ATA response to unhealthy drivers story: trucking safest it’s ever been

“If the federal government enacted ATA’s proposal to require speed limiters and lower the speed limit, many more lives would be saved,” ATA maintains.

The Trucker News Services

7/22/2008

WASHINGTON — The American Trucking Associations said today that while it supports the recommendations to improve the medical qualification process for CDL holders, the public should recognize that medical problems cause less than 3 percent of truck accidents.

In contrast, speeding and aggressive driving cause 42 percent, and failure to pay attention causes 35 percent, Tiffany Wlazlowski, the ATA’s director of public affairs and deputy press secretary, said.

“If the federal government enacted ATA’s proposal to require speed limiters and lower the speed limit, many more lives would be saved,” Wlazlowski said.

The AP story and the GAO report fail to properly represent the trucking industry’s commitment to safety, including the fact that ATA supports all of the changes suggested and, in some cases, ATA was the first to suggest the change, she said, adding that the positive drug test clearing house, for example, was requested by ATA some 10 years ago.

“The GAO report makes much of their finding that it found CDL holders who were on Social Security or VA disability — but being on either SS or VA disability does not disqualify one from having a CDL,” Wlazlowski said.

While the report did several times mention the fact that some CDL holders were issued licenses after going on full disability, the GAO did acknowledge that being on disability did not necessarily disqualify a person from holding a CDL.

Wlazlowski pointed to the industry safety record.

“By all relevant measures, the trucking industry is the safest it has ever been since record-keeping began,” she said. “The fatality rate is 2.25 fatalities per 100 million miles, the lowest ever recorded. The number of fatalities has fallen below 5,000, not the 5,300 the AP article stated. The injury crash rate is down to 34.4 crashes per 100 million miles — a record low. The property damage crash rate is down to 128.6 — a record low.”

The ATA has been a strong proponent of a national speed limit for trucks.

In October 2006, the ATA petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to limit maximum speed of large trucks at the time of manufacture to no more than 68 miles per hour and petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to prohibit the tampering or adjustment of speed limiting devices to greater than 68 mph.

Neither agency has taken action on the petitions.

Wlazlowski said the ATA supports updating and improving medical qualification standards for CMV drivers that currently date to the 1970s.