 Safety is the top priority of the Department of Transportation. I'm Dick Landis. I used to be a Highway Patrol commander. Now I'm the Associate Administrator for Motor Carriers at the Federal Highway Administration. That safety statement was contained in the National Transportation Policy that was announced by President Bush and Secretary Skinner at the White House in March of 1990. In that statement, safety applies to all modes of transportation. Trucks, buses, airplanes, trains, ships, all modes. We're particularly concerned about motor carriers, trucks and buses. They are so numerous and they're so important that we apply a great deal of resources to their safety. Ensuring truck and bus safety as they share the road with other vehicles on the highway is the responsibility of the Federal Highway Administration. The methods that are used to regulate this industry will be the subject of this film for the next few minutes. It's a story we're proud of. It's a story you will appreciate. Regulation of truck and bus safety is not something new. The first regulations were issued in the late 1930s when the industry and the highway system were just developing. Today the truck and bus safety function is carried out by the Department of Transportation's Office of Motor Carriers. There is an important sizable universe under its jurisdiction. There are more than 200,000 trucking operations in interstate commerce, ranging from a few giant carriers with thousands of rigs to many, many more companies with as few as three or four trucks. There are four higher carriers, which hold themselves out to serve anyone, private carriers, which operate trucks as an adjunct to their primary non-transportation business, and countless owner operators, individuals who own one or several trucks and who often lease their services to motor carriers. Plus, there are 3,000 interstate bus companies that provide regular route, charter and special services. All told, these freight and passenger carriers operate some 3.5 million trucks and buses. And somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5 million men and women drive those trucks and motor coaches for a living. The Office of Motor Carriers oversees the safety of those operations in the three principal areas shown in this roadmap, the driver, the vehicle and the carrier. This video will take us through the separate routes shown for each of the three and show how they all come together at the end in one coordinated program, the master plan for safe trucks and buses. First, because there are so many of them, 5.5 million, let's take drivers. Prior to a law enacted by Congress in 1986, there were some unscrupulous and unsafe commercial drivers who obtained licenses fairly easily from a handful of states. Thus, they spread out violations and convictions using those various licenses, and they continued to work without losing their driving privileges. No longer. Now, each individual commercial driver is allowed to have just a single license issued only by the state of residence. No more multiple licenses or unlimited violations will be possible because of a new nationwide computer hookup that states check before issuing new licenses or renewals. Acquiring the new license isn't automatic either. Before that 1986 law, people could get commercial type licenses in a lot of states without taking special tests or even having to show they could drive a truck or bus. No more. Under the new commercial license program, drivers have to do two things. Pass a comprehensive knowledge test and demonstrate their ability to handle the vehicle they intend to drive safely and skillfully. There are other qualifications as well. Among them, drivers must be in good health and pass a thorough physical examination every two years. They cannot use or be addicted to drugs and are subject to regular drug testing. They cannot be an alcoholic. They cannot have any condition that might cause fainting or blackouts. They must have an annual review of their driving record. And before employment, they must provide a ten-year job history. The aim is to make absolutely sure they are physically and professionally qualified. The focus of the second of the three areas of regulation is the vehicle. How all three and a half million of them can be made as safe as humanly possible. The Federal Highway Administration provides millions of dollars in grants to the states to enforce the safety regulations through the Cooperative State Federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. This has taken the form primarily of state personnel being specially trained to perform roadside inspections of vehicles and driver records. A total every year nationwide of about one and a half million. These are effective in getting potentially unsafe equipment and drivers off the road. Vehicles and drivers are put out of service on the spot until defects or deficiencies, usually brakes that need adjusting or excessive driving hours, can be corrected. The third area of emphasis is the motor carriers. Those 200,000 entities that operate or control the trucks and buses. Along with a number of state personnel, some 450 federal safety specialists visit these carriers at their headquarters. They conduct systematic reviews of carriers' safety procedures and controls to determine whether the carriers have safety systems in place to comply fully and properly with all applicable regulations. The basic review questionnaire consists of close to 60 areas of inquiry. Does the carrier have a copy of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations at hand? Does the carrier have the prescribed amount of accident insurance all the way up to five million dollars for hazardous materials? Complete up-to-date driver medical records, current maintenance and repair records, and so forth. The questions are more numerous and tougher for hazardous materials and passenger carriers. The result is that each carrier is given a rating, satisfactory, conditional or unsatisfactory. Those in the latter two groupings get follow-up educational assistance and technical advice from the specialists to help them improve their performance and practices. It is an education mentality rather than a penalty mentality, although there are severe penalties and sanctions on the books up to and including a shutdown of operations that can be assessed for continued willful disregard of the regulations. So to return to the master roadmap, at the top are the three main elements, again the vehicle, the carrier and the driver. Vehicles that pass inspection continue in service safely. Carriers that earn satisfactory ratings carry on their business safely and drivers who pass the tests and meet the other qualifications get their commercial licenses and go about their day-to-day work. On the other hand, there are sanctions ranging from fines to permanent disqualification for serious traffic violations or drug or alcohol usage while on duty. A complete record on every driver is filed away and is available in the commercial driver's license information system. Vehicles that can't pass either a roadside inspection or a required annual inspection must have the required repairs before they can resume service. The Motor Carrier Safety Information Network, called SafetyNet, allows the Federal Highway Administration and the states to manage and share the data collected during vehicle safety inspections. Carriers that do not get satisfactory ratings get assistance to help them get upgraded. But in the meantime, they could well lose business because of their rating, plus having to pay fines or even shut down all or part of their operation pending improvement. All the elements, the driver, the vehicle and the carrier, come under surveillance through the driver testing and record checking by roadside inspections, by examination of accident data and by visits to carrier facilities. The computer networks allow close monitoring so safety problems can be detected and resolved quickly. That's how the whole system works. Coupled with numerous other cooperative activities at the federal and state levels, the commercial motor vehicle safety effort described in the past few minutes is an effective one, one that helps prevent accidents by keeping unsafe vehicles and unqualified drivers off the road, the road that's shared by everyone every day. The record speaks for itself. The fatality rate for truck and bus accidents has been on a steady decrease over the past several years. We may not ever get to zero, but we are making excellent headway. As I said, I used to be with the highway patrol. In my many years in Arizona, it taught me a lot about highway safety. I am very proud to be part of the team that is moving us into the 21st century safely. Won't you please join me? If you would like further information about the truck and bus safety programs right to the Federal Highway Administration, 407th Street, Southwest, room 3103, Washington, D.C. 20590.