In addition to providing long-term funding for the nation's roadways, the highway bill signed by President Barack Obama on Friday contains several items expected to affect safety and efficiency in the trucking industry.
Most notable, the five-year, $305 billion Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act outlines plans for changes to the federal safety rankings program, moves hair testing closer to becoming a recognized form of employee drug screening and approves a pilot program allowing certain military veterans under the age of 21 to operate commercial trucks across state lines.
Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said the highway bill is not perfect, but the association appreciated Congress' work on legislation that addresses highway funding needs and other "key issues in our industry."
"The dollar amount grabs attention, and that's very important," Newton said. "But safety reforms and these types of issues are also dependent upon legislation moving in regular order. So some of these things we've been working on for years, they just haven't had the opportunity to be realized in legislation because we haven't had a long-term highway bill to get those things through."
Newton believes changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's safety rankings will have the biggest effect. Compliance, safety and accountability scores are intended to ensure motor carriers are upholding federal safety standards, but the program has been under scrutiny since flaws in identifying problematic companies were identified.
The bill will require the federal agency to analyze the program's accuracy, including the use of data from crashes in which a motor carrier was "free from fault." Scores will be removed from public view while the review is conducted but remain available to carriers and law enforcement agencies. The decision to remove the scores from the public was applauded by the American Trucking Associations.
"By ordering an evaluation and improvement of [compliance, safety and accountability] as well as removing the flawed scores the system produces from public view in the meantime, this bill is an important victory for data and accuracy in regulatory oversight," Dave Osiecki, the American Trucking Associations' executive vice president and chief of national advocacy, said in a statement.
Not everyone agreed. Lane Kidd, managing director of the Trucking Alliance, said his advocacy group was "disappointed" the ratings were removed from public view.
The Trucking Alliance, which includes Arkansas carriers J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and Maverick USA, believes the industry is obligated to assure the public it is operating safely on the roads. Kidd said removing the scores from public view removes the need for carriers to work to improve them.
The Arkansas Trucking Association said earlier this year it was opposed to removing scores from public view as well, believing it would take pressure off the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to make the necessary changes to the program. But Newton didn't classify the removal of scores in this week's bill as a "loss."
"The attentiveness and attention that safety is receiving, and the end goal of reforming the program so that you can use it to identify those carriers that need enforcement action, that's still what we're working toward," Newton said.
The FAST Act gives the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services a year to establish standards for the use of hair testing in federal drug testing programs. Once adopted by the Department of Transportation, those standards would allow motor carriers to conduct hair tests in lieu of urinalysis for pre-employment and random drug screens.
Currently, urinalysis is the only recognized form of drug screening, but J.B. Hunt is among a small group that conducts hair tests in addition to urinalysis during its screening program.
Companies that shoulder the cost of both believe hair testing is a superior method in identifying habitual drug use.
"It's a good step forward because the bill does recognize hair testing as a good way to clear job applicants," Kidd said. "It does give the Department of Health and Human Services one year to come up with what the guidelines for those hair tests should be but falls short of directing the [U.S. Department of Transportation] to conduct a rule making. It gets us maybe halfway down the football field."
In addition, another provision in the bill requires a study examining the liability insurance minimums for carriers before any rules to raise them are initiated. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also is directed to study detention time at shippers and receivers, outlining the effect on drivers and freight movement.
Industry groups such as the American Trucking Associations and Arkansas Trucking Association supported legislation intended to create a pilot program allowing 18- to 21-year-old drivers to operate commercial vehicles across state lines. Language to create a pilot program was included in both the Senate and House versions of highway bills, but it was altered during the conference that led to the FAST Act.
Instead, the pilot program will be reserved for military veterans under 21 who have driven heavy-duty trucks or other transportation equipment.
In a statement, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said creating an opportunity for young veterans to transition into trucking was "good news," but he was puzzled about why Congress would produce a provision "starkly different" in conference.
Newton said it was a clear compromise in the debate regarding younger drivers, who currently are limited to operating within state lines.
"I think any step in that direction is something we would welcome," Newton said. "It's certainly not as big a step as what we had hoped for, what we thought we were getting. But if we can use this smaller pool to demonstrate it can be done safely, we'll continue to advocate."
Newton said the passage of a long-term highway bill, with provisions to improve safety and efficiency in the industry, was at the top of the association's agenda in 2015. She believes the trucking industry is pleased overall with the result as several safety changes are enacted.
The only downside, Kidd said, is that many of the provisions won't be implemented until the next president is elected.
"But bottom line: It's a good bill for future safety, I think," Kidd said.
Business on 12/05/2015