U.S. Legislative Issues

Legislation requiring the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to go through a formal rulemaking process when regulating sleep apnea passed the House of Representatives 405-0 on September 26. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO). The legislation followed an announcement by the FMCSA that it will address sleep apnea through a rulemaking, rather than through guidance. "FMCSA will issue a notice to address obstructive sleep apnea through the formal rulemaking process after collecting and analyzing the necessary data and research," the agency said in a short statement.


On October 1, NAFA members met in Washington, D.C. with officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a recent recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to the FMCSA to require commercial driver’s licenses for drivers to operate single-unit trucks with GVWRs less than 26,001 pounds.

During the meeting, NAFA members questioned the data used by the NTSB to support the conclusion that extending the CDL requirement to single-unit trucks will be an effective means of reducing the severity and frequency of crashes. They pointed out that a missing component of NTSB’s study is that it makes no distinction between trucks in a managed fleet versus vehicles operated by the casual driver or vehicles in smaller, unmanaged fleets. NAFA urged FMCSA to undertake a more detailed analysis of accident data in management fleets, and expressed confidence that such an analysis with reflect that the safety record of managed fleets is significantly better.

FMCSA said that no decision has been made to date as to the response to the NTSB recommendation and express an eagerness to work with NAFA to better understand the operating characteristics of managed fleets with single-unit trucks. FMCSA said that data that evaluates the effectiveness of fleet safety programs would be particularly important.

The NAFA delegation included Jeffrey L. Jeter, Fleet Manager for Chesterfield County, VA.; Sheryl Grossman, Fleet Manager GE Healthcare; Robert J. Ellingsworth, CAFM, Fleet Manager, State of Minnesota Department of Transportation; and Randy Shadley, CAFM, Fleet Safety Specialist, Corporate Claims Management.


Highway construction and safety programs will remain operational despite most federal government functions shutting down Oct. 1 after legislators failed to agree on a measure to fund the government.  The Department of Transportation told all employees of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and most employees of the Federal Highway Administration before the shutdown that they would have to come to work. Funding for those agencies comes from the Highway Trust Fund, which means they do not depend on the appropriation process in Congress. Roadside truck inspections, for example, will continue because FMCSA money supports the state law enforcement agencies conducting them.