Insights - July/August 2017 - 24

GOVERNMENT NEWS
Policy Steps Affecting
Intermodal Move Forward as
Infrastructure Pace Lags
While Washington interests continue
to evaluate and debate infrastructure
improvements, government regulation
and policy developments that will directly
affect intermodal are accelerating.
The most extensive activity was at
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which advanced four separate
initiatives. One was an informational tour
about the upcoming electronic logging
device mandate effective on Dec. 18.
Other steps were intended to address
the driver shortage, potential changes to
sleeper berth requirements and its controversial Compliance, Safety, Accountability
program.
To educate drivers and carriers about
their responsibilities regarding the mandate, the agency began a six-stop tour on
July 13 at the Iowa 80 Truckstop Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa to broaden industry
knowledge of ELDs, using interactive

24 Intermodal Insights | July/August 2017

displays and answer questions.
Future stops include the Aug. 24-26
Great American Trucking Show in Dallas;
the North American Commercial Vehicle
Show in Atlanta, Sept. 25-28; the California
Trucking Show in the city of Ontario, Oct.
14-15; American Trucking Associations'
Management Conference & Exhibition,
Oct. 21-24 in Orlando, Florida; and Women
in Trucking's Accelerate! Conference &
Expo, Nov. 6-8 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information about the ELD rule is
available at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ELD.
The moves to address the driver
shortage included proposals that would
allow states to issue commercial driver's
licensing permits that are valid for one
year instead of the current 180 days. Another would permit state driver's licensing
agencies to waive the knowledge test for
military veterans within one year of their
return to civilian status.

Easing the Path
"These two proposals will help ease
the entry for thousands of qualified

individuals into career opportunities as
professional truck and bus drivers -
a critical occupation facing an acute
labor shortage in our country," the agency
said in a statement.
On a related note, the much-delayed
entry level driver rule finally took effect
in June. The rule establishes minimum
standards for those seeking a commercial
driver's license. Additional information can
be found at https://www.federalregister.
gov/documents/2017/06/12/2017-12080/
commercial-learners-permit-validity and
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/08/2016-28012/minimum-training-requirements-for-entry-levelcommercial-motor-vehicle-operators.
FMCSA also is seeking comments,
due by Aug. 28, on a pilot program that
would give flexibility to drivers in using
sleeper berths. The pilot program, meant
to evaluate driver fatigue and performance effects of varying sleeper berth
periods, would reduce the shorter period
of berth time to three hours. For more
information, please see https://www.gpo.
gov/fdsys/pkg/FR- 2017-06-06/pdf/201711642.pdf.
The agency also said it would accept
the recommendations made by the National Academies of Sciences in a report
that evaluated the agency's CSA program.
That report found CSA was "conceptually sound" but needed more rigorous
statistical underpinning. The agency's plan
is due in late October. More information
is available at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24818/improving-motor-carrier-safetymeasurement.
"There is an
urgent need to
address issues
regarding data
sufficiency
and accuracy
- specifically
when looking
at crash and
carrier exposure
data," said Sean
Garney
Garney, ATA's
director of safety policy, in response to the
report.
While its infrastructure program timing was unclear, the Trump administration
is moving ahead on a commitment to re-

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/06/12/2017-12080/commercial-leamers-permit-validity https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/06/12/2017-12080/commercial-leamers-permit-validity https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/06/12/2017-12080/commercial-leamers-permit-validity http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ELD https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/08/2016-28012/minimum-training-requirements-for-entry-levelcommercial-motor-vehicle-operators https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-06-06/pdf/2017-11642.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-06-06/pdf/2017-11642.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-06-06/pdf/2017-11642.pdf https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24818/improving-motor-carrier-safety-measurement https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24818/improving-motor-carrier-safety-measurement https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24818/improving-motor-carrier-safety-measurement http://www.kiswaninational.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Insights - July/August 2017