Trucking organizations have petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation for a determination that federal law pre-empts mandatory drayage truck registries.

Increasingly, ports are requiring carriers to have compliance decals, radio-frequency identification or participate in mandatory registries to comply in port emission reduction programs. 

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the New Jersey Motor Truck Association and the Port Drivers Federation 18 maintain this trend violates the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, resulting in regulations affecting price, route or service of carriers. The port organization is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of approximately a thousand members, including owner-operators.

They also requested a determination that additional identification requirements of registries are prohibited by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, the 2005 omnibus funding bill.

OOIDA has said trucking is headed for a return to multiple credentials on trucks, which had been outlawed by Congress.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had already been asked to determine if federal law preempts the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from requiring trucks to have the port’s registry stickers before entering.