FMCSA takes on Detention Time Issue
U.S. regulators are taking further steps toward a rule-making on the detention of truck drivers by shippers and their customers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is set to begin an audit focused on loading and unloading delays at shipper and consignee docks, reports the Journal of Commerce.
The audit, required by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, will also collect information on measuring the potential effects of loading and unloading delays on truck driver fatigue and crash risks. The gathered data will be the basis for a future rule-making.
The FAST Act directs FMCSA to “issue regulations that cover collection of data on loading and unloading delays,” reports JOC, and to report on the impact of such delays on the transportation system, the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General’s Office said in a June 15 memorandum.
The FMCSA actually has been studying driver detention, or loading and unloading times, for more than a decade, starting with a 2001 study that found a “strong positive relationship” between the percent of time spent loading and unloading and crash involvement.
