This month we take another look at two key and critical issues in the transportation industry:
• Distracted Driving
• CSA – Compliance, Safety and Accountability (aka – CSA 2010).
Distracted Driving - This very important topic has been widely covered in the news media the past few months. I think we can all agree it is a serious issue for all drivers, but especially for professional drivers of commercial motor vehicles.
Attention drawn away from driving, even for a split second, can produce catastrophic results. Some current news articles have raised the concern that the extreme media coverage of this issue and the passing of the final rule by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration covering texting and mobile device usage in commercial motor vehicles has in effect driven this issue “underground”.
Before texting and mobile device use was put in the media spotlight, many people tried to do this very unsafe act as “safely” as they could by holding the device up near the steering wheel to make the look away from the road to the device very quick and in their line of sight. Now, some sources report, people are continuing to text (note- not necessarily CMV drivers) but for fear of being pulled over and cited, are holding the device down below view of enforcement officers. This makes the “look away” time VERY lengthy and dangerous.
The bottom line on texting in ANY kind of vehicle is DON’T DO IT…. As far as telephone use while driving, it is still “legally” allowed in VERY specific circumstances outlined in the new Mobile Communication Device final rulemaking (Docket FMCSA-2009-0370) but without a hand- free device or speakerphone it is still VERY distracting.
How many times have you come up behind a vehicle traveling slower than traffic, checked and double checked traffic conditions and maneuvered around the vehicle only to find the person ON THE PHONE? I am sure there is extensive research on this subject from various lobby groups with the arguments for both sides, but to me , this example tells the story for conventional cell phone use while driving…DON’T DO IT!!!
CSA – all sources indicate that CSA (Compliance, Safety and Accountability aka, CSA 2010) will be activated for public view in December 2010. Our industry must be prepared to field questions from shippers regarding the data contained in CSA.
In view of this concern, in an interview conducted with Transport Topics at the ATA meeting in Phoenix, AZ, Ms.
Ferro of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, indicated that the wording currently used indicating a motor carrier is “deficient” in any of the BASIC’s will be changed to avoid any negative connotation with shippers or cause harm to the motor carrier in legal proceedings. She further stated that they (FMCSA) are still working on whether it is feasible to assign fault to crashes in CSA and “we will continue to treat the crash data as we do under SafeStat and keep if off FMCSA’s public website.”
The message to push with your drivers is: CSA will activate in December 2010. Continued focus on pre-trip inspections and overall compliance with ALL FMCSA regulations will produce roadside and scale inspections with NO VIOLATIONS, which is the only way to be truly successful with CSA.

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