Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/535950
16 | Overdrive | July 2015 Logbook The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month published a final rule requiring all trucks made on and after Aug. 1, 2017, to be equipped with electronic stability control systems designed to prevent rollovers. The mandate is aimed at truck manufacturers, not truck buyers and owners, and applies to "typical three-axle tractors." The mandate requires only stability control systems and not broader active safety systems such as those that brake autonomously. NHTSA's rule was required by the 2012-passed MAP-21 highway funding act. NHTSA says the rule will prevent between 1,424 and 1,759 crashes a year and between 40 and 49 deaths a year. The systems use braking and steering mechanisms that can deploy quickly enough to help trucks "maintain direc- tional control" and prevent crashes. NHTSA says cost reductions related to crashes, reduced congestion and damage to property will save $3.6 million to $19.2 million annually. While the American Trucking Associations supports the rule, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association does not, citing increased truck costs as its reason. OOIDA argues NHTSA overestimated the mandate's benefits while underestimat- ing its ultimate costs to truck buyers. – James Jaillet Stability system rule to take effect in 2017 The National Transportation Safety Board last month made a number of recommendations intended to help ad- dress road safety, such as requiring ve- hicle manufacturers to install forward collision avoidance systems as standard equipment on all new vehicles. NTSB also recommended in its report the installation of autonomous emergency braking systems follow- ing the publication of performance standards for such equipment by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NTSB's recommendations point- ed to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data that showed that in 2013, there were 327,000 large truck crashes in the United States, with 3,541 involving fatalities. FMCSA estimated these fatal collisions resulted in about $42 billion in total costs that year. A 2013 NHTSA study by the University of Michigan Transporta- tion Research Institute found that 20 percent of rear-end collisions involved stationary objects and that 17 percent were in low-visibility conditions where robust and rapid system reaction is the most critical. NTSB's report reiterated the orga- nization's earlier recommendation to NHTSA to develop stability control system performance standards for all commercial motor vehicles and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds, regardless of whether the vehicles are equipped with a hydraulic or a pneumatic brake system. – Staff report Electronic stability control systems use braking and steering mechanisms that can deploy quickly enough to help trucks maintain directional control. Safety agency recommends collision avoidance systems THOMAS LINDSEY was indicted in U.S. District Court in Greenville, S.C., on charges of false statements related to the unauthorized administering of commer- cial driver's license tests. Lindsey was approved by the State of South Carolina as a third-party CDL tester for North Spartanburg Fire Department employees, but he allegedly accepted fees from other candidates for CDL testing in unapproved locations and exempted them from parts of the testing process. CERTIFICATION LA- BELS soon may be required for motor carriers operating in interstate commerce to indicate that all Feder- al Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect at the time the vehicles were manufactured were met. The proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra- tion rule would address the National Transportation Safety Board's concerns about the operation of CMVs that don't display certifica- tion labels. To comment, go to www.regulations.gov and search Docket No. FMC- SA-2014-0428.