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safe driving

AV Legislation Returns to House, While Some Supporters Say Reconsideration Unlikely

January 7, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill that would allow car manufacturing companies to distribute up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles. The legislation, called the SELF DRIVE Act, has received little-to-no attention over the last few years. It was passed unanimously in 2017 by the House, but failed within the Senate. Democrats and trial lawyers both worried about potential lawsuits that could arise if someone is injured or killed in an autonomous vehicle.

The measure would give the Secretary of Transportation the ability to make federal motor vehicle rule exemptions regarding a car’s need to have a human operator on board. 25,000 cars per carmaker could be operated initially if a company can show it meets traditional vehicle safety standards.

Following a period of one year, a manufacturer’s exemptions would rise to 50,000 and then to 100,000 in the two following years. States would not be able to limit sales more than the federal statute with any new laws. Right now, a car manufacturer can produce 2,500 self-driving vehicles for testing.

Ohio Representative Bob Latta believes the self-driving measure should resurface in Congress after the House’s major backing in 2017.

“This is a very good bill,” Latta said. “Not only for safety–we had over 37,000 people killed in traffic accidents–but also for the bipartisan work that was done.”

However, Michigan Representative Debbie Dingell said she won’t support the revisited measure, although she was a proponent of the 2017 version, because she doesn’t believe it will reach proper reconsideration in committee or within Congress before the end of the term.

“The Congress should have considered autonomous vehicle legislation, but for a variety of reasons, that has not occurred,” she explained.

Latta’s “desire to see action by our colleagues” is respectable, Dingell said, and agrees that immediate action on the matter of AV is necessary. She also expects 2021 to include many bipartisan discussions on self-driving legislation, and that she has already received Democratic leader commitment to making the issue a priority if the democrats continue their control of the House.

Bringing back the legislation was a “cynical” move for lawmakers who have seemed nonchalant in regards to AV regulation, said Center for Auto Safety executive director, Jason Levine.

“As a reminder, this bill contains no regulatory or testing requirements to improve public confidence in the long-term safety of driverless vehicles,” he said. “Instead, the SELF DRIVE Act protects auto manufacturers and technology companies from legal responsibility when their unregulated products put consumers at risk.”

This news comes shortly after major trucking company Daimler Trucks purchased a majority share in Torc Robotics in efforts to work toward Level 4 autonomous truck development. The companies see the path to AV trucking as a marathon rather than a sprint, and believe they can bring automated trucks to mainstream transportation by 2030.

SAE Level 4 is the name for a truck’s ability to operate without driver assistance or input during certain conditions or in specific areas.

The companies have also been urging Tier 2 suppliers for additional safety tech, and announced that Daimler’s Autonomous Technology Group would build headquarters in Albuquerque. The center will boost testing capabilities and data collection for the use of innovative vehicle technology on public roads.

Torc Robotics CEO Michael Fleming noted that there are still many obstacles ahead, and that safety-focused technology is not quite ready for commercial deployment.

“We have been engaging Tier 1 suppliers with new requirements, trying to push the envelope on radar, lidar, and cameras, and also compute systems at the same time,” he explained. “At the end of the day, when we bring product to market, it has to be cost-effective, meet the performance specifications to address not only safety, but ensuring we can drive efficiently to the destination and deliver goods in a timely fashion…There isn’t, in my opinion, automated vehicle hardware commercially available that meets all three today.”

Still, collaboration is key to pushing new methods of safety technology forward, Fleming said.

“Daimler’s commitment to safety, innovation leadership of truck technology, and foundational knowledge of on-road scenarios that truckers encounter has moved our system faster than we could have done alone as a technology firm.”

UPS Asks Again for Driver Instructor Requirement Exemption

January 6, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration originally denied UPS Inc.’s request for exemption from driver training requirements. These requirements mandate an instructor have at least two years’ training experience, and UPS is now asking for reconsideration of this request once again.

FMCSA turned down the major shipping company’s request for exemption on the basis that it hadn’t given sufficient data on how the exemption may affect driver and road safety. FMCSA also stated that UPS’ request failed to detail how the requested exemption would allow for safety levels that would be equal to or greater than those achievable by complying with the driver training rule as is.

UPS believes that its fleet–the largest in the country–needs this particular exemption so that it can continue its proper highway and public safety training for its drivers, claiming that it needs to be able to surpass current requirements, as it has been doing thus far.

In its second exemption request, UPS gave FMCSA the necessary new information mentioned in the agency’s original notice of denial, specifically noting that many UPS locations have seen large amounts of fast turnover with driver trainers.

