News

ATA's Intermodal Carriers Conference reported that yesterday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in the World Shipping Council’s challenge of the FMC’s Detention and Demurrage Billing Rule. As we had expected based on oral arguments, the judges found the provision of the rule detailing which parties can be billed for these charges to be arbitrary and capricious. The Court found that “the Commission failed to explain the seeming inconsistency between its contractual-privity-based rationale and its categorical bar against billing motor carriers even when in privity with the billing party.” 

While the Court allowed most of the rule to stand, it struck down the rule’s provision defining a properly issued invoice which permits the invoice to be issued solely to “(1) The person for whose account the billing party provided ocean transportation or storage of cargo and who contracted with the billing party for the ocean transportation or storage of cargo or (2) the consignee. “ While the challenge was based on the issue of whether charges assessed in carrier haulage could be billed to motor carriers, this provision of the rule makes no distinction. As a result it would seem that there are no limitations on who can be billed for both carrier and merchant haulage charges. 

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act requires that the FMC address the issue of who can be billed for these charges and the Commission should revisit this issue in the future. The Court’s decision, however, would seem to permit ocean carriers to once again bill motor carriers for all detention and demurrage charges regardless of whether they are carrier or merchant haulage. 

CLICK HERE for a copy of the ruling.

New York is often a bellwether for national policy. These updates may soon reach your state — business owners should prepare accordingly.

Senate Bill 1514: Independent Contractor Crackdown

A new bill passed unanimously in the NY Senate and now pending in the Assembly could dramatically change how businesses use contract labor.

What’s at stake:

If the NY Department of Labor determines that a business knowingly misclassified employees as independent contractors — or misreported employee counts to insurers — it can issue an immediate Stop-Work Order, halting operations.

Read the bill → https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1514

Key concerns for business owners:

Undermines due process protections

Introduces vague enforcement standards

Disproportionately impacts small and rural businesses

Immediate Work Stoppage at your place of business

What you can do:

Consultech and its partners are actively lobbying against this legislation. We are in direct contact with the lawmakers making these decisions.

Contact us to learn how you can support the effort or prepare your business for compliance.

Minimum Wage Increase

Effective 2027:

NYC, Long Island, Westchester: $17.00/hour

Rest of New York State: $16.00/hour

Action Step:

Review your labor cost projections and update budgets accordingly.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Rate Spike

The maximum weekly benefit is increasing from $504 to $869 — a 72% jump.

Why it matters:

Higher benefits = higher UI tax rates for employers and immediate impact on reimbursable employers.

Fight claims when possible. We can help you challenge questionable filings and reduce your liability.

⚠️ Sexual Harassment Training Compliance

New York mandates some of the strictest training requirements in the country.

We offer discounted, compliant training programs that protect your business and save you money.

Let’s Talk

If you have questions about these changes or want to schedule a compliance review, contact Consultech today. We’re here to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Effective September 30, 2025, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will no longer accept paper payments, such as checks and money orders, for any agency transactions, including fees for initial application of operating authority registration, reinstatement or legal name changes, civil penalty payments, and other fee-based transactions.  
 
FMCSA has actively engaged with stakeholders over the past several weeks to ensure broad awareness of this change and to support a smooth transition. The transition aligns with White House Executive Order 14247: Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account, and advances a faster, more secure, and more efficient payment experience for the motor carrier industry. 

What’s Changing 

Beginning September 30, 2025: 

• FMCSA will not process paper payments (such as checks and money orders) for any transactions. 

• Stakeholders must provide debit or credit card information to make payment. 

• For financial responsibility (insurance filing fees, entities should refer to their monthly invoice for instructions 

• For operating authority registration related fees such as initial applications, name changes, and reinstatements, entities should visit the FMCSA registration website. 

• Assistance is available through the FMCSA Contact Center: 1-800-832-5660. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Why is FMCSA eliminating paper transactions, such as checks and money orders? 
This change supports White House Executive Order 14247. Electronic payments are faster, more secure, and more efficient, reducing errors and administrative burden. 

2. What types of electronic payments will FMCSA accept? 
FMCSA will accept debit or credit cards via secure online payments on its website.  

