Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provided the public with a three-month window to submit comments regarding potential changes to the determination of a motor carrier’s safety fitness. Now, extending this dialogue, the agency has opened another 30-day period for public input on various reports that could play a pivotal role in shaping potential rulemaking.
On Jan. 12, FMCSA released a notice of data availability in the Federal Register, encompassing reports addressing in-vehicle monitoring systems, the correlation between crashes and safety-critical events, the impact of federal compliance reviews, the efficacy of safety technology, and recent fatality crash data. The public is invited to contribute feedback until Feb. 12.
“This (notice) identifies information the agency has become aware of and provides an opportunity for public comment,” FMCSA wrote. “The agency may consider this information in preparation for further regulatory action following an advance notice of proposed rulemaking.”
This initiative follows FMCSA’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking published on Aug. 29, which sought input on whether adjustments are necessary in the process of determining a motor carrier’s safety fitness. Comments for this notice were accepted until Nov. 29.
The current safety fitness determination relies on an analysis of existing motor carrier data and information gathered during a compliance review. It incorporates six factors – general, driver, operational, vehicle, hazardous materials, and crashes – to assign a safety fitness rating of satisfactory, conditional, or unsatisfactory.
Following the advance notice, FMCSA received 176 comments, as reported on the Regulations.gov website. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), representing small-business truckers, emphasized to FMCSA that any changes should not penalize carriers without a rating.
“The FMCSA safety fitness determination process has a direct effect on motor carriers’ ability to stay in business,” OOIDA wrote in its comments. “Historically, the safety fitness determination structure has not been proven as a reliable methodology to properly determine a motor carrier’s fitness to operate. Most of the (program’s) shortcomings relate to the inaccuracy and inconsistency of the data that is collected and analyzed during a safety investigation.”
The OOIDA Foundation is actively reviewing the reports recently released by FMCSA.
For those wishing to comment on the new notice, FMCSA has provided a month-long window. Click here to comment.
Source: Land Line