“UPS stated that it has had to hire 100 candidates to attempt to net the 50 driver trainer positions necessary across the U.S.,” said FMCSA in its notice. “Of the 100 hired, UPS has been able to retain only 38 trainers for the reasons explained in the request for reconsideration.”

Additionally, UPS claimed in its original request that its driver training programs have successfully trained hundreds of instructors, even though many of them had not had any previous commercial driver’s license experience beforehand.

“UPS driver training school instructors have, on average, 20 years of UPS experience, hold a CDL of the same or higher class, and all the endorsements necessary to operate a CMV for which training is required,” said the Federal Register announcement from FMCSA. “Additionally, all UPS driver instructors are required to be re-certified every 90 days to demonstrate the same skill level shown for their original driver training school certification. UPS further performs internal quality assessments to validate that instructor skill sets are maintained throughout the organization.”

FMCSA accepted public comments regarding  UPS’s secondary request for one month after it was published in the Federal Register at the end of September.

“UPS believes that its current process of preparing driver trainers exceeds any skill set gained merely by operating a tractor-trailer for two years,” said the carrier in a statement. “The company also believes that a two-year experience requirement doesn’t automatically equate to success as a commercial motor vehicle driver trainer.”

In its previous request, UPS saw 112 comments, with 58 in support, before FMCSA’s original decision. The rest of the comments were either in opposition or had no particular position, according to FMCSA.

The original exemption request also explained that the proposed flexibility was necessary in order for union contractual requirements to be met. Six current employees of UPS must have a promotion opportunity for each new hire that is on-boarded, according to the company’s collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters union.

This request for reconsideration comes during a time when many safety-related regulations are in the midst of change, such as hours-of-service rules and commercial driver’s license obtainment requirements. Various driver and road safety advocacy groups have been fighting against these relaxed regulations, especially because they seem to be aiming to meet a desperate attempt to fill driver seats during a nationwide driver shortage and to keep drivers on the road longer when delivery demand is high.

These more flexible rules are sure to bring more inexperienced and fatigued drivers to America’s roadways for longer periods of time, and many safety-focused groups and organizations say this is detrimental to the country’s overall road safety. To loosen driver training instructor requirements for UPS, America’s largest delivery fleet, could possibly bring even more major safety concerns than we already have.

In regards to this case, “FMCSA will also continue to file, in the public docket, relevant information that becomes available after the comment closing data,” said the agency in the Federal Register. “Interested persons should continue to examine the public docket for new material.”

Levinson and Stefani Discuss Current Safety Issues Within Trucking Industry

December 26, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Throughout 2020, as truck drivers’ responsibilities have become more vital (and focused upon) than ever, the need for major road and driver safety improvements has never been more important. This also comes at a time where trucking regulations have seen many changes–and pushback.

As the firm’s own Ken Levinson and Jay Stefani have seen first-hand the effects of current safety issues on America’s roadways, they decided to weigh in on what potential changes are needed for truckers right now–and what decisions they think are doing more harm than good.

“It seems like any time there’s a need for more deliveries and more drivers, especially during things like COVID, the trucking industry and trucking companies use that need as an opportunity to skirt safety,” explained Levinson. “Whether it’s hours of service or requirements of drivers and commercial drivers’ licenses–even letting younger drivers drive 80,000 pounds. We’re all for efficiency getting supplies, food, and necessary resources to people–but not at the expense of highway safety.”

This year, regulations regarding driver service hours have been made more flexible, as have age and training requirements for new drivers entering the industry.

“It seems like at every turn, whenever there’s an opportunity, the trucking industry does everything it can to maximize profits at the expense of public safety, and there’s just too much risking involved in the skirting of rules and regulations that are there to protect the public,” Levinson said.

These kinds of safety regulation relaxations have led to many more cases of crashes, injuries, and even deaths on the road, causing many safety advocacy groups to oppose these rule changes.

“Frankly, we see the devastating effects of a lack of driver training, lack of driver attentiveness, and lack of adherence to safety rules. We see it all the time, and it just leaves families devastated.”

Even before the coronavirus pandemic’s stay-at-home orders caused many Americans to have food and household items delivered more frequently, as well as many hospitals and clinics ordering more resources and personal protective equipment, there was already a major shortage of truck drivers across the country on top of issues surrounding driver retention rates–a shortage that tempted the industry to loosen CDL requirements and regulations.

