WASHINGTON -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has slammed the brakes on its widely-publicized and Congressionally-mandated program to conduct safety audits of all new motorcoach and trucking companies.
In announcing the action, FMCSA Administrator Annette M. Sandberg acknowledged the decision "will likely have an adverse impact on public safety."
The FMCSA said it was forced to extend the deadline for performing safety audits of new carriers, both foreign and domestic, because of a court ruling that prohibited Mexican-based buses and trucks from operating in the United States.
Back in January, the safety agency launched its new-entrant safety audit program for U.S.-based carriers, and was supposed to start auditing Mexican carriers as the last step to allowing them to operate across the border.
However, a federal court upset the FMCSA's plans for the Mexican carrier audits when it ruled in mid-January that the U.S. Transportation Department must do an environmental impact study before admitting Mexican trucks and buses. Besides requiring the environmental study, the court ruling also pulled the rug out from under the rules and procedures that were set up for conducting the new-entrant audits.
Weeks and months went by while DOT mulled whether to appeal the court decision. Once it was decided not to press the appeal beyond the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the FMCSA had to put off the start of all new entrant safety audits.
The audits are supposed to be given within 18 months of a new carrier commencing operations to help improve its safety performance. The audits, known as compliance reviews, were mandated by the 1999 Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act.
The law gave the secretary of transportation some wiggle room, however, authorizing the secretary to extend the deadline for starting the program until Dec. 31, 2003. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta notified Congress last month that he is extending the deadline to the end of the year.
The FMCSA said the extension was necessary because the court ruling put a freeze on the rules for establishing procedures for certifying personnel to conduct the safety reviews. The rules were published last year and became effective on Jan. 1, of this year.
Although the FMCSA hired and trained more than 200 people to perform compliance reviews, safety audits and vehicle inspections along the border, most audits of new-entrant motor carriers are to be conducted by state employees paid under the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
Two weeks after the rules went into effect and the domestic inspection program was just getting off the ground, a federal court in California set aside the so-called auditor certification rule and two other FMCSA rules which established application and safety monitoring procedures.
As a result of that and a subsequent 9th circuit decision, the FMCSA said the agency and the states are not able to hire and train additional personnel to conduct safety inspections and, therefore, unable to comply with the Congressional mandate.
Meanwhile, DOT is busy cranking out the environmental impact statement so it can begin again next year implementing procedures for certifying safety auditors.