2005 Meeting Minutes

Truck and Bus Safety Research Committee - ANB70
TRB Annual Meeting, Jan. 12, 2005
Members Present: 19
TRB Staff and Officers: 3
Friends of Committee: 30

At 8:11 am, Chair Ron Knipling of VTTI called the meeting to order. Ron thanked members of the committee for their support during his recent health challenge, and led self-introductions.

Members were reminded of one more paper session (#673) by Circadian Technologies, Inc. on Body Rhythms and Fatigue at 2:30 pm

Members detailed the following upcoming meetings:

ITS/CVO Deployment Showcase, Savannah, Georgia, Feb. 22-25, 2005, www.2005Showcase.com
FMCSA "Research Futures" Forum, Mar. 23-24, 2005, Washington, DC (Invitation Only)
2005 Driving Assessment Conference, Jun. 27-30, 2005, Rockport ME, www.driving-assessment.org
TRB Commodity Flow Survey Conference, Jul. 8-9, 2005, Boston, http://trb.org/conferences/CFS/
Joint Summer Meeting of the Planning, Economics, Finance, Management, Freight, Ports, Waterways, International Trade, and Transit Committees, Jul. 10-13, Boston (same location as above); Contact Mary Kissi, 202-334-3205, mkissi@nas.edu
Summer Meeting of Trucking Industry Task Force (A5T69); same date/location as above; detailed TBD. Contact: Dr. Mike Belzer, michael.h.belzer@wayne.edu
Fatigue Management in Transportation Ops, Sept. 11-15, 2005, Seattle, www.engr.washington.edu/epp/fmto/
Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, Sept. 11-14, 2005, Boston, www.aaam.org
SAE Truck & Bus (Commercial Vehicle Conference & Expo), Nov. 1-3, Chicago, www.sae.org
Truck & Bus Safety Symposium, Nov. 13-16, 2005, Alexandria, VA

Steering Committee will meet Feb. 4, 2005, and call for abstracts will soon follow.

Traffic Records Forum will be held Jul. 31-Aug. 4 in Buffalo, NY (sponsored by FMCSA, parent organization National Safety Council), www.atsip.org
Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) meeting, San Francisco, CA Feb. 9-10, www.itsa.org/vii_meeting.html

Discussion: should ANB70 request TRB co-sponsorship of any of the above? Later, Rick Pain stopped by the meeting and Ron Knipling indicated that TRB was already committed to co-sponsor the Truck & Bus Safety Symposium.

Liaisons to Other Committees and Organizations

Mike Belzer provided an update on the Trucking Industry Task Force (AT060T). An HOS session and a labor shortage session sponsored by AT060T, ANB70, and AT010 (Freight Trans Economics & Regulation) were very well attended; a health and wellness session had fewer attendees. In the HOS meeting, several major carriers reported improvements in safety and some aspects of operations under the new rules. Interest in this area is world-wide, and there is a continuing interest in carrier self-management (Gene Bergoffen's subcommittee)

Ron Knipling expressed interest and support for A5T69 becoming a full TRB committee.

Jerry Donaldson discussed research on Commercial Vehicle Safety and Highway Work Zones. Work zones are not modeled for commercial vehicles, so this issue is very important for safety. Jerry suggested that we create a liaison with other TRB committees on works zones. Jerry volunteered as liaison.

Lee Husting discussed NIOSH programs to support the health and occupational safety of commercial drivers.

Leanna Depue, the Section Chair of the Safety Group of TRB, announced a change in when the TRB annual meeting will occur the next 2 years. Meetings will be held later in January: beginning Jan. 22, 2006, and Jan. 21, 2007.

Ron Knipling announced that the annual paper review will begin in late August of 2005. There will be 5 reviewers for each paper, and we will strive for an 80% return rate. This year, 3 of 11 papers were accepted for publication and presentation, and an additional 2 were accepted for presentations during this year's TRB meeting. This acceptance rate is very consistent with TRB guidelines. He also thanked committee members and other reviewers for the excellent return rate and helpful commentary on the papers in the reviews conducted last August-September.

Ann McCartt indicated that her outdated e-mail address was still being used occasionally, and asked that the e-mail list be consolidated to ensure that only one e-mail is used.

Mike Belzer discussed the creation of an ANB70 website and reminded members of the Committee listserv and its utility in sending group emails. Brenda Lantz of North Dakota State University volunteered to take the lead on website development. [Note: The website has since been established at www.ugpti.org/trb/truckandbus/

Chris Jenks discussed the Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) which is comprised of short (40-60 page) summaries of industry practices based on surveys and literature reviews to establish a body of knowledge on a given subject. An oversight panel reviews submissions for selection. Next topics include: Alternative Truck and Bus Inspection Strategies, Literature Review on fatigue and hours of work, and there may be additional funding for additional topics. A program summary and progress report document on the CTBSSP was distributed.

