IST Analysis of S. 4722

S. 4722 Will NOT Make Trucking Safer

It Will Indemnify Shippers and Brokers That Hire Unsafe Motor Carriers

Summary:

On September 24, Senator Fischer introduced, S. 4722, also known as the “Transportation and Logistics Hiring Reform Act of 2020,” a bill to “to establish a standard of care for the selection by certain entities of motor carriers.”

The definition of this bill is dishonest. Instead of establishing a “standard of care,” S. 4722 would protect brokers from lawsuits if they hire unsafe motor carriers who are involved in preventable injurious and fatal truck crashes.

If passed, the “standard of care” would create an inadequate threshold by which the “covered entities” (i.e. shippers and brokers) could determine the safety of a motor carrier. The three requirements are:

1.    Being registered under section 13902

IST: This is satisfied by filling out some paperwork. No safety review is conducted.

2.    Not having an unsatisfactory safety fitness rating; and

IST: This can be satisfied by unsafe existing motor carriers as well as new entrants because most motor carriers do not have a rating and ones that do are often outdated.

3.    Having not been ordered to discontinue operations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

IST: This can be satisfied by high-risk carriers who have yet to be ordered to shut down. This offers no indication of a motor carrier’s safety record other than that they have not been forced off the roads yet.

Key Points:

The three requirements identified in S. 4722 set a standard for shippers and brokers that is so easily satisfied that enacting this into law would diminish accountability throughout the supply chain. If passed, it would incentivize shippers and brokers to rely on insufficient information to select the cheapest motor carriers who sacrifice safety to lower their operating costs

High-risk, unsafe, and chameleon carriers could easily meet the three criteria. This is because none of the requirements inform shippers and brokers about the current safety performance of a carrier.  

In effect, S. 4722 would indemnify shippers and brokers even if they ignored troubling and dangerous actions carried out by a motor carrier, including but not limited to:

·         Hiring drivers who have poor records or abuse drugs while operating,

·         High risk carriers that use speed as a competitive advantage, or

·         Reincarnating under a new name after being involved in a fatal truck crash.

A robust national hiring standard would require shippers and brokers to review a motor carrier’s:

·         Crash rates (for property-damage only, injury, and fatal)

·         Driver and vehicle out-of-service rates

·         Driver screening and training policies

·         Vehicle maintenance

·         Investment in safety technologies (like automatic emergency braking and driver-facing cameras)

Shippers and Brokers should be part of an effort to improve safety, and should be responsible for their purchasing decisions, as other industries are.  

*This bill is similar to H.R. 7457, please click here to learn more.