WASHINGTON — Regulators want to hear “diverse experiences and perspectives” from the trucking industry on plans to update how the government rates motor carriers on safety to determine when a motor carrier is not fit to operate.
To help accomplish that goal, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced it will hold an in-person listening session at the Texas Trucking Show in Houston on June 29 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
“Specifically, the agency would like to hear from members of the public on issues of concern relating to the current Safety Fitness Determination (SFD), including, for example, the three-tiered rating system (Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, Conditional) versus changing to a proposed single rating only when a carrier is found to be unfit,” FMCSA stated in a notice published on Thursday.
FMCSA also wants to hear opinions from the industry about the use of inspection data and the agency’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), incorporating driver behavior into SFD ratings, and adjusting the weights allocated to particular violations, including increasing the weight for unsafe driving violations.
Registration for the show — which is free — is required to attend the listening session. Each speaker will have three minutes. “Individuals with diverse experiences and perspectives are encouraged to attend,” FMCSA stated.
FMCSA plans to announce in a separate notice two related virtual-only listening sessions on the same topic to be held on as yet unspecified dates in June and July.
The agency announced last year its plans to consider revisions to its SFD process. In commenting on those plans, trucking companies and freight brokers urged FMCSA to attach a safety rating to carriers operating without such a rating — a situation that exists for over 90% of the freight market, they stated in public comments.
Federal data supports that assertion. Of 690,091 interstate freight carriers eligible for an FMCSA safety rating in 2021, 646,777 — roughly 94% — did not have one.
