases are required in order to keep up with inflation. The latest increase is based on the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
The act mandates that all federal agencies adjust minimum and maximum civil penalty amounts for inflation “to preserve their deterrent impact.”
The increases follow a formula with guidance from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget of December 2022.
To figure how much the fine hikes would be, the government multiplied the maximum or minimum penalty amount by the percent change between the October 2021 and 2022 consumer price index for all urban consumers.
The change amounted to 1.07745%.
At a glance, some of the heftier increases include:
- The fine for violating the of the out-of-service order (failure to cease operations as ordered) has risen from $29,893 to $32,208.
- The fine for conducting operations during suspension or revocation has increased from $26,269 to $28,304.
- The fine for financial responsibilities violations has risen from $18,500 to $19,993.
- The fine for tariff violations has increased from $179,953 to $193,890.
- The fine for knowingly falsifying records was hiked from $13,885 to $14,960.
- The fine for a first-time alcohol violation has increased from $3,471 to $3,740.
Click here for a full list of the fine increases.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