“To me, one of the biggest issues out there is that the industry is talking a lot about how it needs more drivers, and that’s one of the reasons they’re pushing to lower the driving age for CDL holders,” said Stefani. “I think the issue is more about paying drivers a fairer wage. For a lot of the drivers, at first blush, it looks like they’re getting paid a decent amount. But more often than not, gas is coming out of their pockets–these trucks burn through a lot of gas–and drivers are paying for the lease on the truck.”

Often, experienced truckers get tired of this mistreatment, so they end up leaving the industry altogether–and now, trucking companies have become desperate to fill those spots.

“The industry is looking to add more drivers by turning toward younger, less-experienced, cheaper drivers,” Stefani explained. “They’re trying to add 18, 19, 20-year-olds. Not only are they younger, they’re less experienced driving cars, let alone driving these massive tractor-trailers that are sometimes hauling hazardous materials. It’s unfortunate that, oftentimes, the industry’s first turn is to cut safety tools and to cut regulations that are there to protect everyone on the roadway.”

The truckers Levinson and Stefani work with in their cases typically bring up the importance of driver experience–the number of miles and the number of years behind the wheel–which often plays a big role in trucking-involved accidents.

“Lack of driving experience is a major factor that often comes into play in what we see in our cases all the time,” said Stefani. “Oftentimes, these are less-experienced drivers, or they’re drivers that are being pushed beyond the limits of their hours of service. They’re driving tired–they’re exhausted. And a lot of that is because they’re getting pressured to stay on the road.”

This driver fatigue is a more prevalent problem than many people realize. In 2006, 13% of all truck crashes were associated with exhausted drivers. Relaxing hours-of-service regulations is clearly only going to worsen that issue, Stefani says.

“There’s a significant percentage of these crashes that we see out there that are caused by drivers that are tired, and that’s with the already-existing hours-of-service regulations,” Stefani explained. “Letting truck drivers drive when they’re even more tired is not the solution. Add more drivers. Spread out deliveries. There are some places that will do what’s called ‘tandem drivers’ or ‘co-drivers,’ so that there are split shifts within a truck. There are a lot of options out there other than forcing drivers to drive when they’re tired.”

Supporters of hours-of-service regulation flexibility argue that many drivers don’t want to be made to rest when they would rather be working–but Stefani said this is not what will come of this change.

“There’s no question that this isn’t going to be a situation where they let drivers drive more hours if they want to,” he said. “It’s absolutely going to be a situation where the truck companies and the shippers are telling them, ‘No, you’re now legally allowed to drive 12, 13, 14 hours a day, so we expect you to do that.’”

New Technology-Focused Transportation Grant Program in Kansas

November 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A new program to fund and support technology-focused projects aiming to boost safety and mobility has been introduced by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Announced in late August, the Innovative Technology Program will give financial assistance to those working to improve mobility, public safety, and transportation technology, and participating projects can involve any method of transportation. These include, but aren’t limited to, road networks, rail, transit and bicycle facilities, alternative fuels, and unmanned aircraft systems.

Around $3 million for each fiscal year will be made available to recipients, which can include non-governmental applicants. The application window was open between mid-August and mid-September.

“As a leader in UAS, it’s important that we implement new technologies safely,” said Julie Lorenz, Transportation Secretary. “This program will help both rural and urban areas of the state improve the transportation system.”

Throughout Kansas City, officials have been working diligently to implement drone operations, and the Mid-America Regional Council, which includes representatives for all nine counties within the Kansas City metropolitan area, released its outline for these tech explorations, named the Regional Unmanned Aircraft Systems Strategic Framework, in September of 2018. In this plan, officials detail the necessary steps to form strong partnerships with other agencies, to develop a drone usage manual, and to collect data on public concerns regarding drone operation.

Projects will not receive more than $1 million per cycle, and local government officials will administer the Innovative Technology Program projects. Each project must meet a minimum 25% non-state cash match, and applicants that can commit more than the minimum amount will receive boosted consideration.

Eligible projects can also receive further consideration if they have been supporting local business retention and economic growth. Geographic fund distribution will also be taken into consideration by KDOT, and projects receiving awards are set to be announced by the end of October.

Last fall, interested parties were able to discuss transportation priorities during Local Consult meetings, which were held in multiple regions throughout the state. These public meetings created opportunities for people to bring to light the transportation topics they felt would best shape Kansas’ 10-year transportation program plan.

“Citizens at Local Consult meetings across the state last year stressed the need for technology opportunities to better position Kansas for the future,” said Lorenz.

