[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 2, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E107-E108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INTRODUCTION OF TRUCK SAFETY LEGISLATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 1999

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation that will improve 
the safety of our highways for the millions of motorists who use them. 
Very simply, my legislation moves the Office of Motor Carriers (OMC) 
from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).


                          Trucks are Dangerous

  In 1997, 5,355 people died on America's highways in truck related 
accidents. That was not only more people killed than in the previous 
year, but more people than any other year in this decade. Regardless of 
who's at fault, when a tractor-trailer is involved in an accident on 
our highways, the consequences are too often fatal. I should note that 
many, if not most, trucks are operated safely and their drivers are 
concerned first and foremost with safety. Unfortunately, there are 
always operators on the margins who make the roads unsafe and in 1997, 
the last year for which figures are available, the number of people 
killed in truck related accidents has risen to a new high for the 
decade. The trucking industry dismisses these figures by noting that 
the per-vehicle-mile death rate has gone down. They're right. But the 
fact remains that the number of people who died in 1997 from accidents 
rose.
  To put the issue in perspective, compare these figures to the 
aviation industry. What would our response be if the aviation industry 
suggested that only 5,355 people died in airline crashes? What if we 
rationalized that as a percentage of miles traveled, there has been a 
reduction in fatalities? There would be outrage in America. Last year, 
the domestic aviation industry's rate of death's per mile traveled also 
decreased. But the actual number of aviation related fatalities 
decreased too, all the way to zero. This must be our goal: a reduction 
in the both actual and per-vehicle-mile deaths on our highways. We are 
talking about real people--not just statistics.


          Current Efforts to Monitor the Industry are Lacking

  Federal efforts to monitor the trucking industry for safety are 
falling short. The Office of Motor Carriers (OMC) which is responsible 
for the oversight of the trucking industry is a component of the 
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the agency principally tasked 
with managing over $25 billion in highway and construction dollars. 
Locating OMC under FHWA has placed a lower priority on truck safety 
issues and blunted some of the initiatives needed to maintain an 
effective and forceful monitoring program. In fact, OMC personnel have 
become too close to some in the trucking industry which I believe has 
compromised their effectiveness.
  Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General 
(DOT IG) completed a study of OMC and its close ties to the trucking 
industry. In the attached report summary, the IG found that OMC 
leadership has engaged in a ``strategy . . . devised to solicit the

[[Page E108]]

trucking industry and third party communications to Congress in order 
to generate opposition to the OMC transfer provision in [Congressional 
legislation].'' In short, OMC contacted the industry it is charged with 
regulating to solicit support to defeat a proposal to move the OMC to 
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). OMC 
officials have effectively gotten in debt to the very people they are 
supposed to regulate.


      Solution: Consolidate OMC Functions in Another Safety Agency

  In my opinion, the rising number of deaths and the poor oversight of 
the trucking industry by OMC is partially a result of OMC's location at 
FHWA. FHWA is skilled at building and maintaining roads, but has done a 
poor job at monitoring the trucking industry. This task has not been 
high on the priority list. Therefore, I have suggested a reorganization 
where OMC will become a part of an existing or new managerial structure 
whose primary mission will be safety. I have suggested NHTSA, and I 
recognize the possibility that a better structure may exist. The 
legislation I introduce today, if not the answer, is a good place to 
start.
  The dispatch with which this proposal is implemented becomes critical 
when we consider that on January 1, 2000, less than a year from now, 
the Northern American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will permit trucks 
crossing the border from Mexico to travel anywhere in the United 
States. Anywhere. Currently, Mexican trucks are permitted to travel in 
border commercial zones which range from three to 20 miles. A recent 
DOT IG report, which is also enclosed, found that of the 3.7 million 
trucks from Mexico crossing in 1998, only 17,332 were inspected, and of 
this number, 44 percent were found to be in such disrepair that they 
were immediately taken out of service. These unsafe trucks could be in 
your state next year. These trucks could be on every road in America--
most uninspected and many grossly unsafe. We need to address this 
problem now.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Transportation, which I chair, will be holding hearings on this 
important issue Tuesday, February 23.

                          ____________________