Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Jan. 2, 2023:
NTSB extends its existing Most Wanted List into 2023
The National Transportation Safety Board's current Most Wanted List, issued in 2021, consists of 10 areas where safety can be improved by implementing open NTSB recommendations. The current list, which serves to focus the agency's congressionally mandated advocacy efforts, has been extended through 2023. Five of the 10 areas on the Most Wanted List focus on road safety.
The highway-related items on the NTSB's Most Wanted List include implementing a comprehensive strategy to eliminate speed-related crashes; protecting vulnerable road users through a safe system approach preventing alcohol- and other drug-impaired driving; requiring collision-avoidance and connected-vehicle technologies on all vehicles; and eliminating distracted driving.
CVSA webinar focusing on exercise, driver wellness
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will host a webinar Jan. 18 on exercise as part of its North American Fatigue Management Program series for drivers. Registration for the free webinar is available here.
The featured speaker is Supply Chain Fitness Founder Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mark Manera, a board-certified physical therapist.
FMCSA grants fireworks companies’ HOS/ELD exemptions
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted hours-of-service exemptions to 32 of the 45 member companies of the American Pyrotechnics Association in connection to Fourth of July celebrations, granting the companies relief from the 14-hour rule and the electronic logging device mandate during designated Independence Day periods. This exemption will be in effect from June 28 through July 8 in 2023 and 2024.
The exemptions allow drivers to exclude off-duty and sleeper berth time of any length from the calculation of the 14-hour limit, effectively opening up maximum split-sleeper flexibility. Further, the exemption also allows drivers to use paper records of duty status in lieu of ELDs, FMCSA wrote in its notice in the Federal Register.
Similar exemptions for many fireworks haulers have been in place since 2005. In its decision to disallow the fireworks exemption to 13 companies, FMCSA said it found 12 companies have vehicle and/or hazmat out-of-service rates higher than the national average as of Aug. 9, 2022. The 13th member company was excluded because the company does not have a hazardous materials safety permit.
