A new legislative proposal seeking to promote highway safety has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Initiated by Republican Senators Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Mike Crapo of Idaho, the proposal – known as the Motor Carrier Safety Selection Standard Act – seeks to establish a safety fitness determination managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. This determination aims to set rigorous criteria that ensure trucking companies comply with licensing, registration, and insurance requirements.

According to a statement made on July 25th, senior member of the Commerce Committee on freight policy, Deb Fischer, said that the new legislative proposal is a practical solution to enhance highway safety and eliminate confusion surrounding motor carrier selection standards. The implementation of a single, uncomplicated federal rule would also boost America’s supply chain and provide much-needed clarity to the transportation sector. Read More →

A proposed joint rule has been announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that would mandate automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems in heavy trucks, aiming to reduce the occurrence and impact of rear-end collisions.

According to Zach Cahalan, the Executive Director of the Truck Safety Coalition, a national organization that advocates for the prevention of truck-related crashes, the current voluntary system adopted by vehicle manufacturers is not up to par with vehicle standards worldwide, including those of the European Union. This issue has been aggravated by the alarming increase in overall road deaths, with nearly 43,000 fatalities reported on U.S. roads in the previous year. This development has raised serious concerns amongst road safety advocates, who are troubled by the spike in fatalities during the pandemic era, following about 36,000 deaths overall in motor vehicle accidents in 2019. Read More →

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has decided not to use a new method developed by academics to measure the safety of motor carriers. The regulatory agency instead wants to update its current Safety Measurement System (SMS).

The existing SMS analyzes data from crash reports and roadside inspections to assess whether a motor carrier or commercial driver needs safety interventions. It is the main assessment tool in the FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, which aims to prevent commercial vehicle crashes, crash injuries, and crash fatalities. Read More →

The White House has unveiled its budget request for fiscal year 2024, allocating $951.3 million for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The agency, which regulates commercial vehicles such as large trucks, intends to focus the majority of the funds to motor carrier safety programs.

According to the budget proposal, $516.3 million of the FMCSA’s 2024 budget will go to its Motor Carrier Safety Grant programs, which include: Read More →

Like other aspects of the trucking industry, technology has had a significant impact on how drivers are coached.

More fleets are employing in-cab driver coaching to help enforce safe driving behaviors, reduce accidents, and improve drivers’ overall performance thanks to the most recent advancements in onboard video and artificial intelligence. Read More →

On October 11, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released a 2022 update to its Predicting Truck Crash Involvement study, derived from over 580,000 individual truck driver records. This update confirms ATRI’s long-established finding that there is a strong correlation between unsafe driving practices like failing to use turn signals, violating the right-of-way, and making unpredictable lane changes and subsequent crashes. As a truck accident law firm in dealing with these matters, let’s take a closer look at this report. Read More →

An important two-lane freight corridor, U.S. 83 serves about 5,000 commercial trucks every day and is a favored route for agricultural supplies.

Around US 83 is where over 40% of the state’s agricultural exports are generated. Kansas, which ranks sixth in the nation for its agricultural sector after Illinois, derived $21 billion in revenue directly from agricultural operations. (California is the highest state, at $51 billion, followed by Texas, Iowa, and Nebraska.) Read More →

I-70 (Interstate 70) is Missouri’s most vital transportation corridor, connecting the state’s two key cities and transporting more rural daily traffic than any other road. The 260 miles of I-70 across Missouri have been a driver of economic development and prosperity, being one of the busiest and most important routes for commercial operators and commuters in the region.

How unsafe is Interstate 70? 

The Missouri part of I-70 is around 250 miles long and runs from Kansas City to St. Louis, covering the whole state. These two cities account for the majority of accidents and fatalities on the Missouri I-70. 

I-70 is known across the country for being one of the most dangerous freeways in the U.S., with 112 fatalities in 2014. It is regularly rated as one of the most dangerous highways for commercial and private vehicles in the states it passes through.  Read More →

In order to better safeguard drivers and passengers in light vehicles in case of a rear underride crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded a rule that brings two truck standards for rear underride guards up to date.

When the frontside of a car collides with the back of a huge trailer or semi, and slides under the vehicle, this is called a rear underride crash. These are frequently fatal.

The NHTSA posted a final rule updating two Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for rear underride guards in July, almost seven years after the initial proposal was made. This effectively brings the U.S. standard up to par with the current Transport Canada standard, which many American motor carriers and trailer manufacturers have already attained. Read More →

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union and safety advocacy groups challenged the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s successful defense of changes to the trucking hours-of-service (HOS) regulations implemented two years ago, claiming the changes increased accident risks and made the roadways less safe.

The union and three advocacy groups – Parents Against Tired Truckers, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety – argued in a petition filed in December last year that FMCSA’s final rule incorporating four HOS changes issued in May 2020 was “arbitrary and capricious” because it failed to address safety and consequences on driver’s health. The short-haul exemption and the requirement for the 30-minute rest break were the two of the four modifications on which the groups had mainly centered on. Read More →