New agency will oversee truck-safety rules

Retailers expect to achieve the highest rate of inventory turns this year, followed closely by manufacturers.

By Peter Bradley, Toby Gooley, and James Aaron Cooke -- Logistics Management, 1/1/2000

Legislation adopted by Congress and signed into law last month by President Clinton could have substantial effects on the safety regulation of the trucking industry.

Until last fall, truck safety was the responsibility of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). When Congress approved the Department of Transportation budget for the current fiscal year in October, however, it moved the safety budget out of the FHWA and placed it under the secretary of transportation's jurisdiction but did not create a formal administrative structure. The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act created a structure by establishing a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The new administration is expected to be in place early this year.

The law provides both federal and state governments with new powers and funding to enforce the commercial drivers license program and to remove problem drivers from the road. It also gives the new office stronger oversight of the safety ratings of new carriers and imposes greater sanctions against foreign carriers operating illegally in the United States. The Department of Transportation says new funding under the law will help states conduct more roadside inspections of vehicles and drivers. The law also will fund a major study of the causes of vehicle accidents as well as a new system for collecting crash data. Says Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater, "Safety is the highest transportation priority for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and this measure will get dangerous vehicles off our highways, save lives, and help us reach our goal of reducing these fatalities by 50 percent over the next 10 years."