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“INTRODUCTION OF TRUCK SAFETY LEGISLATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E107-E108 on Feb. 2, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF TRUCK SAFETY LEGISLATION
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HON. FRANK R. WOLF
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 2, 1999
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation that will improve the safety of our highways for the millions of motorists who use them. Very simply, my legislation moves the Office of Motor Carriers (OMC) from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Trucks are Dangerous
In 1997, 5,355 people died on America's highways in truck related accidents. That was not only more people killed than in the previous year, but more people than any other year in this decade. Regardless of who's at fault, when a tractor-trailer is involved in an accident on our highways, the consequences are too often fatal. I should note that many, if not most, trucks are operated safely and their drivers are concerned first and foremost with safety. Unfortunately, there are always operators on the margins who make the roads unsafe and in 1997, the last year for which figures are available, the number of people killed in truck related accidents has risen to a new high for the decade. The trucking industry dismisses these figures by noting that the per-vehicle-mile death rate has gone down. They're right. But the fact remains that the number of people who died in 1997 from accidents rose.
To put the issue in perspective, compare these figures to the aviation industry. What would our response be if the aviation industry suggested that only 5,355 people died in airline crashes? What if we rationalized that as a percentage of miles traveled, there has been a reduction in fatalities? There would be outrage in America. Last year, the domestic aviation industry's rate of death's per mile traveled also decreased. But the actual number of aviation related fatalities decreased too, all the way to zero. This must be our goal: a reduction in the both actual and per-vehicle-mile deaths on our highways. We are talking about real people--not just statistics.
Current Efforts to Monitor the Industry are Lacking
Federal efforts to monitor the trucking industry for safety are falling short. The Office of Motor Carriers (OMC) which is responsible for the oversight of the trucking industry is a component of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the agency principally tasked with managing over $25 billion in highway and construction dollars. Locating OMC under FHWA has placed a lower priority on truck safety issues and blunted some of the initiatives needed to maintain an effective and forceful monitoring program. In fact, OMC personnel have become too close to some in the trucking industry which I believe has compromised their effectiveness.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General
(DOT IG) completed a study of OMC and its close ties to the trucking industry. In the attached report summary, the IG found that OMC leadership has engaged in a ``strategy . . . devised to solicit the trucking industry and third party communications to Congress in order to generate opposition to the OMC transfer provision in [Congressional legislation].'' In short, OMC contacted the industry it is charged with regulating to solicit support to defeat a proposal to move the OMC to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). OMC officials have effectively gotten in debt to the very people they are supposed to regulate.
Solution: Consolidate OMC Functions in Another Safety Agency
In my opinion, the rising number of deaths and the poor oversight of the trucking industry by OMC is partially a result of OMC's location at FHWA. FHWA is skilled at building and maintaining roads, but has done a poor job at monitoring the trucking industry. This task has not been high on the priority list. Therefore, I have suggested a reorganization where OMC will become a part of an existing or new managerial structure whose primary mission will be safety. I have suggested NHTSA, and I recognize the possibility that a better structure may exist. The legislation I introduce today, if not the answer, is a good place to start.
The dispatch with which this proposal is implemented becomes critical when we consider that on January 1, 2000, less than a year from now, the Northern American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will permit trucks crossing the border from Mexico to travel anywhere in the United States. Anywhere. Currently, Mexican trucks are permitted to travel in border commercial zones which range from three to 20 miles. A recent DOT IG report, which is also enclosed, found that of the 3.7 million trucks from Mexico crossing in 1998, only 17,332 were inspected, and of this number, 44 percent were found to be in such disrepair that they were immediately taken out of service. These unsafe trucks could be in your state next year. These trucks could be on every road in America--
most uninspected and many grossly unsafe. We need to address this problem now.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, which I chair, will be holding hearings on this important issue Tuesday, February 23.
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