The American Trucking Associations (ATA) announced its bold new 18-point safety agenda that addresses commercial and passenger vehicle driver performance, safer vehicles and equipment, and motor carrier performance.
ATA said the new recommendations should further reduce highway crash statistics, although large truck crash fatality rates and injury rates are already at their lowest point since the federal government began reporting those figures thirty years ago.
Following the adoption, ATA released a synopsis of the 18 recommendations:
Improving Driver Performance
- A policy on the use of non-integrated technologies while the vehicle is in motion
- A policy supporting uniform commercial drivers license (CDL) testing standards
- Support for a CDL graduated licensing study
- Support for additional parking facilities for trucks
- Support for a national maximum 65mph speed limit
- Strategies to increase the use of seat belts
- Support for a national car-truck driver behavior improvement program
- Support for increased use of red light cameras and automated speed enforcement
- Support for graduated licensing in all states for non-commercial teen drivers
- Support for more stringent laws to reduce drinking and driving
Safer Vehicles
- Support for targeted electronic speed governing of certain non-commercial vehicles
- Electronic speed governing of all large trucks made since 1992
- Support for new large truck crashworthiness standards
Safer Motor Carriers
- Support for a national employer notification system
- Creation of a national clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol test results of CDL holders
- Support for a national registry of certified medical examiners
- Policy supporting access to the national Driver Information Resource
- Support for required safety training by new entrant motor carriers
The ATA has long pursued a safety agenda including promoting greater safety belt use by commercial drivers, re-instituting a national maximum speed limit, speed governing of all new trucks, and a decade long initiative to create a national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
A bill submitted to congress in May, Safe Roads Act, S. 1113, is calling for a U.S. DOT National Drug Clearinghouse database to store commercial motor vehicle operators' positive drug and alcohol tests results and records of refusals to take the tests.
The Safe Roads Act is a national database that's being modeled after Arkansas' Commercial Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing Act. The concept of a national database was included in the ATA's Safety Task Force Recommendations and has been a goal of the ATA for 10 years. A National Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse will address a well-known loophole in the federal drug and alcohol testing requirements for commercial drivers that is being exploited by some substance-abusing drivers.
"ATA is very pleased that steps have been taken to close a longstanding loophole in the drug and alcohol testing program," said Dave Osiecki, ATA VP of Safety, Security & Operations.
"When a driver moves from one trucking company to another, some positive drug and alcohol test results are not being discovered by the hiring company because the results are not centrally tracked," said Osiecki. "A National Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse will allow companies to more easily obtain this critical safety-related information during the hiring of commercial drivers."
The Safe Roads Act would:
- Authorize $5 million annually for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to develop and deploy the national clearinghouse;
- Require medical review officers, employers and other service agents to report positive results from drug or alcohol tests to the FMCSA;
- Require employers to check the database for prospective employees' records prior to hiring; and
- Protect employees' privacy and define employees' rights to challenge information in the database.
This bipartisan legislation would aid in assuring that during the hiring process, motor carriers are aware of driver applicants' previous positive test results, and in ensuring the nation's roads remain safe from undetected substance abusers. S. 1113 addresses this unacceptable risk.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.