WATCHDOG ALERT:
The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (“SBTC”) has learned that New York State is advising interstate motor carriers that it intends to enforce 2018 UCR before the UCR Board's recommended April 5, 2018 enforcement start date.
An examination of the New York State Department of Transportation ("NYSDOT") website leads SBTC to believe New York is leading the public to believe carriers should expect to begin receiving notices of violation for non-compliance with 2018 UCR if they fail to comply by March 31, 2018.
SBTC has maintained during the course of a Federal lawsuit filed against the UCR Board in September of 2017 that changing the start date set by the UCR Agreement would result in a shorter than normal compliance period for industry. SBTC has further asserted the Board is powerless to compel the states to respect its "recommendations" and that even the Board admits it cannot compel the states to comply with such recommendations.
SBTC contends New York is "jumping the gun."
In an email today, SBTC President James Lamb, a former NYSDOT Motor Carrier Investigator, wrote to the UCR Chairman Avelino Gutierrez:
"This email shall constitute notice to the UCR Board that New York is not respecting the Board "recommended" April 5th enforcement moratorium date. Instead, they are requiring compliance by March 31st as evidenced by their website. It appears they believe the Board recommended 90 days from Jan 1, which we know is not the case.
Members of the industry located in NY have been misled to believe they will not be ticked until 90 days from January 5th, which is April 5th."
SBTC has already furnished the Board with evidence that a number of law enforcement officers began issuing 2018 UCR tickets in January. SBTC is looking into reports that other states are currently planning to commence widespread enforcement before April 5, 2018, despite the Board's recommendation. A copy of this email is therefore being sent to the 41 participating states and CVSA officials in the hopes of averting further unreasonable enforcement against the industry contrary to the Board's request.
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