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Revamp of FMCSA Regulations

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), have announced a small-scale test to acquire data to identify high risk carriers within the Department of Transportation. This data will contribute better information for their Safety Management System (SMS).

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have structured a committee to analyze the current safety information contained on this SMS. They have come out with a list of "enhancements" that were overturned by the agency. Some of these enhancements include:

Raising the maximum miles traveled for trucks to accurately track high use carriers.
Out of service violations would be classified as an “Unsafe Driving BASIC” instead of a primary violation.
Making Hazmat BASIC percentile ranks available to the public.

This small-scale test will occur in September of this year. The data from this test and the proposed changes to FMCSA regulations are both an attempt to better analyze carrier safety ratings. These safety ratings are public record, so determining what information is helpful and accurate is a big concern.

A recent corrective action plan was released to Congress to overturn the recommendations proposed last year by the NAS. The report that was made public on July 16th, 2018, stated that cost estimates and benchmarks are still in the works. If implemented, this plan should cost about $2,500,000 over two years, not including federal staff time. However, this cost does include signing a contract for a new committee with NAS. NAS would assist in responding to the original committee’s recommendations. The current committee consists of experts in statistics, research, safety, and motor carrier operations.

Not only will a small-scale test begin in September of this year, but also a full-scale test in April 2019, followed by data analyzation in June. The agency is planning to open a public forum to discuss all the collected information. The FMCSA would like to improve voluntary reporting and registration data to enhance their current inspection software.

Additionally, they would like to create a web page that the public could access. This page would grant much needed safety information to researchers and safety consultants. The list doesn't end there: the web page would also provide more information regarding carrier safety ratings. With this, the public would be able show how the information from the SMS benefits shippers, carriers, and insurance companies. Although there is some time to go, the efforts will bring a lot of opportunities to both internal and external users.

Contributor: Gabrielle Derrington

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References:

http://www.ttnews.com/articles/fmcsa-outlines-new-data-model-be-tested-september