49 U.S.C. § 14123 — Financial reporting
submitted 31 years ago by Pub. L. 104-88 to r/title-49-TRANSPORTATION · 465 words · no verdicts yet
Large motor carriers must file annual financial and safety reports with the Secretary. The Secretary can require other reports too, weighing safety, confidentiality, and the public interest. The Secretary can exempt filers from reporting or from public release to prevent competitive harm.
(a) Reports. (1) Annual reports. The Secretary* must require Class I and Class II motor carriers to file annual financial and safety reports, in whatever form the Secretary sets, but these reports must at least include balance sheets and income statements. (2) Other reports. The Secretary can also require motor carriers, freight forwarders, brokers, lessors, and associations (or any category of them) to file quarterly, periodic, or special reports, and to answer surveys about their operations.
(b) Matters To Be Covered. When deciding what these reports must cover, the Secretary must weigh: safety needs; the need to protect confidential business information and trade secrets from competitive harm; how the private sector, academics, and the public might use the information; and the public interest generally.
(c) Exemptions. (1) From filing. For good cause, the Secretary can exempt a party from the financial reporting rules in (a). A request for this exemption must show that it's needed to avoid competitive harm and to protect confidential business information not otherwise public. (2) From public release. A filer that isn't a publicly held corporation, and isn't already subject to SEC financial reporting rules, can ask the Secretary to keep its report out of public release. After the request, notice, and a chance for comment -- but no later than 90 days after the request -- the Secretary must approve it if the exemption is needed to avoid competitive harm and to avoid revealing a trade secret or other confidential information protected under section 552(b)(4) of title 5. Even with this exemption, the Secretary can still use the data internally at the Department of Transportation*, or include it in published industry-wide statistics, as long as doing so wouldn't let anyone identify the filer's specific data. While a request like this is pending, the Secretary cannot publicly release that carrier's report. (3) Period of exemptions. Any exemption granted under this subsection lasts three years.
(d) Streamlining and Simplification. The Secretary must simplify and streamline any reporting requirements imposed under this section as much as practically possible.
The Secretary* shall require Class I and Class II motor carriers to file with the Secretary annual financial and safety reports, the form and substance of which shall be prescribed by the Secretary; except that, at a minimum, such reports shall include balance sheets and income statements.
The Secretary may require motor carriers, freight forwarders, brokers, lessors, and associations, or classes of them as the Secretary may prescribe, to file quarterly, periodic, or special reports with the Secretary and to respond to surveys concerning their operations.
In determining the matters to be covered by any reports to be filed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider—
safety needs;
the need to preserve confidential business information and trade secrets and prevent competitive harm;
private sector, academic, and public use of information in the reports; and
the public interest.
The Secretary may exempt upon good cause shown any party from the financial reporting requirements of subsection (a). Any request for such exemption must demonstrate, at a minimum, that an exemption is required to avoid competitive harm and preserve confidential business information that is not otherwise publicly available.
The Secretary shall allow, upon request, a filer of a report under subsection (a) that is not a publicly held corporation or that is not subject to financial reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, an exemption from the public release of such report.
After a request under subparagraph (A) and notice and opportunity for comment but in no event later than 90 days after the date of such request, the Secretary shall approve such request if the Secretary finds that the exemption requested is necessary to avoid competitive harm and to avoid the disclosure of information that qualifies as a trade secret or privileged or confidential information under section 552(b)(4) of title 5.
If an exemption is granted under this paragraph, nothing shall prevent the Secretary from using data from reports filed under this subsection for internal purposes of the Department of Transportation* or including such data in aggregate industry statistics released for publication if such inclusion would not render the filer’s data readily identifiable.
The Secretary shall not release publicly the report of a carrier* making a request under subparagraph (A) while such request is pending.
Exemptions granted under this subsection shall be for 3-year periods.
The Secretary shall streamline and simplify, to the maximum extent practicable, any reporting requirements the Secretary imposes under this section.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 103, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 893; amended Pub. L. 105–102, § 2(11), Nov. 20, 1997, 111 Stat. 2205.)
- 1995Enacted · Pub. L. 104-88 · 109 Stat. 893
- 1997Amended · Pub. L. 105-102 · 111 Stat. 2205
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 104-88 on 1995-12-29.
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