Government Agencies Looking to Increase Oversight of Truckers and Trucking Companies
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the government agency charged with reducing the number of traffic accidents that involve semi trucks and result in serious injuries or deaths. There are many regulations designed to serve that purpose and make sure semi truck drivers are properly trained and experienced and safe to operate large vehicles. The agency is supposed to monitor trucking companies and truck drivers to make sure the drivers are not driving over the permitted number of hours. Truck drivers who violate these hours of service rules pose serious safety risks to other drivers because they become fatigued. Studies have shown that fatigued truck drivers can be as likely to cause a serious accident as a driver impaired by alcohol.
The FMCSA is starting a new initiative that will help identify trucking companies and truck drivers that are not complying with the safety regulations and are at greater risk of causing serious accidents. The FMCSA is supposed to audit trucking companies, but rarely do because their resources are limited. Driving over hours and while fatigued is a serious problem among truck drivers. There are rules regarding how many hours a person can drive without taking a break. However, this is largely self-regulated by time logs that the truck drivers fill out themselves. If those logs are not properly audited and compared with other records, a truck driver can falsify his/her hours and drive while fatigued without any recourse. Many truck drivers get paid by the mile and are strongly encouraged to be at their destination on time. These facts provide an incentive for truck drivers to drive as much as possible and ignore hours of service rules and signs of fatigue. The trucking industry could use a more active agency that enforces the regulations to try and avoid serious injury and fatal accidents.
