ATA Endorses Texting Ban for All Vehicle Operators

This story appears in the Oct. 12 print edition of Transport Topics.

LAS VEGAS — As the push to outlaw driving distractions grows, American Trucking Associations endorsed a U.S. Senate effort to ban text messaging by motor vehicle operators.

“I’m very proud to be taking that position in support of Sen. [Charles] Schumer’s bill,” ATA President Bill Graves said after the annual Management Conference & Exhibition here Oct. 7. “I think it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing for safety, it’s the right position for our industry to take, so we’re very appreciative of the affirmation of that.”

Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill in July that would strip states of a portion of their federal highway funding if they do not ban texting while driving.

Most fleet executives interviewed here said they felt distracted driving was an issue but were wary of Department of Transportation actions in regard to other in-cab communication systems.

“If we can take anything out of that vehicle that could distract the driver — even for a nanosecond — away from driving, then we need to be behind that and proactive in doing it,” said Tommy Hodges, the new chairman of ATA and chairman of Titan Transfer. “I know a lot of us have communications [devices] in our trucks and . . . they should be used, but used when the vehicle’s stopped.”

“It is not only distracted drivers of commercial vehicles and texting — it is cars, too,” said Hahn Transportation President Barbara Windsor.

Windsor, who led ATA’s safety task force, said a texting ban should extend beyond commercial drivers to “any person who carries a license, commercial or not.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Oct. 1 his department would be writing regulations to outlaw messaging by truck drivers — a ban that could extend to other in-cab communication systems — and limit cell-phone use.

Rose McMurray, the acting head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said it was “possible that in our regulatory approach, there might be an opportunity to make that text messaging decision quicker and then deal later in a different rulemaking with the limitation on the use of cell phones.”

McMurray, in an interview, said it was “possible” that a proposed texting rule could be out before the end of the year. She said the agency needs to define “what does it mean to ban text messaging; we need a clear definition of it.”

“I think we have to separate the civilian use of text messaging, the traditional manipulation of a keyboard,” from other types of distractions, McMurray said. She added that “in an in-vehicle, tractor situation, I think it’s important for us to get right all of the different forms that electronic devices represent.”

Fleet officials are concerned that texting bans could be applied to their in-cab systems that allow dispatchers to contact drivers.

Manufacturers of communications equipment said they were confident they would escape any proposed ban.

Tom Cuthbertson, vice president of service operations for Xata Corp., said the company likely would be able to comply with any regulations because of its interlock system.

“You can’t send or receive message from a vehicle that is in motion,” he said.

Norm Ellis, vice president and general manager for Qualcomm Inc.’s telematics unit, said the firm was “sticking with the same hardware,” which blocks all driver input while vehicles are in motion.

Other providers cited similar safety features.

“Onboard computers, unlike cell phones, are adaptable,” said Ron Konezny, chief executive officer of PeopleNet. “Lockdown is something you cannot do on cell phones.”

Steve Niswander, vice president of safety policy and regulatory relations for Groendyke Transport, said the tank fleet “lock[s] the keyboards out. It is very easy to lock them out.”

Niswander said even though trucks were being looked at first, the industry was not being singled out.

“We’re an easy enforcement target,” he said, “but from a selfish standpoint, it’d be nice if they’d enforce it in cars too.”

An official with the Maryland Department of Transportation, whose agency is contributing to a federally funded alert system that can wirelessly notify truck drivers of available parking near Interstate 95, said the project must now consider alternatives to the original mode of deliver-ing information to truck drivers — cell phones.

“We have to look at alternatives, thanks to the distracted driving summit,” said Ed Miller, motor carrier policy officer for MDOT.

Kevin Burch, chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association and president of Jet Express Inc., said while texting while driving was dangerous, there are other dangers in forcing drivers to stop to receive messages.

“It is impossible for truckers to pull over and stop every time they are called,” Burch said.

It is dangerous for them to pull over on the highway each time and then accelerate back on a highway with other vehicles already traveling at high speeds, he said.

News Editor Neil Abt, Senior Reporter Sean McNally and Staff Reporter Dan Leone contributed to this story.