Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Aug. 12, 2024:
Daimler recalls more trucks over tie rod defect
Daimler Trucks North America is recalling more than 3,400 trucks with potentially defective front axle tie rods, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. The company previously recalled approximately 540 trucks for the same issue in one recall, and another 60 trucks for a separate tie rod issue.
The new recall affects approximately 3,421 model year 2025 Freightliner 108SD, 114SD, Business Class M2 and Cascadia, and Western Star 47X vehicles. The tie rod in the front axle may contain ball studs that have been incorrectly heat-treated, which can cause them to break, and result in tie rod failure. Tie rod failure can cause a loss of vehicle steering control and increase the risk of a crash.
DTNA said the recall affects trucks equipped with specific Meritor front axles built in DTNA’s Saltillo and Santiago plants between April 22 and June 26.
Dealers will replace the tie rod assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Sept. 29. Owners can contact DTNA customer service at 800-745-8000 with recall number F1007. NHTSA’s recall number is 24V-571.
[Related: Tie rod-related recall hits more trucks]
FMCSA exploring updating, eliminating guidance documents
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced in a Federal Register notice to be published Tuesday that it will review its existing guidance documents to evaluate their continued necessity and whether they should be updated or eliminated.
As part of its review, the agency is asking the public to help identify and provide input on guidance documents that are good candidates to be updated or removed.
FMCSA is required by the 2015 FAST Act to review its guidance documents every five years to determine whether the documents are “consistent and clear, uniformly and consistently enforced, and still necessary.” A similar review was conducted in early 2020, which resulted in the effective reissuance of all of the guidance in FMCSA’s guidance portal on March 3, 2020.
FMCSA’s current guidance can be viewed online here. The public is encouraged to identify guidance documents that are inconsistent or unclear; may not be conducive to uniform or consistent enforcement; or are no longer necessary. (FMCSA houses more than a thousand such documents at the online portal, relating to all manner of regulatory issues and interpretations.)
Comments can be filed beginning Tuesday, Aug. 13, at www.regulations.gov by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0208. The comment period will remain open for 30 days.
The agency asks commenters to provide the following information:
- A specific reference to the guidance document and associated statutes or regulations that the comment discusses, including the title or subject, date of issuance, guidance docket number if available, web address of guidance location, or other source of the guidance document. If available, the reference should include citations to the associated statutes (e.g., FAST Act) or regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations.
- A description of the problem with the specific guidance document explaining why the document should be revised or removed. Comments that reflect experience with the guidance or a related statutory or regulatory requirement and provide data describing that experience are more helpful than comments that are not tied to direct experience.
- A description of alternatives that are better than the specific guidance document.
- Examples of entities that are, have been, or will be negatively affected by the specific guidance document and examples of entities that will benefit if the guidance is removed or revised.
[Related: Do dispatch services need broker authority? FMCSA issues final guidance]
Truck busted with meth in tomatillo load
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa (California) Commercial Facility seized 378 pounds of methamphetamine worth thousands of dollars hidden in a shipment of fresh tomatillos earlier this month.
CBP officers found approximately 378 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in a shipment of tomatillos at the Mexico-California border earlier this month.U.S. Customs and Border Protection
In the secondary inspection area, non-intrusive scanning technology was used to conduct a thorough scan of the tractor-trailer, which detected irregularities in the shipment.
CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 50 packages concealed within the shipment of fresh tomatillos. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a total weight of 378 pounds, and an estimated street value of $453,600.
“The dedication and vigilance demonstrated by our officers in protecting our nation’s borders while enhancing economic prosperity truly reflect the culture and values of CBP,” said Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa. “This seizure highlights criminal organizations’ efforts to smuggle narcotics in agricultural products and showcases our officers’ skills in detecting and preventing harmful drugs from entering our country and communities.”
CBP officers seized the narcotics and tractor-trailer. The driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
[Related: Update: Would-be FMCSA registration hackers claim to fight fraud in latest phishing attempt]