Speed Limiters
The Debate Begins
Unless you’ve been out of the country it’s a safe bet that you’ve heard about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed speed limiter rule. One striking thing about the proposal is its lack of details. Instead of proposing a specific speed the agency opted to lay out three options and request feedback. It’s pretty certain they’ll get plenty of that.
As part of the proposal, the agency outlined the annual benefits and lives saved if truck speeds were limited to 60,
65 or 68 mph. Based on their calculations the 60 mph option resulted in the highest number of lives saved. However, there was a small footnote that didn’t receive much attention:
“Although we believe that the 60 mph alternative would result in additional safety benefits, we are not able to quantify the 60 mph alternative with the same confidence as the 65 mph and 68 mph alternatives.”
It’s likely that safety advocacy groups will prefer the lowest limit, but based on the footnote it seems that FMCSA may be leaning toward a higher limit. Ten years ago the ATA asked FMCSA to set a 68 mph maximum for trucks. At this point we’ll have to wait until FMCSA digests all of the responses and issues their reply in the form of a Final Rule to find out what the limit will be.
Our Roads, Our Responsibility
New Campaign from FMCSA
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has launched a campaign titled “Our Roads, Our Responsibility” designed to inform motorists about driving around large trucks. Part of the campaign revives the “No Zone” information about avoiding potential blind spots around a tractor trailer.
Another part of the campaign focuses on trucks making turns. More to the point, it advises motorists that they should avoid “squeezing” in between the truck and the curb. This is certainly good advice, but it does raise another question. What steps can the truck driver take to guard against drivers cutting in?
A graphic was developed by FMCSA to display the message and clearly shows a truck’s path during a right turn. Hopefully the campaign will reach enough people to make a difference and encourage folks to hold back. However, there’s another way to analyze this situation, and that’s from the perspective of preventability.
n looking at the diagram depicted in the graphic, the truck is clearly starting the turn from the left lane. Although it can be argued that the truck needs the extra space to safely complete the turn, leaving the right lane completely open will clearly look like an invitation to others to occupy that space. Is the truck driver doing everything he or she can to avoid the situation where someone tries to pass on the right?
This is a good time to start a conversation about preventability and the truck driver’s responsibility to think in terms of positioning the truck to effectively block the right lane. This may require the truck to swing left into the left lane before starting the right turn, but it’s easier to watch traffic on the left. In any event, it’s important to make frequent checks of both mirrors before and during a turn.
Use this link to view the graphic on a mobile device
Updated Diabetes Rule
MEDICAL REVIEW BOARD PROPOSAL
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for feedback on a recommendation made by its Medical Review Board regarding the use of insulin to control
diabetes. Under the current regulations a driver must seek
an exemption and renew it every two years. Under this proposal, the driver could obtain a Medical Examiner’s Certificate which would have to be renewed every year.
The driver must provide an FMCSA Drivers With Insulin Treated Diabetes Mellitus Assessment Form to a medical examiner that has been completed and signed by the treating clinician. The treating clinician must be a Doctor of Medicine, a Doctor of Osteopathy, a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician’s Assistant who prescribed insulin to the driver and is knowledgeable regarding the treatment of diabetes.
The driver must receive a complete ophthalmology or optometry exam, including dilated retinal exam, at least every 2 years documenting the presence or absence of retinopathy/macular edema and the degree of retinopathy and/or macular edema if present (using the International Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy and Diabetic Macular Edema). The Medical Review Board recommended that medical examiners be allowed to certify the driver as medically qualified for a time period of no longer than 1 year only if the driver has not experienced any of the 8 disqualifying factors below:
1. Any episode of severe hypoglycemia within the previous 6 months.
2. Blood sugar less than 60 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) demonstrated in
current glucose logs.
3. Hypoglycemia appearing in the absence of warning symptoms (i.e., hypoglycemic unawareness).
4. An episode of severe hypoglycemia, blood sugar less than 60 mg/dl, or hypoglycemic unawareness within the previous 6 months; the driver should be medically disqualified and must remain disqualified for at least 6 months.
5. Uncontrolled diabetes, as evidenced by Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level greater than 10 percent. A driver could be reinstated when HbA1c level is less than or equal to 10 percent.
6. Stage 3 or 4 diabetic retinopathy; a driver should be permanently disqualified.
7. Signs of target organ damage; a driver should be disqualified until the matter is
resolved by treatment, if possible.
8. Inadequate record of self monitoring of blood glucose; a driver should be disqualified for inadequate records until the driver can demonstrate adequate evidence of glucose records (minimum 1 month). In addition, if a driver is medically disqualified due to not meeting the criteria listed above, the driver should remain disqualified for at least 6 months.
CVSA Activity
OPERATION SAFE DRIVER WEEK
October 16 – 22
You can count on us to provide expert guidance to keep your safety and compliance programs on track.
Ryan Billet
National Transportation Consultants, Inc.
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