In January 2021, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it had issued a final rule. The rule adds an inflation adjustment to civil penalty fines charged to commercial vehicle operators who violate transportation industry regulations. The increase is effective immediately.

The U.S. DOT also has the authority to assess fines for violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

The increase in the FMCSA violation penalty values is based on inflation. The DOT is required by federal law to make inflation-based adjustments every year.

For the current increase, all previous penalty values were multiplied by 1.01764.

The FMCSA’s penalty values for regulations violations

The smallest penalty is $334 for a first-time tariff violation. A subsequent tariff violation is $418. The largest penalty is $194,691 for a hazmat violation resulting in death, serious illness, severe injury to persons, or destruction of property. The median fine is $11,125.

Most of the highest fines are related to hazardous materials regulations.

Here is the complete list of violations and the respective penalty values (former and current).

Avoid DOT violations and fines with an ELD and fleet management solution

An ELD and a robust fleet management solution can help you avoid many DOT violations.

An ELD solution can help you stay compliant with the Hours of Service regulations. A feature-rich fleet management solution can also help avoid many vehicle-related violations by monitoring potential vehicle maintenance issues and by alerting fleet managers and drivers whenever a fault is detected.

According to the International Roadcheck 2020 results, approximately 21 percent of vehicles were put out of service for critical vehicle-related violations. Moreover, 3,000 drivers were also put out of service — roughly 35 percent was because of Hours-of-Service violations.

Learn more about Motive’s vehicle inspection and vehicle diagnostics features and how they work.

If you have any questions, call us at 855-434-3564 or email us at support@gomotive.com.