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Motor Vehicle Safety

FMCSA Requests Comments Regarding Potential Driving Window Pause Pilot

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing a program relaxing hours-of-service rules that mandate drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles complete their driving within a 14-hour window.

The Split Duty Period Pilot Program, as it’s been named, will allow drivers to pause their driving time with an off-duty period of between 30 minutes and three hours–as long as the driver takes 10 total consecutive hours off-duty after his or her work shift.

On August 28th, the agency announced its request for public comment regarding the pilot.

“Truckers are American heroes–they keep our supply chain moving; they carry essential goods we need to maintain our daily lives,” said Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Transportation Secretary. “The Department is seeking public comments on providing additional flexibility for truckers as they work to service our country during this public health crisis.”

Pilot program participation will be granted to a limited number of commercial drivers. FMCSA said the study group for the pilot program will include small, medium, and large carrier commercial carriers as well as independent owner-operators. To qualify, motor carriers need to meet criteria regarding crash rates, and cannot have a rate exceeding the national average. Carriers must also adhere to pilot program regulations and procedures, allow researchers to implement a video-based monitoring system onboard their trucks, and also allow them to obtain records-of-duty status information for all participating drivers.

FMCSA is planning to study a sample of between 200 and 400 drivers for the pilot program, which it estimates will operate for three years at most. All data gathered will be used to analyze the safety of an hours-of-service change such as this.

“FMCSA wants to hear directly from drivers about the possibility and safety of an hours-of-service pause pilot program,” said Jim Mullen, acting Administrator for FMCSA. “The agency remains committed to exploring ways to improve safety on our roadways, while increasing flexibility for truckers. We encourage drivers, motor carriers, and interested citizens to review the proposed pilot program and provide substantive public comments for FMCSA to review.”

This program announcement comes just a month before widely-discussed hours-of-service regulations go into effect on September 29th, and only days before Mullen leaves his post with the agency at the end of August. Upon his stepping down, senior policy adviser at DOT’s Office of the Secretary, Wiley Deck, will take on the deputy administrator role.

“In our comments on the recently revised hours-of-service rules, we called for a pilot program to study the impacts this type of change would have on highway safety and our industry, said spokesman for American Trucking Associations, Sean McNally. “We are pleased to see that FMCSA has taken our suggestion, and we will work with the agency to ensure this program yields meaningful data that can be used for future rulemakings.”

FMCSA’s final hours-of-service modification notice was issued May 14th, and originally said nothing regarding the 14-hour driving window rule.

The final rule did, however depict four changes meant to boost regulation flexibility, such as relaxation of the 30-minute rest break rule, which required a trucker to take a break after every eight hours of consecutive driving. The change allows a driver’s mandatory break requirement to be met by using an “on-duty, not driving” status instead of an “off-duty” status.

The final revision also changes the split sleeper berth regulation to allow drivers the ability to choose to split their necessary 10 hour off-duty time into two periods–an 8 hour/2 hour split or a 7-hour/3-hour split. Neither choice of hour division would have counted against a 14-hour window mandate.

Additionally, the rule changes modify the adverse driving conditions exception, so that the maximum driving window permitted can be extended by two additional hours during challenging weather or driving conditions. It also allows for the lengthening of a driver’s maximum on-duty period from 12 to 14 total hours, and extends a driver’s operating distance limit from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

“OOIDA commends DOT and FMCSA for proposing the Split Duty Period Pilot Program,” said executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Lewie Pugh. “While we advocated that the final hours-of-service rule should have included the split duty provision, we think the pilot program can provide substantive data to permanently give drivers more control over their daily schedules.”

$50 Million Now Available for Highway Rail-Crossing Safety Grants

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The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity that will provide $50 million in grant funding for agencies working to boost commuter safety at highway-rail crossings.

DOT released the notice on August 25th, and explained that the funding will be awarded by the Federal Highway Administration through the Commuter Authority Rail Safety Improvement Grants Program. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020 appropriated the $50 million to be allocated through this particular program.

