FMCSA’s decision to allow companies to self-certify has backfired on multiple occasions.
So, the question now is whether the federal government has learned its lesson or plans to roll the dice with self-certification again.
Although the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and most truckers opposed the electronic logging mandate in any form, FMCSA’s decision to allow ELD manufacturers to self-certify their products has been a complete mess. Not only is the agency constantly playing a game of “Whack-A-Mole” in its efforts to revoke bad devices, but it has also opened the door to many ELDs vulnerable to cyberattacks.
FMCSA also allowed entry-level driver training schools to self-certify, which opened the door to CDL mills that either fail to meet all federal standards or commit outright fraud by handing out commercial driver’s licenses to pretty much anyone willing to cough up the dough.
The agency has seen the error in its ways, announcing a “complete overhaul” of the ELD vetting process and admitting that self-certification has made it easy for companies to register non-compliant devices or re-register devices that had been revoked. FMCSA also recently removed about 550 CDL training schools for operating with unqualified instructors, using fake addresses or failing to provide drivers with proper hazmat training.
During an interview with Land Line late last year, FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said that self-certification leads to a lack of oversight.
“(It) opens the door for potential fraud occurring,” Barrs said. “People not following the rules because no one is watching. I use the no one’s minding the store type of analogy. If nobody’s watching, then I’m going to find a way to skirt the system, which then compromises safety.”
Well, if there’s ever been a store that’s needed minding, it’s the use of 80,000-pound driverless trucks on our nation’s highways.
But a bill in Congress would basically provide autonomous vehicle manufacturers a form of self-certification.
OOIDA warned lawmakers not to go down this road again.
“The use of self-certification has already proven to have serious shortcomings in multiple areas across the trucking industry, and taking this approach with autonomous commercial motor vehicles would be the most disastrous use yet,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote in a letter to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in March.
OOIDA voiced its opposition to the Safety Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act, which would establish a national framework to regulate autonomous vehicles.
The Association said that the SELF DRIVE Act, or HR7390, fails to ensure the safe operation of driverless trucks or provide adequate transparency about the vehicles’ performance.
“HR7390 would permit the operation of 80,000-pound trucks based on unverified assertions of companies with a vested financial interest in their deployment,” OOIDA wrote. “While companies would be required to develop a ‘safety case’ describing how the vehicle would operate safely, there is no requirement that the federal government verify these plans. In fact, companies would not need to provide these cases to the government before deployment, or possibly even at all.”
OOIDA also called out the SELF DRIVE Act for failing to take the proper steps on cybersecurity.
“HR7390 includes no requirement for public disclosure of cyber intrusions, nor any mandate that companies suspend operations or take vehicles offline in the event of a cyber incident,” OOIDA wrote. “As written, the legislation grants manufacturers significant discretion while offering the public little transparency or assurance that cybersecurity threats are being addressed promptly or appropriately.”
As we’ve seen with training schools and ELD manufacturers, if we allow companies to prioritize profits over safety, at least some will. We can’t allow companies with billions of dollars invested in driverless technology to put vehicles on the highways before they are proven to be safe and secure from terrorist threats. LL
This article was featured in the May issue of Land Line Magazine. Click here to find more Land Line Magazine articles.
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