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NTSB Chairman Calls for Road Safety Mindset Changes; $76 Million Granted to CMV Safety Projects

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“The current approach, which favors automobiles and punishes only drivers for crashes, is clearly not working,” said Jennifer Homendy, the new chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, in regards to the current methods of analyzing roadway safety. “If we are going to get to zero [crash deaths], we will have to do something different.”

Homendy, who was nominated for her position by President Biden, has prioritized efforts to update the ways governments and organizations take highway safety into account, believing that individual driver actions and behaviors are not what need the most attention. With 38,680 roadway deaths in 2020 and 8,700 commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities in the first quarter of this year (an increase of 10.5% although vehicle miles traveled dropped during the pandemic), major updates are clearly necessary, Homendy explains.

For example, the current “Safe System Approach” to road safety focuses on drivers’ speeding, but Homendy points out that this system as a whole may be what needs the most focus. In fact, during the Governors Highway Safety Association conference in Denver this month, she raised the question of whether or not “ill-conceived” federal regulations and guidance have caused state speed limits to rise, as well as whether or not particular road designs allow for or provoke speeding. In addition, she questioned if states should be able to revoke local authorities’ power to lower speed limits, as well as the power of “manufacturers who design vehicles that can exceed 100 miles per hour or that have no speed limiters.”

In addition to speed limitations, Homendy stated that impaired driving laws need stricter enforcement, although this enforcement won’t be the sole reason highways may become more safe. 

“The carnage on our roads has to stop,” she added. “You know it, and I know it.” In her presentation at the conference, she urged governors, vehicle manufacturers, public health officials, road designers, and transportation providers to work toward new, innovative methods of bringing higher levels of safety to the nation’s roads.

In regards to commercial vehicle safety, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted more than $76 million to states and educational organizations for CMV safety improvement efforts–all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will all receive federal funding.

“Together, these grants represent the administration’s commitment to supporting strong state and local partnerships to reach our national goal of reducing commercial vehicle-involved crashes and saving lives,” said Meera Joshi, Deputy Administrator for FMCSA.

These grants come in the form of High Priority grants ($45.2 million), Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation grants ($29 million), and Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grants ($2 million). High Priority grants will be utilized to boost commercial motor vehicle safety improvement programs and state technological advancement projects. Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation grants will work to support state efforts to bring improvements to the current national commercial driver license program–a program that offers financial aid to states complying with driver’s license standards set forth by FMCSA regulations.

In spring of this year, FMCSA granted more than $305 million (as part of Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program grants) in support of local and state law enforcement agencies working to deploy around 12,000 enforcement personnel. These workers collaborated in efforts to lower the severity and number of roadway crashes, as well as to lower the number of commercial motor vehicle-involved hazardous materials incidents.

Additionally, the largest grants this year awarded to state programs–so far–include $2 million allocated to the New York State DOT, the Michigan State DOT, the South Dakota DOT, and the Washington State DOT; $1.7 million to the Connecticut DMV and to the Oklahoma DOT; $1.5 million to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, $1.5 million to the Nevada Highway Patrol Division, and $1.5 million to the California Highway Patrol; $1.3 million to Indiana State Police; $1.2 million to the Indiana DOT and to the Arizona Department of Public Safety; $1.1 million to the Maryland Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance; and $1 million to the Delaware DOT.

Refrigerated Carriers See Massive Changes; TMC Begins New Study About Safe Food Transport

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How exactly do refrigerated carriers implement new technology into their operations to keep food safe? The American Trucking Associations’ Technology and Maintenance Council is funding a study to determine just that–and what the maintenance needs are for these changes.

As food retailers are utilizing new supplier and sensor-based tech options for fleets, regulators have begun voicing worries regarding a variety of food safety concerns. Because of this, the Technology and Maintenance Council’s Fall 2021 meeting saw an announcement by Business Accelerants CEO Paul Menig stating that he would be working on relevant food safety analysis and surveys along with WillGo Transportation Consulting CEO, Charles Willmott.

