Will the FMCSA ever de-regulate or do away with the CSA point system? We’re thinking there’s little chance of that. However, they will be debating some interesting finds, particularly a study done by Wells Fargo in 2011 that directly challenges the conclusions of the DOT’s 2010 study on fatigued drivers.
The U.S. House Highways and Transit Subcommittee has scheduled a Sept. 13 hearing, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of DOT’s Truck and Bus Safety Program,” at 10 a.m., which will be aired here at this link.
Here’s the list of people giving testimony:
- Anne Ferro – Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Steve Owings – Co-Founder of Road Safe America
- David Palmer – Assistant Chief of Texas Department of Public Safety
- Scott A. Mugno – Vice President of Safety and Maintenance, FedEx Ground
- Ruby McBride – Vice President of Corporate Systems, Colonial Freight Systems, Inc.
- Bruce Johnson – Director of Carrier Services, C.H. Robinson
- Bill Gentry – President of Gentry Trailways
A third study done by the University of Maryland will be presented. It states that the entire system can’t accurately generate a BASIC score based on the amount of data, and thus shouldn’t be used in disputes at all.
The trucking industry has raised concerns over including data in score summaries that notate crashes that were not the fault of the truck driver. No matter who is found at fault, the truck driver is still penalized unfairly. Up to this point, the FMCSA hasn’t addressed this important issue. The time may have finally come where this will reach the House floor, if one of the lawmakers decides to quote the University of Maryland study.
You can read the meeting brief here.
More about regulation in the trucking industry by CDL Life.