	Introduction

More than 11 million large trucks (trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds) travel U.S. roads, and almost 4 million operators hold commercial driver's licenses. In 2015, large trucks were involved in more than 400,000 motor vehicle crashes serious enough to be registered by police, with nearly 100,000 of those crashes causing injuries and around 3,600 resulting in fatalities. To address this situation, Congress has assigned the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)—primarily the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)—responsibility for regulating the safety practices of commercial motor carriers and drivers. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in DOT is responsible for the safety of the vehicles themselves through its role in setting vehicle safety standards. According to an FMCSA study, two-thirds of commercial truck crashes are caused by the other driver, not the commercial driver. NHTSA regulations require large trucks to have underride guards, which are intended to stop a car from being able to travel under the rear of the truck. The proposal to require heavy vehicles to be equipped with speed limiters is supported by the American Trucking Associations, which generally represents the views of motor carriers with large fleets of vehicles, as well as by highway safety advocates. FMCSA's final rule omitted a provision in its earlier proposed rule that would have required new drivers to complete at least 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training in order to be eligible for a commercial driver's license. Improvements in driver safety are more difficult to produce. FMCSA asserted that this schedule allowed a driver to work up to 82 hours over a seven-day period, which it judged did not allow sufficient rest to prevent driver fatigue. To address concerns that carriers might use that information to harass drivers who have taken a break, Congress also directed FMCSA to prevent companies from using the ELD information to harass drivers. Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is a respiratory condition that can interfere with sound sleep. In March 2016 FMCSA began a joint rulemaking with the Federal Railroad Administration to consider requiring that any commercial driver (or train operator) who exhibits certain risk factors must be screened for obstructive sleep apnea. A driver is to be disqualified from driving a commercial vehicle for one year upon first conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, or upon refusal to be tested for drug and alcohol use when driving any vehicle. Driver Distraction

Federal regulations bar commercial drivers from texting or using handheld phones while driving. Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) Program

Since 2010, FMCSA has used information from roadside inspections and crashes to rank each carrier's safety performance relative to other carriers in seven categories in an effort to identify high-risk carriers.
More than 11 million large trucks travel U.S. roads, and almost 4 million people hold commercial driver's licenses. In 2015, large trucks were involved in more than 400,000 motor vehicle crashes serious enough to be registered by police, with nearly 100,000 of those crashes causing injuries and around 3,600 resulting in fatalities. To address this situation, Congress has assigned the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)—primarily the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)—responsibility for regulating the safety practices of commercial motor carriers and drivers. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in DOT is responsible for the safety of the vehicles themselves through its role in setting vehicle safety standards.
Truck crash, injury, and fatality rates have generally been rising since 2009 after declining over many years. This increase may be due in part to marginally skilled or inexperienced drivers entering the industry, or to higher levels of work and stress among veteran drivers, or to other factors.
Two FMCSA proposals concerning driver safety have proven particularly contentious.
In March 2017, FMCSA abandoned its attempt to require drivers to take a 34-hour rest period, including two consecutive early morning periods, at least once a week. The proposed "restart rule" encountered strong objections from drivers as well as motor carriers, and an FMCSA study could not confirm that the rule would lead to sufficient improvement in safety to satisfy Congress. In March 2016 FMCSA began a joint rulemaking with the Federal Railroad Administration to require that commercial drivers (or train operators) who exhibit certain risk factors be screened for obstructive sleep apnea, which interferes with sound sleep and thus increases the risk of crashes. In the past, efforts to address sleep apnea among drivers met resistance from drivers who feared they might be prohibited from driving commercial vehicles, and Congress prohibited FMCSA from addressing sleep apnea among drivers except through a formal rulemaking.
FMCSA has introduced stricter training standards for new drivers, and has instituted a database intended to help prevent drivers barred from commercial driving due to convictions for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol from bypassing the prohibition and continuing to drive. FMCSA has also barred drivers from using handheld phones or texting in order to reduce driver distraction.
Motor carriers have frequently sought to increase driver productivity and reduce costs by pushing for standards allowing longer or heavier trucks. Although efforts to permit longer trucks were rejected by Congress in 2015, Congress did approve a number of exceptions and waivers to federal weight limits. FMCSA and NHTSA have jointly proposed to require that all large trucks be equipped with speed limiters, a proposal over which the trucking industry is divided. Congress also has taken an interest in FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, and Accountability Program, which is intended to allow it to focus resources on carriers most in need of supervision from a safety standpoint. Legislation in 2015 required FMCSA to obtain external review of the system it proposes to use to measure carrier safety.