“Health problems from food continue to be a particularly big problem,” said Menig in his announcement. “[A health problem] might have occurred way back with fecal matter in the field, or during the processing of the food.” Problems can, of course, also occur during the transport process, although it can be difficult to determine when or where exactly a food safety issue took place.

The North America Trailer Rental/Lease Company Survey was initially conducted last year, in which a dozen major trailer leasing and rental companies were asked about their predictions and expectations regarding up-and-coming trailer models and the new technologies that would be implemented onboard many of these vehicles.

Now, The Refrigerated Transport Study, which has just begun its surveying efforts, will likely wrap up in January of 2022 with a report to be released in February. In this new study, various additional surveys and interviews regarding refrigerated good transport will be conducted while transportation organizations will offer insight into the current reality of supply chains. According to Menig, other industry professionals may be joining in these survey efforts by conducting presentations or online webinars, as well.

In regards to food supplier accountability, Walmart has announced that it would be launching a program called the “Supplier Quality Excellence Program,” which will focus on supplier actions and order accuracy. The program’s fourth phase will look into the “handling and transportation” of food supply “so we know what they are doing is going to come and impact us,” Menig explained. These impacts will likely come in the form of changes related to packaging, load segregation, and pallets themselves.

In fact, the Food and Drug Administration is already working to set forth new additional traceability record-keeping regulations for those involved with the processing, packing, holding, or manufacturing of foods as part of its Food Traceability List. These requirements will be added to the already-existing regulations in place for inclusion on this list.

The FDA added that this potential regulation addition, deemed the “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods” will play a major role in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint within the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

For new technology being implemented into these trailers, around 65% of reefer trailers available at leasing and rental companies are already equipped with telematics capabilities, according to Menig. He added that by boosting refrigerated transport-focused conversations in the industry, “we will see more of a need for a willingness among [food transporters] to be the early adopters for technologies for smart trailers,” such as tire pressure management systems, electronic door locks, trailer location tracking devices, and remote cargo temperature monitoring capabilities.

Of course, “all of these things have implications for maintenance, too,” explained TMC’s technical director, Jack Legler. “It’s not only what the technology can do, but you have to be able to handle the data. The minimum for tractor-trailer communication 10 years from now is going to be 1,000 base T.”

1,000 Base T, or the IEEE 802.ab standard, is a Gigabit Ethernet standard for transmitting large amounts of information at once.

“It’s not simply going to be fixing a wire,” added Legler. “You will have to be a data diagnostician to go along with being a highly-skilled electrical technician. You will have to understand what the data is that is going through that wire you are repairing.”

In addition to these kinds of technology upgrades that will bring sweeping changes across the refrigerated transport sector, low-emission standards will affect these vehicles as well. For example, TRUs sold or operated in the state of California will be subject to zero-emission requirements by the end of 2029.

Trucker Fatigue Still Major Issue, But Cell Phone Distraction Has Decreased, New VTTI Study Says

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“Hands-free cell phone use was found to be protective as it likely helps drivers alleviate boredom, while hand-held cell phone use was found to be risky as it takes the driver’s attention away from driving tasks,” a new study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute stated.

This study found that truck drivers were at a much higher risk of crashing when engaging in distracting actions like adjusting their mirrors, reaching for a snack or beverage, or even adjusting their seat belts, although activities like singing or talking while driving were not found to be a distraction.

Additionally, as compared to past studies, the overall usage of cell phones in a trucker cab was found to have significantly decreased in recent “naturalistic” research focusing upon driver fatigue and distraction.

In fact, “the eighth driving hour showed the highest rate of safety-critical event occurrence,” noted VTTI’s study, which aimed to determine the overall effects of drowsiness and distracting actions on big-rig truck driver safety. The study collected data from 182 trucks, 172 truck drivers, 73 motor coach drivers, and 43 motor coaches across seven different fleets, 10 different locations, and 3.8 million driving miles.

A “significant critical event” in the study pertains to four distinct outcomes–unintentional lane deviation, crash-relevant conflict, a near-crash, or an actual collision

In previous studies, researchers found that around 25% to 30% of crashes came as primarily a result of driver distraction. In Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s new study, though, researchers determined that, due to their latest research methods, “it is commonly believed that the actual percentage of distracted-related crashes may be substantially higher.”

