Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/148061
Voices Hey, chief! Which of the following Drivers list would you encourage DOT priorities for leadership to emphasize? DOT secretary HOURS OF SERVICE RULEMAKING PROCESS HIGHWAYS ENFORCEMENT OTHER Divert funding from weigh-station inspection Other 5% to on-road behavior enforcement 3% With Anthony Foxx officially in as the new guiding light of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Overdrive asked readers what trucking issues he should address. We know where the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been since DOT's last leader, Ray LaHood, took office in 2009. We've had the handheld cell ban, an hours rewrite that went into effect July 1, a mandate for electronic logs that's still under way, and other new or implemented long-in-process programs, including the byzantine Compliance, Safety, Accountability system. Some of those topics surfaced in reader comments. "Strike down LaHood's parting shot on the HOS," Douglas Holmes Connolly wrote. Frank Wright added that hours regs that "make sense, with our input," would be most advantageous, and then leave well enough alone "forever." Echoing an idea offered by owneroperator Jeff Clark years ago, Tim W. McCollum suggested instituting a wide latitude for hours of operation after a driver reaches 3 million safe miles. With that experience, "he/she Push states to increase penalties for four-wheelers' infractions 5% Increase enforcement of Englishlanguage law for CDL holders 6% 40% 32% 9% 14% 5% Fix the hours rule to provide more operating flexibility 36% Provide compliance incentives that add more flexibility 4% Keep fuel tax dollars invested in roads, not other uses 9% Listen closer to drivers, not lobbyists, in all regulatory efforts 32% OverdriveOnline.com poll. Scan the code with your tablet or smartphone to download FMCSA's "Driver Fitness Report to Congress," detailing FMCSA's long-term plan for driver ranking and safety fitness determination under CSA. Alternately, find a link to download the report in the "Driver dispatches to DOT" story at OverdriveOnline.com. can probably figure out when he/she is tired and needs sleep." Other readers showed favor for a shift in enforcement priorities, in some senses already in movement via FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program for funding state enforcement activities. The program's awards this year tilted heavily toward recognizing states that showed evidence of safety-positive enforcement activity, which readers favored in a big way. Nearly 80 percent chose on-highway behavior enforcement and police presence as the most safety-positive enforcement activity in May polling. When are they going to come up with a program to do away with all these new — Steven Mitchell, on our Facebook page programs? "Close the scales," wrote Kevin B. Heath. "Reposition commercial motor vehicle enforcement on patrol. If they want to write tickets, look at how professionals are driving, and then react to that. You don't need scales to do the job anymore. The money can be used more strategically." Finally, education of drivers – other than professionals – stood large on readers' minds. Anything the new secretary could do to influence the motoring public's behavior seemingly would go a long way with truckers. "Focus more on the fourwheelers and less on trucks," said Jason M. Green. With the continued focus on driver distractions in DOT's nationwide campaign to increase awareness of unsafe driving behavior, that's one emphasis where the new secretary easily could hit the ground running. 2 | Overdrive | August 2013 Voices_0813.indd 2 7/29/13 4:11 PM