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FMCSA Requests Survey Permission for Exemplary Trucking Safety Methods

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This month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced its intent to study technologies and policies across the trucking industry in an effort to reward carriers exceeding safety guidelines. Regulators are currently seeking approval from the White House to begin this survey, in which they will choose a number of carrier operational managers overseeing companies that are going above and beyond safety requirements and that are boosting regulations regarding driver fitness.

2015’s FAST Act implemented a “Beyond Compliance program,” which works to recognize motor carriers surpassing safety regulations by giving them boosted scores within the Safety Measurement System, and is the inspiration for these surveys.

FMCSA originally released a notification in 2016 meant to meet the 18-month post-FAST Act congressional deadline, which consisted of program restructuring ideas. The agency published an additional request earlier this year, saying the primary notice was an effort to create public knowledge around the program itself.

The original notification urged for a widespread recognition mechanism for choosing to install innovative safety technology, including boosted driver fitness programs and improved safety-management tools for fleets, through the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability program.

“After a review of the comments received and conducting a small-scale study, it was determined additional information was needed to ascertain the best approach moving forward,” said an FMCSA official. “For that step, the agency is required to conduct an information collection request resulting in the additional Federal Register notices.”

In 2016, FMCSA stated that its Beyond Compliance program would let motor carriers sign up for the program once measures were initiated, even before enrollment was mandated. Now, the recent announcement requests survey-conducting permission from the Office of Management and Budget.

“The study does not attempt to conduct a full survey of the motor carrier population,” said FMCSA. “Instead, it relies on expert opinion from carriers that are objectively determined to exhibit safe operations that exceed industry averages as indicated by driver out-of-service rates, vehicle out-of-service rates, and crash rates. To identify these carriers, the study will utilize existing data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System database.”

FMCSA’s plan will require online surveys to be done by around 112 participating carrier operational managers and 113 non-participating managers. Through these answers, the agency believes it will be able to better understand just how influential modern safety technologies and programs have been for the highest-performing carriers.

“Only those carriers that perform near the top quartile across all three categories are potential participants,” said the agency. The categories being examined are those mentioned above: DOT-reportable crash rates, driver out-of-service rates at roadside inspections, and vehicle out-of-service rates at roadside inspections.

Those chosen will give their answers through an electronic survey platform, and results will later be studied to see which safety program and policy aspects are most prevalent among all participants.

“The resulting information would reveal the elements of safety programs that these motor carriers are using and their achieved results, and what these motor carriers believe to be the most effective for achieving safety and [what] should be included in a Beyond Compliance program,” said FMCSA.

American Trucking Associations has also shown its support regarding new manners of recognizing those in the trucking industry that often choose to implement safety-improving technology and programs. Additionally, the National Association of Small Trucking Companies and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are invited to take part in the survey by surveying their own manners for collection of secondary data.

“This would enable greater participation by smaller carriers and owner-operators, and would also enable a wider perspective of responses,” FMCSA explained.

All responses collected and analyzed will be part of the overall pilot study findings report, and the agency said analytical and descriptive analyzation methods will be part of the study. All results will be implemented into a formal report overseen by FMCSA itself.

The full report will also become available to the public via FMCSA’s website. The contents of the findings will be used in the final report the agency will need to send to Congress.

Pre-Employment Drug Testing Waiver Extended to Relieve Truckers During COVID-19 Crisis

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced that it will be offering a 90-day waiver from pre-employment drug testing requirements to recently furloughed commercial truck drivers, due to the effects of the current coronavirus pandemic.

The waiver became effective in June and is set to expire September 30th, and amends regulations in place that have required drivers to comply with pre-employment drug testing. A potential employee must have a negative test result shown to his or her employer before any safety-sensitive actions are performed, such as operating a commercial motor vehicle.

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency, many employers have imposed layoffs, furloughs, or otherwise temporarily removed employees from performing safety-sensitive functions, resulting in their removal from the random pool for controlled substances and alcohol testing for a period greater than 30 days,” said the FMCSA in its announcement.

The waiver states that if a pre-employment controlled substances test can not take place, the potential employee must not be allowed to perform Department of Transportation duties with any safety risks until a negative test can be conducted.

