DOT Proposes New Rule To Assess Motor Carriers’ Safety Compliance
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a rulemaking proposal to improve the agency’s ability to identify non-compliant motor carriers by integrating on-road safety data from inspections, in addition to the results of carrier investigations and crash reports, into the agency’s safety fitness rating methodology to determine a motor carrier’s overall safety fitness (on a monthly basis).
Under the new criteria, a motor carrier will either be “fit” or “unfit” for service and if the latter, then the motor carrier must either improve its operations or cease doing business. The agency currently uses a three-tier rating system of “satisfactory – conditional – unsatisfactory.” The agency estimates that rather than being able to investigate 15,000 motor carriers on an annual basis, the new criteria will allow the agency to assess the safety fitness of approximately 75,000 carriers every month.
Click here for the full text of the proposed rule.
