Senate: FMCSA proposes ‘weak regulations’

The Senate Appropriations committee in July raked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) over the coals for a number of regulatory and other failures. Shown here is FMCSA Administrator John Hill in a recent photo. The Trucker/Kevin Jones

By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff

7/18/2008

The powerful Senate Appropriations committee was highly critical of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regarding the agency’s oversight of the industry and drivers when the committee made its recommendations for the fiscal year 2009 budget.

The committee on July 14 issued its report for SB 3261, “Transportation Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2009,” and in doing so detailed different responsibilities of FMCSA and other agencies which are funded by the bill.

And while the Senate committee recommended $541 million for FMCSA, which is equal to its budget request, the committee was critical of the agency in several areas.

As of press time, FMCSA Administrator John Hill had issued no comment on the report. A spokesman said the administrator was traveling and was in the process of studying the report.

The report stated that FMCSA’s mission is to safeguard the nation’s highways by regulating the motor carrier industry, and is responsible for developing, implementing and enforcing regulations designed to ensure that only qualified drivers and safe vehicles are operating on the nation’s highways.

“Unfortunately,” the Senate report said, “FMCSA has shown a pattern of undermining its safety mission by proposing weak regulations and failing to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of existing regulations.”

In addition to the Senate’s own unfavorable comments of the agency, it also stated that FMCSA has been criticized by the Department of Transportation Inspector General (IG), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the National Transportation Safety Board, and the courts.

The committee began with its take on the Hours of Service rule and stated that “the rules that FMCSA has proposed fail to achieve maximum safety benefits, and in some instances may undermine safety … clear and consistent regulations are critical to the industry, so that they can manage operations in a compliant way; FMCSA has not provided that consistency.”

The Senate report detailed the court’s dismissal of the 2003 and 2005 HOS rules and stated that FMCSA must “once again revise its rulemaking to comply with the law. The committee expects that, after having the rule struck down twice the agency will finally issue a rule that provides clear and consistent guidance to the industry and truly protects the safety of drivers and the driving public.”

FMCSA has promised to publish its latest HOS rule this year, expecting to release it in December.

The GAO uncovered deficiencies in the FMCSA’s drug testing of commercial truck drivers, according to the Senate report. GAO had investigators pose as commercial drivers who visited several sites to obtain DOT-required drug tests. Of the 24 collection sites visited by investigators, 22 were not in full compliance with protocols covering sample collection. Additionally, the GAO found that drivers who have tested positive for drugs with one company can often gain employment with another carrier without positive drug tests being identified. The GAO recommended the creation of a national database of positive and refusal-to-test drug and alcohol test results, and that the FMCSA seek the authority to oversee drug collection sites.

The Senate report also detailed another so-called failure by FMCSA, this one regarding driver’s health. In 2001, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that FMCSA take action to prevent medically unqualified drivers from operating commercial vehicles. NTSB placed this on its 2003 list of “most wanted” recommendations which are those NTSB staff feels will have the greatest impact on safety. A recent notice of proposed rulemaking, however, did not satisfy the concerns of the NTSB and the recommendation remains classified as “open-unacceptable” by them.

The Senate committee stated that it is committed to improving the safety of the nation’s highways and is “greatly concerned with the FMCSA’s actions, or inaction, related to safety recommendations and regulatory development.”

The committee acknowledged that “some progress” was made in reducing the number of large truck fatalities in 2006, but stated that FMCSA must continue to improve its safety efforts in order to foster an industry-wide commitment to safety.