As required by law, the Department of Transportation today increased a long list of fines for its various agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The annual increase is mandatory under the Fedweral Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. That act requires fines be adjusted annuallly to keep pace with inflation.
The new fines were calculated by multiplying the existing penalty amount by the percent change between the October 2023 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the October 2022 CPI-U. This year, that percentage change was 1.03241.
The new fine amounts became effective today after the notice of the new rule was published in the Federal Register.The rule does not change previously assessed or enforced penalties that the U.S. DOT is actively collecting or has collected.
In addition to the FMCSA, the fines levied by the Maritime Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were also increased.
You can see the list of the fines here.
