ATA Report Cites Trucking Industry’s Safety Progress

There has been substantive progress on more than half of 20 critical steps necessary to further reduce highway crashes, according to a new report released by American Trucking Associations on its progressive safety agenda.

The report comes four years after ATA released its list of safety priorities and called on policymakers to do more to make trucks and their workplace, America’s roadways, safer.

“ATA has been a vocal advocate for making common-sense, data-supported, regulatory and legislative changes to improve the safety of our nation’s highways,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement.

“Regulators and lawmakers at the state and federal level have answered ATA’s calls in several areas, but there is still much more work to be done,” Graves said. “For instance, though Congress has taken positive steps on electronic logging devices and on hair testing for drugs, ATA will continue to press for progress on these issues until meaningful changes are finally implemented.”

The safety agenda was developed by ATA’s Safety Task Force and adopted by the group’s Board of Directors to improve the performance of both commercial and non-commercial drivers, and to make vehicles and motor carriers safer. 

Through the end of 2012, several areas identified by ATA such as the safe use of technology, establishment of a national registry for certified medical examiners and a system to prescreen potential truck drivers have been the subject of positive, substantial change, the group said.