Plan Calls for Use of TMC ‘Recommended Practices’ as Training Guide
Eric Miller
A technician works on a Peterbilt truck engine. An individual now can become qualified as an inspector in as little as four months by following TMC’S Recommended Practices. (Peterbilt Motor Co.)
Federal regulators have granted a five-year exemption to American Trucking Associations that could help mitigate the tech shortage, and exempt motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers from the requirement that an individual must complete one year of training to conduct annual commercial motor vehicle inspections.
ATA said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s waiver, made public Jan. 16 in a Federal Register notice, will cut the time new technicians need to spend preparing to enter the workforce while maintaining high standards for safety and competency. The idea also has the potential to stem some of the nettlesome tech shortages.
Under the new policy requested by ATA in 2020, technicians would be allowed to skip the federally required one-year of training or experience needed to conduct CMV inspections and brake-related repair and maintenance provided they received training based on ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council Recommended Practices.
“TMC, through its study groups and task forces, has developed a robust set of Recommended Practices, and these RPs form the backbone of the knowledge leadership the council provides to its members and the industry,” TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell said. “This exemption recognizes that TMC’s RPs meet the industry standard for technical knowledge, and technicians who are trained on them are more than capable of performing essential work.”
The exemption applies to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers and individuals, allowing them to self-certify that they have completed a training program based on TMC’s RPs. This training and certification, rather than the currently required year of additional training or work experience, “would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulatory requirements,” FMCSA said.
“Quite simply, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations just say if you want to be qualified to vehicle inspect, a person who is qualified to do brake-related maintenance or repair, you simply need a year of either schooling or experience or some combination of both to qualify you for that role takes a year,” Braswell told Transport Topics. “Now an individual can become qualified as an inspector in as little as four months if he or she uses TMC’S Recommended Practices.”
TMC has developed more than 500 Recommended Practices organized into 15 sections that outline individual procedures for inspecting, repairing or replacing components on commercial vehicles. The RPs are available in a document titled “TMC’s Recommended Practices Manual.”
“We believe that by allowing technicians trained in programs based on TMC’s Recommended Practices, the industry can make it easier and more efficient for new technicians to enter the industry,” Braswell said. “The industry continues to face a persistent shortage of technicians, so anything we can do to cut red tape and get students and young people onto the shop floor quickly will help address it.”
TMC does not actually administer the course.
“The school or the fleet has to follow the TMC guidelines, but there are no requirements that users be TMC members,” Braswell added.
The exemption applies to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers and individuals, allowing them to self-certify that they have completed a training program based on TMC’s RPs.
“We believe that by allowing technicians trained in programs based on TMC’s Recommended Practices, the industry can make it easier and more efficient for new technicians to enter the industry,” Braswell said. “The industry continues to face a persistent shortage of technicians, so anything we can do to cut red tape and get students and young people onto the shop floor quickly will help address it.”
“FMCSA supports ATA’s TMC recommendation that the training program duration should be at least 540 hours (approximately 13.5 work weeks) for new individuals, divided into one-third classroom-based instruction and two-third laboratory hands-on based instruction,” the agency said.
Braswell said that the shortage of traditional diesel technicians is getting better.
“Still, if you take a look at the demand for diesel technicians there are about 9,700 new positions and about 31,000 replacement positions,” Braswell said. “So the total demand is 40,000 or 41,000, and, replacement positions are outpacing positions created by growth to a rate of about 4 to 1.”
Mark Schremmer
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a limited five-year exemption to the American Trucking Associations from training or experience requirements related to conducting commercial motor vehicle inspections.
FMCSA announced the exemption in a notice that was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Current regulations require motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers to ensure that individuals performing annual inspections of commercial motor vehicles, including individuals who inspect, maintain, repair or service CMV brake systems, have a total of at least one year of training or experience.
In 2021, ATA requested an exemption on behalf of individuals seeking inspector qualifications. Instead, ATA requested that FMCSA permit educators to self-certify their training programs based on the Technology and Maintenance Council’s recommended practices and permit technicians who complete those programs to be qualified to inspect commercial motor vehicles in less than one year.
The exemption request was supported by the American Bus Association.
The group said that the exemption would “positively impact the commercial motor vehicle industry by expanding accessibility and opportunities for professional development and staffing.”
FMCSA agreed that ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council has developed a series of best practices that serve to give training providers the necessary content to deliver comprehensive training programs and assessments that provide individuals with the knowledge and skills to become qualified inspectors.
The agency said it has determined that “granting an exemption from the requirements that motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers ensure that individuals performing annual inspections have one year of training, experience or a combination thereof would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulatory requirements if the individuals instead successfully complete a performance-based inspector training program consistent with the Technology and Maintenance Council’s recommended practices.”
The exemption took effect Thursday, Jan. 16 and will run through Jan. 16, 2030.
