NTSB Urges Greater Attention to Truck Maintenance Issues

This story appears in the Feb. 16 print edition of Transport Topics.

WASHINGTON — Trucking companies with poor safety records should redouble their maintenance efforts and pay particular attention to brake systems, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said.

“We see issues regarding vehicles that aren’t well-maintained,” Christopher Hart said in an exclusive interview Feb. 5 with Transport Topics.

The use of automatic slack adjusters in brakes has been a big help, but there are too many brake problems found on roadside truck inspections, he said.

Hart said the uptick in truck-involved fatalities since 2009 caught NTSB members’ attention as they made up their annual “10 Most Wanted List” of critical transportation safety issues, which was released in January. He said he hopes the publicity will “move the needle” and reverse the trend.

Hart, who was elevated from vice chairman after the departure of Deborah Hersman, said he sees multiple approaches to diminishing fatalities that would require action by drivers, government regulators and carriers. For fleet executives, though, he stressed that maintenance practices are a significant issue.

NTSB is independent of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and part of its job is to analyze the operations of DOT agencies such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Besides investigating aircraft and other major accidents, the board makes recommendations on carrier and driver issues to FMCSA and on vehicle standards to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Hart also urged that more advanced safety systems should be installed on heavy-duty trucks.

The interview also included, Donald Karol, NTSB’s staff office director for highway safety. He recounted an accident in Chesterfield, New Jersey, where the lift axle on an overweight dump truck did not have its air lines properly installed, causing it to collide with a school bus.

Hart said the board supports systems that either eliminate collisions or mitigate their damage. He specified forward-collision and lane-departure warning systems and said he would like to see in-cab reporting of brake inspections done with sensors — something similar to tire-pressure management systems but for brakes.

One piece of technology the board does not like, he said, is the hands-free mobile phone. While there are numerous laws and regulations against texting while driving, which Hart endorses, he said hands-free devices are not safe.

“If you’re using them, you’re cognition is not on the road,” Hart said.

Karol said NTSB investigated a highway accident where the driver was using a hands-free device and failed to notice a freight train, which hit him.

As for drivers, Hart said the nature of drug problems for drivers in general, including those who operate trucks and buses, is changing and fleet managers need to be aware.

He said problems from abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs are well-known, and commercial drivers are generally good at avoiding them. However, legal prescription and over-the-counter drugs are another matter.

“There is a huge lack of knowledge in this area,” Hart said. “There is no ‘bright line’ test for these drugs like there is for alcohol.”

Fast-talking disclaimers on television commercials tell much of the story, Hart said.

“These are the drugs where they warn you not to operate heavy machinery. We don’t understand all of the interactions, and they need to be measured,” he said.

The board is also starting to look more at the effects of marijuana use on national highway safety after legalization or decriminalization in a number of states.

“We don’t just wait for dead bodies to start showing up,” said Hart, who has been a high-ranking federal transportation official since 1990.

He said he is pleased with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule that creates a certification process for medical professionals conducting physicals, but he also wants constant updating. That means if a driver’s health changes, he or she should be advised promptly on the ramifications of those changes.

Driving while fatigued is a major issue, he said, and he endorsed FMCSA efforts to enact a rule that mandates electronic logging of driver hours, saying electronic devices are superior to paper logs.

Hart renewed a complaint Hersman made a year ago that FMCSA should act more quickly to place poorly performing carriers and drivers out of service. He said he has “sympathy” for FMCSA’s mandate to supervise more than 500,000 motor carriers with a staff of fewer than 1,000 federal inspectors.

He acknowledged, though, that the inspector number is greatly augmented by the efforts of state and local governments.

Hart said some truck accident investigations showed “pretty awful ratings” for drivers and vehicles, but FMCSA did not act on closing the carrier until both halves of the equation were found wanting.

“If the driver is this bad or the vehicle is that bad, why do you need both categories together to put someone out of service?” Hart asked.

Hart said that the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program is based on a sound strategy of, “Look at the ones that are riskiest and get rid of the ones that are riskiest, quickest.”

Karol said DOT did audit the practice and is looking to institute changes.