• For financial responsibility (insurance filing fees, entities should refer to their monthly invoice for instructions 

• For operating authority registration related fees such as initial applications, name changes, and reinstatements, entities should visit the FMCSA registration website. 
   

3. What happens if I mail a paper check after September 30, 2025? 
Checks received after September 30, 2025, will not be processed and will be returned, potentially delaying services. 

4. Are there any exceptions? 
If submitting a paper application, the applicant must complete the credit card information at the bottom of the form before submitting.  

5. Where can I get help transitioning to electronic payments? 
Call the agency’s Contact Center at 1-800-832-5660 (8am to 8-pm, Monday-Friday) for assistance. 

The NJMTA would like to thank all of our generous sponsors for supporting the Association and helping make our Annual Golf Outing & Networking Event a success.

Your continued support allows us to bring together industry professionals for a day of connection, camaraderie, and fun. We truly appreciate your support and look forward to another fantastic event filled with golf, networking, and great memories.

Americold Logistics

Ancra Cargo

Anjer Inc

AssuredPartners

ARL Network

Association Member Trust

Atlantic Utility Trailer Sales

Becker LLC

Bergey's Truck Centers

Bill Westervelt Asphalt Paving

Campbell Supply Company

Campbell's Express

CG Tax, Audit & Recovery

CJS Violations

ContainerPort Group

Cottingham & Butler

Cummins Sales & Service

Daybreak Express, Inc.

ECBM

Edge Consulting

Elizabeth Truck Center

FedEx

Harbor Freight Transport Corp.

Hermann Services Inc.

Holt Logistics

Hudson County Motors

Hunter Truck Sales & Leasing

K.W. Rastall Oil

Linden Warehouse & Distribution Co., Inc.

McCollister's Global Services, Inc.

MJD Trucking, Inc.

NFI

NJM Insurance

NRS

PavXpress Trucking & Warehousing

Pilot Travel Centers

Pinnacle Freight Systems, Inc.

PNC Bank Equipment Finance

Reardon Anderson

Rodriguez Distribution, Inc.

Romark Trucking LLC

Safeway Trucking Corp.

US 1 Logistics

Veltri Inc.

VPV Transport LLC

Wabash

Wakefern Food Corp.

WEX, Inc.

Ensuring truck drivers can communicate with law enforcement and read road signs keeps American families on our roads safe

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today announced California, Washington, and New Mexico will lose federal funding unless they adopt and enforce English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers. The three states have 30 days to come into compliance before the Department will withhold up to 100% of funding from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP).  

“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking aggressive action to close these safety gaps, hold states accountable, and make sure every commercial driver on the road is qualified to operate a 40-ton vehicle.” 

An investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found significant failures by California, Washington, and New Mexico to properly place drivers out-of-service for ELP violations. In addition to the data, California Highway Patrol has also publicly stated it has no intention of following this important federal regulation.   

These actions also come as Secretary Duffy advances its nationwide audit of non-domiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) issuance – part of a broader effort to enhance safety on America’s roads and restore order to the trucking industry.  

Additional Information:

California, Washington, and New Mexico today received notices, known as Notices of Proposed Determination of Nonconformity, which open a formal process that would result in the suspension of millions of dollars in federal funds through the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program if the states do not demonstrate full compliance with federal English Language Proficiency standards. 

An investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found significant failures by all three states to follow federal guidelines to properly place drivers out-of-service for ELP violations. From June 25 to August 21:

• California – California has failed to adopt and enforce compatible ELP laws and regulations. From June 25, 2025 through August 21, 2025, of the roughly 34,000 inspections resulting in at least one reported violation, only one inspection involved an ELP violation resulting in a driver being placed out of service. Notably, at least 23 drivers with documented ELP out-of-service violations in other states were later inspected in California – yet the state failed to honor those violations or enforce ELP, allowing unqualified drivers to continue operating on our roads.
• Washington – Washington has adopted the ELP regulation but is failing to enforce it. From June 25, 2025 through August 21, 2025, of the more than 6,000 inspections resulting in at least one reported violation, only four inspections involved an ELP violation resulting in a driver being placed out of service. Moreover, two inspections resulted in ELP citations but the driver was not placed out-of-service—contrary to Federal requirements. In addition, at least 4 drivers with documented ELP out-of-service violations in other states were later inspected in Washington – yet the state failed to honor those violations or enforce ELP, undermining federal safety standards and leaving dangerous gaps in enforcement.
• New Mexico – New Mexico has adopted the ELP regulation but is failing to enforce it. From June 25, 2025 through August 21, 2025 the state reported placing zero drivers out-of-service for ELP violations and allowed at least seven unqualified drivers already found unable to meet ELP standards to keep driving and endangering the lives of others. 

