New rating system could mean accountability for drivers, trucking companies

Those in the trucking industry may soon be put to the test, as a new system could rank their abilities to safely transport goods.

A new rating system by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is being used by commercial trucking companies and their drivers in order to gauge exactly what the safety record is for each distributer, according to MFRTech.

This will replace the former rating system and analysts are hoping that it will reduce the number of fatalities and injuries caused by trucking accidents.

Among the categories that a trucking company or driver can be rated on include unsafe driving, fatigue driving, driver fitness, drugs and alcohol, vehicle maintenance, cargo-related and crashes. The news provider reports that holding people and businesses accountable through ratings may push them to make the extra effort in safety precautions.

"Our goal is to figure out what happened and then, more importantly, why it happened, so that we can work to prevent similar accidents in the future," Robert Sumwalt, a National Transportation Safety Board member, told Trucking Info.

Those who are concerned about being rated may want to consider enrolling in online truck driver safety training.

New rating system could mean accountability for drivers, trucking companies

Monday, May 16th, 2011