The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced plans to develop new driver-based information systems to track safety and performance. The agency anticipates it will publish a rulemaking on these new initiatives in the Federal Register within a few weeks.
“All research shows that a motor vehicle driver who had previously violated safety regulations is more likely to violate again,” Ian Grossman, FMCSA director of communications told FleetOwner.
One of the initiatives, which FMCSA calls a “driver recourse tool,” would be a system that is similar to SafeStat, except that it would track drivers and not carriers. The system would enable companies and law enforcement officials to track the history of a driver, regardless of whether the driver changes employers or works for multiple employers at once.
A separate initiative would be an addition to the agency’s existing roadside inspection selection system (ISS), except that instead of screening commercial motor carrier vehicles for inspection, it would screen drivers. The driver-based system, called ISS-D, would be integrated with the ISS system, according to FMCSA.
Essentially, according to FMCSA, any driver flagged in the ISS-D system would undergo a Level 3, or “driver only inspection,” which involves a review of driver documentation and carrier credentials.
“It’s another tool for the enforcement agency to prioritize drivers for a driver inspection,” Grossman said. “A look at the logbook and medical [record] are probably the two biggest examples [of documents subject to inspection].”
