U.S. Legislative Updates

Federal tax credits for ethanol and biodiesel were among several tax provisions that expired on December 31, 2011. The ethanol credit was forty-five cents per gallon of ethanol used in blending and the biodiesel mixture credit was $1.00 per gallon of biodiesel used in blending the fuel. Although only the person responsible for blending the fuel could claim the credit, it was often reflected in a fleet’s fuel cost. (See related story below.)

The 100 percent bonus depreciation on assets also expired on December 31. As a result, bonus depreciation decreases to fifty percent in 2012. The bonus depreciation for vehicles is capped at $8,000 in 2012.


Many NAFA Members joined in a letter to Congress asking for legislative action to extend the biodiesel tax credit.  In the letter to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the fleet managers said, "The biodiesel tax incentive makes the price of biodiesel competitive with conventional diesel fuel.  Effective fuel management is not only an integral part of fleet operations, but it is a major factor in our fleet’s annual budget." The fleet managers noted that "Use of biodiesel also reduces the fleet’s dependency on foreign energy and reduces vehicle emissions. However, without the tax incentive, biodiesel is significantly more expensive than conventional diesel fuel – making it much more difficult to make the business case for biodiesel."


NAFA has written to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in support of the Edison Electric Institiute’s (EEI) request for a three-month waiver from the FMCSA’s final rule restricting the use of cell phones by drivers of commercial vehicles. In the December 22 letter, NAFA said, "Our support for the EEI request in no way lessens our commitment to the final rule restricting the use of cellular phones. We do, however, believe a waiver is necessary:

1) to allow the FMCSA to consider the very compelling issues raised by EEI in its petition for reconsideration regarding the push-to-talk systems used by utilities to communicate with employees in the field;

and 2) to provide sufficient time for fleets throughout the country to adapt their systems and equipment to comply with the new regulation."


On December 22, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued new hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for drivers of commercial motor vehicles

FMCSA's new HOS final rule reduces by twelve hours the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work within a week. Under the old rule, truck drivers could work on average up to eighty-two hours within a seven-day period. The new HOS final rule limits a driver's work week to seventy hours.

In addition, truck drivers cannot drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least thirty minutes. Drivers can take the thirty-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-hour window.

The final rule retains the current eleven-hour daily driving limit. FMCSA will continue to conduct data analysis and research to further examine any risks associated with the eleven hours of driving time.

Commercial truck drivers and companies must comply with the HOS final rule by July 1, 2013. The rule is currently available on FMCSA's Web site at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/HOSFinalRule