Later this year Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 and its Safety Measurement System will replace the current Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System (SafeStat) used by regulators to identify and target unsafe operators.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) New Entrant Safety Assurance Process rule took effect December 16, 2009. The rule requires newly registered truck and bus companies to meet stricter safety requirements.
I do not need a crystal ball to tell me what comes to mind for most bus company owners when they hear the word compliance. I already know they would say DOT regulations.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) uses the word reincarnated to describe out of service operators who have returned in no better shape than when they left to do business under a new identity.
With the federal transportation agencies catching it from all sides, the announcement by DOT Secretary Ray LaHood for a full departmental review of motorcoach safety certainly touched a nerve in one operator in Texas.
In its summation of the Mexican Hat crash of January 2008 that killed nine passengers, the decision by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to also bring the hammer down on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stirred a smoldering fire.
