Taking Issue With the Teamsters
A statement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that appeared in the June 20 issue is flat wrong and should have been verified before publishing. [The statement appeared in a Decision Makers profile of Anne Ferro, President Obama's nominee to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.]
The Teamsters refer to "the failure of FMCSA to improve the safety record of commercial vehicles," yet U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show a 9 percent decrease in the number of truck-involved fatalities and a 28 percent decline in the number of truck-involved crash injuries since the FMCSA's inception in 2000. Using actual numbers, these statistics show 474 fewer deaths and 39,000 fewer injuries in large-truck crashes in 2007 compared with 2000. In fact, the trucking industry is now the safest it has been since the Transportation Department began keeping large-truck safety statistics in 1975. The truck-involved fatality rate has decreased by more than 17 percent since the FMCSA's creation and by a remarkable 61 percent since 1975.
The Teamsters and other anti-trucking groups have continuously voiced their opposition to the federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations, despite the improvement in highway safety in the years after they were adopted. Since January 2004, when changes in the HOS regulations reduced the truck drivers' maximum workday by an hour and increased the mandatory daily rest period by two hours, truck-involved fatalities fell by 228 from 2003 to 2007, and injuries by 21,000 in the same period. These improvements came even as the number of truck miles traveled on our highways annually increased by more than 9 billion. Overall safety trends show undeniable improvements in truck safety since the FMCSA was created and the current HOS regulations took effect.
Figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on July 2 show the safety improvement trend continues with a 12 percent decrease in truck-involved fatalities from 2007 to 2008. These numbers belie the claims of the Teamsters and other anti-truck groups.
Clayton Boyce Vice President and Press Secretary American Trucking Associations Arlington, Va.
This article appeared in the Saturday, July 18, 2009 edition of National Journal.
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