The House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee pushed forward to a six-year highway bill that would, if law, require FMCSA to remove carrier rankings from public view in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program and require the agency to rework the program, among other trucking regulatory changes.
As reported by CCJ magazine, the long-term highway bill, dubbed the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act, is a $325 billion bill and could be the groundwork for Congress’ longest highway funding measure since 2009’s SAFTEA-LU and the first multi-year bill since 2012.
The House’s legislation, if enacted, require the DOT to remove (at least temporarily) from public view data and carrier rankings in CSA’s Safety Measurement System BASICs until FMCSA can determine a course of action to correct the data and analysis issues that concern many in the trucking industry and enforcement community.
The legislation also would allow states to permit CDL licences holders 19 and 21 who are currently restricted to intrastate driving only — to cross state lines.
AS well, the bill also changes federal rules to allow truck owners to affix on their windshields lane departure warnings, on-board video recorders and other “collision avoidance systems.” Current law prohibits such devices from being mounted “within the area swept by windshield wipers.”
The Senate, meanwhile passed a long-term bill, the DRIVE Act, in July that included similar trucking policy changes.