The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provided updates on various regulations during the Mid-America Trucking Show last week.
FMCSA’s Acting Deputy Administrator, Sue Lawless, kicked off the morning session by acknowledging the crucial role of truck drivers and their dedication to safety on the nation’s highways. She highlighted the agency’s efforts to address challenges faced by truckers, including predatory lease-purchase agreements, driver compensation studies, grants to tackle truck parking shortages, and the work of the Women of Trucking Advisory Board.
“We are developing a new registration system to improve the transparency, efficiency and user experience of the agency’s registration systems, and to reduce fraud in the registration process,” Lawless said.
Lawless also emphasized the agency’s focus on accident prevention and the use of technology to enhance highway safety.
“We are always working to understand prevention,” she said. “If we can understand prevention, we can have the ability to understand how and why crashes happen and to prevent them from happening.”
Larry Minor, FMCSA’s Associate Administrator for Policy, provided insights into three key regulations in progress: the automatic emergency brakes (AEB) mandate, safe integration of automated driving systems, and transparency in broker transactions.
Minor discussed ongoing efforts with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to mandate AEB systems in new trucks and ensure their maintenance by fleets. He indicated that a final rulemaking, addressing concerns raised during public comments, is forthcoming this year.
Regarding automated driving systems, Minor stressed the importance of safety oversight to ensure their safe deployment. He mentioned a draft notice of proposed rulemaking currently under review, expected to be published for public comment soon.
Minor also mentioned FMCSA’s commitment to propose a broker transparency rule by October.
“When that notice of proposed rulemaking hits the street, we certainly encourage all of you to share your thoughts and feelings,” he said.
However, missing from the updates was any mention of a potential revamp of FMCSA’s safety rating process. Transportation attorney Hank Seaton, speaking at the event, expressed concerns about the agency’s approach to various initiatives, including addressing fraud in the registration system. Seaton advocated for a holistic approach to keep bad actors out of the system and ensure fairness in safety ratings.
“We advocate that any proposal [dealing with CSA Safety Measurement System and roadside inspection data] will take at least 10 years to perfect [if it’s ever perfected],” Seaton said. “The agency should adopt a new carrier/broker audit, a kind of prerequisite to issuing authority for a carrier or broker.”
FMCSA also highlighted trends in large truck and bus fatalities, with Tom Keane from the Office of Research & Registration urging truck drivers to prioritize safety, particularly by wearing seat belts. Keane emphasized the alarming increase in truck occupant fatalities and stressed the importance of seat belt usage to reduce fatalities on highways.
“The seat belt can literally save your life,” Keane said.
Source: Commercial Carrier Journal