These updated ways of collecting more accurate data in more efficient ways has made all the difference in finding real safety issues in the trucking industry today, VTTI added.

“Naturalistic data collection and reduction has become the gold-standard method for investigating driver distraction as it allows researchers to see what a driver is doing just prior to a safety-critical event in real-world settings,” the institution said in its study.

Some of the study’s most vital findings include that truck drivers had a direct correlation between the time their eyes were taken off the road for at least two seconds and the amount of risk they had in being involved in a crash or near-crash; that the time of day and the length of a driver’s rest break may impact his or her overall driving behavior; that the time at which the driver begins a particular trip can have a particular effect on his or her fatigue; and that by diving deeper into the collected data regarding driver drowsiness, it was clear that fatigue levels are highest within systematic baselines between 1:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M. for crashes or near-crashes in truck drivers who start their shifts in the early-morning hours and who have long trips starting at those times.

“Researchers, transportation officials, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have all identified driver fatigue as a serious concern for vehicle safety and deemed it to be significantly associated with fatal commercial motor vehicle crashes,” said VTTI in the study. “Drivers have reported that they become fatigued from insufficient time spent recovering during off-duty times, work overload, not working according to their circadian [rhythms], disturbed sleep patterns, and the time sensitivity associated with the nature of their jobs.”

Other determinations made from the results of the study include that the first 10 driving hours for a trucker can be separated into: low significant critical event rate within the first hour, moderate significant critical event rate within the second hour, and high significant critical event rate within the third hour through the 10th hour; that most of the significant critical events took place in daylight when the driver was on a non-junction roadway, on a divided roadway, or in areas without many traffic jams (like an interstate), and while no adverse conditions were present; and that lower amounts of driver texting may show that individual carrier policies, public information campaigns, and local and national legislation changes regarding handheld cell phone use while driving have positively affected safe driver behavior changes throughout the industry.

Driver Vision Policy Updates Backed by FMCSA Medical Board

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A new report has been released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s medical review board regarding potentially stricter federal standards for commercial driver vision-related qualifications. However, these plans include methods of helping monocular drivers become qualified for vehicle operation much more quickly and easily.

FMCSA published a new proposed rule early this year amending regulations regarding drivers either not meeting field of vision standards, not meeting distant visual acuity standards, or both, in at least one eye. The amendment stated that these drivers could still be physically qualified to drive a commercial truck within interstate commerce.

For truckers not meeting either of these standards, FMCSA has decided to review potential qualification exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

“It is well-recognized in the literature that individuals with vision loss in one eye can and do develop compensatory viewing behavior to mitigate the vision loss,” said the agency at the time of the amendment.

A proposed plan to bring an end to the exemption process has now been approved by FMCSA’s review board; the potential alternative vision standard would bring about a process consisting of two steps to determine physical qualification and to eliminate a decades-long rule requiring monocular drivers to apply for exemption. Seeking this exemption can take months, and can result in drivers being kept off the road for that entire period of time.

Now, the process would require optometrist or ophthalmologist vision evaluations to be submitted along with their specific medical opinions and findings regarding a driver’s vision evaluation report form. Then, an examiner can offer a Medical Examiner’s Certificate to the driver who has been found to meet physical qualifications–a certificate that would be valid for up to one year.

“FMCSA estimates that the proposed rule would reduce barriers to entry for current and future commercial motor vehicle drivers,” said the agency in its initial announcement. “The 2,566 drivers holding vision exemptions would no longer have to apply for an exemption, and potential driver applicants who do not have three years of intrastate driving experience may meet the alternative vision standard and be able to operate a CMV in interstate commerce.”

The agency made a similar move in 2019 when it decided to eliminate the mandate requiring that diabetic drivers dependent on insulin would need to wait up to six months for a physical qualification exemption, and the changes brought about by the amended certification process for drivers with this kind of diabetes has been successful thus far.