The Federal Highway Administration works with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration to reward commuter rail authorities’ efforts in eradicating crossing point safety hazards between railways and highways with competitive grants through the CARSI program.

“Safety is always our top priority at the department under the leadership of [Transportation] Secretary [Elaine] Chao,” said Nicole Nason, Federal Highway Administrator. “These grants will help our state, local, and regional transportation partners better protect the lives of those traveling on America’s roads and rails.”

Projects that protect or separate grades at crossings, rebuild current railroad grade crossing structures, eliminate grade crossing by relocating highways, or fix blocked grade crossings due to idling trains to eliminate hazards are eligible. An eligible commuter authority will need to have experienced an accident investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board between January 1st of 2008 and December 31st of 2018.

“FRA is always working toward a benchmark of zero fatalities at railway crossings, and such safety improvements to our nation’s infrastructure will go a long way toward that goal,” said Ronald Batory, Federal Railroad Administrator.

94% of all railway-related deaths and injuries take place at railroad crossings or are caused by trespassing, according to the FRA. Trespassing is the cause behind at least 400 rail-related deaths every year.

“Working together with FHWA and FRA, we can improve safety around highway-rail crossings and prevent collisions, injuries, and fatalities,” said K. Jane Williams, FTA Deputy Administrator. “Rail safety includes encouraging safe behavior around all rail crossings; it’s about making sure the American public is safe near all rail tracks.”

This funding opportunity has four main goals, according to the DOT. These are: to improve safety at all railway-highway crossings through the elimination of hazards in these areas, to reduce overall fatalities, crashes, and serious injuries at these crossings, to reduce the number of public at-grade crossings by either closure or grade separation, and to reduce delays and improve systems by eliminating blocked grade crossing hazards.

DOT also notes that the proposed location of an eligible project does not need to be at the location where the NTSB previously investigated a reported accident. “The proposed location of the project is up to the discretion of applicant,” DOT said.

There is also a required cost share of 10% of all project costs. Additionally, the planned type of award will be a cost-reimbursable grant agreement sent directly to the applicant or through an allocation to the applicant’s State department of transportation. The grant period of performance must be proposed by the applicant and can vary by award. DOT estimates grant awards will typically last between one and four years.

“The applicant should demonstrate the technical feasibility of the project with engineering and design studies and activities; the development of design criteria and/or basis of design; the basis for the cost estimate presented in the CARSI application, including the identification of contingency levels appropriate to its level of design; and any scope, schedule, and budget risk-mitigation measures,” explained DOT.

The current closing date for grant applications is October 26th, and the DOT will be hosting a Funding Opportunity Informational Webinar on September 10th from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern time. This informational webinar is an attempt to help applicants fully understand all eligibility and opportunity requirements and have their questions answered.

To participate in the webinar, you must provide your name, title, organization information, and email address to Sarah.Tarpgaard@DOT.gov by September 9th. DOT also recommends you download the NOFO’s full announcement and information packet under the Related Documents tab on the grant information webpage, which you can find here.

CMV Safety Efforts Receive $80 Million in Grants from FMCSA

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced this month that it would be awarding $80 million in grants in an effort to boost overall commercial motor vehicle safety. These funds will be allocated to various states and educational institutions, and are part of the highest funding level yet for these particular safety grants.

“These awards of nearly $80 million represent the highest funding level for these critical safety grants to enhance commercial motor vehicle and road safety,” said Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Transportation Secretary.

Of these grants, FMCSA announced that $45 million would be deemed High Priority grants, which would be applied to states’ safety efforts and safety technology and program system advancements for their commercial motor vehicles. The FMCSA said its High Priority grant program is made up of HP-Commercial Motor Vehicle grants, which are meant to bring financial aid to state CMV safety initiatives, and HP-innovative Technology Deployment grants, which offer financial aid in the advancement of tech implementation and work to further intelligent transportation system deployment for CMV operations.

These will be sent to areas prioritizing assistance to commercial vehicle and driver safety initiatives, including the California Highway Patrol, the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission, the Kentucky State Police, and the University of Alabama.

