OOIDA casts doubt on FMCSA pilot

The trucking group says flawed data collection means Mexican trucking pilot has issues.    With the Oct. 1 expiration of the U.S.-Mexico Cross Border Long Haul Turcking Pilot, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has expressed its concerns about the pilot’s flawed data.
   In a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s acting administrator, Scott Darling, OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer wrote that the agency’s assessment of data generated from the pilot is lacking. The FMCSA originally wanted 46 carriers to participate in the program; three years in, only 16 carriers have participated, accounting for 5,175 cross-border inspections. In addition, OOIDA noted that two carriers are responsible for a vast majority of all inspections and border crossings.
   “This information casts significant doubt on the Pilot Program’s ability to meet Congressional requirements for statistical validity,” Spencer wrote. “It is OOIDA’s view that because most of the inspection data collected comes from just a few carriers, the data is biased and does not accurately reflect the safety performance of trucks in the pilot, much less the broader Mexican truck fleet.”
   Spencer also noted that Mexican and U.S. carriers seem to be receiving different punishments when violations occur.
   “What is most alarming is that according to inspection data, Mexican trucks and/or drivers are not being placed out of service for violations that would warrant such action nor are they being placed out of service at the same rate as U.S.-domiciled trucks and/or drivers for similar violations,” he wrote.
   Spencer continued, “This disparity in enforcement action raises safety concerns in general, but especially about the Pilot Program. Raising concerns further, it has been frequently reported, including from Mexican trucking representatives, that Pilot Program carriers send their best trucks and
drivers to the border. As such, there are significant doubts as to how effective the Pilot Program has been in measuring the impact on motor carrier safety.”