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Jurisdictional Issue - Southwest Transportation.

Summary An OSHA regional office asked which agency handled a truck-loading safety dispute. OSHA said loading and unloading at destination points fell within its jurisdiction, while readjusting and securing a load in transit fell under the Federal Highway Administration. OSHA labels this memo archival and warns that it may no longer reflect current policy.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1991-04-01-2
Date issued
April 1, 1991
Status
Archived by the agency
OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.
Status last verified October 9, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety Jurisdiction Trucking Loading Unloading
Source
View the official document

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The current status of this document is unclear
OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy. It may no longer reflect the agency's current position. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.
About this page: The full text below is the official document from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

April 1, 1991

MEMORANDUM FOR: BYRON R. CHADWICK
REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR

THROUGH: LEO CAREY, DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF FIELD PROGRAMS

FROM: PATRICIA K. CLARK, DIRECTOR
DIRECTORATE OF COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS

SUBJECT: Jurisdictional Issue - Southwest Transportation

This is in further response to your memorandum of March 6, 1990, in which you requested clarification of the jurisdictional issues involving the Southwest Transportation Co., Inc., case.
We have received a response from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on January 30. A copy of the same was faxed to your office the same day. In the letter, FHWA stated they believe that they have jurisdiction in the area of safe loading. FHWA further indicated that they do not have enforceable regulations in the circumstances of this case and have not exercised jurisdiction in cases of this nature.
Based on this letter, our enforcement policy in this area is as follows:

  1. All action associated with the loading and unloading the vehicle at destination points will be within OSHA jurisdiction.
  2. Readjusting and securing the load in transit between destination points will be under the jurisdiction of the FHWA.

This Directorate in conjunction with the Directorate of Policy will explore possible revisions to the current MOU with DOT.

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