ATA Praises NTSB Effort to Reduce Impaired Driving, Urges Further Action

The American Trucking Associations has praised the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendations to reduce impaired driving on the nation’s highways.

NTSB’s recommendations come a day after ATA President and CEO Bill Graves wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood again urging him to move forward on a process to allow motor carriers to collect hair samples for DOT-required drug testing in lieu of the currently mandated urine testing process. .

“All motorists should support reducing the instances of impaired driving” Graves said. “The trucking industry is held, and holds itself, to a higher standard and we are encouraged by NTSB’s recommendations to bolster efforts to reduce drunk and drugged driving for all motorists.”

The NTSB recommended reducing the legal limit for drunk driving to a BAC of 0.05 from 0.08, increasing the use of interlock devices, strengthening penalties for repeat offenders and increasing high-visibility enforcement. ATA’s progressive safety agenda supports all of these steps.

In addition to strengthening these measures, ATA also again called on DOT to permit hair testing for mandatory pre-employment drug tests of commercial motor vehicle drivers.

“ATA knows for a fact that thousands of truck drivers who have failed hair tests . . . have obtained driving positions with other carriers because they were able to pass DOT-authorized urine tests,” Graves wrote in a May 13 letter.

“All we are asking is for DOT to allow this industry to use the best available tools under the DOT-mandated drug and alcohol testing program to make sure our roads are safe for all motorists,” Graves said.

Category: General Update, Safety