The direct link to obtain pdf copies of CTBSSP reports is: http://trb.org/news/blurb_browse.asp?id=11

Additional information on the CTBSSP is available at: http://www4.trb.org/trb/crp.nsf/reference/appendices/ctbssp/ or http://trb.org/

Gene Griffin discussed the Driver Behavior Based Indicator project being developed by ATRI, CVSA and North Dakota State University. Currently in its initial phases, the project has already related driver violations to carrier-based crashes, and will follow with a driver-based analysis and develop a performance indicator for drivers. Data period will be 3 years, including crash history, inspection records, etc.

Gene Bergoffen and Roger Clarke discussed the newly developed Carrier Self-Assessment in Safety Management Subcommittee. The scope of the subcommittee is to develop formal certification processes and voluntary programs for self-assessment. Current efforts include examining current CMV certification programs, identify common elements and protocols, critically assess evidence of crash reductions, and identify needed research. bergoffen@earthlink.net

Mark Johnson discussed International Brotherhood of Teamsters efforts to standardize their regional training sessions, and the LTL driver shortage, which will become worse in the future due to driver demographics.

Roger Clarke discussed Critical Issues in Transportation 2000, which should be updated and suggested that rest stops and human resources information should be added. (14 is the maximum number of topics.) Also, under safety, there is a need for truck and bus/harmonization and rationalization of north/south congestion, and a pre-clearance effort for safety. Clarke plans to write a short statement of four T&B-related issues as an input to the development of the updated Critical Issues document.

Break at 9:55

Reconvene at 10:20

The ANB70 Circular was discussed. Ron Knipling indicated a desire to finalize the Circular as soon as possible, and suggested that chapters be sent out within the next few weeks to the committee for comment. A suggestion was made to edit the document to make the style of the chapters more consistent.

Chapter 1 (Problem Assessment and Data) Dan Blower indicated that final comments he had received could be incorporated and wrapped up in the next couple of weeks.

Chapter 2 (Regulation): This section was originally conceived to be part of the introduction, but will now be added as a Chapter. Debbie Freund indicated that it needed some additional work that could not be completed until February.

Chapter 3 (Enforcement): Ann McCartt indicated that a draft was close to being finished, and wanted FMCSA to take a look before it was finalized.

Chapter 4 (Health and Wellness): Jerry Krueger indicated that it will be ready at the end of January.

Chapter 5 (Human Factors): Ron Knipling indicated that it is in good shape and ready to go soon.

Chapter 6 (Safety Management): Gene Bergoffen indicated that the Chapter is in good shape (needs some references to SAFESTAT) and will soon be ready.

Chapter 7 (Vehicle): Duane Perrin indicated that it was in good shape and ready to go.

Chapter 8 (Roadway): Michele McMurtry-Bill Mahorney indicated that Michele has stated that some work was needed in the middle of the chapter, but that a draft would be ready soon.

Sesto Vespa suggested that an international perspective in the regulatory/enforcement sections would be valuable. Ron Knipling encouraged that it be added to chapters where possible.

The Committee viewed the following presentations:

Brenda Lantz of NDSU discussed the Development and Implementation of a Carrier-Driver-Conviction (CDC) Measure into the Roadside Inspection Selection System (ISS) project
Debbie Freund of FMCSA presented Current Activities of the FMCSA Office of Bus & Truck Standards & Operations.
Dan Murray of ATRI presented new ATRI research, including new project on Safety & Productivity Impacts of New HOS rules. Ron Knipling is the Principal Investigator for the project and added some comments on it.
John Siebert of OOIDA presented the results of the OOIDA Cost of Operations Study
Bill Mahorney of ABA provided an update on current safety and security activities in the motor coach industry
Ron Knipling of VTTI presented information on the Synthesis Study: High-Risk Commercial Drivers

Meeting adjourned at 12 noon.

Attendees

Members

Belzer, Michael H.
Bergoffen, Gene
Blower, Daniel
Campbell, Stephen F.
Clarke, Robert M.
Clarke, Roger
Donaldson, Gerald
Freund, Deborah
Hosting, Lee
Knipling, Ron
Johnson, Mark
Krueger, Gerald P.
Lantz, Brenda
Mahorney, Bill
Melton, Dave
Perrin, Duane
Schaudt, Andy
Siebert, John
Ticatch, Joel

TRB Staff & Officers

Depue, Leanna
Jenks, Chris
Pain, Rick

Presentations

Carrier Self Assessment in Safety Management Subcommittee Update (PDF, 38K)
FMCSA Office of Truck & Bus Standards & Operations: Current Activities (PDF, 242K)
Development of CMV Driver Indicator to Predict Future Crashes and Identification of Effective Enforcement (PDF, 25K)
TRB Synthesis Report on: Individual Differences and the "High-Risk" Commercial Driver (PDF, 267K)
Driver Safety History Indicator and the Roadside Inspection Selection System (CDC-ISS) (PDF, 303K)
What's New in Bus Safety and Security (PDF, 18K)