Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Truck driver jobs at center of House hearing on automation

WASHINGTON — Losing jobs to technology is a big concern across many industries, and the issue was in the spotlight on Capitol Hill on Wednesday at a hearing on the future of autonomous trucking.

Speaking on behalf of the industry’s largest companies, the American Trucking Associations’ Chris Spear attempted to quell those fears by asserting that automation is needed to bring more drivers into the industry — not push them out.

“If we didn’t have a shortage [of drivers], we would be having a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-driver-jobs-at-center-of-house-hearing-on-automation

Trucking, safety groups line up against anti-speed limiter bill

WASHINGTON — An owner-operator-backed bill aimed at preventing a speed mandate for trucks is getting heavy pushback from safety groups aligning with small-business trucking’s big-business competition.

A coalition that includes Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition, the National Safety Council (NSC) and Road Safe America are lobbying lawmakers to oppose the Deregulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles and Eighteen Wheelers Act, known as the DRIVE Act, which was...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-safety-groups-line-up-against-anti-speed-limiter-bill

Safety groups urge NHTSA to reconsider underride guard rule

Back of truck on highway.

A coalition of safety groups want federal regulators to postpone a recent rule on truck-trailer performance standards until the new regulation can be significantly improved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation, scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 11, 2023, is “fatally flawed,” the safety groups assert, because it failed to consider crucial data on crashes in which passenger cars slide under the rear end of tractor-trailers due to insufficient protection on the back of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/safety-groups-urge-nhtsa-to-reconsider-underride-guard-rule

DC appeals court denies driver hours-of-service challenge

Electronic logging device in truck cab

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration successfully defended changes to the trucking hours-of-service (HOS) regulations enacted two years ago against a challenge from safety groups and the Teamsters union alleging the changes increase crash risks and make the roads less safe.

In a petition filed in December last year, the union and the three safety groups — Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), Parents Against Tired Truckers, and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways —...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dc-appeals-court-denies-driver-hours-of-service-challenge

FMCSA’s speed limiters: Unsafe at any speed?

Trucks and cars on interstate.

Plans by federal regulators to issue a proposed rule requiring speed limiters on truck engines is getting pushback by a significant portion of the trucking sector.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s April notice seeking comment on the plan, which the agency aims to issue as a proposed rule for public comment in 2023, generated more than 15,000 responses. Most came from independent owner-operators and small trucking companies, which account for the majority of FMCSA’s regulated...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsas-speed-limiters-unsafe-at-any-speed

NHTSA defends new standard for truck trailer underride guards

Truck trailer with rear impact guard

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is upgrading safety standards on rear underride protection on tractor trailers to help prevent crashes involving passenger vehicles, but safety advocates say the changes do not go far enough.

Rear underride crashes occur when a passenger vehicle strikes the back of a generally larger vehicle and the front end of the passenger vehicle slides under the rear end of the larger vehicle.

In extreme underride crashes involving tractor trailers, the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nhtsa-defends-new-standard-for-truck-trailer-underride-guards

Truckers: Safety groups ignore driving ‘realities’

Representatives of small-business truckers have asked a federal appeals court to deny safety advocates’ challenge to hours-of-service (HOS) rule changes, saying the challenge is not based on truck-driving realities.

In a petition filed in support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association outlined how its members are benefiting from more flexibility provided by the changes — a somewhat rare occasion in which OOIDA, large carriers and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-safety-groups-ignore-realities-of-driving

Buttigieg’s DOT rejects hours-of-service court challenge claims

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration has rejected assertions that hours-of-service revisions made in September 2020 will lead to more crashes despite claims made by safety advocates and labor.

Responding to a petition filed by the groups in December with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, FMCSA and the U.S. Department of Transportation argued that the petitioners’ anti-safety claims lack standing and should be rejected.

“Even if petitioners had established...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/buttigiegs-dot-rejects-hours-of-service-challenge

Los federales aceleran el controvertido programa piloto para camioneros

Una iniciativa largamente esperada, pero controvertida, que permitirá a los jóvenes conductores de camiones transportar mercancías a través de las fronteras estatales está buscando un estatus de vía rápida de la Casa Blanca.

La Administración Federal de Seguridad de Autotransportes ha solicitado a la Oficina de Gestión y Presupuesto la revisión y aprobación de emergencia de un programa de aprendizaje de tres años que permita a los transportistas emplear a conductores de entre 18 y 21 años para...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/los-federales-aceleran-el-controvertido-programa-piloto-para-camioneros

Feds fast-tracking controversial trucker pilot program

A long-awaited but controversial initiative that will allow young truck drivers to haul freight across state lines is seeking fast-track status from the White House.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has asked the Office of Management and Budget for review and emergency approval of a three-year apprenticeship program to allow carriers to employ drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 for hauling freight across state lines, according to a request filed Thursday.

Current regulations...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/feds-fast-tracking-controversial-trucker-pilot-program

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