While fatigue and hours of service remain a top priority of the National Transportation Safety Board in its Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements list for 2002, it has given up on trying to get the trucking industry to adopt “black boxes.”

One previous recommendation on the Most Wanted list, “On-board Recording Devices for Commercial Trucks,” has been closed as an “Unacceptable Action.” It is one of five recommendations to be closed on the list, but the only one listed as “unacceptable.”
The recommendation was originally issued in 1998 following the investigation of a tractor-trailer accident. The NTSB recommended that the American Trucking Associations, the Teamsters union and the Motor Freight Carrier Assn. advise members to equip their fleets with on-board recording devices, such as tachographs or computerized recorders, to capture information concerning driver and vehicle operations.
But the ATA’s position, expressed to the NTSB as well as to members of Congress and in response to proposed hours-of-service changes, was that recorders were unproven technology, would not promote safety, and should not be mandated by the government.
Although the NTSB remains “firmly convinced of the necessity of having automated on-board reorders for over-the-road commercial vehicles … given the ATA’s firm position on this issue, the Safety Board believes that further dialogue at this time would prove futile.”
NTSB received no response from the Teamsters or the MFCA, despite repeated inquiries.
Still on the list is a broader version of the subject, “Automatic Information Recording Devices.” The NTSB notes that transportation recorders, such as those used on airplanes, are probably the single most effective investigation tool available. The board recommends that FHWA, NHTSA, the FAA, Coast Guard, Federal Railroad Administration and trucking associations require devices on commercial vehicles that will automatically record relevant information.
Also still on the list are:

• Commercial Tuck and Bus Safety. NTSB recommends that the Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration modify commercial carrier rating standards, enhance occupant safety, modify hours-of-service regulations and increase vehicle standards.

• Human Fatigue in Transportation Operations. Calling it one of the most widespread safety issues in the transportation industry, the board recommends that government agencies such as the DOT and FHWA and transportation associations study the relationship between fatigue and accidents in the transportation industry and upgrade applicable regulations.