Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/620616
BY HENRY E. SEATON COMPLIANCE AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE A pproximately ve years ago – my how time ies – the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) unleashed Safety Measurement System (SMS) methodology on the public to mixed reviews. I am happy to say I was part of a small group who recognized not only the aws in SMS methodology but also the insidious eect that publication of awed data and percentile rankings would have on the marketplace as "competition for scores" quickly became a key factor in procuring insurance and competing for customers. e resulting suit in NASTC et al. v. FMCSA produced the settlement in which the agency acknowledged the basic principle of federal transportation law that "t to operate" is "t to use" and that a carrier is deemed safe if the agency permits it to operate on the nation's roadways. Yet, consider how far we have come from this basic principle of federal transportation law since March 2011. Now the General Accounting Oce, the Department of Transportation Inspector General, both houses of Congress and all segments of the industry acknowledge that FMCSA's SMS methodology is not t for the agency to use in deciding safety. And yet, publication and use of SMS data by shippers, brokers and insurers threatens the very viability of small carriers and there is no sign of improvement. It is a constant battle to explain to shippers and brokers that their best defense to up-supply chain liability for accidents is to posture themselves as consumers and carriers as vendors who are certied by the FMCSA as t to use. e second-guessing and use of SMS methodology to credential carriers only reduces carrier and broker selection and deems perfectly safe carriers to economic ruin based upon misleading data – data the agency cannot demonstrate is even t for its own use in making a safety tness determination. Unfortunately, this issue will not go away anytime soon. It remains a critical issue that aects the 95 percent of the industry that the Small Business Administration characterizes as small businesses. e goal of the National Transportation Policy passed when deregulation came in 25 years ago was to allow small-town entrepreneurs to grow and prosper in a free, competitive environment that resulted in the family surnames of guys who started with one truck being dominant among today's mega eet. Yet, that spirit of entrepreneurship has changed and the rhetoric of a "culture of safety" and a "stakeholder" mentality masks ris within our industry with devastating eects. Make 14 IT MAGAZINE Vo l . 1 0 , N o . 1