Rule-Makers Have a Hard Time Hitting the Deadline

When it comes to delivering new safety rules for the trucking industry, regulators — who are required to navigate a treacherous course of legal obstacles — haven’t exactly provided just-in-time service.

The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety has missed congressionally set deadlines on safety regulations by as much as seven years, leading to frustration on the part of lawmakers and trucking alike.

Agency officials blame several roadblocks — a lengthy review process, a heavy workload and a staff shortage — for the delays.

“We have a large number of rules pending,” said Julie Cirillo, who heads the office. “Since we don’t have unlimited resources, we take the ones that are the highest priority and work on them first.”

Among the overdue rules are:

• An update of the hours of service for truck drivers, ordered by Congress to be completed by March 1, 1999. Cirillo hopes to issue a proposed rule this fall.
• Creation of a unified carrier registration system to replace a myriad of systems currently in operation. The rule was supposed to be completed Jan. 1, 1999. Cirillo hopes to have a draft rule out this fall.
• Minimum training standards for drivers of longer combination vehicles, which were supposed to be issued by March 16, 1993. That proposal is on the back burner, because Congress has not authorized any expansion of LCV routes and there is no great need for additional drivers.

Since Cirillo joined the agency in February, OMCHS has issued new regulations requiring carriers to install reflective materials on trailers manufactured before 1993 and has proposed prohibiting carriers that receive unsatisfactory safety ratings from continuing to operate.

The agency has also proposed updating the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.