$32.7 million would be allocated to Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation grants, which will be meant to boost state efforts in bringing improvements to the national commercial driver’s license program. This grant program gives financial assistance to states fully complying with FMCSA’s driver’s license standards and programs regulations, and works to help groups focusing on national efforts that help states’ compliance efforts, which FMCSA said will improve the overall national CDL program.

Those receiving these grants for their projects boosting compliance efforts include the Washington State Department of Licensing, the University of Cincinnati, the Georgia Department of Driver Services, the Florida Department of Highway Safety, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation-Department of Motor Vehicles.

A remaining $2 million will be for Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grants, which will be allocated to efforts in working to train veterans for commercial bus and trucking jobs through 20 different educational institutions.

These particular grants focus on private and accredited public colleges, universities, post-secondary educational institutions, truck driver training programs, vocational-technical institutions, and state and local government agencies, such as Maryland’s Wor-Wic Community College, Tennessee’s Truck Driver Institute Inc., Florida’s Truck Driver Institute Inc., Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and York County School of Technology, and Virginia’s Tidewater Community College.

“This critical funding will support FMCSA’s state and local safety partners, and illustrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to reducing crashes and improving safety on America’s roadways,” said Jim Mullen, FMCSA Deputy Administrator. “These funds will go directly to where they are needed the most–our states, local communities, and education institutions.”

These grants are available to agencies around the United States and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency said funding recipients from both state and local governments will “work in conjunction with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including public and private institutions of higher education, businesses, and independent contractor consultants.”

FMCSA received $881 million this year for its operations through the U.S. House’s approval of a fiscal 2021 transportation funding bill, which allocated $202 million more than 2020’s funding level, and $179 million more than what was requested by the president.

This bill “represents a forward-looking vision to rebuild our nation and strengthen our communities,” said Nita Lowey, US. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman.

The House legislation’s accompanying report explained that safety grants such as these “are used to support compliance reviews in the states, identify and apprehend traffic violators, conduct roadside inspections, and conduct safety audits of new entrant carriers.”

Grant funds are also given to certain states for oversight efforts regarding their commercial driver’s license programs.

“Together, we can revitalize our infrastructure, modernize our transportation systems, protect the traveling public, expand access to safe, affordable housing, and support our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Lowey.

A Left Turn On a Green Light Can Still Be Dangerous

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Everybody knows that green means go. Kids learn this concept in pre-school. However, every driver should know that turning left on a green light with approaching oncoming traffic requires waiting for the intersection to clear or for there to be enough space to avoid hazards before proceeding with the left turn. This rule is even stated in Illinois traffic law.

Government statistics show that crashes occur more frequently in circumstances involving left hand turns than right hand turns. The reason for this can probably be explained through commons sense reasoning. Left hand turns take longer and cover more space. Drivers often have to time their left turns to avoid oncoming traffic that also has a green light unless they are turning left at an intersection that had a traffic control light that includes a left turn only green arrow. But, even in those situations, motorists will still need to look for pedestrians crossing over the street that they intend to turn into or other vehicles disobeying the traffic signal. Obstructed views can also make left turns more challenging. Although, a good rule of thumb for those situations is to wait to turn until you can see that the intersection is clear and it is safe to turn.

Other Cars May Be Blocking Your View

When turning left, a driver’s view can be obstructed by other cars or trucks waiting to turn left from the opposite direction. Depending on how curved the road is, or how big the vehicles are on the other side of the street, a left turning driver may not be able to see oncoming traffic from his or her vantage point until those drivers make their turns or move out of the way.

Road Design Might Contribute to Obstructed Views for Left Turns

Additionally, the features of a road or intersection can make it tough for drivers to see each other. Take a street like Stony Island in Chicago, for instance. For motorists traveling southbound on Stony Island Avenue approaching 69th St. in Chicago, one factor to consider is that there are a group of trees in the center median of Stony Island just south of 69th Street. If you wish to make a left turn from S. Stony Island Avenue on to eastbound 69th Street, you have to make the turn from the designated left turn lane. When the light is green for drivers attempting to turn left, it is also green for cars coming from the opposite direction traveling northbound on Stony Island. As you approach this intersection heading south on Stony Island Avenue, you have to keep a look out for vehicles heading north on that same street if you intend to turn left on to 69th Street. You should also be aware in that situation to make sure the trees in the median aren’t preventing you from seeing any oncoming vehicles heading north.

