Insights - May/June 2017 - 19

Progress Achieved in Chassis
Safety, More Work Ahead
G

radual progress to reduce chassis out-of-service rates is
being made, but much more needs to be done to address
the key industry issue of availability of roadworthy equipment.

That message emerged from
this year's Business Meeting, based
on a variety of perspectives.
The latest Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration inspection
statistics, presented by IANA Senior
Vice President Steve Keppler,
showed that the out-of-service rate
has been cut to 17 percent last year
from 19 percent in 2015, and 20
percent or more in prior years, based
on more than 23,500 inspections.
A total of 40 percent of chassis
inspected had a violation, down from
46 percent in 2015, 51 percent in
2014 and 2013, and 53 percent in
2012.
FMCSA Chief Safety Officer
Jack Van Steenburg issued a safety
challenge to the industry: get the outof-service rate into the single digits
IANA Senior Vice President Steve Keppler (left) joins FMCSA officials Darrell Ruban (second
from the stubbornly high 20 percent.
from left), Chelsea Castaneda (second from right) and Kevin Hall during a presentation
"20 percent is unacceptable,"
regarding the agency's inspection of IEPs' facilities.
the agency's assistant administrator
where 11 percent of inspections were performed, accounted for
told attendees, urging that the efforts to improve chassis quality
19 percent of the violations.
should be intensified.
Van Steenburg was joined at the IANA event by three FMCSA
Lowering the out-of-service rate can be achieved through
officials who are experts on IEP inspections. Darrell Ruban,
technology and better maintenance, Van Steenburg said. The
Chelsea Castaneda and Kevin Hall led a detailed 90-minute
FMCSA official lauded IANA members' commitment to equipment
presentation that outlined how the IEP and motor carrier
quality and safety, giving them a B+ grade that was better overall
investigation process works and helped attendees to understand
than his B- rating for intermodal equipment providers as a group.
how to prepare as well as identifying the most often-cited
"We are always open to different ideas" to improve safety
violations.
performance, Keppler said. Norfolk Southern's Cliff Creech, who
Ruban, field administrator for FMCSA's Southern Region, and
chairs the Maintenance & Repair Committee, said the FMCSA
Castaneda, who is a safety operations program manager, said the
report was "a wonderful opportunity to see where the industry is
investigations are driven by a priority process, since the number of
going and where your organization stacks up."
IEPs and motor carriers are far larger than the number of agency
Familiar Patterns
staff that are assigned to do the reviews. Decisions about which
The statistics also revealed familiar patterns lasting over
IEP or motor carrier to investigate are based on data such as
decades, with lights and brakes as the most frequent violations.
crashes, inspections performance and complaints.
Among trailing equipment, the most frequented violations were for
The investigative process includes an opening interview with
40-footers.
company officials as well as a records review and individual
On the state level, 59 percent of inspections were done in
interviews with workers, said Hall, who is a special agent.
California, where 37 percent of violations were found. Texas,
Chassis Safety - continued on page 22
May/June 2017 | Intermodal Insights

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