Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Safety Performance History of New Drivers

September 2, 2003 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 400 Seventh Street, SW Nassif Building Room PL-401 Washington, DC 20590-0001 Re:Docket No. FMCSA-97-2277: Safety Performance History of New Drivers Dear Docket Clerk: The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) submits the following comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in response to the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) published in the July 17, 2003 Federal Register at 68 Fed Reg. 42339. TCA is the national trade association representing the truckload segment of the trucking industry. Truckload carriers account for approximately 97 percent of the for-hire freight tonnage annually transported by motor carriers. Matters relating to and affecting the qualifications and safety performance history of the drivers who operate for trucking companies are of vital interest to our members. TCA therefore appreciates the opportunity to submit our thoughts and concerns regarding FMCSA's supplemental rule. SUMMARY OF POSITIONS ·The time frame allowed for past employers to provide information should be reduced to five days ·TCA supports the right of drivers to challenge erroneous information, however TCA recommends several changes to the appeals and dispute resolution process FMCSA has proposed, which will benefit carriers without compromising drivers' rights ·TCA is, at this time, opposed to providing insurers unrestricted access to safety performance history information about drivers whom carriers are considering hiring ·Proposed section 391.23(d)(2)(i) will require accident data elements that will not be relevant or helpful to a carrier's hiring decision and should be revised ·The safety objectives of the proposed rule would be greatly enhanced if carriers were given access to the Motor Carrier Management Information System's (MCMIS) driver-related data TCA'S COMMENTS The need for trucking companies to be able to obtain and have the ability to share information relating to the driver's skills and demonstrated competency before a driver is hired is critical. TCA therefore supports, in general, what FMCSA has proposed and seeks to accomplish through this proceeding. However, after reviewing the details of the proposed rule, TCA has identified a number of issues that we feel need to be addressed by FMCSA prior to the issuance of a final rule. Each of these issues, together with the action we recommend, are discussed below: 1. The Time Frame Allowed for Past Employers to Provide Information Should be Reduced to Five Days: As proposed in §§390.15 (c) and 391.23(g), a past employer would have up to 30 days within which to provide the information required. This information includes the driver's past drug and alcohol testing data, as well as accident and work history. TCA believes the 30 days FMCSA is proposing to give past employers is entirely too long and should be reduced to five days. As FMCSA well knows, the trucking industry has been experiencing a driver shortage for years and this shortage is not expected to end any time soon. Because of the shortage, carriers have a critical need to be able to screen prospective drivers in the shortest time possible. A major safety drawback of the 30-day time frame proposed is that many carriers will find themselves being forced to hire drivers on a conditional basis instead of waiting as long as thirty days to receive and review the required information beforehand, only to later find out that one or more of the drivers they hired should not have been hired because of the safety risk they pose. Clearly, such an outcome unnecessarily puts the public at risk and could easily be prevented if the 30-days were reduced to five. Another drawback of the proposed rule is that the 30-day time frame could induce some drivers to look for jobs out of the industry rather than having to wait up to 30 days to b…