The regulation also extends an exemption to this rule to drivers who have been part of a recent testing program (within the last 30 days) that meets the requirements of regulation and who were also tested for controlled substances within the last six months before the date of the employment application, or who have participated in the random controlled substances testing program within the last 12 months before the date of the employment application.

If an employer can ensure that no previous employer of the prospective employee has any records of a violation in regards to this area of the controlled substances-use rule of another DOT agency within the last six months, an exemption can also be granted.

“As employers begin calling these drivers back to work, they will incur the cost of conducting pre-employment controlled substances testing before using these drivers to perform safety-sensitive functions,” the agency continued. “The administrative and cost burdens of pre-employment testing for furloughed drivers outside the random testing pool for more than 30 days falls on motor carrier employers at the very time they are attempting to return to expanded levels of operation.”

Now, the FMCSA says this temporary regulatory flexibility will help motor carrier companies heal after impacts from the coronavirus crisis, while not affecting overall safety. The agency also explained that this waiver is meant to help economic recovery throughout the entire country by allowing for the resumption of cargo transportation.

This extension comes after Donald Trump’s executive order in May calling for action to “combat the economic consequences of COVID-19 with the same vigor and resourcefulness with which the fight against COVID-19 itself has been waged.”

This order urges agencies to focus on the impacts of this economic crisis “by waiving or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery consistent with applicable law and with protection of public health and safety.”

The waiver also requires employer verification of a driver having participated in controlled substances testing, and that he or she has had no recorded violations of the FMCSA’s controlled substances-use regulations within the last six months. The employer must also cooperate with the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse pre-employment query requirement, complete investigations and inquiries needed by any federal regulations, and give notice of any accident involving any driver operating under the terms of the waiver, with specifications that the driver was indeed operating under these terms, to the FMCSA within five business days of the accident. Lastly, the employer cannot allow a driver to perform any safety-sensitive duties if the results of a Clearinghouse pre-employment query show that the driver has been prohibited from performing said duties.

According to the FMCSA, with current precautions in place regarding this waiver, the agency “has determined that the waiver is likely to achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to the level of safety that would be obtained absent the waiver,” and that “the waiver of a particular regulation should not be looked at in isolation, but rather as part of the whole of all regulations governing the safety of drivers.”

Democrats Unveil $494 Billion Economy-Boosting Transport Bill

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A new five-year bill has been unveiled by House Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a $494 billion measure to boost safety and funding for commuter and freight programs.

This legislation aims to update the FAST Act 2015 highway law that is set to expire in fall of this year. The bill will help enhance highway and transit program fundings and will also offer $4.6 billion for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

It will also work to aid areas facing huge obstacles from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as address issues at hand in relation to climate change. According to the committee’s summary of the bill, the new legislation will require the Department of Transportation to create measures reducing greenhouse gas emissions with specific goals in place for each state to meet. To help states reach these goals, the bill will provide them with $8.35 billion; states with sub-par performances will need to invest 10 percent of their federal surface transportation funds in additional emission-lowering efforts.

“The bulk of our nation’s infrastructure–our roads, bridges, public transit, and rail systems, the things that hundreds of millions of American families and businesses rely on every single day–is not only badly outdated, [but] in may places it’s downright dangerous and holding our economy back,” said Peter DeFazio, committee Chairman. “Yet, for decades, Congress has repeatedly ignored the calls for an overhaul and instead simply poured money into short-term patches.”

These actions have led to an entirely outdated system, DeFazio continued. “We’re still running our economy on an inefficient, 1950s-era system that costs Americans increasingly more time and money while making the transportation sector the nation’s biggest source of carbon pollution.”

$6.25 billion from the bill will be funnelled into resilient infrastructure designed to withstand extreme weather as a result of climate change. States will need to maintain infrastructure vulnerability assessments to properly allocate these investments.

$350 million in annual grants will also pay for electric vehicle charging systems and hydrogen fueling stations.

To help with those struggling from coronavirus effects, the bill will provide $83.1 billion in the 2021 fiscal year to aid local transportation agencies that have dealt with major financial setbacks. The bill will also temporarily end state-federal matching, so all federal funds provided in 2021 will be offered at 100 percent federal share. State and local governments will also be able to utilize $22 billion for operating expenses and employee salaries.