In May, Secretary Duffy signed an order announcing new guidance to enforce English proficiency requirement for truckers.  

In June, Secretary Duffy announced and unveiled a package of new initiatives, pilot programs, and regulatory updates designed to improve the lives of America’s truck drivers.

Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.

The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.

In the News

US Freezes Work Visas for Commercial Truck Drivers - TT

State Department halts employment visas for truck drivers - POLITICO

US halts worker visas for commercial truck drivers, Rubio says | Reuters

Trump administration pausing issuance of visas for foreign truck drivers, Rubio says

Law enforcement personnel in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct commercial motor vehicle inspections, educate drivers and motor carriers about the importance of brake safety, and provide brake inspection and violation data to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) for this year’s Brake Safety Week, scheduled for Aug. 24-30.

CVSA-certified inspectors will conduct routine commercial motor vehicle inspections throughout the week, focusing on brake systems and components. In addition, inspectors will focus on drums and rotors, the emphasis for this year’s brake-safety initiative. Brake drum and rotor issues may affect a vehicle’s brake efficiency. Broken pieces of drums and rotors may become dislodged from the vehicle enroute and damage other vehicles or result in injuries or fatalities to the motoring public.

Commercial motor vehicles found to have brake-related out-of-service violations, or any other out-of-service violations, will be removed from roadways until those violations are corrected.

During Brake Safety Week, inspectors will capture data about commercial motor vehicle inspections, brake systems and components, and brake-related violations and report that data to CVSA. Some jurisdictions will use performance-based brake testers (PBBT) to assess the braking performance of vehicles and submit PBBT-specific data to the Alliance. CVSA will collect and analyze all data and report the results publicly later this year.

In addition, brake-safety educational efforts by inspectors, motor carriers and others in the industry take place during Brake Safety Week and are integral to the success of the campaign. CVSA also offers resources to help drivers, motor carriers, owner-operators and mechanics prepare for Brake Safety Week.

Brake Safety Week aims to improve commercial motor vehicle brake safety throughout North America. The goal is to eliminate roadway crashes by conducting roadside inspections and educating drivers, mechanics, large- and small-fleet motor carriers, owner-operators, and others on the importance of proper brake inspection, maintenance and operation.

Governor Phil Murphy declared that New Jersey will enter a State of Emergency effective at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 21, 2025 in preparation for Hurricane Erin. Coastal and flash flooding, dangerous surf warnings and advisories, and high winds are expected for several counties across New Jersey. Parts of the state will experience sustained winds of up to 50 mph, large breaking waves along the Shore as high as 17 feet, and the inundation of one to three feet of water in flood-prone areas. Executive Order No. 396 declares a State of Emergency across all 21 counties in New Jersey.

“Over the past couple of days, we have seen the effects of Hurricane Erin along the Jersey Shore in the form of dangerous rip tides. Today and tomorrow will be no exception,” said Governor Murphy. “As the storm moves past New Jersey over the next 24 hours, we are expecting high surf and rip currents, coastal and flash flooding, and a high erosion risk in parts of the state. We ask all New Jerseyans to monitor local weather forecasts and warnings and stay informed on evacuation protocols, especially if you’re down the Shore.”

Governor Murphy encourages New Jerseyans to visit ready.nj.gov for important weather updates and safety information.

For those living along the shore, please be mindful of evacuation routes in case of an emergency. For preparedness, please visit the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management’s Evacuation Routes webpage at https://nj.gov/njoem/plan-prepare/evacuation-routes.shtml

For those living in Northern New Jersey and the New York Metro area, visit the U.S. National Weather Service New York, NY at https://www.weather.gov/okx/

For those living in Central and Southern New Jersey, visit the U.S. National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly at https://www.weather.gov/phi/

For a copy of Executive Order No. 396, please click here.

