Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85415
logbook Membership. Rewarding. QuickServe® Online Every A senate bill would ratchet up federal regulation of trucking by mandating an electronic onboard recorder for every truck. Senate bill would mandate EOBRs The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee approved legislation Dec. 14 that would require truck electronic on-board recorders and authorize the federal transportation department to assess driver safety fitness. The bill, S.1950, moves on to the full Senate. Sen. Frank Lautenburg, (D-N.J.), introduced the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act that reauthorizes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled against the FMCSA's requirement to mandate recorders. The court agreed with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's argument that the agency's rule lacked sufficient protection against carriers to prevent companies from harassing drivers, such as demanding they work when fatigued. The legislation would require applicants for operating authority pass a safety proficiency examination and ©2012 Cummins Inc., Box 3005, Columbus, IN 47202-3005 U.S.A. 18 OVERDRIVE JANUARY 2012 submit a safety management plan, according to information from Lautenberg, also chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation. Additionally, the bill would: • Increase the FMCSA's ability to revoke carriers' operating authority and require new operators applying for authority to disclose all relationships with other carriers during the past five years. • Directs the DOT to support implementation of the Compliance, Safety and Accountability program. • Requires study of the safety and infrastructure effects of increasing truck size and weight limits. Democrat Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Senate Commerce Committee chairman, and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Consumer Protection Subcommittee chairman, co-sponsored the bill. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and Parents Against Tired Truckers support the bill. — Jill Dunn (Continued on Page 54) Courtesy of U.S. Xpress Inc.