FMCSA Plans New Effort To Improve Truck Safety

August 30, 2000 11:00 AM, EDT

Trucking companies that get unsatisfactory safety fitness ratings from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after Nov. 20 risk being shut down under the agency’s new enforcement authority.

The power to place freight-haulers out of service because of an unsatisfactory rating comes before the development of new procedures for determining safety ratings as requested by trucking interests. FMCSA already has authority to shut down carriers of hazardous material and passenger bus lines within 45 days of receiving an unsatisfactory rating.

An unsatisfactory rating indicates that a carrier does not have adequate safety controls in place, the agency said.

In the past, most freight haulers could be closed by federal authorities only if the operation posed an “imminent hazard,” defined as “any condition of vehicle, employee or carrier which increased the likelihood of serious injury or death if not discontinued immediately.”

Now, FMCSA can put a carrier out of service 60 days after the agency’s safety auditors inform company officials that they will rate the carrier as unsatisfactory. Companies that make a reasonable effort to correct safety problems could get a 60-day extension before they are prevented from carrying freight in interstate commerce.

For the full story, see the Aug. 28 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.