In comments filed July 30, American Trucking Associations told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that while it supports the agency’s new process for improving its carrier oversight program Compliance, Safety, Accountability, the system still has serious deficiencies that must be corrected.
“ATA supports this new approach to making adjustments to the Safety Measurement System methodology,” ATA’s Vice President of Safety Policy Rob Abbott wrote. “Previously, FMCSA occasionally made changes to the methodology with no prior explanation or announcement.”
However, despite the more open process, Abbott said ATA still had significant concerns about the methodology — specifically the agency’s treatment of non-preventable crashes and the creation of a new category to exclusively measure hazardous materials safety.