chuckwagon
Seasoned Expediter
For those of you who do not get the Land Line Magazine, go online to keep on top of things, here is a bit of news I thought we could all use.
(source: ooida website)
The National Transportation Safety Board’s review of the trucking industry took place during a public meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., where NTSB officials handed down their recommendations for safety improvements.
NTSB discussed the highway issues and gave the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration an “unacceptable†rating, saying the agency was too slow in responding to the NTSB’s recommendations from last year.
NTSB officials contend that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s rating system for motor carriers – which is based on six factors needs changed.
Instead of the current system, which gives the carrier an unsatisfactory rating when two of the six factors receive negative marks, NTSB believes that a carrier should immediately be classified as unsatisfactory whenever any one of the factors are deemed negative.
NTSB encouraged FMCSA to “continue efforts to develop medical certification procedures that ensure unfit drivers are not allowed behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle,†and offered the following objectives:
Establish a comprehensive medical oversight program for interstate commercial drivers;
Ensure that examiners are qualified and know what to look for;
Track all medical certificate applications;
Enhance oversight and enforcement of invalid certificates; and
Provide mechanisms for reporting medical conditions.
This is an item we need to stay on. After reviewing this proposal I noticed that the "examiners who would be deemed qualified" may have more restrictions and paper tossed on them - thus making it more difficult for those of us to even find a qualified examiner who wants to mess with this.
In addition, why should our medical history be under more supervision and restriction than that of a pilot, or train conducter. If this plan is put in placed I would hope it would bring us under the same guidelines.
If they want the trucking industry to prosper and protect the public they need to review and revamp alot more than just the health of the driver that is for sure!
(source: ooida website)
The National Transportation Safety Board’s review of the trucking industry took place during a public meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., where NTSB officials handed down their recommendations for safety improvements.
NTSB discussed the highway issues and gave the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration an “unacceptable†rating, saying the agency was too slow in responding to the NTSB’s recommendations from last year.
NTSB officials contend that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s rating system for motor carriers – which is based on six factors needs changed.
Instead of the current system, which gives the carrier an unsatisfactory rating when two of the six factors receive negative marks, NTSB believes that a carrier should immediately be classified as unsatisfactory whenever any one of the factors are deemed negative.
NTSB encouraged FMCSA to “continue efforts to develop medical certification procedures that ensure unfit drivers are not allowed behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle,†and offered the following objectives:
Establish a comprehensive medical oversight program for interstate commercial drivers;
Ensure that examiners are qualified and know what to look for;
Track all medical certificate applications;
Enhance oversight and enforcement of invalid certificates; and
Provide mechanisms for reporting medical conditions.
This is an item we need to stay on. After reviewing this proposal I noticed that the "examiners who would be deemed qualified" may have more restrictions and paper tossed on them - thus making it more difficult for those of us to even find a qualified examiner who wants to mess with this.
In addition, why should our medical history be under more supervision and restriction than that of a pilot, or train conducter. If this plan is put in placed I would hope it would bring us under the same guidelines.
If they want the trucking industry to prosper and protect the public they need to review and revamp alot more than just the health of the driver that is for sure!