Truck, Bus Groups Ask Secretary Chao to Delay Safety Fitness Determination Rule
Several dozen truck and bus trade organizations have sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asking her to rescind and put on delay a proposed carrier safety fitness determination rule based on the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s scoring system.
“Our major concern with the proposal is that the new proposed methodology utilizes flawed Compliance, Safety and Accountability program/Safety Measurement System data and scores, which Congress directed the [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] to review and reform just months earlier in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Systems [FAST] Act enacted in December of 2015,” the Feb. 15 letter said.
The letter said the reforms are in process with initiation of a study by the National Academy of Sciences expected in June of this year.
“As representatives of the commercial motor vehicle operator industry representing property and passenger carriers, we do not believe it makes sense to build a new safety fitness determination system upon a flawed system that is currently undergoing congressionally mandated review and reform and is likely to change,” it said.
The letter was signed on by national and state organizations ranging from American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association to the National Association of Motorcoach Operators and the National Association of Small Trucking Companies.
“While we support the goal of an easily understandable, rational safety fitness determination system, this proposal is built on a flawed foundation,” the letter said.
