A federal rule establishing training requirements for truck and bus drivers is “so at odds” with safety information assembled by the government that it should be thrown out and redone, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on December 2, 2005.

In a scathing opinion that excoriated the agency for disregarding data and offering “patently illogical” reasoning, Senior Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards said that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) “has adopted a rule with little apparent connection to the inadequacies it purports to address.” The rule, issued in May 2004, “completely ignores” data about “practical, on-the-road training.” The court deemed the agency’s analysis “frail.”

The rule was supposed to set minimum training requirements for commercial motor vehicle operators, including drivers of trucks and buses. Instead of requiring that drivers have on-the-road training in such things as backing, driving in severe weather, controlling skids and passing other vehicles, though the rule merely requires training only in driver wellness, driver qualifications, hours of service and whistleblower protection.

Follow this link to read Public Citizen’s full press release: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?id=2095
Follow this link to a copy of the Appeals Court’s full opinion: http://www.citizen.org/documents/decision.pdf
Follow this link to a copy of the petitioners brief: http://www.citizen.org/documents/Joint%20Petitioners%20Brief.pdf