Congress preparing to force “Black Boxes” on the trucking industry
Posted on Sep 23, 2008 - 10:42am by Porter Corn in Politics
Irizar Century. Typical of motor coaches used in Mexico with automatic fire suppresion systems and a myriad of safety options standard
Has anyone been paying attention to what’s happening on Capitol Hill? Remember the “Black Box” controversy where Joan Claybrook and Public Citizen was trying to get Electronic Onboard Recorders mandated for all commercial vehicles? Think it’s all been forgotten? Think again!
Remember back in August the Sherman Texas Bus Crash that made national headlines and exposed the fly by night operations of some Texas Tour bus operators?
This event of course, triggered the call by some lawmakers for tougher standards for bus operators.
Among these, was Senator Kay Baily Hutchinson of Texas, Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. They had a bill languishing in committee since 11/07, referred to as (S2326) Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2007
Now, that bill is getting renewed sponsorship and is currently being considered by the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security.
Now then, we know how Congress works. Everyone wants a piece of the glory, here at election time and over in the House of Representatives Representative John Lewis (Ga), no friend of truckers, introduced a companion bill, HR-6747Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2008
People, HR-6747 is flying through the committees and you should be worried, very worried, for if these two bills are approved, reconciled, voted on and hidden in a veto proof appropriations bill, we’re all screwed.
HR-6747 provides for:
Amends federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to prescribe regulations: (1) requiring providers of motorcoach services registered with the the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to undergo periodic safety reviews; (2) establishing a training curriculum and providing certification for each driver of a motorcoach seeking a commercial driver’s license (CDL) passenger endorsement; (3) improving CDL testing; (4) requiring a driver of a commercial motor vehicle that transports for compensation not fewer than 9 and not more than 15 passengers to have a CDL; (5) requiring a federal medical qualification certificate to be made a part of CDLs; (6) requiring the annual review of state licensing authorities to assess the accuracy of physical examination reports and medical certificates of CDL applicants that are submitted by medical examiners to such authorities; and (7) requiring that all commercial motor vehicles be equipped with electronic on-board recorders that record driver hours of service. Sets forth a deadline for the Secretary to establish the national registry of medical examiners.
Notice the part I have highlighted? It says ALL commercial vehicles, not just buses!
Notice it requires the DOT Medical certificate to be part of the CDL?
Notice the part about the Registry of Medical Examiners?
Remember Oberstar’s ambush of FMCSA on this issue?
So what they are doing is trying to put into law, what is a regulatory process which would not give the public a 30-45 day comment period as was the case with the HOS controversy and the Mexican truck issue. Going about it in this manner, we, the sheeple, have no input. It will be crammed down our throats.
And to make this palatable to the Motor Coach industry, (to hell with the truckers who will suffer the most) they are offering the “carrot”!
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for the purchase of qualified new motorcoaches and for the cost of improvements to existing motorcoaches to satisfy new federal safety requirements. Limits the amount of such credit to $45,000. Terminates such credit after 2026.
Directs the Secretary to develop and administer supplemental grants, not to exceed $20,000, for the cost of retrofitting motorcoaches to comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards. Limits eligibility for such grants to certain motorcoach operators who have a fleet of not more than 25 motorcoaches and have total annual revenues of less than $5 million.
Amends the Small Business Act to set forth loan and loan guarantee requirements for the motorcoach industry.
Hey! what about us? No mention of any money for the trucking industry to do the retrofits necessary if this piece of feel good legislation passes!
And I mentioned the companion bill in the Senate, S2326. Identical language, minus the carrot!
Amends federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to prescribe regulations: (1) requiring providers of motorcoach services registered with the the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to undergo periodic safety reviews; (2) establishing a training curriculum and providing certification for each driver of a motorcoach seeking a commercial driver’s license (CDL) passenger endorsement; (3) improving CDL testing; (4) requiring a driver of a commercial motor vehicle that transports for compensation not fewer than 9 and not more than 15 passengers to have a CDL; (5) requiring a federal medical qualification certificate to be made a part of CDLs; (6) requiring the annual review of state licensing authorities to assess the accuracy of physical examination reports and medical certificates of CDL applicants that are submitted by medical examiners to such authorities; and (7) requiring that all commercial motor vehicles be equipped with electronic on-board recorders that record driver hours of service. Sets forth a deadline for the Secretary to establish the national registry of medical examiners.
