By Go By Truck News, February 5, 2016
A coalition of eight trade associations has once again petitioned congress to block the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s effort to move forward with a rule to create a new carrier safety fitness determination rule.
The coalition sent its second letter to Sen. Deb Fischer, chairmen of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, to protest the bill. The letter has been submitted as an official comment on the nomination hearing for FMCSA Administer-designate Scott Darling.
According to the signees, the safety fitness determination rule, as outlined in the FMCSA’s notice of proposed rulemaking, violates the new highway bill because it relies on Safety Measurement System data in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.
The highway bill states that any rule related to carrier fitness must take into account corrective measures for the CSA program. The letter goes on to assert that Congressional questioning of Darling during his confirmation hearing did not elicit requested information in relation to the fitness determination rule or the CSA program. It also points out that the use of 11 inspections to make a carrier safety determination goes against the Government Accountability Office’s suggestion to use 20 inspections.
The signees of the letter are: Scott Klever, president, Air & Expedited Motor Carrier Association; David Purvis, Specialized Furniture Carriers; Mike Pettrey, president, Expedite Alliance of North America; William Schroeder, Auto Haulers Association of America; William Bierman, executive director, Transportation Loss Prevention & Security Association; Tom Sanderson, Alliance for Safe, Efficient and Competitive Truck Transportation; David Owen, president, National Association of Small Trucking Cos.; and Joseph Rajkovacz, Western States Trucking Association.
