Truck Safety a Top Priority

Improving surface transportation safety ranks just behind aviation safety as a priority of the Department of Transportation, according to a new report by the department’s inspector general.

The report, written in response to an August request from the House Government Reform Committee, also includes funding surface, marine and airport infrastructure improvements in its list of DOT’s top 10 priorities.

Other top issues include preparing transportation computers to handle the Year 2000 problem, modernizing the air traffic control system, financing the Federal Aviation Administration and the viability of Amtrak.

The report is an overview of issues facing DOT and previews some investigations in progress within the office of the inspector general, an independent watchdog agency.

To improve surface transportation safety, the report recommends improving DOT’s motor carrier safety program, raising the level of safety of commercial trucks and drivers entering the U.S. from Mexico and increasing compliance with hazardous material transportation laws.

The IG also calls for reducing grade crossing and rail trespasser accidents through enforcement, education and technology and enhancing the effectiveness of the Federal Railroad Administration safety programs.

The report did not provide any new light on the current audit of the Office of Motor Carriers, (12-21, p. 8), but did offer an advance look at an unreleased audit of motor carrier safety at the U.S-Mexican border.

“OIG found that Mexican motor carriers had limited experience operating within U.S. safety standards, and the FHWA’s strategy for opening the Mexican-U.S. border to Mexican commercial truck traffic did not provide reasonable assurance, in the near term, that trucks entering the U.S. will comply with U.S. safety regulations,” the report said.

For the full story, see the Dec. 28 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.