FMCSA has adopted its proposed changes to its Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP), adding four new eligible crash types and broadening the definition of existing crash types to include indirect consequences of actions of other motorists. The new and updated eligibility criteria will apply to requests for data review (RDR) for crashes that occur on or after December 1, 2024. Crashes occurring prior to that date will be reviewed according to the prior criteria. FMCSA said it will announce on the CPDP website at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/crash-preventability-
determination-program when DataQs will be available to accept submissions of the new and updated crash types. The four new crash types are as follows:
- CMV was struck on the side by a motorist operating in the same direction.
- CMV was struck because another motorist was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot.
- CMV was struck because another motorist lost control of their vehicle. The Police Accident Report (PAR) must specifically mention loss of control either in the citation, contributing factors, and/or PAR narrative.
- Any other type of crash involving a CMV where a video demonstrates the sequence of events of the crash.
In addition to the newly eligible situations that are reviewable, FMCSA has reworded several crash types to account for situations in which other motorists caused crashes that they were not directly involved in. For example, one prior description was “CMV was struck by a motorist driving in the wrong direction.” The new version is “CMV was struck because another motorist was driving in the wrong direction.” FMCSA noted that the new definitions now allow for review if a CMV was struck by a vehicle that had been struck by a motorist driving in the wrong direction, making an illegal turn, experiencing a medical issue, etc. FMCSA emphasized that the CPDP is limited to how crashes show up in the Safety Measurement System for the purpose of targeting enforcement and does not affect crash preventability determinations made through FMCSA safety investigations. Moreover, preventability determinations under CPDP will not affect carriers’ safety rating or ability to operate, FMCSA said. For the Federal Register notice, visit https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-28377.
Truckers News Staff
FinditParts
Safety is a primary concern for many truckers when visiting truck stops. In fact, 80% of truckers in a recent survey said they would pay extra for services at truck stops where they felt safe.
The survey conducted by FinditParts also found that the younger the trucker, for the most part, the less safe they felt at truck stops. However, the majority of truckers do feel safe at truck stops, according to the survey’a results.
The online survey found:
- 59% of Gen Z (drivers born between 1997 and 2012) feel safe at truck stops
- 78% of Millennials (drivers born between 1981 and 1996) feel safe at truck stops
- 86% of Gen X (drivers born between 1965 and 1980) feel safe at truck stops
- 84% of Boomers (drivers born between 1946 and 1964) feel safe at truck stops
Truckers are also willing to pay extra for services at truck stops they consider safe and clean. Fully eight in 10 respondents said they would pay at least 5% more for services at a truck stop where they felt safe. Two in five would pay up to 25% or more.
The survey also found that women drivers are twice as likely as men to feel unsafe sleeping at a truck stop. Over a quarter of women said they’d feel “somewhat unsafe” sleeping overnight at a truck stop, and another 24% said they’d feel “very unsafe.” Women are 12% more likely to pay for a hotel than stay at a sketchy truck stop than men, according to the survey’s findings.
Tyson Fisher
Although workplace fatalities among truck drivers are trending downward, the job of a trucker remains one of the most dangerous in the United States.
That’s according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report, which breaks down the number of workplace fatalities for 2023. As in previous years, truck drivers and other transportation workers rank among the highest in fatalities of all private sector employees.
Workplace fatalities claimed the lives of 823 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in 2023. That was down significantly, by 12%, compared to the previous year. It also marked the fewest workplace deaths among truckers since 2016, when 786 truck drivers died on the job. The vast majority of those deaths were transportation incidents. Only 7% of fatalities were the result of contact incidents, with 6% caused by exposure to harmful substances/environments.
When drilling down to specific occupations, more truck drivers died while working than did workers in any other job. In a distant second, there were 318 workplace fatalities among construction laborers.
Zooming out, driver/sales workers and truck drivers accounted for the most workplace fatalities by civilian occupations, with nearly 1,000 deaths, followed by grounds maintenance workers (226) and miscellaneous agricultural workers (146). Per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, the truck driver fatality rate of 26.8 ranked seventh. Leading occupations in fatality rates are logging workers (98.9), fishing and hunting workers (86.9) and roofers (51.8).
More broadly, workers in transportation and material-moving occupations represented the occupational group with the most workplace fatalities, with nearly 1,500 deaths. Fatalities in that group dropped nearly 8% from 2022, largely the result of the 12% decrease among truck drivers.
Transportation and material-moving workers also experienced the second-highest fatality rate per 100,000 workers at 13.6. Farming, fishing and forestry occupations’ workplace fatality rate of 24.4 was the highest.
By sector, transportation and warehousing had the second-most total workplace fatalities at 930 deaths, down 12% from 2022. The construction sector’s 1,075 fatalities were the most in the private sector.
Across all sectors and occupations, transportation incidents were the most common type of fatal event, accounting for more than a third of all workplace fatalities. Those incidents made up 72% of fatalities within the transportation and warehousing sector. Among those, two-thirds were roadway collisions, and nearly half occurred on an interstate, freeway or expressway.
In 2023, a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury. Overall, workplace fatalities in the private sector went down 4% in 2023 to nearly 5,300 deaths.
Mark Schremmer
The U.S. Department of Commerce is hitting the accelerator on a rulemaking to address security risks involving connected vehicles.
