The document provides an overview of FMCSA's regulatory update and safety initiatives presented by Jack Van Steenburg at a commercial carrier symposium. It discusses (1) FMCSA's mission of prioritizing safety and preventing crashes involving commercial vehicles, (2) data showing that while commercial vehicles represent a small percentage of vehicles, they are involved in a large percentage of crashes and fatalities, and (3) FMCSA's CSA program and its safety benefits in identifying high-risk carriers for intervention and reducing roadside violations.

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Commercial Carrier Journal
Spring Symposium
May 19, 2015
FMCSA Regulatory Update
Jack Van Steenburg
Assistant Administrator
And Chief Safety Officer
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

2. Our Mission
Placing safety as
our highest priority:
Prevent crashes, injuries, and fatalities
involving CMV transportation through
education, innovation, regulation,
enforcement, financial assistance,
partnerships, and
full accountability
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3. The Problem – Exploring Facts
Large trucks and buses represent:
• 4.5% of the registered vehicles in U.S.
• 10% of the vehicle miles traveled
• 11.8% of the crashes
• 12.1% of the traffic fatalities
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4. Large Truck and Bus Crash Data
 In 2013, 3,806 crashes involving a large truck or
bus claimed 4,251 lives lost
 739 of those lives lost were large truck or bus
occupants
 3,512 of those lives lost were occupants of either
a passenger vehicle, rider of a motorcycle or a
bicycle or were a pedestrian
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5. CSA Safety Benefits
• Identifies high risk carriers for intervention.
• SMS BASIC effectively identifies carriers more
likely to be involved in crashes.
• Assesses nearly 200,000 carriers that account
for 92% of reportable crashes, and 80% of
CMVs.
• Reaches more carriers, earlier; 86,000 warning
letters sent since CSA rollout.
• Annual roadside inspection violation rates
have dropped 15% since CSA rollout.
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6. SMS Display Page
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7. CSA Future Enhancements
• HM BASIC
• Exposure
• Driver Fitness Threshold
• Unsafe Driving – OOS operations
• Crash Weighting
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8. Safety Fitness Determination
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• Working to publish NPRM.
• Propose expanding use of roadside inspection
data -- in addition to findings from
investigations – to determine a safety fitness
rating.
• Assess the safety fitness of a larger number of
motor carriers on a monthly basis.
• Absolute score vs. relative score.
• Assures an objective adjudication process.

9. Hours of Service
• A naturalistic study comparing impacts of
restart provisions before and after July 1, 2013.
• Drivers from fleets of all sizes, operations, and
industry sectors.
• Led by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
and leading experts on fatigue.
• OIG oversight and independent peer review.
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10. Electronic Logging Devices
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Final Rule to be published in 2015. Benefits
include:
• Cut paperwork and save money
• Easier to review driver hours-of-service (HOS)
records
• Protect drivers from harassment
• By improving hours of service compliance,
ELDs are estimated to prevent about 20
fatalities and over 400 injuries each year.

11. Coercion Rule
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Working to publish a Coercion Final Rule later
this year.
• Prohibit carriers, shippers, receivers and
transportation intermediaries from pressuring
drivers into violating FMCSA regulations.
• Includes procedures for reporting incidents of
coercion.
• Sets rules of practice FMCSA to handle
allegations.

12. Other Regulatory Matters
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• Entry Level Driver Training.
• Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.
• National Registry of Certified Medical
Examiners
• Financial Responsibility

13. Thinking Outside the Box
• Driver Recognition
– ATA has helped champion this initiative
– The poster will hang at USDOT HQ.
• Beyond Compliance
– What are the technologies?
– What are the incentives to carriers?
– How to monitor compliance?
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14. Our Vision
Save lives by striving toward a
crash-free and fully accountable
CMV transportation life-cycle
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15. www.fmcsa.dot.gov
john.vansteenburg@dot.gov
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