Advocates, Teamsters Sue for Training Rule

Safety advocates and the Teamsters union are suing to force the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue truck driver training rules.

The suit comes just a month after the agency launched an attempt to negotiate a rule because it has not been able to draft a rule that would be accepted by all the parties.

In their suit, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Safe and Reliable Highways and the Teamsters say the agency must be ordered to produce a rule.

“People are dying needlessly while the agency drags its feet,” said Advocates attorney Henry Jasny. “New truck drivers need to be properly trained before they get behind the wheel.”

The suit asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to order the agency to produce a rule by a date certain.

The agency has been trying to draft a rule for seven years but has not been able to settle on a final version because of disagreements over how it should work.

Last August it proposed using a neutral middle man to see if it is possible to find agreement among carriers, driver groups, trainer, state agencies, safety advocates and insurance companies.

This approach is not acceptable to the safety groups and Teamsters.

“The FMCSA’s inaction to release a new notice of proposed rulemaking for entry-level driver training is perpetuating a hazard for everyone on our roadways,” said John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition.