WASHINGTON -- A federal proposal for changing the way motorcoach operators keep tabs on the medical condition of their drivers has drawn strong opposition from the industry.

Operators, organizations and insurance companies warn in formal filings with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the scheme likely could make motorcoach travel less safe, cost the industry more money, and subject it to additional liability.

The proposal, which would eliminate the requirement that medical examiners make driver medical certificates available to employers, is part of a broader plan by federal safety regulators to merge the licensing of drivers with the medical certification process.

"Unfortunately the concept becomes very unpleasant when the end result for the carrier is a lesser amount of safety and management control, increased liability and higher costs," stressed Peter Pan Bus Lines Safety Director Christopher M. Crean in a filing with the FMCSA.

Lancer Insurance Co. agreed, saying it could only support the proposed regulations if there is a significant movement towards regulation of the medical examiner process. "Absent that process, we oppose these regulations as unsafe and confusing because they will further hinder the ability of the motor carrier to hire qualified drivers," Bob Crescenzo, vice president, said in a company filing.

Similar observations were made by Greyhound Lines and Trailways.

More than 80 motorcoach and trucking concerns, state agencies and highway safety advocates have filed comments on the proposed rules, which are being considered by the FMSCA.

Under the proposal, the requirement that a carrier be able to obtain a copy of a drivers medical certificate from the physician who performed the physical would be removed from the current rules. Instead, the carrier would have to obtain the copy from the state department of motor vehicles.

"We believe its removal would create a regulatory framework that is far less effective in keeping medically unfit commercial drivers off the road than the current system," wrote Greyhound.

Pitfalls of delay

The company warned it would take several weeks from the time a driver gets a physical until the employer has access to the medical certificate, and during that period the driver could continue to work even though a "medically unqualified" certificate might have been issued to the driver.

Additionally, Greyhound pointed out that because the proposed rules would require the drivers to mail a copy of their certificates to their state licensing agency, there would be no effective way of knowing whether a driver who got sick had received a "medically unqualified" certificate during the period their previous certificate was active.

"Since the driver has a strong economic incentive not to reveal the existence of such a certificate until the expiration of his or her two-year certificate, and the employee is no longer entitled to receive such a certificate, drivers are, in effect, given a two-year ticket to drive regardless of their medical condition," the company asserted.

Crescenzo agreed, noting Lancer has significant experience settling claims after crashes that were the result of a poor driving decision made by acutely or chronically ill drivers.

"Moving the motor carrier to the very end of the medical qualification information process will result in confusion, doubt and missteps during the hiring process," he added.

Slow is not better

To emphasize its opposition, Greyhound said it checked the records of 332 of its drivers with California commercial licenses. It said of those, 36 received physicals before the expiration date of their medical certificate, five of whom were disqualified and 10 of whom received reduced-time certificates that cut in half the two-year expiration of their certificates.

"Under the current system, the employer would receive notification of the status change (from the physicians), while under the proposed system the employer would not. And, the driver could conceivably drive until the old certificate expired," it said.

Some critics of the proposal also cautioned that the rules would do very little to prevent drivers from "doctor shopping," a practice by medically unfit drivers of going from physician to physician until they find one who will qualify them to drive.

"The agency has within its grasp a system that could eliminate doctor shopping, one of the most insidious forms of qualification fraud currently plaguing the motor carrier industry," Trailways safety liaison Jack Burkert wrote in the filing for the organization.

To fix the problem, he suggested doctors be required to turn over to the state motor vehicle departments the results of all driver physicals, not just those of drivers who pass the examinations. State officials and others then would be able to tell if a driver failed a physical before being certified by a third doctor a short time later.

No free lunch

There also were numerous concerns raised about the increased costs involved in obtaining copies of a drivers medical certificate for either one of their own drivers or a driver under consideration for hire, as well as worries about potential liability issues that operators would be exposed to under the proposed rules.

"The cost and risk borne onto the carrier if this program were to be implemented are significant," said Crean. "Much of the information carriers receive today for free will have a cost associated with it" if the proposal is adopted, he added.

For example, Greyhound said if the new rules were in place today, the company would have had to spend $270 to obtain the copies of the medical certificates for the drivers it reviewed in California. Currently, there is no charge to obtain a copy of a medical certificate from a physician.

"More importantly, carriers could incur substantial new liability for accidents which are caused by medically unqualified drivers that the employers did not know were medically unqualified," the company warned. "There will inevitably be time periods, potentially lasting up to two years, when employers could unknowingly allow medically unqualified drivers to drive since the employers will no longer automatically receive medical certificates. Avoiding liability in such cases will be difficult."

The FMCSA said all of the comments in the rulemaking process will be reviewed before any further action is taken. To review all of the formal comments, go to: http://dms.dot.gov/, click on "simple search," and enter Docket Number 2210.