The Federal Department of Transportation is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 to adjust fine amounts each year based on inflation. As inflation has caused everything from eggs to diesel fuel to rise in price, so have the fines truckers and companies are forced to pay when they are found in violation.
How the government determined the 2023 adjustment amount is to multiply the previous penalty amount by the percentage change between the October 2022 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the October 2021 CPI-U, which for that period was 1.07745. Given this multiplier, all of the fine amounts increased by around 7.18%.
The 2023 chart with the new fine amounts was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 6, making them the law of the land. Federal DOT noted that the penalty adjustments made by the rule will apply only to violations that take place after the rule takes effect, adding that the rule doesn’t change previously assessed or enforced penalties that DOT is actively collecting or has collected.
Here are some of the new fines for common infractions drivers and operators are ticketed for:
- Out-of-service order: Operation of CMV by the driver – $2,232
- Out-of-service order: Requiring or permitting operation of CMV by the driver – $22,324
- Out-of-service order: Operation by the driver of CMV or intermodal equipment that was placed out-of-service – $2,232
- Out-of-service order: Requiring or permitting operation of CMV or intermodal equipment that was placed out-of-service – $22,324
- Out-of-service order: Failure to return written certification of correction – $1,116
- Out-of-service order: Failure to cease operations as ordered – $32,208
- Out-of-service order: Operating in violation of order – $28,304
- Out-of-service order: Conducting operations during suspension or revocation for failure to pay penalties – $18,170
Read more by Rooster and follow me here!
Sign up for the Back The Truck Up Newsletter!
Listen to the Back The Truck Up Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
