Hi, I’m Roger Ghai and I wanted to talk today a little bit about the safety management system which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration went ahead and initiated in 2010. This is really known as the safety accountability and compliance system. This system was designed to collect data from truck drivers and motor carriers to assess the overall safety of the motor carrier. This system encompasses unsafe driving and other unsafe practices by either a motor carrier or a driver.
It takes into account such things as non-compliance as far as the number of hours driven and it also takes into account fatigued driving. It also takes into factors such as drivers who are unfit and unqualified to drive for a variety of reasons, primarily, due to lack of experience or even medical conditions. This safety management system collects data from the past 24 months. This data, of course, is used by the Federal Safety Motor Administration to identify drivers which are unsafe.
If the motor carrier has a poor history as far as safety is concerned then the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will, in fact, intervene to ensure compliance. Sometimes, compliance by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is something as simple as just sending a letter out to the carrier. If you have questions about the safety management system and whether the particular motor carrier was in compliance with safety regulations, feel free to call my office at 770-792-1000.