Based on my experience of 20+ years of owning transportation company's and lifelong involvement in the industry through family and friends, I agree with you. But the lic'g scandal is only the tip of the iceberg.
I've been trying to make the point with FMCSA, that their
accident causal studies are flawed and bent toward a predetermined outcome.
It's my opinion, and I have well more than a million miles under my butt, that local and regional drivers are more dangerous and more accident prone. This accident only bolsters my opinion.
Local and regional drivers, especially of petroleum, agriculture, and forestry products trucks (which have a convoluted myriad of exemptions), are the least regulated and watched in the industry. They also kill people more frequently than the OTR guys.
Yet the State's and Fed's continue to over-regulate the otr guys and under-regulate the locals. They still DO NOT require or maintain any statistics, whatsoever, that would help in determining which class of drivers and/or truck-trailer combinations are most risky.
Understand this. Most local/regional drivers do not even need a log book, only a time sheet, and in Calif. he can drive for
12 hours (10 for tankers w/more than 500 gallons) under the 100 mile rule, 16 in some cases.
An OTR guy must maintain a logbook, current to his last change of duty (rest time, fuel, meals, load/unloading, etc) and may
drive only 11 hours. And this, only after having 14 hours off duty or in the sleeper.
So, what's the answer? The answer, in part, is to have a system that more thoroughly reports all data from trucks involved in accidents, i.e. Type of CDL, class of truck, number of miles from terminal or home, type of trailer, in addition to the data they already collect. As well, the accident studies include all "Large Trucks". This is misleading, as a large truck is classified as a truck or truck tractor that has a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds. This would, and does, include many pick ups and vans. If you dissect the
A.T.R.I. and U.of M. studies, you'll see that there are 100's of "Large Truck" deaths a year that can be attributed to pick ups and vans that aren't a part of the transportation industry and do not require a special license, fall under any regulation, or require training to operate.
:O)
P