July 22, 2008-- While ATA supports the recommendations to improve the medical qualification process, the public should recognize that medical problems cause less than 3 percent of truck accidents.  In contrast, speeding and aggressive driving cause 42 percent, and failure to pay attention causes 35 percent.

If the federal government enacted ATA’s proposal to require speed limiters and lower the speed limit, many more lives would be saved.

The AP story and the GAO report fail to properly represent the trucking industry’s commitment to safety, including the fact that ATA supports all of the changes suggested and, in some cases, ATA was the first to suggest the change.  The positive drug test clearing house, for example, was requested by ATA some ten years ago.

The GAO report makes much of their finding that it found CDL holders who were on Social Security or VA disability – but being on either SS or VA disability does not disqualify one from having a CDL.

By all relevant measures, the trucking industry is the safest it has ever been since record-keeping began:

• The fatality rate is 2.25 fatalities per 100 million miles, the lowest every recorded.
• The number of fatalities has fallen below 5,000, not the 5,300 the AP article stated.
• The injury crash rate is down to 34.4 crashes per 100 million miles – a record low.
• The property damage crash rate is down to 128.6 -- a record low.

While the AP report contains several examples of crash incidents by medically unqualified drivers, it fails to disclose the fact that more than 70% of car-truck crashes are caused by passenger car drivers.  This has been proven by three independent studies, including one backed by traffic camera videos of actual crashes.

While we support improvements in the medical area, other safety suggestions we have made to the federal government (and which would have a greater effect on improving safety) have not been accomplished. For instance, almost 2 years ago, ATA requested federal regulations to require speed limiters on new trucks.

ATA supports updated and improved medical qualification standards for CMV drivers.  Current standards date to the 1970s.

The FMCSA is currently working on a proposed rule, which ATA supports, that would create a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME).  Medical examiners would have to meet certain certification requirements to be eligible to be placed on the registry.  Drivers would then be required to go to any one of the MEs on the register in order to be medically qualified – this would invariably put an end to “Dr. shopping.”

Part of the problem with unqualified drivers on the road is that many of them will seek out several different doctors until they find one who will certify them.  Implementation of the National Registry would end this practice.

ATA also provided regulatory comments on the FMCSA’s proposal to link the drivers’ medical certification to his/her CDL. 

By so doing, a state could potentially “downgrade” a CMV driver’s CDL based on an expired medical certificate.  Although this is one means of ensuring that a driver’s medical qualification is current, ATA is less than optimistic that the rule, as proposed, will yield any tangible safety benefit.   Rather, we believe that updating standards and getting better information to medical examiners should be the top priorities.

The industry’s regulator is already in the process of updating its medical qualification standards. As mandated by SAFETEA-LU, the FMCSA has been charged with establishing a Medical Review Board (MRB). The Medical Review Board, comprised of 5 expert physicans, each with a medical specialty, has convened several times since its establishment in 2006 to give guidance and make recommendations to FMCSA’s to current medical qualification standards.

To date, the Board has updated and recommended revised medical qualification standards for cardiovascular disorders, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders, and renal disease. Several other medical conditions will be taken up at later MRB meetings. The Board’s recommendations reflect the most up-to-date evidence based medical practices.  ATA believes that many of the recommendations put forward by the MRB could result in a safer and healthier CMV driving population.

For further information, please contact:

Clayton W. Boyce
Vice President of Public Affairs and Press Secretary- American Trucking Associations
Office: 703-838-7902
Cell: 703-408-3716
Fax:  703-838-1936
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