Recently confirmed as the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Robin Hutcheson spoke at the American Trucking Associations’ 2022 Management Conference & Exhibition on Oct. 22, addressing industry concerns and outlining her priorities.
“We’re listening and hearing lots of other things that are coming from you that need to shape and focus our work,” Hutcheson reportedly said. “One of the things we are hearing so much about is the hardships of truck parking. We know that the difficulties associated with truck parking are disruptive to the supply chain, and it exposes drivers to danger. Research shows that driver fatigue contributes to about one of every seven commercial motor vehicle crashes.”
Hutcheson’s appointment as FMCSA administrator drew wide-reaching trucking industry support and many are optimistic she will help improve working conditions. Much of the terminology coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation has involved broad political-speak. Initiatives to improve equity, climate issues, and safety have been touted. How these broad terms impact people working in the freight hauling sector became a tad clearer after Hutcheson delivered her remarks at the ATA conference.
“Equity is a priority for us. We’ve heard about safety issues for women, including sexual violence and harassment. It keeps women from working as drivers,” Hutcheson reportedly, referring to the Women of Trucking Advisory Board. “We are very hopeful for the work of this board and to help women pursue careers in trucking; to enhance scholarship opportunities; and to enhance industry-related training, mentorship, education, and outreach programs.”
The administrator noted that job satisfaction remains a critical issue in onboarding more women and younger truck drivers. She indicated that a pair of studies are in the works that could help improve detention time and compensation issues. The FMCSA is also updating the Large Truck Crash Causation Study after upwards of 20 years. The move is reportedly linked to a desire to resurrect controversial speed-limiter rulemaking. More than 16,000 comments have already been posted on the Federal Register involving the speed-limiter rulemaking.
Other FMCSA officials spoke about issues such as distracted driving and the national truck parking shortage. The organization appears inclined to work more closely with law enforcement to identify high crash zones and the conditions that lead to accidents.
“We are going in real-time, using law enforcement and inspectors, and we are going to have post interviews of drivers, witnesses, and so forth, and we will do an in-depth examination of the report,” FMCSA executive director and chief safety officer Jack Van Steenberg reportedly said. “We will have the hard details. If you look at the National Roadway Safety Strategy, we are looking at data and at high crash quarters out there. The bipartisan infrastructure bill gave us a lot more funding to give to our grantees, like state troopers and local police. What we’ve asked them is to identify high-crash locations and put some efforts into those locations to reduce the incidents of crashes.”
Trucking industry insiders anticipate the FMCSA may issue a truck speed-limiter mandate in late spring or early summer of 2023.
Source: fleetowner.com
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