Currently, a truck driver must have at least one eye with a distant visual acuity of at least 20/40 as well as an overall 70-degree field of vision, in addition to the ability to properly recognize all traffic signal and device colors. FMCSA’s medical review board has. suggested that this field of vision requirement be updated to instead require a 120-degree vision field, and that a driver should be allowed enough time to be able to adequately make up for or adapt to any reasonable vision deficiency.

As of now, there is not yet enough data to implement a particular waiting period for a driver with any given deficiency in his or her vision, according to the review board.

“We remind readers that the data is either absent or conflicting regarding the safety of monocular drivers,” said FMCSA in response to claims that monocular drivers have not shown any serious issues in regards to their capabilities to operate commercial motor vehicles. “With such a small percentage of drivers having monocular vision, this data will continue to be difficult to obtain in a statistically significant manner.”

The board also stated that whether or not a driver has been able to adequately compensate for a vision change or deficiency in a manner allowing him or her to then meet requirements should be up to an optometrist or an ophthalmologist to decide. The vision evaluation form should also not request severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy- or proliferative diabetic retinopathy-related information, as these are to be evaluated only under diabetes standards for insulin-treated drivers.

Upcoming Regulation Updates Discussed by Trucking Industry Experts

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Motor carrier regulations are expected to see major changes regarding some of the more pressing issues within the industry that the Biden administration has prioritized–but with so many regulation updates in the works, it has been hard to tell when exactly we may see these shifts.

Legal experts discussed this topic at a recent conference hosted by Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C. This three-day Transportation Law Seminar took place on August 26th in Indianapolis, and many professionals throughout the trucking industry made sure to attend.

“If you look at the Unified Regulatory Agenda that the administration released in the spring–the official timeline for rule-making–it’s highly aspirational,” explained American Trucking Associations deputy general counsel, Richard Pianka, during one session of the conference. “Very rarely does anything happen on the timeline that the Unified Agenda suggests.”

For example, the Department of Transportation was expected to implement an updated oral fluid drug testing regulation by May of this year. This rule was one item that was highly-discussed during the conference and is one that has been focused upon by many federal trucking regulators, Pianka explained.

“We saw a pretty major development in 2019 when the Department of Health and Human Services updated the federal workplace drug testing program to include oral fluid drug testing,” he said.

For truck driver drug testing to regularly include oral fluid drug tests, the regulation already in place by the Department of Transportation would need to be changed to include the allowance of fluid testing in general, which, according to Pianka, may take place in the “not too distant future.” This kind of testing could be extremely helpful during accident-related drug tests, as oral fluid drug testing can only detect recent drug use in one’s system.

“Oral fluid drug testing is something we have been waiting on for a very long time, but has been moving at a very slow pace,” added Pianka.

Congress first brought into effect a mandate for a final federal rule regarding hair drug testing at the end of 2015–a mandate expected to be made final by early 2022. This kind of testing has been explained as an alternative to urinalysis drug testing; however, this potential final rule has received criticism by a variety of motor carriers.

This proposal, which has been deemed to be “highly problematic” by Pianka, would urge medical review officers to not solely utilize hair drug testing and to not immediately report findings showing a positive test result from a hair sample.

“What they do is run an alternative specimen, which would–right now–be urinalysis, and report the results of the alternative specimen,” Pianka explained, noting that this kind of testing would present more challenges than intended.

“What this creates is a false negative problem,” he continued. “This would make hair testing in the trucking industry pretty much useless.”

In addition to driver drug testing methods, industry experts at the conference discussed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ability to review the current hours-of-service regulations in place. This discussion comes as the Biden administration has been working to pass a bill requiring FMCSA to analyze the recent changes around this rule and the update’s overall effects on truck drivers and the industry itself.

“The fact that it was in the House bill is an indication that there is a constituency for revisiting the hours-of-service rules,” Pianka said. “It’s certainly a potential issue we’ll see on the horizon.”

Another regulation in the works could urge federal regulators to implement a new rule requiring all new commercial truck models to have automated emergency braking–a rule that would need to be issued within a two-year period.

“This has already been on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s agenda for some time,” said Pianka. “So, we think this has a good chance of becoming law.”

