U.S. Legislative News

In the summer of 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launched the Our Roads, Our Safety program to help raise awareness among the driving public about operating safely around and sharing the road with large trucks and buses. As part of the program, FMCSA has developed social media content, video and radio spots, safety tip sheets, postcards, infographics, brochures, and more aimed at educating passenger vehicle drivers, truck drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians about the operational challenges large trucks and buses face in order to make the safest decisions while on the road.

In September, NAFA joined the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the American Bus Association, AAA, and the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association to become an official partner of the FMCSA’s Our Roads, Our Safety program. As part of this effort, NAFA will participate in a series of monthly partner meetings to share ideas about safety and how best to disseminate the campaign’s critical road safety messages. To learn more about the Our Roads, Our Safety program, click here.



According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, large trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds drove approximately 280 billion miles on U.S. roads in 2015 and were involved in more than 400,000 crashes, which resulted in 116,000 injuries and 4,067 deaths. On September 21, 2017, the AAA Foundation released new research that shows adding advanced safety technologies to large trucks has the potential to prevent an estimated 63,000 truck related crashes each year.

AAA says the purpose of the study was to examine the benefits and costs of installing four key advanced safety technologies in both existing and new large trucks. Examples of such technologies include braking systems designed to shorten a truck’s stopping distance, systems that warn the driver if the truck begins to drift out of its lane, and systems that can detect when a crash is imminent and automatically apply the brakes if the driver fails to do so. For instance, the analysis indicated that each year, lane departure warning systems could prevent up to 6,372 crashes, 1,342 injuries, and 115 deaths.

"There’s no question that truck safety technology saves lives," Dr. David Yang, Executive Director of the AAA Foundation, said in a statement. "This new research shows that the benefits of adding many of these technologies to trucks clearly outweigh the cost."

The full study, "Leveraging Large Truck Technology and Engineering to Realize Safety Gains," is available here.



On September 26, 2017, the White House announced President Trump’s intention to nominate Raymond Martinez to be Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Mr. Martinez is currently the Chairman and Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and a Member of the New Jersey State Planning Commission.

A graduate of St. John's University School of Law and C.W. Post College of Long Island University, Martinez formerly served as Deputy U.S. Chief of Protocol during the George W. Bush administration and held various positions in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations as well. Before that, he was Commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

Prior to assuming the top post at FMCSA, Martinez will need to be confirmed by the Senate. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has expressed support for the nomination and is asking that the Senate quickly take up and approve his nomination.