The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking and is seeking comments on changes to the regs about shifting and falling cargo.

The notice, issued June 8, states that FMCSA officials together with “feedback from outside sources” found that the rules as they were issued misstated the intent of FMCSA.

The proposed changes are intended to clarify the intended meaning of the rules and how they apply to commodity-specific cargo types. Eight changes are proposed.

The changes proposed include:

• A change to the definition of “crib type trailer” and “metal coil;”
• A clarification of the breaking strength and working load limits for cargo securement devices;
• A clarification of the “standard for wear and tear” on cargo securement devices;
• A clarification designed to make the aggregate working limit of tiedowns requirements easier to interpret;
• A clarification of when tiedowns or blocking and bracing are required to fully secure cargo;
• Three changes to the securement of log requirements including: reducing the number of required tiedowns in the transportation of longwood on trailers that have bunks and stakes or bolsters to cradle the logs; requiring longwood transported on flatbed or frame vehicles be secured by at least one tiedown per bunk; and when hauling shortwood the proposed rule has a reduction in the required number of tiedowns to one tiedown per bunk from two in the current rule;
• Reformatting of the subsections of the rules pertaining to securement of paper rolls for clarity;
• And, tightening up of the requirements covering the transport of intermodal containers.

Click here http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p81/335129.pdf to view the complete rulemaking.

To comment click here http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/dspSubmission.cfm. The docket number is FMCSA 05-21259.