Government Trucking Regulators Get Poor Grades
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the government entity responsible for regulating semi truck drivers and trucking companies to make the roadways as safe as possible and try to prevent injuries and fatalities caused by semi truck accidents. The FMCSA's performance in regulating the trucking industry was recently evaluated by the Senate Appropriations Committee with unsatisfactory results. The report indicated that the FMCSA showed a "pattern of undermining its safety mission by proposing weak regulations and failing to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of existing regulations."
Specifically, the report criticizes the FMCSA's inability to settle on a feasible hours of service rule which regulates the number of hours a truck driver can drive consecutively, and over a certain period of time, to avoid dangerously fatigued drivers operating heavy tractor trailers on the roads. The report also criticizes regulations related to the standard for obtaining a commercial driver's license (CDL) and effective drug testing of truck drivers. All commercial motor vehicle drivers are required to pass a test and acquire certain knowledge regarding truck driving and the federal regulations before they drive a semi truck. Additionally, semi truck drivers are required to take a drug test before they are hired to drive a semi truck and after any accident that they cause or contribute to that causes injury or serious property damage. However, those drug testing regulations are poorly enforced in terms of making sure truck drivers take the drug tests and penalizing those who either do not take the test or fail the test. Alarmingly, there is often no recourse for a semi truck driver who either refuses to take a drug test or fails a drug test after causing a serious injury accident.
