WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is not sufficiently addressing the causes of road crashes, the American Trucking Associations said about the government agency’s recently drafted Five-Year Strategic Plan.

In comments filed July 29, the ATA said the FMCSA’s plan – titled "Raising the Safety Bar" — is a "genuine effort" to address all entities that affect truck and driver safety, but not enough is being done.

Specifically, only a couple of the plan’s 10 stated goals addresses impacting the behavior of passenger motorists, who play a significant role in a substantial percentage of truck crashes.

Instead, the core principles of the plan focused exclusively on motor carriers.

By not emphasizing motorists in the plan, FMCSA will only impact about 30 percent of truck-involved crashes, ATA, added.
In its draft, however, the FMCSA does indicate it plans on expanding its reach over shippers and receivers.

The agency says it has a responsibility to oversee not just trucking companies and drivers, but the "commercial motor vehicle transportation life-cycle," which includes others in the supply chain companies that can affect trucking safety.

FMCSA hopes to close some of the gaps in its authority over other players such as shippers, receivers, brokers, and freight forwarders.

The 10-point plan, as stated by FMCSA, can be read in its entirety by clicking here. Comments may also be submitted.