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Managing a Business

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Transportation & Logistics

This section is a guide to complying with laws and regulations that apply to businesses that transport people, cargo, goods, merchandise and products by land, air or sea. This section also includes compliance assistance information for businesses engaged in importing and exporting, customs brokerage, packing, warehousing, and storage.

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Aviation Industry

  • Accident Plans
    Outlines requirements for U.S. and foreign air carriers to develop and submit to the National Transportation Safety Board a plan to address the needs of families of passengers and other victims involved in any aircraft accident involving an aircraft of the air carrier and resulting in a major loss of life. The requirement applies to both passenger and all-cargo carriers. All-cargo carriers are included in this requirement to cover cargo attendants, non-revenue passengers, and persons on the ground that could be affected by an accident.

  • Aircraft Certifications
    Lists certifications granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

  • Aircraft Manuals and Handbooks
    Provides aircraft operations and maintenance manuals.

  • Alien Flight Student Program
    Contains application for non-U.S. citizens seeking to train at FAA-regulated flight schools. Candidates are required to complete this application prior to beginning flight training.

  • Aviation Manuals and Handbooks
    Offers aviation operations handbooks, safety manuals, and pilots guides.

  • Canadian Air Taxi Operators
    Covers how Canadian operators of small aircraft (fewer than 60 seats) that want to operate trans-border services between the U.S. and Canada must register with the Department of Transportation (DOT), and provide evidence of insurance coverage for their operations.

  • Emission Standards: Aircraft
    Provides information about air pollutant emissions from commercial aviation, including regulations, guidance, and other information related to aircraft.

  • FAA Licenses and Certificates
    Gives forms and certificates granted by the FAA.

  • FAA Recent and Upcoming Compliance Dates
    Provides a calendar of upcoming deadlines concerning FAA's various requirements.

  • FAA Regulatory and Guidance Databases
    Explains the Regulatory & Guidance Library (RGL), a set of searchable databases which contain regulatory, guidance and aviation product information. 

  • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) FAQs
    Lists frequently asked questions about FAA licenses, certificates and regulations affecting the airline industry.

  • Flight Standard Service
    Offers information on standards for certification and oversight of airmen, air operators, air agencies and designees.

  • How to Become a Certified Air Carrier
    Supplies information regarding the analysis and evaluation of all applications for new economic authority to determine whether the airline applicant is 'fit, willing and able ' to conduct commercial airline operations, and that the applicants are U.S. citizens as defined by the transportation statue.

  • Mechanic Licenses and Training Requirements
    Provides a list of regulations, policies, license and certifications for aircraft mechanics.

  • OSHA eTool: Baggage Handling Ergonomics
    Offers an e-Tool describing many of the common hazards associated with the baggage handling process as well as providing possible solutions that are ranked according to their feasibility to the operations. 

  • Pilot Licenses and Training Requirements
    Provides a list of regulations, policies, license and certifications for airline pilots.

  • Public Charter Flights Agreements
    Explains that all persons who wish to arrange public charter flights must first submit a charter prospectus to the DOT which contains information about the proposed charter program.

  • TSA Funeral Home Partners
    Details a program that allows funeral homes to partner with TSA to accommodate air travelers with crematory remains.

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Customs Brokers

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Drug Testing Policies

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Hazardous Materials Transportation

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Maritime and Ocean Transport

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Rail Industry

  • Emission Standards: Locomotive Engines
    Provides general and technical information on the environmental rules and regulations affecting railroads, locomotive manufacturers, and remanufacturers.

  • So You Want to Start a Small Railroad
    Outlines procedures and standards for authority to acquire and operate a line of railroad, especially operating or expanding a small railroad.

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Road Construction

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Trucking Industry

  • Commercial Vehicle Size and Weight Standards
    Covers the federal standards center on a commercial vehicle's weight, length, and width.

  • EPA Transportation and Air Quality Industry Partner Programs
    Offers voluntary industry compliance programs aimed at reducing pollution and improving air quality.

  • Motor Carrier FAQs
    Lists frequently asked questions about the regulatory requirements of commercial operations of large trucks and buses.

  • Motor Carrier Forms
    Provides the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) portal for all compliance forms.

  • Motor Carrier Registration and Licensing
    Provides the FMCSA's registration and licensing portal.

  • Motor Carrier Rules and Regulations
    Outlines rules and regulations enforced by the FMCSA.

  • Motor Carrier Safety and Security Guide
    Gives the FMCSA's guide to providing safety and security initiatives aimed at reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Commercial operators must comply with these safety regulations. 

  • Oversize and Overweight Load Permit Information
    Details federally mandated maximum weights for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.

  • Smartway Transport Partnership
    Explains how the EPA partners with several lenders to make loans available to small trucking companies to help pay for technologies that will save fuel and money while reducing pollution.

  • Surface Transportation Board Guide to Environmental Rules
    Assists in understanding and applying the Board's environmental rules. It highlights the various environmental and historic reporting requirements, notice requirements, those actions exempt from environmental and historic review, and the types of environmental documents generally prepared for actions before the Board

  • Vehicle Size and Weight Standards
    Covers requirements to preserve our Nation's infrastructure and to keep trucks and buses moving efficiently. States must ensure that commercial motor vehicles comply with federal size and weight standards. FHWA is responsible for certifying state compliance with federal standards. This site provides a ready source of information on federal standards and guidelines, state enforcement activities, reporting requirements, and contacts.

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