On the first day of December of this year, trucking companies will see federal implementation of new regulations of their industry. The Carrier Safety Measurement System is an ambitious effort to make trucking safer on our nation's highways.
The Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS) replaces the labor-intensive current system with a more efficient and comprehensive analysis of data, raising safety standards in a growing industry.
The new safety system will use carrier and driver performance data to assess safety fitness in the following areas:
- Unsafe driving: dangerous or incautious driving will be indicated by traffic violations, especially speeding, reckless driving, inattention (distracted driving) and improper lane changes.
- Fatigued driving: this includes violations of required sleep and rest regulations for drivers of 18-wheelers, semi-trucks, tractor-trailers and other large commercial trucks.
- Driver fitness: lack of training or experience or a disqualification based on a medical condition.
- Abuse of controlled substances or alcohol: indicated by positive alcohol or drug tests, crash reports indicating impairment or convictions involving impaired driving.
- Improper vehicle maintenance: indicated by tickets for mechanical defects or crash reports citing mechanical defects.
- Improper loading: inspection violations related to unsecured cargo or improper hazardous material handling, and crash reports indicating improper loading or unsecured loads.
- Crashes: driver accident history, including analysis of severity and frequency.
Trucking experts are advising trucking firms to be proactive in preparing for the roll-out of the new safety standards by examining their safety records, formulating stricter policies regulating truck driver behavior and discharging drivers who are high risks.
Eliminating Dangerous Partners
The companies are also urged to pay heightened attention to their partners including maintenance, contractors and providers of leased equipment. Industry spokespersons are saying it is wise for carriers to cut ties now with workers and partner companies with less-than-stellar safety records.
The new safety standards should make better use of limited governmental regulation funding and increase safety conditions for truckers and other motorists.
Higher Standards, Lowered Risks
By holding drivers to higher standards, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hopes to lower the risks to the public posed by large trucks. In 2008, more than 380,000 semi-trucks, tractor-trailers and 18-wheelers were involved in crashes in the U.S. Just over 4,000 of those crashes involved fatalities, representing 11 percent of all traffic fatalities that year. An additional 90,000 people suffered injuries in those fatal crashes.
If you have suffered an injury in a truck crash, or you have lost a family member in a trucking accident, contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer who knows how to investigate the causes of crashes and determine liability for losses. A personal injury attorney helps victims get full and fair compensation for damages.
