EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS

To reduce truck crashes, the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carriers (OMC) continues to vigorously enforce carrier safety regulations, conduct compliance reviews, and help " high risk" carriers improve their safety performance.

Later this year, the OMC will ask its many partners in highway safety and the public for advice in developing a new performance-based motor carrier safety fitness rating process--one based on richer data and better forms of analysis--to help us identify carriers that pose the greatest safety risk.

Today we are publishing two documents in the Federal Register to bring the safety fitness rating methodology into conformance with a recent Federal court ruling until our new performance-based rating methodology can be fully developed.

A notice of proposed rulemaking sets forth a specific rating methodology for determining whether carriers meet initial and continuing safety fitness requirements. An interim final rule applies the current safety fitness rating (the methodology in use at the time of court's ruling) to hazardous materials carriers and passenger carriers until official adoption of the methodology in the proposed rule. Both rulemaking actions include requests for comment.

In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the FHWA did not comply with a provision of the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 which directed the Agency to give opportunity for notice and comment before establishing "specific initial and continuing requirements" motor carriers must meet to prove safety fitness. The court did not find a flaw in the rating methodology, only in the procedures by which it was adopted.

As of the effective date of the interim final rule, the OMC will issue safety ratings to certain hazardous materials and passenger carriers. No other safety ratings will be issued until completion of the proposed rulemaking action.

Further information is available from Paul Brennan (202-366-1790) or Clinton Magby (202-366-2952) of the Office of Motor Carriers.

Sincerely yours,

George L. Reagle
Associate Administrator for Motor Carriers