Most readers of this column, much like myself, have faced countless delays at airports as part of their business travel. We’ve all felt the angst and frustration you get when looking at the flight board and your “On-Time” departure suddenly changes to “Flight Delayed.” Be it weather or maintenance issues, or even some random one-time occurrence, it seems we have all been there. Saying that, this very column seems to be reporting more and more on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rulemaking delays.
I, and many others like me, have reported on the rather aggressive regulatory schedule that was dictated to FMCSA by MAP-21, the most recent surface transportation bill. We never really considered the actual speed in which these rules could be delivered. I don’t mean to sound sour on the agency, but it appears as if the majority of the anticipated rulemakings or supporting studies are now changing their flight status to delayed.
Even worse than delays, some rulemakings have been withdrawn altogether. The entry-level driver training rule, which would have mandated minimum training requirements, including behind-the-wheel time for people vying for a commercial driver’s license, has been withdrawn from the rulemaking process. After six years, over 700 comments, and two listening sessions, the agency appears to want to rely upon further studies, including a random sampling of drivers who have recently received their CDL. Clearly, the information derived from such stalwarts of driver training like the Professional Truck Driver Institute, the Commercial Vehicle Training Assn. or the National Assn. of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools were not enough on which to base a sound ruling. After all, the specialty of these organizations is driver training. To that end, though, more time is needed—and we as an industry continue to play the waiting game.
It appears the waiting game is exactly what the doctor prescribed for hours-of-service studies on the 34-hour restart provision and a crash weighting research plan for CSA that could help bring the topic of crash accountability to CSA. This research plan is in no way related to the 10-year plan that the agency recently outlined to develop a driver safety fitness determination, a program that most carriers already possess through third-party vendors.
Waiting seems to be the order of the day when it comes to rulemakings. With wait times of years and even decades for rules that make sense, the industry’s patience level is beginning to wear thin. We wait and wait for rules that make sense, for rules that will actually level a playing field and mandate the same for everyone. An electronic logging device rule that all must abide by continues to elude us, while a clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results has gone way past the normal 90-day time frame for review at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Much like our drivers on the roadways these days, instead of waiting in traffic because of the wait on highway funding to improve our roads, these important rules continue to flounder in bureaucratic red tape. And the industry that anxiously awaits them sees their status change to “delayed” time and again.
David Heller, CDS, is director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Assn. He is responsible for interpreting and communicating industry-related regulations and legislation to the membership of TCA. Send comments to [email protected].
