WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 1, 2000) — U.S. truck safety regulators will introduce a rule that would put truckers out of service if they don’t improve an unsatisfactory safety rating within 60 days.

Left unaddressed, truckers would be declared unfit and placed out of service, according to Heavy Duty Trucking magazine. The rule would prevent the federal government, the nation’s largest shipper, from using “unfit” truckers.

Critics of the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s decision say the safety rating process puts more emphasis on recordkeeping than on actual safety performance. Under the process, the agency pulls together information from a variety of sources to rate the trucker as “satisfactory,” “conditional,” or “unsatisfactory.”

The 60-day clock on the “unsatisfactory” rating would start ticking when the company receives official notice of the rating from FMCSA. To clear the rating, the company must request an agency review after it has fixed its problems. The safety agency has 45 days to perform the review after the request is made (hazardous materials carriers and bus lines get their review within 30 days).

The rule would not be retroactive: it would not apply to truckers that received “unsatisfactory” ratings before it becomes effective.

FMCSA expects the rule to place fewer than 100 truckers out-of-service per year. It was ordered by Congress two years ago in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.