Regulators Plan Rules on Speed Limiters, Stability Controls, Drug/Alcohol Database

Federal regulators said they plan to issue proposed rules this year covering stability control systems and speed limiters on heavy trucks, as well as establishing a national drug and alcohol clearinghouse for commercial drivers.

The proposals, which also include one to clarify how regulators will use the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program to make carrier safety fitness determinations, were outlined in a Federal Register regulatory update on Feb. 13.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its first notice of proposed rulemaking is targeted for spring and will mandate electronic stability control systems that address rollovers and  crashes involving loss of control.

NHTSA said the rule is being issued “after an extensive research program to evaluate the available technologies, an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and a review of manufacturers’ product plans.”

Rollover and loss-of-control crashes involving heavy vehicles are responsible for an average of 304 fatalities and 2,738 injuries annually, NHTSA said.

The agency also said it plans to issue a second proposed rule in late summer that will mandate the use of speed limiters on heavy trucks.

The rule is being developed in response to petitions from American Trucking Associations and Road Safe America filed back in 2006. NHTSA said the rule will be based on available safety data and will involve minimal cost to install the devices.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it will issue, also in the spring, a proposed rule to better explain its methodology for determining motor carrier fitness determinations.

“Because of the time and expense associated with the on-site compliance review, only a small fraction of carriers (approximately 12,000) receive a safety fitness determination each year,” FMCSA said.

“Since the current safety fitness determination process is based exclusively on the results of an on-site compliance review,” the agency said, “the great majority of carriers subject to FMCSA jurisdiction do not receive a timely determination of their safety fitness.”

FMCSA said the proposed methodology “should correct the deficiencies of the current process.”

“A risk of incorrectly identifying a compliant carrier as noncompliant — and consequently subjecting the carrier to unnecessary expenses — has been analyzed and has been found to be negligible under the process being proposed,” it said.

Also this year, FMCSA plans to issue a final rule on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners to establish training and testing requirements for health care professionals who issue medical certificates to commercial drivers. The rule could require medical examiners to transmit electronically to FMCSA the name of the driver and a numerical identifier with each exam.

It also plans a proposed rule that would create a central database for verified positive tests for controlled substances and alcohol  among commercial driver license holders, and drivers who refuse tests. The rule would require employers of CDL holders to report positive test results and refusals to test into the database.

“ATA has long supported efforts to improve highway safety by increasing deployment of technology like stability control systems and speed limiters, and we have been vocal advocates for establishing a national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results, so we are encouraged that FMCSA is indicating they will attempt to address these issues in the near future,” said Sean McNally, an ATA spokesman.

“Regarding the linking of CSA scores to carrier safety fitness determinations, we have concerns that scores may be inappropriately linked to fitness determinations, but until we see FMCSA’s proposal, we don’t know how serious those concerns will be, so we look forward to reviewing the agency’s proposal when it is published.”