The USDOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently expanded regulatory oversight into commercial vans and small passenger vehicles carrying 9 to 15 passengers.  This includes the driver and is not based on how many people are occupying the vehicle, but the number of designated seats as originally designed.  In the past, these rules were only applicable to this class of vehicle if they were used in interstate commerce and operated in excess of a 75-air mile radius of the driver’s normal work reporting location.  Now businesses that operate these vehicles are subject to the safety standards in FMCSA Part 385 and Parts 390 through 396.  These are the same requirements which motor carriers must follow if they operate vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more on highways or for interstate commerce. 

Some of these requirements include marking vehicles with the company name and USDOT number.  A bi-annual report (form MCS-150) must be filed with the FMCSA.  An accident register must be maintained.  A driver’s qualification file must be maintained for each driver including documents such as background checks, driver’s medical examination, etc.  FMCSA operating rules must now be followed and the vehicle must maintain required equipment such as such as fire extinguishers and emergency flares or reflective triangles.  FMCSA vehicle maintenance records must be kept including paperwork such as; annual inspection requirements and daily inspection requirements.

Hours-of-Service regulations also apply.  Some of these Hours-of-Service requirements include logbook documentation for the last 7 days.  Drivers can not exceed the 15-hour On-duty hour limit, 10-hour driving limit, or the 60 / 70 hour duty limit on a rolling 7 day or 8 day time period.  Specifics of these requirements are described in FMCSA Section 395.   There are some logbook exceptions including vehicles operated by local governments, or non-business private motor carriers such as church or scout groups.  The logbook 100 air-mail radius exception is still in place. 

For more information check out the FMCSA web page for SMALL PASSENGER-CARRYING VEHICLES.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 7:17 am and is filed under Drivers Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.