As we pondered article topics for this newsletter, a light came on as we read the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s announcement that it was expanding the number and type of truck-involved crashes eligible for its Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP). That proverbial light was shining on the progress the motor carrier industry has made in the past two decades, advocating for far-reaching and important programmatic and regulatory changes.  Here’s a quick rundown of some of these meaningful changes, and why we should pause to celebrate them.

After years of industry advocacy, STC personnel recall participating in a trucking industry safety conference in 2004 when FMCSA first unveiled the DataQs data correction program. Twenty years later, tens of thousands of trucking companies across the country regularly submit corrective action requests to FMCSA to improve the accuracy of important safety data used to generate Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores, as well as industry-generated driver scorecards, among other things.  This important FMCSA program is designed to help ensure publicly available driver and company safety data is accurate and complete, which allows better oversight of the industry by FMCSA and more accurate carrier and driver safety scores.

Also In the early 2000s, industry safety professionals began asking whether FMCSA’s safety event database, containing driver-specific crash and inspection data, could be accessed by motor carriers during the driver hiring process.  These innovative safety professionals believed a driver-specific crash and inspection violation history report could be an effective driver background screening tool.  After years of industry advocacy, FMCSA created and implemented the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) in 2010.  This program allows motor carrier hiring personnel to obtain a report showing a prospective driver’s 5-year crash history and 3-year roadside inspection violation history.  The PSP program quickly gained popularity and now, 14 years after its creation, thousands of trucking companies regularly use PSP to help screen and hire safe, compliant professional drivers.

The Crash Preventability Determination Program is another great example that started with industry discontent over the newly created CSA. After years of advocacy, FMCSA, compelled by Congress, agreed to roll out CPDP in 2019. Over the years, the program has continued to evolve and provides a useful tool for carriers to improve their CSA scores.

Shifting from programmatic to regulatory changes, two critically important regulatory changes in the last few years are the implementation of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) and the National CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse.  The ELD mandate, while more controversial than most safety rules, was supported and promoted by a large part of the trucking industry and became a reality in 2019, after a 4-year implementation period.  ELDs have made it more difficult for unscrupulous drivers and companies to falsify time records, resulting in a more level playing field and better compliance with driving time limits.

And, after more than a decade of industry advocacy, in 2020 FMCSA stood up the long-needed National Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse (DACH).  This tool has closed a longstanding loophole in FMCSA’s drug and alcohol testing program that allowed some drivers to conceal prior drug and/or alcohol testing violations.  And, as a result, those drivers have been forced to address their drug or alcohol problem or move on to a different industry that does not have the same public safety risks.

These safety programs and rules have undoubtedly resulted in meaningful improvements in the motor carrier industry, and they would not have occurred without professional and persistent industry advocacy, and FMCSA’s receptiveness and hard work in making them happen.  As we prepare for the end-of-year holiday season, the industry-government collaboration it took to make these programs happen is a cause for celebration.  Public highway safety has been the beneficiary.

Next up…more industry persistence and advocacy to make a Beyond Compliance program a reality!