So what are we going to do people? Sit back and let them shove this up our tailpipes? Where is OOIDA on this issue? I think I heard a small “blurb” on their radio program the other evening, all of 5 seconds worth.
Call to Action maybe? Call your Senators and Congressmen and express your displeasure?
Perhaps for the purposes of discussion here, we should rename the bill the Mexican Motor Coach Safety Act of 2008 That would get the phones ringing!
Or are we going to sit back as usual and allow the government to put “Big Brother” in the seat next to us.
Actually, after the tragedy of Sherman Texas, Texas DPS did what they should have been doing all along. They cracked down on the rogue operators using laws already on the books. And we are seeing the results here in south Texas. Many of these no name bus companies providing discounted services to and from Mexio (American owned and operated) have ceased operations or been put out of business.
More proof that we don’t need new laws, only enforcement of the laws already in place.
Log Rules on Hold and Mexicans Roll
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Great catch, Porter! I’ve been waiting for this kind of legislation to come sneaking thru. I already have a letter written to voice my complaints. Now that I have a bill# to attach to it, I think I’ll fax it to every member of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee! (thank God I have free long distance!).
People, if you dont get on it, we’re going to get screwed once again-this time BIG! Dont wait for someone else to do it-we need to start fighting for ourselves. The phone and fax numbers for the committe are at the bottom of the page here: http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetail.aspx?NewsID=719 . A list of the members of the committe is on this page: http://transportation.house.gov/about.aspx .
If you have a state rep on the committee, call them directly. As some email forms for Reps wont let you submit a comment unless your address matches their election district, do what I do and look up a main street and zip code in a major city in their district-that will get you past the auto-censors. We need to be just as sneaky geting our message across as they are in getting bad legislation passed that hurts us. Be polite. . .
Go Get ‘Em!!
Maybe I read this wrong, or I read it to hastily, but it appears to only be aimed at motorcoaches. Not big trucks. Or am I reading this wrong?
Also – be careful about posting the wrong bill number as HR6647 is an Energy Fraud and Fairness Act
And are you against having a black box in a public transportation (hauling passengers) vehicle? So does that mean you would want them to do away with black boxes in airplanes as well (another public transportation vehicle hauling passengers)? I’m just curious. Because if it would lead to getting answers during a fatal wreck, I’m for it. I see no mention in these bills of anything being put on a big truck. If there is, please, point it out to me so I can be better educated.
Please also note I looked up Senate Bill S2326 and it is on Relating to Certificates of Need/General Hospitals (this bill is what you find when searching in the year 2008), so I’m thoroughly confused now.
I’ll see if I can point you in the right direction Donna.
First, I specified HR-HR-6747 in the first mention and probably “fat fingered” the keys on what you picked up on.
6747 is the correct bill.
Here is where it specifies ALL Commercial Vehicles
in both the House and the Senate version
The morons are disguising the demands of the so called “watchdog” groups into a Bill that on the surface, is a good one.
They are circumventing the regulatory process since there is uncertainty that FMCSA would ever mandate black boxes in big rigs after an appropriate comment period.
In other words, they are trying to force the will of special interests on the majority.
What problem do I and others have with onbaord recorders? Personally, I don’t need nor want “big brother” looking over my shoulder 24/7. I’ve been in this business for over 35 years of accident free driving.
Under the current HOS which would be enforced with the recorders, a driver would be forced to drive when he was tired or feeling sick or else if he took a nap or a rest, it would eat into his allowable driving/work time.
Myself, I prefer to drive at night. But of course, pick up and deliveries make this impossible all the time. I enjoy and you might say require a nap in the afternoons, and another about sun up or whenever I feel like stopping for a couple of hours.
Now, I can do that. With an EOBR, it would be impossible and still turn the miles I do and turn in “legal” logs!
