THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY RUNDOWN

By Adrienne Gildea, CAE, Deputy Executive Director, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Changes to Congressional Transportation Leadership

The 118th U.S. Congress convened in January with new leadership in several key positions. The long-standing ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House of Representatives, Peter DeFazio, did not seek re-election last fall, opening up the top spot on the committee for Democrats. In addition, Republicans regained control of the chamber. As a result, Congressman Sam Graves, of Missouri, is now the chairman of the full committee. Congressman Rick Larsen, of Washington, has taken over as the committee’s ranking member.

On the Senate side, control of the chamber remained with the Democrats, so Senator Maria Cantwell, also of Washington, retains her role as chair. However, Senator Roger Wicker has taken a leadership role on another committee and Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, has taken over as the ranking Republican for that committee.

CVSA has begun meeting with the new leadership and new member offices on the Hill, helping them understand CVSA’s mission, the needs of our membership and our legislative priorities.

CVSA Kicking Off Next Reauthorization Task Force

With the new Congress in place, it is time for CVSA to once again assemble a reauthorization task force to recommend a new set of legislative priorities for the Alliance to pursue in the next transportation bill. The task force, which reports to the CVSA Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee, is comprised of Class I representatives from each of CVSA’s regions, Class II Local Members and representatives from our Class III Associate Members. The task force will evaluate issues, take input from outside organizations and various partners, discuss possible solutions and, ultimately, make recommendations to the CVSA Board of Directors on what policy positions the Alliance should support in the next highway bill.

Once those positions are finalized, CVSA staff will begin socializing them with other likeminded organizations to build coalitions around the various issues and advocate on Capitol Hill for their inclusion in the final bill. This is a long and cumbersome process, but one that is worth it to continue to improve commercial motor vehicle safety policy.

If you are interested in following the task force’s progress, consider joining the CVSA Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee. Visit www.cvsa.org/memberportal to log in. Under “My Committees & Programs” select “Browse Committees” to find and join the CVSA Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee.

In addition, if you have any issues that you would like the task force to consider, please submit an “Issue/Request for Action” to the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee through our website. All legislative requests are referred to the task force.

CVSA’s Continued Commitment to the National Roadway Safety Strategy

Last year, CVSA announced its support of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy to address the crisis of deaths on our nation’s roadways. A year later, CVSA reaffirmed the Alliance’s support of the initiative by participating as a “First Mover” organization in the department’s Call to Action Campaign. CVSA committed to several specific activities as part of a comprehensive strategy to address unsafe driver behavior from multiple angles.

• Non-MCSAP Traffic Enforcement Training: Research shows enforcement impacts driver behavior. Unfortunately, currently, many non-certified officers do not feel comfortable stopping a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), even when they observe unsafe driving behaviors, because they are not trained on CMVs. However, all officers have the authority and necessary skills to ticket a CMV operator for unsafe driving.

CVSA will deliver CMV traffic enforcement training to non-certified law enforcement officials. This training will provide these officers with the information and confidence they need to stop CMV drivers. This will help increase enforcement against unsafe driving behavior, which is the leading cause of crashes on our roadways.

• Judicial Outreach and Education: CVSA will conduct outreach and training to the judicial community on the topic of masking violations to help them understand that while changing a charge to lower its severity may seem like a fair thing to do, it can have dangerous consequences. Masking a driver’s serious violation with lesser charges gives an incorrect safety record and allows dangerous drivers who might otherwise be disqualified from operating CMVs to remain on the roadways. CVSA’s training and outreach will help lawyers and judges understand the importance of ensuring that the charges on a driver’s record are accurate.

• Post-Crash Inspection and Reporting: Understanding why a crash occurred helps states and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration create and structure programs that reduce crashes and save lives. Furthermore, consistent, high-quality post-crash inspection data is critical to understanding why a crash has occurred. CVSA will deliver post-crash training courses throughout the U.S. to improve the quality and consistency of post-crash inspections and reporting, resulting in better data for safety officials to rely on when crafting datadriven safety programs.

For more information on CVSA’s support of the National Roadway Safety Strategy, visit www.cvsa.org/news/cvsa-nrss-2023.