In his first week in office, President Trump issued orders to executive agencies that affect trucking safety.
Here’s what we know, so far.
President Trump on Trucking Safety: Week 1
Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump issued an executive order freezing all pending federal regulations now in process.
Any regulation signed by President Obama in his final weeks in office is on hold. The Trump administration promises to review them within 60 days.
What does this mean for the trucking industry?
On December 8, 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a rule setting minimum training standards for new truck drivers.
The new rule set CDL training standards and a classroom curriculum, as well as a requirement for truck driving proficiency.
It was supposed to go into effect February 6, 2017. The final compliance date would be in 3 years.
The training rule is now on hold, pending review by the Trump Administration.
This rule initially received wide support from safety advocacy groups—and major trucking lobbyists like the American Trucking Associations, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Some groups pulled their support after the final rule was published.
John Lannen, of the Trucking Safety Coalition, decried the change made in the final rule that removed the requirement for 30 hours behind-the-wheel training.
The FMCSA’s latest attempt to produce an entry-level driver training rule for CMV drivers has been a colossal waste of time.
This final rule is both insufficient in terms of advancing safety and an insult to the memories of those killed in crashes caused by inexperienced and untrained truck drivers.
ELD, Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse rules
The recently published rules to establish a truck driver Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse went into effect on January 4, 2017.
Employers are to check a database to see if their drivers have committed drug and alcohol violations that make them ineligible to drive.
Carriers have until January 2020 to fully comply with the Drug & Alcohol rule.
The rule to mandate ELDs (electronic logging devices) does not fall under Trump’s executive order: it is already law.
The ELD rule is conservatively estimated to prevent 26 fatalities and 562 injuries from truck crashes, every year.
See: This trucking law starts in 2017 – and Trump (probably) won’t stop it ...
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