The trucking industry’s widely held concerns that recent changes to the federal safety-rating program are causing sudden, dramatic shifts in some carriers’ scores is justified, according to an analysis by several companies that help fleets manage their safety programs.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration took exception recently to a little-noticed stock analyst report that said there was no relation between two of the agency’s key safety scores and actual truck-involved crashes, saying there is actually a strong correlation between a carrier’s unfavorable safety scores and high crash rates.

Federal officials could reduce the number of fleets that evade enforcement penalties by gaining new operating authority if they closely compared new motor carriers’ information to old carriers that had legal issues, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Several interest groups currently challenging the federal government’s hours-of-service rule said they will ask an appeals court to reduce the maximum daily driving limit to less than 11 hours, reject the rule’s definition of driver off-duty time and eliminate the 34-hour restart provision.

Changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety ratings program that place additional emphasis on hazardous materials handling are apparently causing a steep spike in scores of some carriers with otherwise “exemplary” safety records, an executive with American Trucking Associations said last week.

SAN ANTONIO — An official with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the agency will begin soon to count some chassis safety violations against truckers, the next step toward full implementation of federal chassis safety rules.

New federal food safety regulations will bring new requirements to refrigerated trucking fleets, although many of the rules — which will not affect carriers directly — simply could reflect current best practices in the industry, according to manufacturers and experts.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has decided to raise the importance of hazmat handling under its new safety rating program, while it will reduce the emphasis on load securement.

American Trucking Associations will challenge several provisions of the new federal hours-of-service rule, including its restart provision, a mandatory 30-minute break and a narrowing of certain exceptions for local delivery drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s last-minute decision to delay its highly anticipated review of how it assigns fault in truck-related crashes has seriously damaged the agency’s credibility with the trucking industry, according to some industry officials.