In regards to trucking, $250 million will be allocated toward truck parking facility enhancement as well as for motor carrier safety data display prioritization by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

The bill will also direct the DOT to delay hours-of-service changes until a new comprehensive review of waivers for commercial drivers is in place. In this review, state enforcement agencies would need to provide consultation on analysis of both safety impact and driver impact within the rule’s updates. These findings must also appear in the Federal Register within 18 months, with allowance of public comment and a comprehensive report issued to Congress. All details of the report will need to be displayed on the department’s website.

This hours-of-service rule update takes effect in September, and will bring more flexibility to truck drivers’ schedules, allowing truckers to take necessary breaks with “on-duty, not driving” statuses as opposed to “off-duty” statuses. The rule change also “expands the short-haul exception to 150 air-miles and allows a 14-hour work shift to take place as part of the exception, [and] expands the driving window during adverse driving conditions by up to an additional two hours,” according to the Federal Register.

The bill will provide $319 billion for the Federal Highway Administration’s federal-aid highway program. $5.3 will be provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The American Trucking Associations has supported the measure, and ATA’s president, Chris Spear, explained that he believed the bill “contains significant investment in our country’s roads and bridges.” DeFazio agreed, saying the legislation is a “transformational bill that will catapult our country into a new era of how we plan, build, and improve U.S. infrastructure.

American Road and Transportation Builders Association chairman, Steve McGough, echoes these sentiments, saying infrastructure investments will lead to major economic boosts. The association has often been urging Congress to push forward large-scale infrastructure funding measures.

“Without the infrastructure built, maintained, and managed by the nation’s transportation construction industry, virtually all of the major industry sectors that comprise the U.S. economy–and the American jobs they sustain–would not exist or could not efficiently and profitably function,” McGough said.

Remote Compliance Reviews Expanded During Pandemic

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The usage of remote motor carrier safety compliance reviews during the coronavirus pandemic will be expanded, announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently.

According to the new guidance, the FMCSA will conduct compliance reviews “by leveraging all available technology” to access information during this national health crisis, “and thus limit exposure risk for the regulated community and safety investigators.”

“Using the same standards otherwise applicable, the FMCSA will assign safety ratings following a compliance review, even if no on-site review activities have taken place,” the agency continued.

FMCSA said this new expansion is an effort to bring further clarity to motor carriers at this time, and will remain in effect until the revocation of the COVID-19 national emergency.

“Because of travel restrictions, social distancing, and other advisories associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the desire to limit exposure risk to the regulated community and safety investigators, FMCSA will conduct compliance review of motor carriers and assign safety ratings,” the agency explained.

FMCSA said it has a legal obligation to determine whether or not an owner or an operator of a commercial motor vehicle can drive safely, and will assign safety ratings to fleets after extensive operation and record examinations.

“FMCSA carries out this statutory duty by assigning safety ratings to motor carriers following in-depth examination of the motor carrier’s records and operations using the Safety Fitness Rating Methodology,” said the FMCSA. “Since adoption of the SFRM in 1997, the mechanisms and tools FMCSA uses to access information from motor carriers has continued to evolve, making compliance reviews more efficient, and lessening the burden of the regulated community.”

The agency can now make these determinations remotely with the array of new technology available instead of by conducting examinations in person, as was done previously. Electronic record-keeping allows the FMCSA to perform the exact investigative functions that it would have been doing only by in-person reviews.

Carriers can transmit information directly to the FMCSA through an online portal, where they can securely upload necessary documents. Motor carriers often maintain their records via electronic services and may prefer to directly submit records from the application in which they are stored. Carriers can also fax or email documents to FMCSA. The agency may also substitute in-person interaction with email and telephone or video calls for a compliance review, to later review findings with company officials.

In an off-site review, an auditor requests documents from the carrier and assesses a carrier’s overall safety management methods and safety performance in order to conduct a remote examination.

Until recently, when a carrier scores highly in one or two Behavior Analysis categories (such as Compliance, safety, or Accountability), the carrier has been eligible for an off-site audit. In 2018, however, the FMCSA said the updated process would not allow serious carrier problems in basic maintenance violation cases, and would instead be focusing on less-serious issues.

Carriers with known safety issues, as well as new-entrant carriers transporting passengers or hazardous materials, have not been able to qualify for off-site testing.

