Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675322
18 | Overdrive | May 2016 Logbook FMCSA, trucking groups spar over rating protocol An ad-hoc coalition of trucking organizations issued a letter in April to Acting Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Scott Darling disput- ing comments made by an agency representative regarding the Safety Fitness Determination rule proposed in January. Joe DeLorenzo, the agency's head of compliance and enforcement, spoke in a conference call with trucking industry press last month about the Safety Fitness proposal. The rule would do away with the three-tier Satisfactory, Con- ditional and Unsatisfactory car- rier rating system and replace it with a two-tier system, Fit and Unfit. It also would change the way FMCSA determines those ratings, concentrating more on roadside inspection and vio- lation data rather than on-site compliance reviews. DeLorenzo said the agency is operating within the limits of the December-enacted FAST Act provisions. The carrier groups, however, argue otherwise, saying in their April 11-issued letter to Darling that the agency's proposed SFD rule relies heavily on data specifi- cally restricted from use by the FAST Act. DeLorenzo said the FAST Act's limitations only relate to the use of Compliance, Safety, Accountability's percentile rankings and alerts, which the rule does not mention except to "give context," another point disputed by the carrier groups in their letter to Darling. The ad-hoc coalition of car- rier groups includes the Western States Trucking Association, the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, the Alliance for Safe, Efficient and Competitive Truck Transporta- tion and other organizations. DeLorenzo encouraged industry stakeholders, including owner-operators, to provide the agency feedback on the rule. The comment period is open until May 23. – Matt Cole