Less than two months after the comment period ended for a proposal to prohibit transactions involving connected vehicle technology by China or other “foreign adversaries,” the Department of Commerce has already drafted a final rule.
The department’s Bureau of Industry and Security submitted a final rule to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget on Dec. 17, 2024. The quick turnaround appears to be an attempt to get a final rule published before a new administration takes control later this month. The gap between a proposal and final rule often can be a year or more.
However, the White House still needs to approve the final rule before it can be published in the Federal Register and take effect. As of the morning of Thursday, Jan. 2, that had not happened.
The expedited rulemaking process also could be attributed to the importance of the issue. The agency said the proposal, which was unveiled in September 2024, is aimed at addressing “undue or unacceptable” risks to national security.
“Today’s vehicles contain a myriad of connected components that provide greater convenience for consumers and increase road safety for both drivers and pedestrians,” the agency wrote. “However, the incorporation of progressively more complex hardware and software systems that facilitate these features has also increased the attack surfaces through which malign actors may exploit vulnerabilities to gain access to a vehicle.”
The proposal would prohibit transactions involving Vehicle Connectivity System hardware and covered software designed, developed, manufactured or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Russian Federation.
The agency proposed regulations that would:
- Prohibit Vehicle Connectivity System hardware importers from knowingly importing into the United States certain hardware for connected vehicles
- Prohibit connected vehicle manufacturers from knowingly importing into the United States completed connected vehicles incorporating certain software
- Prohibit connected vehicle manufacturers from knowingly selling within the United States completed connected vehicles that incorporate covered software
- Prohibit connected vehicle manufacturers who are owned by, controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of China or Russia from knowingly selling in the United States completed vehicles that incorporate covered hardware or software
The proposal received about 100 comments.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which is supportive of the rulemaking, used its comments to ask for more oversight of autonomous vehicles.
“OOIDA has raised safety and cybersecurity concerns regarding the development of autonomous vehicles as the technology has been deployed in recent years,” the Association wrote in formal comments. “We believe this Department of Commerce proposal can help implement necessary federal oversight for autonomous vehicle safety and protect private personal and vehicle information.”
OOIDA also called out the lack of transparency regarding autonomous vehicles and the link between some of these companies and foreign countries. For instance, a former TuSimple executive was accused of failing to disclose his relationship with a Chinese autonomous hydrogen-powered truck company.
It is unknown how much time it will take for the connected vehicle final rule to clear the White House. Additionally, it is unknown if the agency’s submitted final rule has changed since the initial proposal.
“This rule marks a critical step forward in protecting America’s technology supply chains from foreign threats and ensures that connected vehicle technologies are secure from the potential exploitation of entities linked to the PRC and Russia,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan F. Estevez. “The Department of Commerce will continue to take a proactive approach to address this national security risk before Chinese and Russian suppliers proliferate within the U.S. automotive ecosystem. Our goal is always to safeguard our national security.”
“Our regulatory focus remains steadfast on enhancing the security of our nation’s critical technologies,” said Elizabeth Cannon, Executive Director of OICTS. “Without this proposed rule, we would be leaving an open door for foreign adversaries looking to compromise one of our most important assets, our cars. BIS is committed to safeguarding our technology supply chains from foreign adversary manipulation.”
Today’s proposed rule would prohibit the import and sale of vehicles with certain VCS or ADS hardware or software with a nexus to the PRC or Russia. The VCS is the set of systems that allow the vehicle to communicate externally, including telematics control units, Bluetooth, cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi modules. The ADS includes the components that collectively allow a highly autonomous vehicle to operate without a driver behind the wheel.
The rule would also prohibit manufacturers with a nexus to the PRC or Russia from selling connected vehicles that incorporate VCS hardware or software or ADS software in the United States, even if the vehicle was made in the United States.
The prohibitions on software would take effect for Model Year 2027 and the prohibitions on hardware would take effect for Model Year 2030, or January 1, 2029 for units without a model year.
The proposed rule is implemented under BIS’s ICTS authorities, as provided for under Executive Order 13873, “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain.” EO 13873 allows the Department of Commerce to issue regulations that establish criteria by which particular technologies may be included in EO 13873’s prohibitions when transactions involving those technologies (1) pose an undue or unacceptable risk of sabotage to or subversion of ICTS in the United States; (2) pose an undue risk of catastrophic effects on the security or resiliency of U.S. critical infrastructure or the digital economy of the United States; or (3) otherwise pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of U.S. persons.
This NPRM incorporates public feedback submitted in response to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on connected vehicles published by BIS on March 1, 2024. BIS is seeking additional public comment on today’s proposed rule from all interested parties.
Additional Information:
The text of the proposed rule is available here. BIS invites public comments, which are due 30 days after publication. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit their feedback by the deadline to ensure that the final provisions reflect broad industry and public input. You may submit comments for the rule by identified docket number BIS-2024-0005 or RIN 0694-AJ56. All comments must be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal (https://www.regulations.gov) or emailed directly to connectedvehicles@bis.doc.gov with “RIN 0694-AJ56” included in the subject line.
