Auto Shipping Glossary: FMCSA
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the main regulatory agency governing the auto transport industry. Established January 1, 2000 by the Department of Transportation, the FMCSA was created through the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 to help prevent fatalities and injuries relating to commercial motor carriers on the road.
The administration aims to ensure safety and transparency in car carrier operations by focusing on enforcing safety regulations and targeting high-risk carriers while also improving established safety systems as well as improving access to information and innovative technology to improve safety, equipment and operating standards and increasing awareness.
That’s a mouthful, to say the least, but the point of the matter is that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was established to put more checks and balances on the car shipping industry and to make shipping a car safer for both customers and carriers.
The implementation of the act in 1999 led to the beginning of a revolution in car shipping safety and efficiency. At the same time, it sort of made it harder to ship a vehicle, at least from the carrier’s perspective. This is because of the new regulations put on them by the FMCSA, including more stringent driving limitations and more oversight in the protection of vehicles and recording driving information and data.
The FMCSA has done a great job making the industry safer and more accessible to new technologies, as well as innovating how drivers go about shipping vehicles. New safety rules have led to tighter security features on trucks, which has led to a decrease in vehicles being damaged while being transported.
By limiting how fast and how far carriers can travel in a day while also fixing some of the issues that were leading to damaged vehicles, as well as promoting safer technologies and introducing cost-saving measures in legislation, the FMCSA has done wonders in making sure that carriers do their job properly and it has led to a better, more efficient and more honest auto transport industry.
If you’re interested in shipping a vehicle, you should take a minute to fill out our free online auto transport quote request form. When you do, you’ll get a free quote to ship your vehicle right away with us! We are fully licensed and bonded and only work with top-rated carriers that are fully licensed and insured. This way, you know your vehicle will be in good hands from start to finish. We are A-rated with the BBB and are a five-star company on Transport Reviews.
If you’d like to speak to a representative first, you can! Just give us a call toll-free at 800-930-7417. Someone will be able to answer your questions, give you a quote, book your shipment, and help guide you through the auto transport process. So take a minute and call or go online today to see what American Auto Shipping can do for you.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
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