Trucking and Freight Guides

How 49 CFR 371.2 and 49 U.S.C. 13102 separate a bona fide agent of a carrier from a broker who must register, and what 49 U.S.C. 14916 provides for unauthorized brokering.

The five kinds of out-of-service order in the federal regulations, what ends each one, the carrier and driver deadlines, and what the CVSA criteria are and are not.

Federal carrier requirements for investigating new driver safety records under 49 CFR 391.23: 3-year MVR checks, safety performance histories, and FMCSA PSP reports.

Who must use an electronic logging device under 49 CFR 395, the four paper-log cases, the driver and carrier steps in a malfunction, roadside data transfer and record retention.

Where the federal safety rules reach a dispatcher's decisions, a worked check of whether a day's loads fit the hours limits, the coercion rule, and how a dispatch service differs from a broker.

What a driver qualification file must contain, the separate investigation history file, the annual check, Clearinghouse queries, and a calculator for hire, annual and retention dates.

The ten data elements of the Importer Security Filing, the two deadlines in 19 CFR 149.2, who must file for cargo arriving by sea, and what to do when information changes.

Trucking and shipping terms sorted by source: those defined in federal statute and regulation, those with no federal definition, and the words that mean different things in different parts of the rules.

What freight factoring is under the Uniform Commercial Code, how the notice of assignment works, what the customer can still argue, and a calculator for what an invoice actually nets.

Who posts on a load board, the checks to run before booking a load, how to read a posted rate in loaded and total miles, and what the 15-day payment rule does and does not cover.

What the federal rules require on a bill of lading and a freight bill, how the documents move through one shipment, and a table of who can claim when freight is lost or damaged.

Where to check a carrier's USDOT status, authority, insurance and safety rating on FMCSA's SAFER and Licensing and Insurance sites, what each field means, and the warning signs.

Typical size ranges for parcel, LTL and full truckload, a break-even calculation for choosing between LTL and a truckload, and what to confirm with a carrier before booking.

The statutory definition of a broker, how brokers differ from carriers, forwarders and dispatchers, the registration, bond and conduct rules, and the filings behind them.

The 10,001 and 26,001 pound lines in the federal trucking rules, a selector for your own vehicle, eight worked cases, and why operating authority is a separate question.

The density formula, the current NMFC standard density scale, worked examples that end in a class, and how to measure a pallet so a carrier's re-measure does not change it.

Federal wage data for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, how mileage and revenue-share pay work, and the lease rules that protect owner-operator compensation.

What counts as a freight claim, the carrier's 30-day and 120-day response clock under 49 CFR 370, the 9-month and 2-year minimum periods in 49 U.S.C. 14706, a dated timeline and a claim letter outline.

The two federal tiedown tests, how many and how strong in total, with a diagram of how each tiedown counts, five worked examples and the driver's checks under 392.9.

The four federal public-liability rows in 49 CFR 387.9, who falls outside the table, a selector for the row that applies, and the proof a carrier must keep and how it can be checked.

How 49 CFR 172.504 decides when a vehicle must be placarded: which materials need placards in any quantity, how the 1,001-pound exception works, and four loads worked through.

What 49 CFR 387.307 requires of a freight broker's financial security, how a drawdown can lead to suspension, and the record and advertising rules in 49 CFR 371.

The three CDL vehicle groups, a finder for yours, eight worked vehicles, the endorsements and the restriction codes (with how to avoid each), and the training, permit-age and driving-age rules kept apart.

The federal gross, single-axle and tandem limits in 23 CFR 658.17, how the Bridge Formula works, and a five-axle truck checked group by group with ways to fix a failing group.

The 11-hour, 14-hour, 30-minute break and 60/70-hour rules for property-carrying drivers, two timed examples, the sleeper-berth split, and the short-haul exceptions side by side.

What a driver must be able to show at a roadside inspection, the driver vehicle inspection report rules, a pre-trip checklist, and what happens after an out-of-service order.