Washington, D.C. – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released new research on causes and solutions for the current gaps in diesel technician training, recruitment, and retention. Qualified techs are indispensable to a safe and efficient trucking industry, yet 65.5 percent of shops were understaffed in 2025 with an average of 19.3 percent of positions unfilled. The research synthesized findings from techs, shops, and training programs.

Most techs (61.8%) enter the career without any formal training, requiring an average of 357 training hours and $8,211 in trainee wages to prepare them. Even with formal training, more than 30 percent of training program graduates were unqualified in 20 core skill areas, according to diesel shops. In 7 of these core skill areas, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by more than 16 percent, and as such additional training hours in these areas can improve outcomes. In 6 core skill areas, however, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by less than 8 percent, highlighting the need for critical curricula upgrades.

The most common barrier reported by techs at the start of their career was the high cost of acquiring their own tools (29.0%), followed by a lack of prior tech knowledge (28.0%), insufficient pay (16.1%), and poor shop mentorship (10.8%). Though pay and schedules were the two aspects of employment that most attracted techs to the trucking industry, techs also ranked the pursuit of more interesting work (ranked 3rd) and greater variety of work (ranked 5th) as vitally important.

Forty-four percent of trucking techs were considering other tech jobs, with automotive and agriculture the most common alternative industries. Dissatisfaction with pay, interactions with management, and variety of work were the aspects of employment that had the most statistically significant association with techs choosing to look for a new job versus staying at their current job. The research also evaluated techs’ perspectives on other industries to identify how trucking’s comparative strengths and weaknesses match up to techs’ varying priorities.

“With a lack of qualified techs and stiff competition from other industries, tech employment in the trucking industry is not keeping up with demand, especially when it comes to retaining entry-level technicians just entering the workforce,” said Robert Braswell, Executive Director of ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council. “ATRI’s report helps trucking shops identify not only where they and their training program partners can improve but also how to better leverage our industry's existing strengths.”

The full report is available on ATRI’s website here.  

NJ ZIP & NJ ZEV programs will expand number of zero emission vehicles on NJ roadways

TRENTON, N.J. (July 31, 2025) – Vendor applications are now open for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA) two programs that are aimed at putting more zero emissions vehicles on roads across the state. Together, Phase III of the New Jersey Zero Emission Incentive Program (NJ ZIP) and the New Jersey Zero Emission Vehicle Financing Program (NJ ZEV), aim to accelerate the adoption and use of commercial zero emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles within the state, while reducing harmful emissions.

WHAT:              NJ ZIP Phase III will provide vouchers to businesses and institutional organizations to offset the cost of purchasing new, zero emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The size of vouchers awarded through Phase III, which is funded at $75 million, will vary depending on the class of vehicle being purchased, from a minimum of $15,000 for Class 2b vehicles to $175,000 for Class 8 vehicles. Bonuses will be available for school busses, small businesses; women-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses. Additionally, 50 percent of funds will be set aside for applications from small businesses in Overburdened Communities (OBCs).

NJ ZEV, which is funded at $25 million, is a loan program to support businesses adopting medium- and heavy-duty zero emission vehicles. The program complements NJ ZIP by offering financing for vehicle costs that may not be met by NJ ZIP vouchers or other available grant funding resources. Loans will also be available through the program for business not utilizing the NJ ZIP program. NJ ZEV will offer low-interest rate loans ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 for the purchase of one or more eligible vehicles.

WHO:             Licensed vehicle dealers offering new zero emission medium- or heavy-duty vehicles. Detailed guidelines and eligibility criteria are available here.

WHEN:          Vendor applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. However, vendors interested in being listed on the programs’ website prior to purchaser application launch should submit applications by Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.

For more information about Phase III of NJ ZIP, click here.

For more information about NJ ZEV, click here.

To learn more about NJEDA resources for businesses, call NJEDA Customer Care at 844-965-1125 or visit https://www.njeda.gov and follow @NewJerseyEDA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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