Security & Safety Briefs — Feb. 15 - Feb. 21
This briefing can be e-mailed to you every week. Just click here to register.The Latest Headlines:
- Idaho Bill to Raise Truck Speeds to 70 MPH Fails
- Railroad Administration to Set HOS Rules
- ATA Backs Medical Certificate/CDL Merger
- Driver Passport Teams With CSSG
- Railroad Administration to Set HOS Rules
Idaho Bill to Raise Truck Speeds to 70 MPH Fails
An Idaho bill that would have raised the speed limit for trucks to 70 miles per hour from 65 mph, but reduced the overall speed limit for automobiles, has died in a Senate committee, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.Sen. Tim Corder (R) had hoped to advance the measure, which would have lowered the speed limit for autos from 75 mph, AP reported.Corder said the idea behind the bill was that if both cars and trucks were traveling at 70 mph, they would pass each other less and there would be fewer accidents as a result. He said 39 states already have the same speed limits for cars and trucks on their highways.But lawmakers deferred to residents, who sent dozens of e-mails opposing the change, and committee members voted unanimously Tuesday to kill the bill, AP reported. Transport TopicsRailroad Administration to Set HOS Rules
The Federal Railroad Administration said it would regulate railroad workers’ hours of service under a rail safety reauthorization bill submitted to Congress last Wednesday.FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman said the proposal will replace railroad hours-of-service laws, first enacted in 1907, with regulations on worker fatigue.The rules, which set the maximum on-duty or minimum off-duty hours for train crews, dispatchers and signal maintainers, would now be set by the FRA, much like hours-of-service standards are set for airline pilots and truck drivers, he said.A Teamsters union official told a House subcommittee Feb. 13 that fatigue is a “significant safety threat to rail workers and the public.” Transport TopicsATA Backs Medical Certificate/CDL Merger
ATA filed comments last Wednesday with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration urging the agency to address several issues prior to merging drivers’ medical qualification certificates with commercial driver license records.The comments were in response to a proposed rule published in the Nov. 16 Federal Register. (Click here for previous coverage.) ATA requested that FMCSA first conduct a rulemaking pertaining to certification of medical examiners, provide for motor carrier access to an online electronic system to monitor driver medical qualifications, assure that motor carriers continue to have an active role in the medical oversight process of drivers and ensure that state licensing agencies maintain a high level of conformance with applicable requirements of a new rule. Transport TopicsDriver Passport Teams With CSSG
Driver Passport, a provider of online truck driver verification and identification systems, said last week it had formed a “strategic partnership” with another security company to offer customers more services.Driver Passport said its new partner, Corporate Security Services Group, will provide services including comprehensive employment screening services and on-site specific security plans.The new system will also target the identification of truckers with unsafe driving records in the pre-hire screening, because such drivers usually practice the same unsafe habits in job after job, Driver Passport said.Terms of the partnership were not disclosed. Transport TopicsPrevious Security & Safety Briefs
