ATA questions crash accountability decision

The American Trucking Associations March 20 expressed its concerns over the recent decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to continue to hold the trucking industry responsible in its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program for every truck-involved crash, including those which the truck driver could not have prevented.

“With FMCSA moving ahead with its CSA carrier oversight system, it is more important than ever that the agency uses not only the best data, but also common sense to ensure it is targeting the right carriers and drivers for oversight,” said Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer. “By backtracking on their commitment to implement a crash accountability determination process in early 2012 to hold carriers accountable for crashes clearly caused by the actions or inactions of a truck driver, FMCSA has bowed to anti-industry interest groups and unfairly called into question the integrity of police accident reports prepared by America’s law enforcement community.”

ATA, and other industry groups had requested – and FMCSA had agreed – to develop a process where police accident reports would be reviewed to determine crash accountability and remove nonpreventable crashes from a carrier’s CSA profile. After pressure from special interest groups who have questioned the reliability of police accident reports, FMCSA has shelved these plans, according to ATA.