The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) withdrew a proposed safety fitness rule last week.
“The new methodology would have determined when a motor carrier is not fit to operate commercial motor vehicles in or affecting interstate commerce based on the carrier's on-road safety data; an investigation; or a combination of on-road safety data and investigation information,” the agency said.
The agency said further analysis is needed.
Earlier this year, over 30 national transportation groups and state and regional associations sent a joint letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao calling for the rule to be dumped as it was based on what they characterized as “flawed” data taken from the agency’s Compliance Safety and Accountability program and Safety Measurement System, as reported by Fleet Owner.
An industry group, the American Trucking Associations, had said that the agency lacks “ sufficient data on 4/5ths of the industry to make such a determination.”
And the Truckload Carriers said that the “the very fact that this rule would only determine the safety fitness of approximately 75,000 carriers is incomprehensible and discriminant to say the very least.