After a review, a carrier receives a rating of either “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” With an unsatisfactory safety rating, the FMCSA has determined that a carrier cannot continue operating in interstate commerce. Prohibitions will be imposed to an unfit carrier after 45 to 60 days if the needed safety improvements are not implemented.

According to Dave Osiecki, president of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, off-site compliance audits have been mainstream for a while now. The number of off-site audits increased by over 400% from 2018 to 2019, and are set to more than double through 2020.

Off-site compliance reviews were conducted in only 10 states between 2010 and 2018; in 2019, off-site audits took place in 48 states. Now, FMCSA investigators conduct off-site reviews in all 50 states. 

These off-site audits typically don’t result in carrier safety ratings, but can result in fines and penalties for some violations. If acute violations are found, though, these audits can become comprehensive investigations, which could bring a necessary safety rating assignment.

FMCSA will assign safety ratings after a compliance review during the time of COVID-19, the agency said, even if there have not been any on-site review activities.

FMCSA Offers Flexibility to Truckers in Final HOS Rule

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The final rules for hours-of-service regulations, which have been in the works for months, have finally been published by The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This effort, the agency says, is meant to bring further flexibility for truckers across the country.

The final regulation, effective 120 days after its publication date in the Federal Register, was announced recently by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, along with FMCSA Acting Administrator Jim Mullen. The rule has four new revisions regarding the most-voiced concerns truckers have brought to light–including the time split in sleeper berths, for instance, as well as the mandatory 30-minute rest break.

According to Mullen, the revisions came from taking into account 8,000 public comments received by the agency. These changes were made to bring “needed flexibility in the lives of America’s truckers,” he explained.

Now, the final HOS rule will allow for more flexibility in regards to mandatory rest breaks of 30 minutes by instead requiring one break after eight hours of driving. The break can include a driver using an “on-duty, not driving” status as opposed to just an “off-duty” status.

Sleeper berth exceptions have also been implemented, as drivers can now divide the required 10 hours of off-duty time into two split periods–either an 8-hour/2-hour split or a 7-hour/3-hour split. These periods will not count against a driver’s 14-hour total driving window.

“Each of these changes were based on the feedback we received from the thousands of public comments we received during the rulemaking, and through the listening sessions we held around the country,” Mullen said. “It is also important to note that this new rule will not increase driving time and will continue to prevent [commercial motor vehicle] operators from driving more than eight consecutive hours without at least a 30-minute change-in-duty status.”

Still, the HOS rule also changes the exception for adverse driving conditions, as the maximum window for driving during inclement weather has been extended by two hours.

Exceptions for short-haul routes have also been made available to drivers–their maximum on-duty period has been extended from 12 to 14 total hours. The distance limit in which a driver can operate has also been extended from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

“This new final rule will improve safety for all motorists and increase flexibility for America’s truckers,” said Chao. “Each of these areas of reform are designed to provide much-needed flexibility to drivers while maintaining safety on the roads. This has been a deliberate and careful process.”

American Trucking Associations submitted comments to the FMCSA regarding these changes, and ATA’s vice president of safety policy, Dan Horvath, said that the association supported the majority of proposed regulation changes when they were first announced. However, he also said the ATA was not necessarily on board with short-haul air mile radius changes, saying more carriers may not need to implement electronic logging device usage as a result. ATA has been in full support of ELD usage since they first became available.

“Overall, we’re happy to see the final rule released,” said Horvath. “It’s not everything that we had supported in the past, but it’s certainly a good step in the right direction. We’ll continue to work with the agency on making sure that whatever hours-of-service regulations remain in place are offering drivers flexibility and backed by safety.”

Mullen also pointed out truckers’ important roles throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and said this new rule will boost regulatory efficiency for the industry during this time.

“In the past few months, we have seen the heroic actions that truckers have done to keep up our supply chain, keep it open, and ensure that American families, businesses, and hospitals are able to make the deliveries and receive the products that we all need,” Mullen said. “Their efforts have been inspirational and should make all Americans proud.”

“Each of these areas of reform are designed to add flexibility and regulatory savings for the motor carrier industry, which is critical for our nation’s economic recovery,” Chao added.

Although many in the industry point to safety when referencing these new regulations, it does seem that the savings, as mentioned by Chao, are at the forefront of the reform’s reasoning. Many in opposition to the hours-of-service changes have pointed out that driver fatigue is an increasing, and often deadly, problem in the trucking industry, and that allowing truckers more flexibility in choosing break and resting time lengths as well as the ability to drive for longer periods of time will increase the amount of trucker fatigue–and accidents–on the roads.