QualComm is pretty much the same as an on board recorder and there is no fudging logs with it. DOT plugs in and if you’re logs don’t match you are screwed. And you really don’t need an on board recorder for that because if DOT wants to be extremely picky – they can swipe your fuel card to see when you fuel – again – if your logs don’t match you are screwed. Unless you pay cash if course. Basically you’re saying you are falsifying your logs and you just don’t want to get caught by having an on board computer.
I realize you cannot make “good” money if you adhere to the rules and regulations, but personally I would rather my husband NOT drive when he was tired. I don’t want him killing anyone – including himself because greed has set in and he forgets the priority of being a RESPONSIBLE driver.
It’s probably the log book auditor coming out in me. It’s easy to see who cheats and who doesn’t if you know what you are looking for. But personally a life is just not worth running against HOS and getting caught. Being an owner op especially – would you rather pay the fine – or be legal and have that comfort of KNOWING you will be good to go if pulled around?
Actually, I have never been bothered with any of those scenarios, either Qualcomm plugins nor looking at my fuel card.
Basically, what I am saying is that I run in a manner that is comfortable for me.
As I get older,m I find I can’t sit in the seat for hours on end. 4 or 5 hours, time for a nap! If I eat a meal, time for a little siesta. Come close to sundown, especially if I am heading west, time for a little snooze. Ditto for sunrise!
I rest when I am tired and drive when energizedbut never exceed more than 10 and rarely 11 hours per day total.
Actually, just this morning, I was complimented as being one of the few who turn in legal logs consistently.
My point is we are supposed to be professionals and capable of taking responsibility for our own actions.
That takes us back to the Mexican truck issue. You know people are always putting them down, claiming rules and regs are not the same down here. In a manner of speaking they are correct.
There is one way to operate a big rig. With common sense.. Here in Mexico, they are given the rules and expected to comply with them without someone looking over their shoulders or dinging them for every petty thing one could imagine.
They no the consequences of noncompliance and accept that responsibility and the penalties that come with failure, which can mean lifetime revocation of their license and in some cases, prison. It’s called “Personal Responsibility”! Something those of us who drive in the US are expected to have but not permitted to practice.
I’ll stand on my 35 years over the road experience with no chargeable or preventable accidents because I have been operating much the same all of my career
Well I mentioned the QualComm/Fuel card check because I have seen it being performed by DOT during a company audit of logs. And I’m not going to fight about legal logs because as you know with all of your experience you know that when you change duty status so should your logs. Again, the log auditor in me. Can’t help myself!
Ahh, I got you now!
I agree and that is the only requirement our company has is the fuel stops match within 30 minutes. Damn, I miss the days when the rule was, they had to be on the same day.
Naw, not fighting with you Donna. I tried doing it the “legal” way when the new rules came out but my tired old ass can’t sit like it used to.
I understand, my husband is a um “bit” older than me and he is the same way. He’s been driving just a little longer than you (not much) and we frequently stop for afternoon naps. But that is ok with me because then I get a chance to walk!!
How we all know that if we were to follow the law to the T it would be putting a hurting on every facet of the logistical design of the transportation industry. (If one does exist! lol)
We do get the attention of the government when we talk strike! The shut down 1 April was proof of it! One might say what a joke but what happened? Instead of truckers paying the profit for the oil companies to be slipped off to the consumer the consumer started to directly contribute to the oil company’s profit by higher gasoline cost! This didn’t happen by accident. By design yes.
We need a national union that is separate non company driver or independent union. One that will tell the biggies hey you want to play the game, so can we! Don’t strike! Play exactly by the rules. Delivery on time and stuck because they ran you out of hours unloading you? Give them a choice, I deliver I stay my 10 hours or you wait till I get my ten hours at a safe place! We have girl friends and women drivers that can “B” at the conditions of DCs that have if your lucky a porta pottie and no running water! Truck parking areas on a Interstate with no bathroom facilities perhaps a porta pottie with no water. Wheres the health department at? Where is OSHA to protect us? Heck the American Cancer Society gets their smoking bans to protect us can’t we get at least a sanitary condition to live in?