The Department of Transportation is continuing President Trumpโs objective of reducing regulations that hinder or hold back businesses.
In its notice of the action, published in the Federal Register, DOT stated that it is โreviewing its existing regulations and other agency actions to evaluate their continued necessity, determine whether they are crafted effectively to solve current problems, and evaluate whether they potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources. As part of these reviews, the Department invites the public to provide input on existing rules and other agency actions that are good candidates for repeal, replacement, suspension, or modification.โ
DOT states its position is that โImprovement of regulations is a continuous focus for the Department. There should be no more regulations than necessary, and those regulations should be straightforward, clear, and designed to minimize burdens.โ
In a statement, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says they agree with the direction the agency is going. โWe agree with the White Houseโs statement that burdensome regulations have an immense impact on small businesses,โ said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. โIn particular, the trucking industry, which is primarily made up of small businesses, is potentially harmed the most.
โA healthy sector of small-business trucking is good for the economy and good for consumers and should be given tools to grow, not be squashed by big business interests that push for more and more regulations that increase costs for their small-business competitors,โ added Spencer.
Comments related to this regulatory review should be submitted on or before Nov. 1. Any comments should be identified by docket number DOTโ OSTโ2017โ0069 and submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments
Fax: 202โ493โ2251
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Room W12โ140, Washington, DC 20590โ0001