Also missing from the final rule is a provision that would pause a trucker’s driving window. This proposed change, which was included in the August proposal, would have called for an off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours. This would have paused a trucker’s 14-hour diving period (as long as the driver takes 10 consecutive off-duty hours after his or her shift).

FMCSA Gives Truckers One Million Masks During Pandemic

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is helping in the distribution of one million protective face masks to truckers throughout the country.

“We have all seen the incredible efforts that the nation’s commercial drivers are making each day to deliver goods and supplies to homes, businesses, and hospitals throughout America. With the help of our state partners and the motor carrier industry, these protected masks will help truckers remain safe and healthy while they continue to maintain our nation’s supply chain,“ said Jim Mullen, Acting Administrator for FMCSA.

The agency announced this initiative as a partnership with other industry groups, state representatives, and motor carriers. Masks have been provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“Under Secretary Chao’s leadership, the Department of Transportation has been supporting America’s truckers during this challenging time.” Mullen explained. 

The FMCSA and its collaborators on this effort have planned to distribute 800,000 masks to truckers in: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, and Texas. The remaining 200,000 masks will be sent directly to motor carrier companies to give to their drivers.

“[American Trucking Associations] is pleased to be working with FMCSA and our state associations to help distribute masks to professional drivers,” said Sean McNally, ATA spokesman. “Access to [personal protective equipment] is an important part of keeping our supply chain and economy running, and we would like to thank Acting Administrator Mullen, Secretary Chao, and President Trump for their efforts to keep our drivers safe and healthy.”

FMCSA distributed 50,000 masks through the month of April in Illinois by working with the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Trucking Association. Distribution for these masks was set at travel center Lincoln Oasis (located at an overlap of interstates 80 and 294).

“Face masks have been difficult for many drivers to find, especially with Illinois’ new requirement for face coverings in public,” said Matt Hart, Illinois Trucking Association executive director. “These masks will provide truck drivers with additional protection during the coronavirus pandemic while they safely deliver the groceries and medical supplies that Americans need each day.

Mask distribution is also taking place in New York within heavily virus-stricken areas, such as the Bronx, Staten Island, and Sloatsburg Rest Area. In California, mask distribution is located at eight California Highway Patrol Field Divisions and at two additional points outside of Los Angeles.

“We thank the FMCSA for helping to protect the health of our nation’s truck drivers as they continue to deliver essential goods,” said Shawn Yadon, California Trucking Association CEO.

Additional areas of mask distribution include: the Social Hills Rest Area at Interstate 30 East/West and mile marker 93 in Arkansas, Interstate 75 Southbound at mile marker 179 in Georgia, rest areas at Interstate 70 Westbound (mile marker 107) and Eastbound (miler marker 65), Interstate 65 Southbound (mile maker 150) and Northbound (mile marker 72), and Interstate 94 Westbound (mile maker 43) in Indiana, Goehner Truck Parking Area Interstate 80 at mile marker 375 Westbound and Melia Hills Rest Area Interstate 80 at miler marker 431 Westbound in Nebraska, and Interstate 35 Northbound at mile marker 362A, along with multiple inspection facilities, in Texas. 

In addition to these efforts, the FMCSA says it has taken further action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to help support the country’s trucking industry and supply chain by releasing guidance regarding restrictions on movement–including shelter-in-place orders, as well as a guide regarding essential workers. 

The guidance explains that essential workers include “employees supporting or enabling transportation functions,” including truckers, bus drivers, dispatchers, repair technicians, warehouse workers, truck stop workers, and rest stop workers, as well as DMV employees, towing services, roadside assistance workers, railroad employees, and maintenance crew. These workers, according to the guidance, should keep in mind that “truck drivers delivering needed supplies should stay in their vehicles as much as possible as supplies are loaded and unloaded,” as well as avoid being within six feet of others, and to use electronic receipts when possible. If truckers must stay in restricted areas to rest, “they should wash their hands frequently and practice social distancing to the extent possible.”

Click here for a full list of mask distribution areas, and here for more information on this guidance and what else FMCSA is doing to help trucking efforts in the pandemic.