Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/87831
VOICES CSA smackdown in D.C. Members of Congress grilled FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro in September after August saw further upheaval in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. Updates to the carrier safety ranking system's methodology were announced just ahead of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee meeting late in the month to establish a CSA sub- committee to recommend chang- es to the program. The top three concerns MCSAC established were well-known problems asso- ciated with disputing violations and other questions that strike right at the heart of the program's efficacy. An item on the agency's long- term wish list – rating drivers pub- licly in a manner similar to how the agency already rates carriers – saw attention, too. Rob Abbott of American Trucking Associations urged study of whether making the Driver Safety Measurement System a publicly available tool would improve safety. "Are you considering a Driver Safety Rating irrespective of the SMS rankings?" Abbott asked FMCSA Associate Administrator for Enforcement Bill Quade. "If we had all the resources in the world we would go down this path," said Quade, but there are too many drivers "and we have our hands full with our current portfolio." Quade revealed FMCSA has already to some extent pursued expanded authority for public driver rating, particularly prior to the most recent highway bill. Congress, ultimately, didn't take up the challenge. One week after Quade's state- ment, news came that CSA data mining company Vigillo was leap- frogging the agency on driver rat- ing by offering carrier customers a Daylight Driver Index that gives all drivers in their system a single safety-fitness number. A com- menter on OverdriveOnline.com feared that Vigillo's approach, relying on carrier-reported driver data, would be no better for driv- Top 10 regulatory wish list Michigan-based company driver Valerie Weise is the woman behind TruckerPetition.org. Among other things, it seeks to direct Congress to consider a "driver sov- ereignty" bill, giving truck- ers the same protections in their cabs that they would get in their place of residence. Weise respond- ed to news of FMCSA's desire to conduct more effective public outreach with their regulatory review procedures with this top 10 list for the agency to consider. "There needs to be a return to common sense and American rights in truck regulation," says Weise. "DOT/FMCSA have too much power. They exist only to make up rules for us, [many of which] are frivolous and petty. The whole thing is more about generating revenue than real safety… We shouldn't need a 4 | Overdrive | November 2012 bunch of laws to tell us to be safe." 1 CSA needs to go. There is already a points Keep most existing vehicle codes but do inspections at designated 2 3 4 system on our CDLs. CSA serves only insurance companies and driver mills. Hands-free law should be flexible: there are already laws against driv- ing erratically. This is an educational issue. Hours of service need to be more flexible. FMCSA's wish list includes rating drivers publicly. ers than the long-running DAC report. Allen Smith, commenting on Overdrive's Facebook page, offered a suggestion: "Perhaps Vigillo should have a scorecard for drivers to evaluate companies." Catch the CSA highlight reel online! Scan the code to weigh in on these and more recent developments or visit OverdriveOnline. com/tag/csa for a list of recent stories, including video of FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro on the hot seat before Congress. weigh stations, not on the roadside, where it's dangerous. ize) a driver if there is an accident that's not the driver's fault. unsafe. 5 6 7 8 Make a prerequisite to entering CDL school Closed weigh stations should allow parking. More ramp parking in general would help with fatigued driving. Disallow speed/engine governors. They are It is not necessary to drug test (demoral- — a year's paid driving experience such as pizza delivery, taxicab or news- paper route, where they must drive in all weather. idling laws — if the driver doesn't sleep well, he can be fatigued. 9 10 FMCSA should encourage states to review their split-speed- limit policies as interfering with interstate commerce when there is no clear safety reason for the split or lower limit. FMSCA should stand against many anti-