The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration held the first of three scheduled webinars on January 16 to discuss upcoming changes to the Safety Measurement System. However, the second and third webinars, originally scheduled for February 25 and March 25, have been cancelled, likely because of President Trump’s 60-day moratorium on new regulations.
The SMS is the statistical component of FMCSA’s CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) program. SMS compiles, categorizes, and weights motor carrier and truck driver violations, guiding FMCSA on which carriers require intervention. Some of the proposed changes would make it simpler for carriers to comply with the regulations that govern compliance.
The cancellation of the webinars could also indicate that the Trump administration is reconsidering the changes to the SMS program. Only time will tell as the new administration prepares to take its next steps as the moratorium on new regulations expires.
The recording and summary of the first webinar can be found at the CSA Prioritization Preview webpage https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/prioritizationpreview.
ICSA will advise if the webinars are rescheduled.
For truckers, testing for marijuana continues. Just as with testing for cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and opioids, testing for marijuana will continue to be conducted on a pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and return-to-duty basis.
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