Safety

In these times of failure to budget, filibusters and perpetual political campaigns, it is gratifying to see government and industry agree on some practical ideas, namely the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on eliminating impaired driving.

The Transportation Security Administration’s $23 million pilot test of Transportation Worker Identification Credential biometric card readers at 17 sites failed to prove that the technology actually works as intended, according to a new government report.

Passenger motorists would be considered drunk and prohibited from driving if their blood-alcohol content exceeded 0.05, based on recommendations proposed last week by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will propose a regulation later this year that would absolve truck drivers of their duty to file reports about truck and trailer inspections that do not find any equipment defects, a federal official said.

Medical professionals would be required to report the results of physical examinations of commercial drivers to the federal government on the same day as the exam under a regulation proposed last week.

The Transportation Security Administration has awarded a contract to Triumph Enterprises Inc. to continue a program, initially started by American Trucking Associations, to train commercial drivers to spot possible terrorist activities on U.S. highways, according to a memo obtained by Transport Topics.

American Trucking Associations launched a program last week aimed at training young trucking executives to become leaders within the association through a yearlong series of educational and networking sessions.

AUSTIN, Texas — Anne Ferro, the nation’s top truck safety official, told tank truck executives here that while she salutes their commitment to safety, she is determined to use her agency’s authority to eliminate unsafe carriers and bad commercial drivers.

Federal officials said Thursday they have shut down four Kansas trucking companies, alleging that three of them are reincarnations of the fourth and that they were created to avoid financial penalties and an out-of-service order.

The federal government issued guidelines Tuesday to encourage automakers to limit the potential for driver distractions from electronic systems built into passenger cars, including those that connect to cellphones and the Internet.