Safety Priorities

Trucking Alliance Safety Priorities

Safety on our roads and for our truckers are a shared responsibility. There is always more we can do to protect lives and ensure the integrity of the nation’s freight system. Backed by thorough research, Trucking Alliance members, we are committed to advocating for meaningful reforms that address critical safety priorities.

The following measures will create a safer and more sustainable future for the trucking industry and the communities it serves:

Expand Electronic Logging Devices to Include More Commercial Trucks

Current rules allow thousands of truck drivers to operate tractor-trailers without an Electronic Logging Device (ELD). These include:

• Drivers who pick up and deliver goods all day, but within a 150-air-mile radius.
• Drivers who transport agricultural products.
• Drivers who operate vehicles with engines predating the model year 2000.
• Federal regulations should require these drivers to utilize ELDs in order to verify they are not exceeding their hours behind the wheel.

More Commercial Truck Drivers Should Be Required to Pass a Drug Test

About 2.97 million truck drivers hold commercial driver licenses (CDLs). These CDL drivers must pass a pre-employment and random drug test.

But there are an estimated 13 million commercial truck drivers who deliver freight every day, but who are not required to pass a drug test. These non-CDL drivers share the same highways and pose the same safety risks as those commercial truck drivers who are drug tested. Federal regulations should require all commercial for-hire truck drivers to be drug and alcohol-free.

Motor Carriers Should Have Adequate Insurance to Compensate Crash Victims

In 1981, Congress required motor carriers that cause an accident to have sufficient net worth or insurance in order to operate their companies safely and to offset the medical expenses incurred by the accident’s victim(s). The financial worth of an insurance policy was set at $750,000. Yet, 40 years later, this insurance amount remains unchanged.

Congress should increase this minimum amount. , to make sure motor carriers are financially able to operate safely and can afford adequate insurance to offset current medical costs incurred by accident victims.

Major Claims Against Motor Carriers Should Be Filed in Federal Court:

All personal injury and property claims filed against interstate motor carriers must prove that the companies were in violation of federal motor carrier safety regulations. For these reasons, major cases should be heard and decided in federal courts, rather than state or county courts.

Automated Truck Technologies Should Assist Drivers (Not Replace Them)

Much attention is being given to the development of automated, self-driving trucks; vehicles that can operate without drivers. But commercial truck drivers are indispensable to the nation’s supply chain. They operate their vehicles and manage situations that require their involvement, such as:

• Unforeseen weather events,
• Highway emergencies,
• Detours,
• Vehicle conditions,
• Computer software programs,
• Cybersecurity disruptions,
• Cargo security, and
• Providing efficient customer services.

Rather than waiting on automated trucks, these technologies should be utilized now in trucks with drivers. In almost all cases, drivers should be in the truck’s ‘cockpit’. These emerging technologies can assist drivers in mitigating or even avoiding accidents, improving the public’s safety. Drivers should always have the power and authority to override a truck’s automated systems, as road, traffic or safety conditions warrant.