OTA Dispatch Issue1, 2021

8 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch PRISM: Performance and Registration Information Systems Management NCE: New Carrier Entrant By Gregg Dal Ponte, OTA’s Director of Regulatory Compliance PRISM originated as a pilot program mandated by Congress in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The basic premise of PRISM is to ensure bad actor motor carriers do not register for a new U.S. DOT number to avoid paying civil penalties or avoid previous Out Of Service (OOS) Orders (i.e., “reincarnated carriers”). If a carrier provides false information or hides information when it applies or reapplies for a U.S. DOT number, the carrier may be issued an OOS Order, and/or be fined. PRISM seeks to provide states a safety mechanism to identify and immobilize motor carriers with serious safety deficiencies and hold them accountable through denial of registration and law enforcement sanctions. The pilot was originally known as CVIS (Commercial Vehicle Information System) but was later renamed to not be confused with CVISN, or the Commercial Vehicle Information System Network grant program. Congress authorized funding through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), P.L. 105-178 (1998) to expand PRISM nationally. The Safe Accountable Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of Users (SAFETEA-LU), P.L. 109-59 (2005) added a PRISM grant program. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), P.L. 112-141 (2012) further authorized PRISM funding for fiscal years 2013–2014. In December 2015, Section 5101 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act made participation in the PRISM program a requirement of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). Congress required that MCSAP grant recipients must “fully participate” in PRISM or demonstrate participation in an FMCSA-approved acceptable “alternative approach for identifying and immobilizing a motor carrier with serious safety deficiencies in a manner that provides an equivalent level of safety,” no later than October 1, 2020. The FAST Act also consolidated multiple separate grant programs, including PRISM, under the MCSAP and High Priority (HP) grant programs and required that if a state wanted the MCSAP grant, then it must participate in the PRISM program and the New Carrier Entrant program (NCE). Programs which were originally voluntary are now mandatory if the states want to continue to receive the MCSAP grant. The federal government is basically financially coercing states to participate in PRISM and NCE. At some level, you must wonder why the federal government would leverage the MCSAP grant to force a state to participate in the PRISM and NCE programs if the latter programs were both individually worthwhile? The state of Oregon acting initially through the PUC truck regulatory program and since 1995 through the Motor Carrier Transportation Division at ODOT has perennially been a MCSAP grant recipient. Changes in MCSAP grant requirements and conditions of eligibility inclined ODOT to not apply for the MCSAP grant in 2015 and subsequent years. Here in 2020, ODOT decided to re- apply for the federal MCSAP grant and in so doing obligated itself to simultaneously REGULATORY COMPLIANCE “To be great is to be misunderstood.” FMCSA’S NEW ENTRANT PROGRAM monitors new motor carriers’ compliance with safety regulations for their first 18 months. Carriers seeking to operate in interstate commerce must complete form MCS-150 “Combined Motor Carrier Identification Report.” To apply for Interstate Operating Authority, a carrier must complete the appropriate form in the OP-1 series. The new entrant will then be monitored during the initial 18-month period. The new entrant must: ` Operate safely ` Maintain up-to-date records ` Conduct periodic inspections and perform maintenance on CMVs ` Pass the Safety Audit FMCSA will: ` Conduct a Safety Audit on the New Entrant in the first 12 months of operation ` Monitor safety performance through roadside inspections ` Grant permanent authority, if safe ` Conduct compliance reviews/ intervention any time FMCSA safety data indicates problems Unfortunately, FMCSA does not employ enough safety investigators to handle this workload. Therefore, it must either employ third party consultants or somehow encourage states to voluntarily undertake this work.