It's interesting to note that the bulk of the Hours of Service changes don't take effect for 18 months. Is this possibly a reaction to the reality that there may be another court challenge? Since the regulations have been released neither the trucking industry nor the safety advocacy groups have been happy. Is this the sign of an attempt at a compromise?... Read More

A recent front page headline in Transport Topics stated that Truck Fatalities Rose 8.7%. The data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and refers to the number of large truck accident fatalities in 2010. This is the first increase in four years. Overall for all vehicles the 2010 statistics recorded 2.9% fewer fatalities. So what's to be made of this?... Read More

Every safety director in the country wants to find a "window" into a person's future so that they can determine if they're a potential risk. After all, safety is about risk management. We talked about some ways to accomplish that last month in the discussion about Predictive Risk Modeling. Unfortunately we can't actually view the future but we can look at a person's past and current habits.... Read More

In typical bureaucratic fashion the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration never met a problem it couldn't solve with additional regulations. Once they've determined what the solution is it's published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Then the trucking industry responds, mostly with reasons why all or part of the proposal is flawed. Finally, after FMCSA has digested all of the comments and formulated a response, the Final Rule is published. On a certain date it becomes effective and that is the end. Several years ago this would have been the last sentence of this article.... Read More

A recent article in Transport Topics discussed the possibility that the Electronic On Board Recorder mandate may be delayed. FMCSA had been pursuing a time line that would publish the final rule in June, 2012, but that seems doubtful. More time will be needed to determine the best type of interface to use so that roadside inspectors can download information from the truck's recorder to their laptop computers for examination. Here are some of the other issues:... Read More

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently released a draft copy of their Strategic Plan. Although there aren't any major revelations it is an interesting read and insight into their thought process. Also, this serves as a good one-stop review of proposals that FMCSA has made over the past several years.... Read More

This industry has always been diverse. There are regional distinctions as well as characteristic differences between types of motor carriers: van, reefer, flat bed, etc.  Historically, even though the industry disagreed on a lot of things, they pretty much agreed on one thing: government regulation was harmful to the efficient transportation of goods.  In fact, when the industry was deregulated many motor carriers flourished.... Read More