Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/127433
Logbook Agency's focus on inspections a point of contention Safety Alliance's Workshop in Louisville, Ky. "We must be guided by what the data tells us," namely that "87 percent of the crashes are the result of driver Text INFO to 205-289-3555 or visit www.ovdinfo.com The heavy focus on inspections by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and state level enforcers generated debate in late April at the Commercial Vehicle error or driver behavior," said American Trucking Associations First Vice Chair Phil Byrd, who is president of Bulldog Hiway Express. Only 10 percent of crashes, Byrd said, can be attributed to vehicle malfunction, while 3 percent are due to environmental factors. "Examining driver credentials is not the best way of enforcing driver behavior," he added, calling on a shift in focus away from roadside inspections at the state level to "on-road enforcement of traffic laws." Byrd presented FMCSA's data to show the decline in traffic enforcement actions and the rise in inspection activity over many years. "Focusing on traffic enforcement is an appropriate direction of our resources toward improving driver behavior," he said. FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said in some sense she agreed with Byrd that a combination of robust traffic enforcement and inspections is necessary for highway safety. Referencing 2011 fatal crash data reported by Overdrive showing a 20 percent increase "in the number of deaths of occupants of trucks," she said, a third of the dead drivers "weren't wearing seatbelts, and more than one in four were speeding. Speeding, seatbelts, fatigue – all of these continue to be big actors in crashes. … High-visibility enforcement is a critical component of influencing behavior." For the full story from the CVSA Workshop and Byrd and Ferro's arguments, visit OverdriveOnline.com/ inspection-focus-in-the-crosshairs. — Todd Dills 70 | Overdrive | May 2013 Logbook_0513.indd 70 4/30/13 10:01 PM