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If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes today to send in comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regarding their proposal to enact a 2 year waiver from the Hours of Service regulations for the shipments of anhydrous ammonia between the terminals and the retail sites. The current waiver that the industry has been operating under expired in late June.
It is essential that you state in your comments that the waiver must also be extended to liquid and dry fertilizers that are transported from terminals or warehouses to the retail sites. Right now FMCSA is only proposing to offer the exemption for anhydrous ammonia.
IFCA has posted a sample letter for ag retailers, it is available on our website at www.ifca.com. The website also contains IFCA's comments on the rule and a Regulatory Alert posted that explains the issue in more detail.
Comments are due today, August 13. You can submit your comments electronically by going to http://www.regulations.gov and then enter FMCSA 2010-0230 in the keyword section and follow the instructions to attach your comments. You may also fax your comments to FMCSA at 202.493.2251.
We MUST generate input from ag retailers on this very important issue, otherwise the timely and efficient transportation of fertilizer during peak seasons will be jeopardized. Illinois transporters have been using the HOS exemption for all forms of fertilizer since 2006 until FMCSA limited our ability to do so in late 2009.
Please contact Jean Payne if you need assistance with your comments. Thank you!
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NURSE TANK INSPECTION FORMS: If you received a letter requesting that you ask your CT inspectors to sign an addendum to the nurse tank inspections for your tanks that were tested within the last five years, hold off doing anything with this request. We are setting up a meeting with USDOT officials to express our concerns with this issue and to hopefully come up with a better resolution to this matter.