If you’ve been paying attention to the transportation industry lately it’s easy to tell that it’s in a state of change and flux. This becomes even more apparent when you take a look at all of the different regulations which are currently on the verge of being implemented, in one form or another. We’ll briefly run down some of the potential changes though it’s still up in the air what their final form will be.

Speed Limiters: This is, of course, a proposed rule which would require large trucks to have speed limiters. Right now the particulars of this regulation are still being debated.

Prohibition of Driver Coercion: These are a set of rules which would impose fines on carriers, shippers and brokers who are found guilty of coercing drivers to violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Wherein in the past almost all of the onus for following these regulations was placed squarely on the drivers this regulation will divvy up the responsibility. This is the first such regulation which places shippers and brokers under FMCSA regulation for safety offenses and should lessen the demand for delivery times that exceed the hours of service requirements.

Lastly, there’s the Safety Fitness Determination. This is a controversial measure because it has been suggested that the FMCSA will assign monthly safety ratings based on algorithms rather than conducting manual compliance reviews. This is frustrating mainly because while algorithms have been helpful in the past of identifying potential problem carriers they haven’t been nearly as accurate in truly singling them out.

What all of these upcoming rules and regulations mean is that the auto shipping industry landscape could be vastly different in just a few short months.