The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) yesterday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would raise the standards for passing the new-entrant safety audit.
The agency identified 11 regulations it believes are essential to safe operation of carriers in interstate commerce, and proposes that failure to comply with any one of them result in an automatic failure of the audit.
The proposed rule would improve FMCSA’s ability to identify at-risk carriers and ensure that deficiencies in safety management controls are corrected before permanent registration is granted.
“The stricter new standards will require new companies and their drivers to show they are prepared to operate safely on our nation’s highways,” said John H. Hill, FMCSA Administrator.
Comments are due by February 20, 2007.
More information on this rule is available at the Federal Register.