KDOT’s Eisenhower Transportation Legacy Program, known as ‘IKE,’ was created in March of 2020 and is a 10-year program that aims to modernize and expand highway projects on a rolling basis every other year. These efforts work to solve the biggest issues and largest fluctuating revenue difficulties regarding Kansas state transportation.

During these local meetings, more than 2,000 participants collaborated in the overall construction of the IKE program, and established vital aspects of the program that would include broadband investments, new technology investments, and an overarching commitment to multimodal transportation efforts. Preliminary engineering work on 40 different highway projects, under the IKE program, were announced in May by Lorenz and Governor Laura Kelly. 

Kelly has pushed forward $216 million in sales tax revenue to the state highway fund in fiscal 2020, which has allowed KDOT to progress a variety of programs working to support infrastructure projects. 

The Innovative Technology Program follows a series of technology-focused funding efforts within the state, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s April 2020 announcement of $750,000 in funding for Kansas local and state governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals to further increase innovation technologies. These Conservation Innovation Grants aimed to further develop innovative technology and tools meant to address natural resource concerns throughout private Kansas working lands. These funds aim to help farmers, ranchers, and other private forest landowners bring new conservation methods to their properties through the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches. 

Additionally, between 2019 and 2020, Kansas City partnered with City Innovate to sponsor the Startup in Residence Program, which works to connect Kansas City departments with innovative technology startups. The city established a 16-week voluntary period to develop tech-based solutions addressing city government challenges, and created the STIR Program to connect public-sector agencies directly with tech entrepreneurs in order to boost technology product development and implementation in regards to specific public sector needs.

FMCSA Holds Virtual Trucking Safety Summit

September 25, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The 2020 Trucking Safety Summit, hosted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration August 5th, focused on finding ways to improve safer operation of commercial motor vehicles throughout the country.

Stakeholders, including drivers, safety technology developers, motor carriers, safety advocacy groups, and federal and state partners, were allowed to discuss their ideas on improving road safety during the virtual event, hosted from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Washington.

All presentations and public participation were provided electronically in order to follow federal guidelines around public events held during the COVID-19 pandemic. The safety summit was originally scheduled for mid-March, but had to be postponed due to the current public health emergency.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data have shown an increase in large truck-involved crash fatalities over the last few years, an issue that was a major focus of the online event.

“To respond to this trend, FMCSA continues to work with state entities, industry, and others to identify new approaches to safety,” said the summit announcement. “These approaches can involve technology, company management practices, enforcement, outreach and education, and other techniques–encompassing a holistic approach to truck safety.”

The virtual meeting consisted of six individual panel discussions, with FMCSA also streaming live video of the summit to allow viewers to weigh in. The event began with an association perspective moderated by Deputy Administrator Jim Mullen, along with ATA’s Chris Spear, NTTC’s Dan Furth, Road Safe America’s Steve Owings, and OOIDA’s Lewie Pugh on the panel. Next was a “What’s Working” discussion by Schneider National‘s Steve Parker and Thomas DiSalvi, followed by a second “What’s Working” discussion by Rollin’ B’s Shannon Watson and Ingrid Brown. There was also a state partner discussion, a panel discussion on industry technology, and a “Florida Safety Story” discussion which included members of the Florida Trucking Association and Florida Highway Patrol. Special guest speakers during the summit included a FHWA Administrator and NHTSA Deputy Administrator.

The summit was originally set to follow up on the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in January, where Jim Mullen explained that the agency would be working to reverse the increase in recent large-truck fatalities.

“When I assumed this role as acting administrator three months ago, the members of this panel asked me, what are my top priorities,” said Mullen. “That, to me, was a no-brainer. The top priority for me at this agency is to reverse that four-year trend increasing fatalities involved with large trucks and buses.”

Jack Van Steenburg, chief safety officer for FMCSA, reiterated Mullen’s worries around the trend of big-rig-involved deaths over the last four years in a briefing about the industry during TRB.

Between 2017 and 2018, the number of trucks weighing between 10,001 and 14,000 pounds involved in deadly crashes rose by 4.6%, and the number of trucks over 26,000 pounds involved in these crashes rose by 1.6%, according to Van Steenburg. In addition, the number of big-rig occupant deaths increased from 815 to 885 between 2016 and 2018. Of truck drivers who were ejected from their vehicles in fatal crashes, over 40% were not wearing a seat belt.

Earlier this year, the FMCSA released a formal request for public comment regarding the best ways to study contributing factors in large-truck crashes. The Large Truck Crash Causal Factors Study will replace a 15-year-old study that has been used to make policy decisions by the agency.

