FMCSA May Test Proficiency Of Start-Up Motor Carriers

By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter

This story appears in the Aug. 31 print edition of Transport Topics.

In its first major regulatory action under the Obama administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said last week it may for the first time require new trucking companies to pass a proficiency exam before being allowed to begin operations.

FMCSA said in an Aug. 25 notice in the Federal Register that it was “considering whether to implement a proficiency examination as part of our revised new entrant safety assurance process.”

In the notice, FMCSA said it is seeking “information concerning issues that should be considered in the development and use of such an examination.”

FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne said if the agency adopted an exam as part of the new entrant process, it would be in addition to the existing regulations.

Finalized in the waning days of the Bush administration, the new en-trant process requires new trucking companies to submit to a safety audit within 18 months of opening shop, and would shutter any that fail to comply with any one of 16 federal safety rules (12-22&29, p. 31).

Former FMCSA Administrator John Hill told Transport Topics that while he was with the agency, officials were “strategizing about ways that we could deal with new entrants . . . we felt like there needs to be a little bit higher bar to entry.”

“So, we thought maybe an entrance exam, or some other elevated bar to entry could achieve that,” he said, but added that since an entrance exam was not part of the agency’s proposal in 2006, it was not included in final rule.

“We couldn’t incorporate it at the last minute, but we felt it was very important to consider it and frankly, I’m very pleased to see that the agency is looking for ways to sharpen this up a little bit,” Hill said.

DeBruyne said the agency and its partners conduct roughly “40,000 safety audits conducted each year,” that the “majority [of new entrants] are small operators of between one and five trucks.”

However, he did say that larger, existing firms may be subject to the new rules under some circumstances.

“Someone buying a trucking company from outside the industry is purchasing business assets and business liabilities, [but] U.S. DOT operating authority cannot be purchased,” DeBruyne said. “The new owners would have to apply to obtain their own operating authority [and] they would be considered a ‘new entrant.’ ”

The lack of a proficiency exam in the final rule, along with other issues led Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety to file a petition with the agency to reconsider the entire rule.

FMCSA said its investigation of a proficiency exam “responds to issues raised by” the advocacy group.

The notice asks for comment on issues ranging from the feasibility of creating a new testing regime and the cost to operate it, to how a test should be administered.

Henry Jasny, general counsel for the Advocates, said the group was “happily reading this and hoping that they will fully reconsider their position on new entrant proficiency exams.”

The advocacy group often has been critical of FMCSA and has repeatedly challenged agency actions on topics such as hours of service and Mexican trucks.

Advocates filed a petition with FMCSA in January, asking it to reconsider a number of issues with the new entrant rule, and while Jasny said he hoped other issues may be resolved through this process, the exam “was one big issue . . . that they hadn’t addressed.”

An exam would “hopefully in-crease the level of safety knowledge and operating safety on the roads. It’s important to do some screening of new entrant motor carriers and what their familiarity is with the rules and regulations, rather than have people just starting up and learning as they go along” he said. “That kind of experiment on our highways is unsafe.”

Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations with American Trucking Associations, said the federation was “pleased FMCSA is taking a hard look at ways to raise the safety bar for new carriers.”

Potentially reopening the new entrant rule “gives ATA an opportunity to advocate for a required ‘Safety Management 101’ training course for new carriers — a key element of ATA’s safety agenda,” Osiecki said.

There already are a number of government-sponsored and private testing that could be used as a basis for a new federal standard, he said.

“It may not be a one-for-one match, but there are exams and courses in the marketplace that might serve as models,” Osiecki said. “This is not plowing entirely new ground.”

Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said that an exam “is something that makes some sense.”

“Any chance we can get to reach out and educate carriers about their responsibilities under the regulations is a good thing,” he said.