Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/647205
Trucking Knowlege 20 // OWNER OPERATOR // MARCH 2016 By Matt Cole NTSB's annual 'most wanted' list names driver fatigue, driver health, safety tech as top priorities for regulators T he National Transportation Safety Board released its annual Most Wanted List of safety regulations in January, and six of the 10 items on the list could have an impact on the trucking industry and truckers. NTSB, while a government agency, has no regulatory power. Its job is to recommend to regulators ways to prevent crashes and deadly accidents across all modes of transportation, based on studying accidents that have occurred and programs and technologies available. The six recommendations on its 2016 most wanted list related to trucking include: Reducing fatigue-related accidents NTSB says addressing the problem of human fatigue — which relative to trucking refers to drivers — requires "a comprehensive approach that focuses on research, education and training, technologies, treatment of sleep disorders, hours-of-service regulations, and on- and off-duty scheduling policies and practices." NTSB says carriers should outfit their trucks with electronic logging devices, which will be a requirement by Dec. 2017, and adds that "companies must establish fatigue risk management programs and then continually m o n i t o r t h e i r s u c c e s s t o r e d u c e Collision avoidance systems were among NTSB's most wanted improvements to transportation in 2016.