U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) has called into question the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ability to properly oversee the trucking industry and enforce safety regulations.
Citing a fatal crash that occurred on U.S. Highway 285 in Colorado in June involving a California-based trucking company, Hickenlooper said in a letter to FMCSA Deputy Administrator Vinn White that there is “growing concern that FMCSA does not have the resources or capacity to thoroughly audit and oversee the vast number of commercial trucking companies moving goods across U.S. supply chains.”
In the crash in question, the trucking company, Monique Trucking out of Indio, California, had numerous violations on its record, including having no record of duty status, more than a dozen vehicle maintenance violations, failure to implement a drug/alcohol testing program, operating a commercial vehicle without a CDL and more.
The two-truck, two-driver fleet, shut down by FMCSA following the Colorado crash in July, also had a 100% driver out-of-service rate on six inspections and a 75% vehicle out-of-service rate on four inspections, according to FMCSA Safety Measurement System data.
[Related: FMCSA's safety rating revamp: Truckers caution against use of roadside data, CSA SMS in ratings]
In the Colorado crash, the Monique Trucking driver did not have a CDL.
Hickenlooper’s letter to FMCSA said that “financial resource constraints, the sheer volume of commercial vehicles, and the complex logistics involved in conducting safety audits can impede the FMCSA’s ability to consistently and comprehensively enforce safety standards.” Those limitations, he said, “may allow unsafe practices to go unchecked.”
He added that FMCSA’s “lax oversight can lead to an increase in roadway fatalities and crashes, endangering the lives of passengers, drivers, and pedestrians alike.”
In an effort to better understand how to mitigate those issues moving forward, Hickenlooper asked FMCSA to answer the following questions:
- In the last two fiscal years, how many trucking companies has FMCSA found to have violated CDL licensure requirements for drivers employed?
- In the last two fiscal years, how many trucking companies has FMCSA found to have failed a safety audit? Of this total, how many trucking companies has FMCSA certified to have implemented corrective actions? (In 2022 and 2023, federal and state auditors combined to issue a total 688 Unsatisfactory ratings, according to FMCSA's Analysis and Information online accounting. A larger number of carriers, 3,224, were issued Conditional ratings.)
- How many federal safety auditors does FMCSA currently employ? Of this total, how many safety auditors would FMCSA require to enhance its oversight capacity?
- What steps does FMCSA anticipate taking in the near future to strengthen its oversight over CDL licensure and safety standards? Would additional authorities or resources provided by Congress assist with this goal?
“I urge the FMCSA to assess its current capabilities and consider potential avenues for bolstering its oversight mechanisms,” Hickenlooper concluded. “The safety of our roads depends on the diligent enforcement of safety standards within the commercial trucking industry.”
