Reading the July 15 article titled “Carriers Say Wheel Covers Cut Fuel Costs By Making Vehicles More Aerodynamic” raised a flag with my safety sense. Working for a fleet safety firm, we conduct fleet inspections and compliance review audits for carriers looking to improve/maintain their safety performance and scores for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

Independent studies have confirmed that anomalies and flaws exist in the relationship between crash likelihood and a trucking company’s BASIC scores as calculated under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shut down and fined three Chicago-area movers due to safety and consumer-protection violations.

Medical professionals and state driver licensing agencies objected to a proposal to require daily updates of commercial drivers’ physical exam information, telling federal regulators the system would be burdensome and costly.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it has given almost $1 million to six community colleges to train military veterans to drive commercial vehicles.

Federal officials said they are considering developing a program that would use truck drivers’ violation and inspection data to determine whether they are safe and take corrective action against unsafe ones.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it will waive the new rest-break requirement for 90 days for truck drivers who are carrying live animals, because of the above-average temperatures forecast for the summer and fall in much of the United States.

So the latest chapter in the seemingly never-ending saga of the government’s road to a new hours-of-service rule for the nation’s truck drivers has begun, and we can all expect at least a 2% to 3% decline in productivity as a result.

The National Transportation Safety Board asked federal regulators Tuesday to apply some safety technology requirements to straight trucks, vans and pickup trucks that currently only apply to heavy trucks, saying those components could increase safety and prevent deaths.

Most have heard the outcome of MAP-21, the current highway funding law, for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which has said repeatedly that MAP-21 requires it to complete 29 new safety regulations within 27 months.