David Struett, a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times, recently published a story about a fatal crash at this same intersection where a car that was attempting to turn left onto eastbound 69th Street collided with a motorcycle heading north on S. Stony Island Avenue. Both of these drivers had a green light at the time of the crash. The driver of the motorcycle died as a result of his injuries from this tragic incident.

How Can I Make Left Turns Safer?

For intersections where making a left turn requires looking past obstructions, either natural or man-made, and avoiding oncoming traffic, the way to make traveling easier and safer for drivers is to avoid making that left turn altogether. I understand that this may sound strange, but considering the hazards that this intersection may impose on every driver’s goal of avoiding collisions and arriving at their intended destination safely, taking another route that could include 3 right turns instead of a tricky left could be the safer option. Not to mention the potential gas savings that come from less stopping and idling that left turns require and right turns do not. Besides, if it’s safer to make right turns than it is to make left turns generally, why not avoid turning left if you don’t have to? Every driver who makes a decision to take more safety precautions on the road has the potential of making things safer for all travelers.

Is The Truck Driver Shortage Making Our Roads Less Safe?

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There aren’t enough truck drivers to fill the needs of the market. Back in 2015, the American Trucking Association, an industry advocacy group, published a report detailing the trucking and transport industry’s struggle to find enough drivers. The report found that the shortage reached 38,000 in 2014 and was expected to reach 48,000 by the end of 2015. By the end of 2018 the number jumped to 60,800, and it’s estimated to more than double over the next decade.

Why are there so few drivers?

There is more than one reason. There is an aging workforce. The industry is not attracting many women to enter the profession. Notably, there is a lack of qualified candidates for trucking companies to choose from.

Quality over quantity is the better way to go.

Professional truck drivers are held to a higher standard than other commuters. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) is a set of rules that apply to nearly everyone who operates a commercial motor vehicle. The FMCSR covers topics including driver qualifications, safety requirements, how many hours a driver can remain on duty, and the penalties for violating rules.

If a police officer pulls over a family car, there is no driver log inspection. A group of friends taking a cross country road trip will not be decommissioned for failing to show how many hours the current driver has been behind the wheel. Obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL) requires much more training than a regular driver’s license does. At a minimum, getting a CDL, requires getting a permit to train with a CDL holder and passing a skills test.

Behind all the news about a driver shortage, is a recent shift in how the United States tackles the issue itself. There has recently been a new focus on deregulating the trucking industry as the United States continues to find ways to make truck driving more alluring to newcomers. As we recently wrote, the FMCSA will likely be having its longstanding drive time rules deregulated as a way to not only place more money in the pockets of truck drivers, but to help drivers get to their destination much quicker. Unfortunately, it has been shown that acts such as this one actually do more harm than good. While it is great that drivers will be able to ship products at a quicker pace, it has actually been shown that leniency with these drive-time rules has a negative impact on overall crash-rates across the US.

While safety remains a serious concern, there are issues that must be addressed.

Trucking industry publication, Heavy Duty Trucking, recently wrote an article regarding the driver shortage. Within the piece, they were able to interview Bob Costello, the Chief Economist from the American Trucking Associations (ATA). In response to a recent report that Costello released regarding the driver shortage, he stated that “the shortage probably seems much worse to carriers because we’re only talking about the quantity of drivers and they [fleets] also have to be concerned with the quality of the drivers they hire.” And that alone is the crux of the issue at hand. At what point does the safety of drivers and those on the road take a back seat to ensure the industry does not falter as a whole?

There are options to delay the effects of the shortage.

