Comments on the data notice must be received by February 12. (Getty Images)
(Stay up to date with transport news: Get TTNews in your inbox.)
THE Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration examines six research papers on topics including in-cabin monitoring, automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning technologies, as it considers revising its rules for determining safety suitability motor carriers, the agency said.
The said Notice of Data Availability published January 12 in the Federal Register “identifies information of which the agency has become aware and provides an opportunity for public comment,” the FMCSA said. “The agency may consider this information in preparing further regulatory actions following advance notice of proposed rulemaking.”
Safety suitability determinations are currently based on an analysis of existing motor carrier data, collected during an investigation, and a compliance review conducted at a carrier’s place of business and/or or remotely through an examination of its files using a secure portal.
Comments on the data notice must be received by February 12.
The request for comment comes after The FMCSA published an advance on August 29 This could allow it to abandon or change the way it currently evaluates the suitability of motor carriers, or even develop a new method that could incorporate the agency’s knowledge. Compliance, Safety and Accountability Safety Measurement Systeman unpopular idea among many motor carriers.
The six studies cited by FMCSA for review include:
Public comment on the ANPRM’s suitability determination closed on November 29, with only around 20 comments. Most support the idea, but want to see what the agency does first with the proposal to change the suitability determination.
American Trucking Associations said it appreciated the agency’s attempt to develop a new methodology for determining when a motor carrier is suitable to operate commercial motor vehicles in or affecting interstate commerce.
“For an SFD to be an accurate representation of a motor carrier’s fitness to operate, determinations must be based on a consistent and uniform data source. Unfortunately, data sufficiency issues remain a serious limitation,” ATA wrote. “The Government Accountability Office has previously raised concerns about data sufficiency under the CSA/SMS methodology.”
In comments, the National Transportation Safety Board said that for more than two decades, it has repeatedly issued recommendations to address safety deficiencies in the FMCSA’s compliance verification program and called for SFD rulemaking to address the “critical need “.
Torc’s Peter Vaughan Schmidt and Daimler Truck’s Joanna Buttler discuss the timeline for autonomous trucks to enter the market and how they might integrate with existing fleet operations. Log in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
“The NTSB strongly supports this initiative but remains concerned about FMCSA’s slow efforts to develop a robust SFD process that will effectively use FMCSA data and resources to identify unsafe motor carriers and remove them from our nation’s roadways.” , the NTSB said.
“As FMCSA continues development of a new methodology for determining when a motor carrier is unfit to operate, the agency should avoid relying on the Compliance, Safety, Accountability and Measurement System programs security,” the statement said. Association of Independent Owner-Operator Drivers wrote. “Since their inception in 2010, CSA/SMS have completely failed in their goal of reducing injuries, deaths and accidents. “This will not change until CSA/SMS encourages actual safety performance rather than regulatory compliance.”
“The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance does not support FMCSA’s continuation of the current three-tier rating system: Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory and Conditional,” the inspectors’ professional organization wrote. “The current system can be misleading and should be simplified for clarity. »
Want more news? Listen to today’s daily briefing below or go here for more information:
