Trucking Safety Summit to include OOIDA’s Pugh as panelist

OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh will participate in the FMCSA’s 2020 Trucking Safety Summit virtual meeting on Aug. 5.

“This meeting will be held virtually on Aug. 5 to solicit information on improving the safe operation of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles on our nation’s roadways,” FMCSA stated in the notice. “The virtual meeting will provide interested stakeholders – including motor carriers, drivers, safety technology developers and users, federal and state partners, safety advocacy groups, as well as members of the public – an opportunity to share their ideas on improving truck safety.”

The summit was originally scheduled for March 19 in Washington, D.C., but was postponed on March 13 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting will be from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 5.

Pugh will serve as a panelist for the opening session from 9-10 a.m. The session, which will be moderated by FMCSA acting Administrator Jim Mullen, will focus on “Association Perspective” and include Pugh, ATA President Chris Spear, National Tank Truck Carriers Vice President Dan Furth, and Road Safe America President Stephen Owings as panelists.

Pugh said he one of his goals at the Trucking Safety Summit is to remind the agency that owner-operators are often the most experienced and safest truck drivers in the nation.

“I’d like to talk about how small-business carriers are probably the safest people on the road,” Pugh told Land Line Now. “Most small-business carriers have a lot more experience and often has been driving for 10 years or more. They own the truck. They own the trailer, so they have skin in the game if something happens. We feel like our guys are some of the safest guys out on the road.”

In addition to Pugh’s panel, other Trucking Safety Summit sessions include:

• What’s Working I, 10:10-10:55 a.m.
• What’s Working II, 11:05-11:50 a.m.
• Special guest speakers, 12:30-12:50 p.m.
• State partner discussion, 1-1:50 p.m.
• Technology, 2-2:50 p.m.
• Florida safety story, 3-3:50 p.m.
• Open forum for public comment, 4-4:30 p.m.

Each Trucking Safety Summit session requires a separate registration.

“The sessions are intentionally structured to facilitate exchanges between experienced players in the trucking sphere who might not otherwise meet to collaborate,” the FMCSA notice stated. “Senior FMCSA personnel will facilitate every session, selecting and posing questions to promote a productive discussion.”

A public comment period is planned in the afternoon, and the agency is asking for oral public comments to be limited to three minutes.

Written comments, as well as data or analysis regarding truck safety, may be submitted at the Regulations.gov website at docket No. FMCSA-2020-0076.