Skip to main content

Guide to complying with FMCSA handheld cell phone ban

Effective yestereday, a new US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule prohibits an estimated four million commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving.
March 22, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Effective yestereday, a new US 4170 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule prohibits an estimated four million commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. Under the new rule, individual drivers face civil penalties up to US$2,750, while employers can be held liable and fined up to $11,000 per infraction committed while drivers are carrying out company business or otherwise acting on the employer’s behalf.

To help commercial fleet operators understand and conform to the new regulation, ZoomSafer, a provider of software to prevent distracted driving, has published FMCSA Cell Phone Use Regulations: A Guide to Compliance for Truck and Bus Fleets.

“FMCSA has made it abundantly clear that employers are responsible if their employees violate the rule,” said ZoomSafer CEO Matt Howard. “This new white paper offers commercial fleet operators a detailed explanation of the handheld phone ban and guidance on how to measure and manage employee compliance.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The World Bank asks how to Accelerate Progress on the SDGs and Respond to the COVID Crisis?
    August 26, 2020
    South Africa prioritises transport. By Dr Nancy L Vandycke, programme manager, World Bank
  • Worrying decline in road safety in US
    July 4, 2016
    There has been a worrying increase in traffic fatalities in the US, according to the latest available information. The data has been released by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showing that traffic fatalities for 2015 were 7.7% higher than for 2014. Road deaths reached 35,200 in 2015, compared with 32,675 in 2014. The data reveals a disquieting trend as the US road fatality rate for 2015 was the highest for seven years. While the total distance travelled by US drivers increase
  • Felix Scheuter, of Haenni Instruments, on effective highway weight enforcement
    September 26, 2013
    Felix Scheuter, managing director at Haenni Instruments, the renowned Switzerland-based mobile scales manufacturer, gives World Highways his views on how best to ensure effective highway weight enforcement The main danger for any road is its gradual destruction by overloaded heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The more frequently such vehicles use a highway, the faster it is destroyed. Mobile patrol teams using mobile weighing scales are a highly effective way to enforce weight limits aimed at protecting ro
  • Brazil’s high road death rate
    June 7, 2021
    Brazil’s road death rate remains worryingly high.