Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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14 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | APRIL 2015 JOURNAL NEWS House bill | continued from page 11 took place in his state and brought truck safety into the national headlines. He added that nearly 4,000 people die in truck crashes each year and more than 100,000 more are injured. "That is simply unacceptable to every American," said Booker. "From 2009 to 2012, truck crash injuries increased by 40 percent, and fatalities increased 16 percent. This is absolutely unacceptable. This cannot simply be the cost of doing business." He said there are common-sense steps that can be taken to make highways safer. "There is no place on our roads for tired truckers," added Booker, who said his concerns also include longer and heavier trucks, minimum insurance amounts and driver pay. During the hearing, Fischer asked T.F. Scott Darling, FMCSA's acting administrator, about issues raised concern- ing the data used in the Safety Measurement System and changes the agency planned to make. "The information provided in the SMS data is good data," said Darling. "It's the data we use to prioritize our interven- tions. It's the data used by the public to make decisions every day. It's data that I have also heard from carriers that they use to improve their performance." – David Hollis FMCSA | Continued from page 11 T he Teamsters Union last month filed a lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration following the agency's plans to expand its cross-border trucking pro- gram with Mexico. FMCSA in January announced it was opening the U.S. operating authority application process to all Mexican carriers, partly as a measure to bring the United States into compliance with provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Teamsters' lawsuit alleges that FMCSA's report to Congress – on which it based its decision to open the border to all Mexican-domiciled carriers – "is arbitrary and capri- cious in light of the admitted lack of significant data" gleaned during the agency's three-year cross-border pilot program. The union's claims about the data quality somewhat align with conclusions made by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, which issued a report in December that said FMCSA's data was insufficient given the low number of Mexican carrier participants and the lack of quality inspection data. OIG said in its report that the conclusions FMCSA made from its pilot program – that Mexican carriers are just as safe as U.S. carriers – were invalid given the suspect data. Teamsters' President Jim Hoffa called the agency's decision to open the border "disappointing." "The Teamsters Union will continue to fight for highway safety," Hoffa said. "The safety of our roads cannot be com- promised based on this failed program." The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also has voiced its opposition to FMCSA's move, calling it a politi- cal ploy that would put unsafe operators on U.S. highways. The American Trucking Associations has taken a mostly neutral stance, saying it's fine with the border being opened as long as Mexican carriers and drivers abide by U.S. safety regulations. – James Jaillet Teamsters sue FMCSA over move to open border for Mexican carriers FMCSA in January announced it was opening the U.S. operating authority application process to all Mexican carriers. Part of the safety enhancements, the lawmakers said, would remove the "confusing and conflicting vagaries" of CSA's Safety Measurement System BASIC rankings – a move pushed in the bill by the Transportation Intermediaries Association, a broker trade group. The bill's introduction could be seen as a small victory for truck- ing companies losing business over CSA, said TIA's Chris Burroughs. "Obviously, there is this dark cloud out there that is CSA, and it's hurting carriers' business," Burroughs said. Lawsuits alleging negligent selection of carriers have exacerbated the problem and give cause for concern to carriers, shippers and brokers, he said. "Courts are holding these companies liable for millions of dol- lars because they're saying CSA scores should be just as much a part of the carrier selection process." TIA hopes to make CSA be seen as solely an enforcement tool for regulators rather than a determination about carriers' safety and their hiring worthiness. Though the bill was introduced as standalone legisla- tion, Burroughs said he and his group hope to have it added to any upcoming highway reauthorization bill. That could be as soon as May 31: Congress must pass legislation prior to that date, or the country's Highway Trust Fund will go bankrupt. Trucking groups could push for inclusion of language in any upcom- ing highway funding legislation that would take TIA's request a step further: removing the CSA rankings from public view. – James Jaillet