By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor
A CSA advisory panel plans to undertake an extensive review of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s flagship truck safety program.
At a two-day planning session this week, the CSA Subcommittee of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee agreed on a review process that will include presentations from researchers who have been critical of the program.
The subcommittee is charged with preparing CSA recommendations for the full Advisory Committee, which in turn will present its recommendations to the agency. The agency is not obliged to adopt the recommendations but it has asked for counsel as part of its ongoing effort to include the industry and interested parties in the process of refining CSA.
The subcommittee will meet next on Dec. 5 to hear details on the data that underlies the CSA system.
In February it will dive into the details of the system, looking at the focus, priorities and objectives of CSA, and how to ensure that the data reflects safety performance and can predict risk. It also is going to look at regional disparities in how data is reported.
On the agenda are presentations from insurers on how they evaluate risk, and from safety experts on crash investigations and accident reconstruction.
Another presentation will address one of the most intractable CSA issues: how shippers and brokers use the data to make decisions about which carrier they will hire.
The subcommittee plans to invite researchers who have criticized CSA to participate.
On the list is Anthony Gallo, a securities analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, whose research indicates that CSA scores may not reflect either the carrier’s risk or the likelihood of a crash.
Also, University of Maryland professor James Gimple, whose research shows that CSA scores are not valid predictors of crash frequency.
The American Transportation Research Institute, which also has found a disconnect between CSA scores and crash risk, is on the list.
Researchers from FMCSA and the Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center will be on hand, as well.
The subcommittee’s longer-term agenda includes a look at the DataQ system for correcting errors in CSA scores, the impact of court actions on CSA violations, the impact of safety screenings versus inspections at roadside and CSA communications, including outreach and training.
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The Obama Administration is eliminating 46 regulations on traffic signs to provide more flexibility for state and local governments, including allowing communities to replace traffic signs when they are worn out rather than requiring signs to be replaced by a specific date….
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5/11/2012 – Carriers Can Preview Proposed CSA Safety Measurement System Changes
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has updated the CSA Safety Measurement System website and the SMS Preview website. Carriers can log in to to CSA’s Safety Measurement System site to preview the first package of proposed changes through two websites:…
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5/9/2012 – Teamsters Endorse Obama in 2012
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa announced the union’s endorsement of President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. Hoffa made the official announcement to more than 1,500 Teamster members attending the union’s annual conference in Las Vegas this week….
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5/9/2012 – ATA’s Graves Not Optimistic about Highway Bill
The country has a lot on the line in the current negotiations over the highway bill, but Bill Graves, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations, is not optimistic that Congress will do what needs to be done….
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5/8/2012 – Industry and Safety Groups Press for Recorder Mandate
Trucking and safety interests are pressing congressional negotiators to include an electronic onboard recorder mandate in the highway bill they are drafting. In a letter to leaders of the House-Senate conference committee, industry interest groups strongly urged that the mandate be kept in the bill….
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5/8/2012 – Motor Carriers Asked to Weigh in on CSA
This week, the American Transportation Research Institute launched its second annual motor carrier survey to identify CSA impacts on trucking operations, as well as carrier perceptions and attitudes toward FMCSA’s maturing regulatory program….
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5/8/2012 – Stability Control Proposal Nearing Publication
A proposal to require stability control systems on heavy-duty tractors is nearing publication. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposal has been cleared by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the last step in the review process….
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5/5/2012 – CSA Data May Indicate Move by Drivers to Independent Owner-Operators
Federal safety data indicate that carrier registrations have jumped by 7.5% over the past 14 months, possibly reflecting a move by drivers to go into business for themselves, according to an analysis by QualifiedCarriers, a risk management services provider to shippers….
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5/4/2012 – Fuel Economy Standards Could Reduce Transportation Funds by $57 Billion
Proposed fuel economy standards could result in a $57 billion drop in tax revenue that goes to federal transportation funds, says the Congressional Budget Office.
New CAFE standards (or corporate average fuel economy standards), proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency in 2011, would tighten fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles manufactured from 2017 to 2025….
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4/30/2012 – New Jersey Congressmen Call for Suspension in Toll Hikes
Several New Jersey Congressmen asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to delay a second round of toll hikes scheduled for December until the agency can prove it has its finances in order, reports New Jersey’s Star-Ledger.
“The planned toll hikes should be suspended until an external audit determines that the audit recommendations have been addressed,” wrote U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in a letter…
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4/30/2012 – FMCSA Cracks Down on Reincarnated Carriers
A new rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration makes it tougher for carriers that have been sanctioned to reincarnate themselves under a new identity.
The agency last week posted a final rule that changes its procedures in several areas affecting truck lines, intermodal equipment providers, brokers, freight forwards and hazmat proceedings….
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4/27/2012 – Highway Bill Conferees Face Tough Funding Issues but Share Some Common Ground on Policy
The House and Senate have chosen their conferees for negotiations on the highway bill. They have until June 30 to work out a deal or pass another extension.
The conferees’ toughest challenge will be to agree on the duration and funding of the bill, but their portfolio includes numerous important policy issues, including truck safety and program reforms at the Department of Transportation….
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4/26/2012 – ATA, OOIDA Square Off on EOBR Debate
In advance of the upcoming conference committee meetings on the surface transportation bill, the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are urging passage or rejection (respectively) of the Senate’s EOBR requirement….
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4/25/2012 – Transport Experts Say Public Must Push Congress to Act on Highways
Congress can’t do its job on the highway bill, so the public is going to have to take the lead, says a group of infrastructure experts including five former secretaries of transportation.
The federal highway program is now running on its ninth temporary extension because Congress will not compromise on how to pay for it, said the 60 experts brought together by the University Virginia’s Miller Center….
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