As of June 2025, commercial motor vehicle drivers who do not meet the FMCSA’s English-language proficiency requirements will be placed out of service. To assess their proficiency, drivers must be able to answer questions in English about their trips, duty time, and license information.
ENSURING COMPLIANCE Supply chain and logistics professionals can take several steps to ensure their organizations remain in compliance as regulations change: • KNOW YOUR SUPPLIERS. Identify the countries of origin for the materials and components coming into your organization. Then, you can better determine the potential impact of different regulations, explains Anders Lillevik, CEO of Focal Point, a provider of end-to-end procurement management solutions. • INVEST IN DIGITAL INTEGRATION. Automation tools and solutions such as EDI support real-time, accurate data sharing. • CONDUCT INTERNAL AUDITS. These audits can help identify compliance gaps and vulnerabilities, says Tim Chitwood, transportation and logistics team leader with Forvis Mazars. Then, the organization can act to resolve them. • INVEST IN TRAINING. Educating team members on emerging standards and reporting obligations helps ensure readiness across the organization. • WORK ACROSS FUNCTIONS. Don’t silo your compliance team. Legal, procurement, logistics, and marketing all need to be at the table because regulations touch multiple departments. • TALK WITH YOUR CARRIERS. They’re often the first to absorb regulatory friction. Open communication helps everyone spot roadblocks early and then adjust. • ESTABLISH POLICIES. A key initial step to a compliance program is establishing and documenting policies—creating a paper trail—that helps everyone know what they’re supposed to do. • PUSH COMPLIANCE UP AND DOWN. Work with suppliers and customers to ensure they’re implementing their own compliance programs. When a company’s business partners have solid compliance programs, it’s easier for the company itself to ensure its own compliance. • COMPLY. If a shipper attempts to evade duties and its container is seized, the company may face delays in accessing its cargo, as well as civil penalties. “The cost of non-compliance, particularly if an importer was trying to play games, can be excessively high,” says Jonathan Todd, vice chair, with Benesch’s transportation and logistics practice group.
Beginning in June 2025, commercial motor vehicle drivers who fall short of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) English- language pro ciency requirements were to be placed out of service. To determine a driver’s English pro ciency, the FMCSA recommends checking whether a driver can answer questions presented in English that cover the origin and destination of a recent or planned trip, the amount of time spent on duty, and the information contained in the driver’s license. 6. The European Union’s ICS2 The EU’s Import Control System 2 (ICS2) requires shippers to provide advanced manifest information before their cargo leaves its country of origin, says Jason Mesko, vice president, international operations with Mode Global. The EU’s goal is to improve security as goods are transported internationally. To that end, businesses that bring goods to or through the EU will have to provide safety and security data to ICS2 through an Entry Summary Declaration. They’ll also need to obtain Economic Operators Registration and Identi cation numbers from the customs authority of an EU member state. As of September 2, 2025, ICS1 will be phased out, and ICS2 data safety and security requirements will become mandatory across all transport modes. 7. U.S. Port Entry Fees To counter China’s dominance in the shipbuilding sector, the U.S. administration will begin levying port entry fees for many Chinese built, owned, or operated vessels. As of late June, it was estimated that roughly 20% of freight-carrying vessels would be impacted by these fees. “It’s going to be non-trivial,” Mabry says. Some vessels built outside the United States and docking at U.S. ports will initially face new fees of up to $50 per car-equivalent unit capacity or per net tonnage; the exact structure is still under review. It’s possible a Chinese-owned ship with 200,000 net tons of cargo could end up paying $10 million per port visit, with the amount rising as higher rates kick in. To bypass these fees, some ships will head to Canada or Mexico and then transport their U.S.-bound cargo by rail, Mabry explains. Another strategy involves routing through Europe and then employing Chinese logistics providers to move goods to the United States. These options will increase transit time. But companies that adjust their transportation strategies now could save money down the road. n
136 Inbound Logistics • July 2025
Powered by FlippingBook