A group of 20-25 truck drivers will be providing direct feedback to federal regulators on safety issues ranging from hours of service (HOS) to truck parking.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced Friday that the new commercial driver panel subcommittee has been set up to inform the agency’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) with the goal of gaining a range of viewpoints and experiences among different sectors of the driver community, including drivers of straight trucks, agriculture haulers, and hazardous materials drivers.
“The Department of Transportation and this administration believe in listening to our drivers and hearing their concerns directly,” commented FMCSA Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck.
“We know that many of the solutions to the challenges we face don’t come from Washington — they come from the hardworking men and women who are behind the wheel all over our nation. This new subcommittee to MCSAC will further help us hear from America’s commercial drivers,” Deck said.
FMCSA held up this year’s final rule on revised HOS regulations as an example of how it is formulating regulations based directly off feedback from commercial drivers seeking more flexibility in how they operate on the road.
“During the Trump administration, FMCSA has focused on hearing directly from commercial drivers and incorporating their opinions and concerns into the agency’s safety initiatives,” FMCSA stated. “The agency continues to hold listening sessions and discussions with the motor carrier industry to gather feedback and shape FMCSA’s priorities.”
Among the issues covered during MCSAC’s last meeting, held in mid-July, were plans to look more in depth at crashes in the last-mile delivery sector and driver pay.
An FMCSA official said a listing of the new members was not yet publicly available, and the first meeting with the new driver panel was not yet scheduled.
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Robert Shirley
I been trucking since before cdl grandfathered in now o experienced dot to the top zero trucking exp u had to be 28 to be on the big road back then no wrecks no fender benders one speeding ticket in a 30 plus year career I’m 59 and my truck burned up a week ago in a parking lot from electrical fire I wasn’t even on it reportable crash what crash well it had to be towed don’t waste ur time not one hour with the 0 experienced trucking god’s game over
Blair Branin
I would like to know how to apply for these panels, I have been in training and now run a CDL- training school for the last 18 yrs. I was thinking on going back to driving, but the hours of service is keeping me from doing that. 14 hrs, and not being able to split that is making drivers too tired to do there jobs safely. I ask any one to keep their focuses for the time they are allowing drivers to operate the vehicle’s each day, and you will see why accidents are up. I would like to be on one of the panels, I don’t have any one to answer to.