Fleets and independent truckers may see a rise in the minimum insurance requirement, as well, according to Pianka. Additionally, a proposal to remove the current requirement for drivers to immediately report road violations will likely see a final rule in the near future.

“They thought it was redundant that drivers report their motor vehicle records,” explained general counsel for American Trucking associations, Jennifer Hall. “So, you’ll be getting that information from your own queries.”

Screening criteria is also in the works by the National Transportation Safety Board for drivers required to be tested for obstructive sleep apnea, Hall added.

“We anticipate that this could be an issue that we will see coming forward for regulation,” she said.

$3.5 Trillion Budget Could Bring Climate Change-Fighting Policies

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“The House must pass the budget resolution immediately,” said House Speaker Nancy Policy to U.S. House of Representatives Democrats this month. “Doing so will maximize the leverage of our caucus in the budget process, allowing us to proceed first in crafting the [budget] reconciliation bill.”

Pelosi has been working to gain Democrat support regarding a $3.5 trillion budget plan to boost the agenda of the Biden Administration–an agenda including major topics like greenhouse gas reduction and social aid programs and policies. Pelosi also says she’s working toward connecting the budget reconciliation legislation with a previously-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

House Democratic leaders are expected to start discussions of these budget plans with their committees ahead of scheduled voting.

“Our caucus remains united in realizing President Biden’s vision to build back better: creating more jobs, cutting taxes, and lowering health care costs for working families,” Pelosi added. “While the bipartisan [Senate] infrastructure bill offers important progress, it is not reflective of the totality of Democrats’ vision.”

The chamber’s transportation committee is likely to help advance policies within these budget plans as they pertain to severe-weather resilience infrastructure, noted top transportation policymaker of the House, Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon.

“I have consistently advocated for increased federal investment in America’s infrastructure,” he said. “By investing in our infrastructure, we can create good-paying jobs, support American manufacturing, stop sending jobs to China, and strengthen the economy.”

Safer infrastructure and climate crisis-fighting policies will be DeFazio’s main focus, he added.

“I’m committed to continuing to fight for transformational funding and policies in the [budget] reconciliation process that will reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector, support American manufacturing and ingenuity, and create infrastructure that is smarter, safer, and made to last,” he said.

Committees will now work to configure a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan after the Senate offered partisan budget package approval; committees will be expected to develop their budget bill portion by mid-September, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted. This bill in particular is also sponsored by Bernie Sanders, Budget Committee Chairman.

“We will take on the existential threat of climate change by transforming our energy systems toward renewable energy and energy efficiency,” Sanders said. “With Democrats in control of the Senate, we will use reconciliation to benefit the working class.”

The reconciliation measure within the legislative packages presented by congressional committees will aim to require a simple majority for passage and avoid a Senate filibuster. The Senate’s budget assignment will require further investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, severe-weather infrastructure, environmental research programs, and emission technologies to be proposed by the panels which have jurisdiction over highways and freight affairs.

In fact, the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over trucking policy, will be urged to recommend investments of $83 billion in research, manufacturing, economic development, transportation technologies, and coastal infrastructure projects.

For fuel-efficient port construction, environmental justice projects, energy-efficient building construction, climate equity programs, and alternative energy vehicle investments, the Environment and Public Works Committee is also required to propose a $67 billion plan. The Environment and Public Works Committee has jurisdiction over surface transportation policy.

Significant Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding has also received backing from the Environmental and Public Works panel, the leaders of which claim that this funding will be “a strong federal commitment to state and local air quality grant programs as a mechanism to assist state and local governments in implementing and complying with federal environmental requirements.”

These budget plans have received strong backing from the chairman of the Environment and Public Works panel, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware.

“We move forward with a budget that helps working families in Delaware and across the country, and we should pay for these investments with smart, common-sense policies that ensure that the wealthiest among us are paying their fair share,” he explained. “In the days ahead, we’ll need to get to work on legislation laid out in the budget that will tackle the climate crisis, create good-paying jobs, advance environmental justice, and build a better, brighter future for all Americans.”