FMCSA to Unveil 2017 Agenda at TRB
This story appears in the Jan. 2 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s agenda for the new year will be unveiled on the third day of the Transportation Research Board’s annual conference in Washington this month.
Scott Darling, the agency’s administrator, is likely to provide an update of ongoing reviews of an hours-of-service rule and the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s safety performance scoring system, several transportation groups told Transport Topics. A spokesman for the agency had not previewed the administrator’s presentation.
The agency is awaiting a report from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that will review the hours-of-service regulation pertaining to a weekly 34-hour restart that includes consecutive stretches of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. over two days. Under a new federal funding law, the Department of Transportation will allow truckers to use any 34-hour period desired if the university’s report does not demonstrate specific health benefits for the double 1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. arrangement.
The 96th annual TRB meeting runs Jan. 8-12 at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Washington. About 12,000 people from around the world are expected to attend the 800 sessions and workshops that will feature 5,000 transportation presentations.
According to organizers, the conference’s theme this year will be, “Transportation Innovation: Leading the Way in an Era of Rapid Change.” TRB is a part of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Regarding CSA, the agency took down certain data from public view pending a study. Stakeholders have called on the agency not to proceed with an update of CSA’s methodology until an outside group conducts an independent review of the program.
After Darling’s presentation, Jack Van Steenburg, the agency’s chief safety officer, will lead a discussion on trends in commercial motor vehicle safety during a panel focusing on FMCSA on Jan. 10. After Van Steenburg, Kevin Womack, development and technology director for the U.S. Department of Transportation, will provide a five-year outlook on research, development and technology at the agency.
Larry Minor, associate administrator for policy at FMCSA, also will offer an agency regulatory update, according to the schedule posted on TRB’s website.
Also on Jan. 10, industry leaders are scheduled to examine innovations in freight movement, such as truck platooning. A panel on the practice will feature Susan Alt, Volvo Group North America senior vice president; Steve Boyd, vice president at Peloton Technology; and Daniel Murray, vice president of the American Transportation Research Institute. The industry has begun embracing platooning and other autonomous assistance technologies for drivers.
Conference organizers will host a luncheon on Jan. 11 to honor former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta with the Frank Turner medal for lifetime achievement in transportation. Mineta was secretary from 2001 to 2006 for President George W. Bush.
