Physical Form Changes Proposed, DataQ Challenged in Court, Collision Avoidance System Tested

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published a proposed rule outlining changes to the current driver physical form. Some of the changes are:

• Elimination of the instructions section — physicians on the National Registry are conversant with the relevant regulations.
• A more comprehensive driver health history.
• Medical Examiners will be required to forward the results electronically to FMCSA at the close of business each day.
• FMCSA will forward results to individual state motor vehicle departments.

In effect this will eliminate the paper based system in use today for CDL drivers. The driver will no longer be required to carry a copy, even immediately after taking the physical since the information is uploaded each day to the state licensing agencies. FMCSA will also have the opportunity to evaluate the Medical Examiner Report forms and void them if they determine that the Medical Examiner has certified a driver who does not meet the physical certification standards.

Most of what they’ve proposed has to do with the Medical Examiner’s role in the process. However, one critical change is that FMCSA has inserted itself into the process. By having Medical Examiner Reports sent to them they will have the ability to audit any driver’s physical. Some people have already voiced displeasure of such a release of their medical information.

At this point this is a proposal and a final rule probably won’t be drafted until sometime next year. Based on that, compliance is at least three or maybe four years away. Currently the driver is responsible for forwarding his or her updated physical to the state department of motor vehicles.

A generally accepted definition of a “large truck” is a commercial vehicle with a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of 10,001 pounds or higher. As a result, anyone who studies “large trucks” is looking at this broad spectrum of vehicles and the people who drive them.

A study released last month by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) examined a decade of information on truck crashes and broke them down into two categories: Medium Duty (up to 26,000 pounds) and Heavy Duty (above 26,000 pounds).

During that time period the crash rate for Heavy Duty vehicles dropped 24.6% while the rate for Medium Duty vehicles rose 38.3%. Quite a dissimilar result. Anyone familiar with the industry knows that those two groups also have quite dissimilar equipment, operating characteristics and even regulatory coverage.

Perhaps safety would be better served if there was more than one “large truck” definition. In that scenario each group’s record would stand on its own merits and point the way to improvements that were targeted at problem areas rather than widely aimed and not likely to produce the intended significant results.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released research completed by the University of
Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) involving collision avoidance technology. Specifically they studied trucks equipped with the Meritor Wabco OnGuard system. UMTRI’s findings were that the system can reduce fatalities by 24% and injuries by 23%. The study also looked at systems currently under development and concluded that they had the potential to decrease fatalities by over 50%.

The OnGuard system first issues an audible warning of a possible rear-end collision. If the driver does not respond the brakes are “pulsed” for one half second and the engine brake is turned on. Finally, if the driver has not taken action and a collision is deemed imminent, the brakes are applied.

The system tested is designed to prevent rear-end collisions. There are other systems that offer stability control designed to prevent jackknife and rollover crashes. It seems likely that eventually NHTSA will mandate some type of system, it’s just not clear at this point how the specifications will be written. Meanwhile, these types of systems are growing in popularity because they’re designed to prevent the types of crashes that are the most costly because of the high potential for injury and damage.

Owner Operator Fred Weaver was trucking through Montana when he missed the pull off for a weigh station. He immediately turned around and returned. However, he was written a citation for bypassing the scale. Weaver decided to contest the ticket and it was dismissed by the court.

After the dismissal Weaver filed a DataQ challenge to have the ticket removed from the CSA records. His request was denied.

The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court of Appeals alleging that FMCSA, by failing to expunge the record, has made state law enforcement personnel the final arbiter on tickets rather than the courts. This is the second complaint filed by OOIDA over failure to remove information.