ILMA Compoundings – December 2019 - 8

INDUSTRY RUNDOWN

FMCSA: New Project,
ELDs and Leadership
Transition
Although Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) Administrator Raymond Martinez has since
stepped down from his post, he used one of his final
speaking opportunities as leader of the organization
to address transportation initiatives for attendees of
the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition. His talk included the
announcement of a new project to promote advanced
driver assistance systems, or ADAS.
While other industry topics were discussed, such as the
Dec. 16 deadline to phase out automatic onboard recording
devices, the ADAS development was perhaps the most
significant point of discussion.
ADAS refers to new technologies that could significantly
improve driver safety, such as automatic emergency brakes,
lane-departure warning systems, blind-spot detection and
adaptive light control. "This technology is going to lead us
[to improved safety]," Martinez said at the ATA conference.
The ATA and the American Transportation Research Institute are expected to be highly involved with the FMCSA-led
effort, which is set to be a two-year project funded by the
U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Intelligent
Transportation Systems Joint Program Office.
At the ATA conference, Martinez reportedly explained that
all involved partners will help lead education on the program's
benefits. "Working with ATA and others, we will develop
outreach and education materials that will outline ADAS'
potential to reduce fatalities and prevent injuries and crashes
and share it with fleets, owner-operators and other drivers
who aren't yet aware of ADAS' potential benefits," he said.
Martinez also reportedly said that the ADAS initiative
will provide the FMCSA an opportunity to gauge the
prevalence and adoption rates for these technologies within
the trucking industry. That would allow the administration
to measure impacts of outreach efforts on adoption and, in
turn, the real safety benefits the program is providing.

DECEMBER 2019

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"I'm very excited about what we can learn through the
ADAS project," Martinez said. "Thanks to all our partners for
their enthusiasm and great ideas as we begin this important
work. This is a concrete example of how active collaboration
can help the industry remain strong and growing."
In addition to this new project, Martinez addressed other
important topics at the ATA's annual event, including urging
fleets to implement electronic logging devices (ELDs) as soon
as possible. He stressed that ELDs have the "potential for
greatly improving safety" and that safety improvements can
be achieved with "a little bit of flexibility" in regard to the
hours-of-service (HOS) rules. The industry's commitment
to adhering to the new rules has reportedly contributed to a
52% drop in HOS violations in the past year.
In regard to ELDs, Martinez concluded: "It's a big shift,
but we remain committed to working with industry, law
enforcement and the ELD vendor community to make this
transition work."
Despite Martinez's departure from his role as administrator, the ADAS project is expected to continue without a
hitch, with FMCSA Chief Counsel Jim Mullen promoted
to acting administrator until President Donald Trump nominates a replacement, who would then need to be confirmed
by the Senate. Martinez will take on a new role at the DOT
- he'll be overseeing redevelopment construction at the
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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ILMA Compoundings – December 2019

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