A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration official in New York has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for accepting bribes from trucking companies to postpone safety inspections. Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday, Dec. 22, announced the long-anticipated Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration final rule that revises the hours-of-service safety requirements for commercial truck drivers. Continue Reading

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic onboard recorder mandate was dismissed last Friday based on various omissions in the rule. A federal appeals court stated that it was because the rule did not specify how the devices could be prevented from being used to harass drivers. The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association was one of the more vocal industry groups in Continue Reading

A prominent road safety researcher who once headed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s research division is calling into question the methodology and thus conclusions drawn from several studies used as the basis for proposals to revise the current hours-of-service rules. Dr. Ronald R. Knipling says the handful of studies the FMCSA allowed comment on during the extended discussion period were flawed either in their sampling or the stretch in comparing two very different subjects. At best, these findings would need more research or attempts at replication to make them Continue Reading

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued its final rule recently regarding commercial driver’s license knowledge and skills testing standards and establishing new minimum federal standards for states to issue a commercial learner’s permit. The final rule requires that a CLP holder meet virtually the same requirements as those for a CDL holder, meaning that a driver holding a CLP will be subject to the same driver disqualification penalties that apply to a CDL holder. Such changes are intended to boost safety by ensuring only qualified drivers are allowed to Continue Reading

The Federa Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is extending the comment period concerning changes to the hours of service rule for commercial motor vehicle drivers, but is only accepting comments on four additional documents it is making public. FMCSA said the extra comment period for the four additional documents will require additional time that was not envisioned in 2009 and that it will be unable to publish a final rule by the previously Continue Reading

New numbers released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) show more and more commercial truck drivers are buckling up. In 2010, seat belt usage rose to 78 percent, up 4 percent from 2009. Overall, the numbers are up 14 percent from data collected in 2007. To derive these numbers, the FMSCA observed more than 26,000 commercial truck drivers at nearly 1,000 roadside stops across the nation. The report also showed that Continue Reading

One Oregon congressman is challenging several points of the cross-border trucking program with Mexico, citing his concerns over safety and possible losses of American jobs. Other industry leaders are joining in Rep. Peter DeFazio’s (D-Ore.) concern. In response, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has detailed the steps it’s taking to ensure compliance with safety standards, such as multiple safety checks and drug testing. Such a move likely won’t quiet the most vocal of the program’s critics, the Teamsters union and the Owner-Operator Indpendent Drivers Association. But it was welcome news to Continue Reading

After new highway safety numbers were released last week, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is renewing its push for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to quit pursuing its recent proposed changes to hours-of-service (HOS) rules. The latest safety statistics show a significant reduction in the number of crashes since the last round of HOS rules took effect in 2004. In that time, the truck-involved fatality rate has dropped by 36 percent. Some critics are quick to point to the sluggish economy for the reduction in truck traffic–and thus crashes. However, the Continue Reading

For now, according to insurance providers, fleets shouldn’t worry about higher premiums as a result of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new Compliance-Safety-Accountability (CSA) program going into effect. Speaking at the 2011 Truckload Carriers Association annual meeting, a panel of insurance providers said the typical factors–motor vehicle records, accident history, past claims/loss experience–would determine a carrier’s Continue Reading