Long Road of Trucking Oversight

How Federal Oversight Developed 1887: Congress establishes Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate commercial activities across state lines. 1935: Federal oversight of truck safety begins with creation of the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety within the ICC. 1966: Department of ransportation is formed and the Highway Safety Act creates National Highway Safety Bureau within Department of Commerce. 1967: Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety and National Highway Safety Bureau are placed under the jurisdiction of Federal Highway Administration in DOT. 1980: Congress deregulates trucking industry, but heightens federal oversight of motor carrier safety. 1986: DOT replaces the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety with Office of Motor Carriers to enhance uniform enforcement of regulations and to increase the visibility of motor carrier safety programs. 1995: President Clinton signs legislation to abolish the Interstate Commerce Commission and to create the Surface ransportation Board within DOT. 1999: In February, OMC is renamed the Motor Carrier and Highway Safety business unit in a merger with the Office of Highway Safety. Source: Department of Transportation and Encarta Online.

Regulators’ relationship with trucking is too close. Federal oversight has not kept pace with the industry. Trucking companies with multiple violations of safety regulations are going unpunished.

Sound like testimony at recent congressional hearings on motor carrier safety? Nope.

They were among the 1970 findings of a team led by consumer safety advocate Ralph Nader that looked at truck safety as part of its investigation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The issues have resurfaced in the ongoing discussions on how to improve truck safety.

“Thirty years ago, Congress was concerned that too few trucks were being inspected, 33% of inspected trucks were placed out of service, and driver fatigue was a major factor in many accidents. These are the same concerns we have today,” said Kenneth Mead, inspector general of the Department of Transportation.

Congress started federal oversight of truck safety in 1935 with the creation of the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety within the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Federal supervision of trucking took another step forward in 1966. That year, the Department of Transportation was established and the Highway Safety Act gave birth to the National Highway Safety Bureau.

A year later, jurisdiction over the two bureaus was placed under the Federal Highway Administration, a division of DOT.

By 1969, the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety had a staff of 155 and an annual budget of $2.1 million. It oversaw 132,000 carriers and about 2 million drivers.

When Congress deregulated trucking, the agency had grown to 239 employees and a budget of $9.5 million in overseeing 165,000 carriers and 3 million drivers.

In 1986, DOT replaced the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety with the Office of Motor Carriers, which then had 321 employees and a budget of $13.9 million.

In February, OMC had 665 employees and a budget of about $53 million to watch over 490,00 trucking and bus companies and 6 million drivers. It was also merged with the Office of Highway Safety and renamed the Motor Carrier and Highway Safety business unit.