Page 17 - ATR 5 2012 web 2

Same Goal–different approach

Alternative compliance could be new method to determine a carrier’s safety rating

By Callie hoyt
Contributing Writer

Trucking companies are delivering
the nation’s freight more safely than “PeoPle who care about safety aNd waNt to
ever. In fact, accidents involving trac- go the extra mile will do it aNd those that
tor trailers are trending downward to doN’t will haVe a brighter sPotlight oN them,
historic lows. Yet even with these safer
statistics, more than 5,000 people were allowiNg eNforcemeNt to focus actiVities oN
killed in 2011 and another 100,000 the bad actors.”
were injured in accidents involving big
trucks – numbers that remain tragi- —steVe KePPler, commercial Vehicle safety alliaNce
cally high.
And that’s why the federal govern-
ment’s latest safety program, dubbed
Compliance–Safety–Accountability
(CSA), has such promise as it scores tingent liability of contracting with a industry [enforcement] will never be
the safety performance of every U.S. carrier with low scores. able to touch.” Considering the current
trucking company. If successful, CSA But CSA has its limitations. First, condition of the nation’s economy, any
may prove to be a game changer, call- it’s important to note that federal reg- hope of adequate increased funding to
ing out the unsafe trucking companies ulations are the minimum standards supply the resources needed to expand
for everyone to see. for safety and compliance. Similar regulatory enforcement would be far-
But the CSA by itself may not be to the grading scale in school, a “D” fetched.
an absolute gauge of safety and that will pass, but who really wants a “D” Yet the CSA is performing effec-
notion has fostered a new train of grade? And more importantly, who tively in most areas, according to a
thought as to what measurements wants to be driving 65 miles per hour study released in September by the
should be incorporated to determine if beside one? American Transportation Research
a trucking company is operating safely Secondly, the CSA program simply Institute (ATRI). That study concluded
—thus ‘alternative compliance’ has may not do much because there’s not that in three of the BASIC categories
become a point of discussion in indus- enough money to enforce it effectively, – unsafe driving, fatigued driving and
try circles. thereby falling short in following up vehicle maintenance, the program is
Launched by the Federal Motor with unsafe carriers that the program performing well.
Carrier Safety Administration is designed to do. “The biggest chal- ATRI gave average scores for the
(FMCSA) in 2010, five of the seven lenge in the enforcement world is the drug and alcohol category but no sup-
carrier CSA BASIC scores are already lack of resources to be able to do what port for the driver fitness score, con-
viewable to the public. But the indus- it is [enforcement] has been asked to cluding there are numerous flaws in all
try has cited many kinks in the new do,” said Steve Keppler, executive direc- aspects of the program.
program, even questioning whether the tor of the Commercial Motor Vehicle “ATRI’s research identifies a
criteria used to gauge a carrier’s scores Safety Alliance (CVSA). key weakness in FMCSA’s Safety
are correct. Keppler noted that while enforce- Measurement System,” said Scott
The scores can determine whether ment conducts a significant number Mugno, vice president of safety for
a trucking company gets the freight of inspections each year, that figure FedEx Ground, who testified on behalf
order and even if it can stay in busi- is really just a “drop in the bucket” in
ness. Not many shippers want the con- perspective with the “wide swap of the 

arkansas truCking rePort | issue 5 2012 17