FHWA Report Hails European Trucking Practices
Trucking in Europe can provide valuable guidance to its U.S. counterparts, according to a study commissioned by the Office of International Programs at the Federal Highway Administration.
Recommendations offered in the 50-page report included:
The recently released report strongly supports practices common across the Atlantic Ocean, such as more comprehensive and extensive driver education; public and private partnership in development of safety practices and standards; safety compliance based on self-certification; and research on safety devices and technology that includes input from users.
Specific ideas the group took from its examination of European trucking and adopted into recommendations for the U.S. industry were divided into three groups: human resource management, vehicle safety systems, and regulation and enforcement.
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- Standardizing and round-ng out curricula for driver education.
- Using performance-based driver assessment.
- Developing system standards for cab “crash-worthiness.”
- Focusing on more driver interaction with safety devices.
- Using crash data for development of better vehicle design.
- Working on driver acceptance of safety systems to ensure maximum use.
- Focusing inspection procedures on improving motor carrier safety programs to allow for possible self-certification of safety systems.
- Using in-house inspections and third-party advisers to improve safety compliance, which would then allow the government to focus on high-risk carriers.
- Establishing a “Safety Forum” of both public and private entities to discuss and resolve safety issues.
- Holding a national safety conference to focus on safety issues raised by the report.
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