“In the more than 15 years since the original study, many changes in technology, vehicle safety, driver behavior, and roadway design have occurred that affect how a driver performs,” said the agency in its formal request. “Since the study ended in 2003, fatal crashes involving large trucks decreased until 2009, when they hit their lowest point in recent years (2,893 fatal crashes). Since 2009, fatal crashes involving large trucks have steadily increased to 4,415 fatal crashes in 2018, a 52.6% increase when compared to 2009. Over the last three years (2016-2018), fatal crashes involving large trucks increased 5.7%.”

FMCSA has also been working on “completing the picture of crashes” through a study that will use the agency’s crash datasets in addition to other information sources to create a full picture of big-rig and bus crashes in order to better determine the root causes at hand.

New Study Finds Proper Training Keeps Young Truckers Working as Safely as Experienced Drivers

September 24, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Following a reported truck driver shortage of 60,000 drivers at the end of 2018 and a two-year delay of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s entry-level driver training rule, the industry is hoping better training and mentoring will help younger truckers to fill the gap as older truck drivers continue to retire.

“We have challenges coming our way in the next decade, such as a greater problem with current drivers retiring,” said FMCSA Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee member and senior vice president of safety, security, and driver personnel at J.B. Hunt Transport, Greer Woodruff. The Safety Advisory Committee recently commissioned the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to analyze correlations between age and safety among truckers. According to said study, there is “no safety-based reason not to use younger drivers when structured training, mentoring, and coaching systems are in place.”

The data, which was pretended to MCSAC in mid-July, included information from more than 9,000 truckers between the ages of 21 and 64, and found that a greater driver safety impact is found with driving experience as opposed to age. MCSAC is a panel of 18 people that aims to provide recommendations to FMCSA’s administrator on motor carrier safety programs and motor carrier safety regulations.

“What we found was experience seemed to be a bigger factor on driving risk,” said Susan Soccolich of VTTI, who conducted research for the study. “If there is a notion that 21-to-24-year-olds might be a high-risk group, we don’t feel that our study found that relationship.”

The research committee was asked to look into the older demographics of the professional driver workforce within trucking and bus industries, and to find whether or not this trend will “exacerbate the driver shortage problem.”

Last year, American Trucking Associations reported that 60,000 truckers were needed by the end of 2018, making for the largest driver shortage ever for the country.

“Over the past 15 years, we’ve watched the shortage rise and fall with economic trends, but it ballooned last year to the highest level we’ve seen to date,” said Chief Economist for ATA, Bob Costello, at the time.

The report said the trucking industry would work to hire at least 1.1 million new truckers by 2029, with an average of 110,000 per year.

To help with onboarding difficulties, the FMCSA delayed a long-awaited Entry Level Driver Training rule until February 2022. This rule was meant to ensure new truckers would meet minimum training requirements before being allowed their commercial driver licenses.

“This action will provide FMCSA additional time to complete development of the Training Provider Registry,” said the agency in late January. “The TPR will allow training providers to self-certify that they meet the training requirements and will provide the electronic interface that will receive and store entry-level driver training certification information from training providers and transmit that information to the state driver licensing agencies.”

FMCSA stakeholders have continually expressed their concern regarding the shortage, and have discussed options to allow younger drivers to enter the trucking workforce. With many commercial motor vehicle driver retirements coming up quickly, carriers are looking for younger, long-term truck drivers to become their replacements.

ATA’s study explored safety performance of differently-aged drivers with similar experience levels, and also compared drivers with different levels of experience within the same age groups.

Additionally, the study assessed safety performance through Motor Carrier Management Information System crash involvement and moving violation involvement, along with carrier-recorded crash involvement.

Some of the major issues explored by MCSAC were how aging workers could affect a carrier’s ability to efficiently deliver goods safely, the impact of older drivers on supply chains, what the workforce looks like for the future, how the impacts of aging workforces can be mitigated, and the role FMCSA plays in these efforts of change.

Although VTTI’s research showed younger drivers could match older drivers’ safety performances, many panel members disagreed.

Gary Catapano, committee member and employee of the National School Transportation Association, said that those believing VTTI’s research could be easily persuaded to trust it for guidance. “The research should be used with a high degree of caution,” he warned.

Committee member and vice president of Clark Freight Lines Inc., Danny Schnautz, agreed. “We see a correlation between maturity and experience being the safer driver,” he said. “Typically, maturity comes with age.”

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