A. B. C. ALCOHOL AND DRUG TESTING CHANGES ARE NEEDED D. FREEZING TRUCK SIZE AND WEIGHT IS A STEP BACKWARDS E. SAFETY ENFORCEMENT SHOULD NOT BE A STRATEGY TO F. IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN SAFETY RATING PROCESS III. CONCLUSIONS Testimony of Thomas J. Donohue, ATA I. INTRODUCTION A. ATA REPRESENTS THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY I am Thomas J. Donohue, President and Chief Executive Officer for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national trade association of the trucking industry. The ATA federation includes over 4,100 carriers, affiliated associations in every state, and 11 conferences. Together, ATA represents every type and class of motor carrier in the country. Combined with ATA's direct membership, we are a federation of over 40,000 member trucking companies. Thank you for scheduling these hearings on commercial motor vehicle safety and also the important issue of truck size and weight. B. THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY SERVES AMERICA Trucking is the nation's largest freight transportation mode. The trucking industry employs 7.8 million people throughout the economy in jobs that relate to trucking activity -- more than the separate populations of 42 of our 50 states. We have gross freight revenues equal to over 5% of the Gross Domestic Product -- a total of $290 billion in 1993. Trucks haul over 77% of all manufactured goods and transport 43% of total tonnage shipped by all modes - 2.9 billion tons of freight annually. Testimony of Thomas J. Donohue, ATA Based on preliminary projections, we anticipate that by the year 2000, domestic freight tonnage will increase 30%. Between the years 1992 and 2000, the number of freight trucks (classes 6, 7 & 8) needed to haul it will climb 8.3%, to 3 million, and the miles these vehicles will be required to travel to deliver this freight will increase 31%. And all of this is if economic growth is at a conservative 2.8% per year. C. SAFETY IS OUR NUMBER 1 ISSUE ATA has initiated numerous programs for the trucking industry to improve safety, including: training programs for drivers, supervisors, and driving schools; management programs to assure safe vehicles, safe drivers, and safe operations; research to reduce accident experience; and, cooperative programs to improve vehicle performance, especially in the area of truck brakes. We have also been strong and early advocates for the establishment of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program; creation of a Commercial Driver's License; adoption of electronic record keeping for hours of service; implementation of brake improvement research; requirements for drug and alcohol testing; and banning radar detectors. We provide a safety audit service to all motor carriers to assist them in understanding and complying with the Federal safety and hazardous materials regulations. We help the carriers establish the necessary safety management controls to ensure a continuing effective safety program that will reduce accidents on our highways. Testimony of Thomas J. Donohue, ATA We like most people on the road, are concerned about highway congestion. Incidents -- vehicle accidents and breakdowns that tie up highway traffic -- are a major cause of urban highway congestion. To address this issue, we have formed a National Incident Management Coalition which is an ad hoc group of private and public organizations dedicated to alleviating incidentinduced traffic congestion. The coalition builds consensus on, and promotes and implements incident management programs through a series of promotional and educational conferences. D. ACCIDENT FREQUENCIES ARE GOING DOWN — WHILE MILES DRIVEN ARE INCREASING According to DOT, the 1982-1992 10-year comparison shows that the number of fatal accidents has dropped 13.1%, the fatal accident rate has dropped 39.0%, the number of fatalities has decreased 14.8%, while the number of vehicles miles of travel has increased 42.7%. These safety measures are paying off though the efforts of many people, including Congress, DOT, the motor carrier industry and, of course, drivers. Accidents involving commercial motor vehicles are showing a steady decline. These are figures we can be proud of, but there is still a lot of work to be done. These safety results build on the programs of the past. Let me turn to changes that need to be made in the future to improve on our safety efforts. |