Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/649008
Logbook 20 | Overdrive | March 2016 An ad hoc coalition of motor carrier groups urged Congress for a second time to act on what it sees is the Fed- eral Motor Carrier Safety Adminis- tration's violation of provisions in the FAST Act highway bill. The coalition says the bill, in effect, prohibits the issuance of a new car- rier safety rating rule using Compli- ance, Safety, Accountability data. The FAST Act highway bill, the coalition argues, prohibited the agency from issuing any major rule proposal related to CSA before com- pletion of the report on an analysis of the program's Safety Measure- ment System and possible corrective actions. The coalition's first letter to Congress outlined three components of the FAST Act it believed FMCSA was about to violate. The coalition includes, among oth- ers, the Auto Haulers Association of America, the Western States Trucking Association, the National Association of Small Trucking Companies and the Alliance for Safe, Efficient and Competitive Transportation. FMCSA declined to comment last month when asked about the charges. Despite the coalition's opposition, it issued its Safety Fitness Determina- tion Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The coalition's second letter, sent to U.S. Sen. Deb Fisher (R-Neb.), notes that though FMCSA may not have violated the law explicitly as written, the agency violated the spirit of the law's intentions. "SMS data and methodology are thoroughly integrated into the agen- cy's NPRM, which is clearly not what you and other transportation leaders in Congress intended," the letter reads. "Rather than take to heart Congress' broad-based concerns about CSA and SMS, the agency hides behind the technical point that the NPRM complies with Section 5223(b) of the FAST Act because SFDs are not based on SMS alerts or relative percentiles." The letter also includes an exchange between Acting FMCSA Administrator Scott Darling and Fisher that took place during a Senate hearing on Darling's pending nomi- nation by President Obama to head the agency on a permanent basis. – Todd Dills Coalition, agency tangle over CSA Overdrive: 1/2 Page 7 x 4.5 Submit: Press Quality PDF, embed images and include registration marks. • Oversize/Overweight Permits • Trip Permits • Fuel Permits Ask how we can take care of all of your vehicle legalization needs, including tax and licensing. Fast, Easy Permits Fast, Easy Permits Fast, Easy Permits Fast, Easy Permits Fast, Easy Permits Fast, Easy Permits • Save time and leave your permit burden to us, so you can focus on your business • One call does it all — we'll work with each state for you Order Permits Now! KellerPermits.com 800-840-3451 PC 115282 24 / 7 SERVICE Untitled-1 1 2/16/16 9:47 AM