ATA Welcomes Withdrawal of Safety Fitness Determination Proposal

Federation Supports New, Simple Safety Rating System, Based on Improved CSA Data

News provided by

Mar 22, 2017, 12:12 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., March 22, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the American Trucking Associations said the decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to withdraw its proposed safety fitness determination rule was a positive step for the agency to improving its Compliance, Safety, Accountability system.

"ATA has long supported using data to target enforcement activities against bad actors in our industry," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "However, numerous reviews have shown flaws in the data and in the CSA system, so it makes sense to withdraw this rule which would have used CSA data to create publicly available fitness ratings."

ATA pressed for CSA reforms in the most recent highway bill - Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act – which called for a full study by the National Academies of Science and for FMCSA to make changes based on that study.

"We look forward to FMCSA enacting necessary reforms to the CSA program based on this ongoing thorough review," Spear said. "Safety is our industry's most important calling and having good data and using that data to make intelligent enforcement decisions is a critical to improving safety on our highways."

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward

SOURCE American Trucking Associations