Many of you have asked us how the government shutdown will affect the FMCSA and the CMV enforcement agencies, such as scale houses and CMV inspectors.
The answer is that it will be business as usual for the agencies.
On September 27, 2013, the Department of Transportation released a report on what will become of the department and its sub agencies during a government shutdown.
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According to the report, the FMCSA “has sufficient balances of liquidating cash to operate for a limited period during a lapse of annual appropriations. Â Once available liquidating cash is exhausted to support continuing operations, an agency shutdown may be implemented.”
For now, all 1,102 FMCSA employees are at work because the FMCSA is funded by multi-year appropriations.
The Washington Post released a comprehensive guide to the government shutdown.  “Any employee who conducts ‘essential activities to the extent that they protect life and property,'” will not be affected by the shutdown, the Washington Post stated.
“Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work.”In short, roadside inspections will resume as normal because they’re funded by the FMCSA.
The last government shutdown occurred in 1996 when Bill Clinton was president. Â The shutdown lasted nearly a month.
To read more about the 2013 shutdown showdown, follow this link.