While the government is now working to change the regulations revolving around drive-time for commercial drivers, this solution really doesn’t act as a solution at all. It places drivers at risk of increased fatigue instead. With that being said, Heavy Duty Trucking acknowledged that Costello did provide a list of solutions in his recent report that trucking companies may adopt as a way to counteract the estimated reduction of drivers in the industry:

  • Driver pay increases
  • More at-home time
  • Improved driver image
  • Better treatment and reduced wait times (at shippers)
  • Transitioning military personnel to truck driving
  • Lowering the age for interstate operation

Just like everything in life, there is no silver bullet solution to issues that affect everyone. While many may believe that such actions as deregulating current rules will help the industry be more appealing or increase driver pay, there are clearly pros and cons to that approach. It is up to companies to speak up and acknowledge that driver safety must be at the forefront of each of these decisions. If companies can begin understanding and trying to implement these potential solutions, it just may counteract the inevitable shortage in the industry and keep drivers far safer on the roads in the meantime.

Why Truckers Ignoring Hour Limitations Is a Serious Problem

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Semi_Truck

It’s a problem that’s rumbled its way to the top of local and federal totem poles, generating substantial controversy along the way.

Commercial truck drivers continue to stretch their limitations, according to findings by WFIR 23 in Rockford, IL, which earlier reported that operators of large rigs knowingly neglect the industry-mandated (and federally mandated) restrictions on driving hours to A) make up for lost time B) lessen the pressure of a deadline and/or C) make extra money by logging more miles.  Because truck drivers are often paid by the mile, they have incentive to drive as much as possible to increase earnings.

The benefits of breaking the law and going over hours, however, definitely do not outweigh the costs. When truck drivers are driving while over-hours, they drive exhausted, rushed, or both.  Think about a semi truck like the one pictured above, pushing down the freeway, say 5 pm in the winter – it’s dark out, and the driver’s been on the road for hours, but he knows he has another hundred miles to his destination.  Big rigs are hard enough to control as is; and hoping the tired, hungry, hurried, distracted driver is able to stop the truck to avoid a collision is not a situation you want to find yourself in, ever. Do you feel safe with these drivers on the road?

In this case, the troublesome trend of driving while over-hours is made even more troublesome by virtue of its clandestine nature. WFIR points out that the Illinois State Police dedicates a group of officers to keeping drivers in check by monitoring food and gas receipts and driving logs. The problem: Not everyone tells the truth.

One Rockford officer said he’s come across instances in which drivers keep two separate logs: one for the official books and one to present to law enforcement upon inspection. Hundreds—if not thousands—of drivers, the report continues, forge time sheets to make it appear as though they’re within the legal limit. Between January and September of 2014 in the state of Illinois, more than a 1,000 truckers were caught driving too long without taking a break.

The Federal Motor Carrier and Safety Administration, which allows drivers to work a maximum 11-hour driving day following 10 consecutive hours off the road, recognizes the risks facing the public. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has compared long stints of driver fatigue to drinking and driving; Bloomberg, in a December article that detailed provisions of the new fiscal budget (which includes a rollback of mandated hour regulations for truckers), wrote that truck crashes resulted in 3,912 deaths in 2012, and that the fatal-crash rate has increased each year since 2009.

As a law firm that represents truck crash injury victims, it’s hard not to cringe when we read statistics like the ones above.

In December of 2011, the FMCSA announced efforts to curb driver fatigue by augmenting provisions to the already-lengthy rules. The agency identified chronic fatigue as leading cause of injury among drivers, a result of long daily and weekly hours. At the time of the new regulations, the agency estimated that the new safety regulations would save 19 lives and prevent 1,400 crashes and 560 injuries annually.

Driver fatigue has since become the basis for several proposals, most prominently one that would incorporate e-logs as a means of monitoring drivers’ hours more closely. But one doesn’t need to look far to find opposition. Lobbyists for the trucking industry insist that long hours is the nature of the business, and as it stands, an 80-year-old pay system rewards truckers by the mile, giving truckers incentive to stay on the road for longer stretches of time.

The controversy, it seems, will rage on, but we will keep fighting against those who play fast and loose with rules designed – and proven – to keep the public safe.