Opinion: Is Anyone Listening to Industry’s Concerns?

This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

By Greg Fulton

President

Colorado Motor Carriers Association

I just read about another public hearing that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is planning to conduct. This is the latest in a number of public hearings and listening sessions that have been held over the past few years on a variety of proposed rules, interpretations and regulations aimed at the trucking industry.

The purpose of these hearings and listening sessions is to receive input from the affected parties and interested groups and individuals. Doing our part in the process, we, along with many others in the trucking industry, have participated and provided comments during many of these sessions on a variety of proposed rules, interpretations, etc. Unfortunately, I have found over time that in too many cases at the state and federal level, many of these public hearings and listening sessions appear to be long on time and short on listening.

All too often, it appears the state or federal agency is going through the motions to meet federal or state requirements without really listening. How else can one explain the outcomes of some of these processes, where listening sessions and public hearings were conducted?

In surveys over the past five years conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute, where they survey thousands of people in the trucking industry, both hours of service and the Compliance, Safety, Accountability scoring system have ranked consistently in the top five issues of concern. To put this in perspective, those two issues ranked higher than concerns about the economy and our nation’s transportation infrastructure, which are contributing to congestion problems on our highways.

Why do these two issues continue to rank so high?

In the case of the proposed hours-of-service rule, hundreds of companies and thousands of drivers provided comments, testimony and input at these sessions and into the docket to FMCSA, pointing out the flaws in the analysis and the difficulties and problems this proposed rule would create for the industry. Despite the overwhelming concerns about the proposed HOS rule by the actual drivers and companies involved daily in trucking, the final rule that was published was only slightly changed.

In regard to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability evaluation system, FMCSA has expressed interest in receiving input from the industry on improving the program. The agency has conducted listening sessions, advisory groups, surveys and other strategies aimed at gauging concerns of trucking companies and drivers. To its credit, FMCSA has acted on several industry requests, such as adding vehicle miles traveled as a measure of exposure and the renaming of the Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC — one of seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories.

Unfortunately, the two major frustrations with CSA remain unaddressed. Those concerns include the inclusion of nonpreventable crashes on a carrier’s record and the publishing of CSA scores for public view — despite the findings of the Government Accountability Office that CSA scores often are unreliable.

Because of the lack of progress in addressing the problems in these programs, American Trucking Associations and other trucking groups have sought the assistance of Congress. The industry has sought to incorporate provisions to maintain the old HOS rule and make long-overdue and needed changes in the CSA program.

The old HOS rule is being enforced because Congress temporarily suspended new HOS rules for truck drivers.

Some groups have criticized the trucking industry and have called this an “end-around” of the process. They have indicated that the industry should bide its time and work through the existing processes as established by FMCSA in hopes that the concerns of the industry and its drivers would be addressed.

But what happens when, despite substantial proof, comments and testimony — such as in the case of the HOS rule and CSA — the federal agency fails to act? In those cases, the only option is to approach the legislative body that, in this specific case, has been willing to listen.

My hope is that, in a couple of years, when ATRI surveys those in the trucking industry, neither hours of service nor the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program will make even the Top 10 list of issues. If that occurs, we’ll know that someone has listened and addressed the problems with these programs.

Until then, one can expect both of these issues to remain at the top of the list of trucking industry concerns.

The Colorado Motor Carriers Association, headquartered in Denver, includes 650 companies and has represented Colorado’s trucking industry to local, state and federal governments for more than 75 years.