FMCSA to conduct study for Beyond Compliance program

August 17, 2020

Mark Schremmer

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The FMCSA plans to study the effectiveness of safety technologies and programs before it rolls out the congressionally mandated Beyond Compliance program.

A notice and request for comments on the agency’s information collection request is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

The 2015 FAST Act required FMCSA to implement the Beyond Compliance program to allow recognition, including an improved Safety Measurement System percentile for motor carriers that added advanced safety equipment and adopted certain safety programs.

FMCSA said the study is aimed at completing three objectives:

  • Identify high-performing carriers in terms of safety performance.
  • Determine the safety technologies, programs and policies employed by these carriers.
  • Gauge the relative effectiveness of those safety technologies, programs and policies based on the expert opinion and performance metrics of the high performing carriers.

The agency said it will collect data through an electronic survey of a panel of industry experts. FMCSA said the experts will be recruited from motor carriers that have safety performance records that are better than national averages.

“These carriers will be identified by examining DOT-reportable crash rates, driver out-of-service rates at roadside inspections, and vehicle out-of-service rates at roadside inspections,” the FMCSA notice stated.

The agency said the study will not attempt to conduct a full survey of the motor carrier population. Instead, it will take opinions from carriers with above-average safety records.

In addition to the carriers invited by FMCSA to participate in the survey, FMCSA said it will also reach out to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the National Association of Small Trucking Companies to invite them to voluntarily survey members as a supplemental data collection to the structured design.

OOIDA has been critical of the Beyond Compliance program, saying it would allow large fleets to receive better safety scores simply because they can afford the latest technology.

The Association said it is against any “pay to play” approach and believes the program should find a way to reward all carriers that improve safety.

“Beyond Compliance must measure and reward actual crash reductions, or continued exemplary performance for those carriers without a preventable DOT reportable crash on a carrier-by-carrier basis,” OOIDA wrote in comments filed in February. “OOIDA strongly believes that the FMCSA must structure Beyond Compliance in a way so all types of carriers can participate in the program, not just larger carriers who can afford it.”

Once the notice is published in the Federal Register, the public can comment on the Regulations.gov website by using Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0328. The comment period will be open for 30 days.