The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed a permanent crash preventability determination program to gather data identifying possible safety risks involving trucks and busses.
The crash preventability program examines the feasibility, costs and benefits of determining and displaying the preventability of certain crash types, the agency explained.
Starting in 2017, FMCSA reviewed more than 5,600 crashes submitted by truck and bus companies to determine if a crash could have been prevented by the trucker. About 94% were found to be not preventable by the truck fleet or driver.
Following the strong participation in the program by trucking companies, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced the Department of Transportation’s plan to make the current demonstration program permanent at the 2019 Mid- America Trucking show.
The most recent action proposes a transition to a long-term crash preventability determination program for FMCSA. In addition, the agency is proposing the removal of not preventable crashes from the Safety Measurement System Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Category (BASIC), expanding the types of crashes that can be evaluated from eight to 15.
“Data drives our agency’s decisions, and the information we’ve received and analyzed during the demonstration project informed our action today to expand and improve the crash preventability program,” said FMCSA Administrator Raymond P. Marinez.
“We’ve listened to carriers, drivers, and other commercial motor vehicle stakeholders throughout each step of this process, and strongly encourage all interested parties to submit comments on our proposed changes.”
Comments on the proposed changes to the program are due Oct. 27, according to the Federal Register.
<h3>Chem Indicator Slips in August</h3>
The Chemical Activity Barometer, a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council, fell by 0.1% in August on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, following a drop of 0.2% in July and four months of gains before that.
On a year-over- year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer was flat at a 0.0% 3MMA. ACC also reported that the unadjusted measure of the CAB fell 0.5% in August after a 0.1% gain in July.
The council reports that the diffusion index was 59% in August after rising to 65% in July. The CAB reading for July was revised upward by 0.58 points and for June by 0.62 points. The diffusion index compares the number of positive contributors relative to the total indicators monitored by ACC (AA, 8-15-19, P. 3).
“The barometer signals gains in U.S. commerce into early 2020, but at a slow pace, while rising volatility suggests change may be coming,”, according to Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC.
The CAB consists of four primary components, each consisting of a variety of indicators: production; equity prices; product prices; and inventories combined with other indicators.
Production-related indicators were slightly positive. Trends in construction-related resins, pigments and related performance chemistry were slightly positive and suggest slow gains in housing activity.
Plastic resins used in packaging and for consumer and institutional applications were also slightly positive, ACC said.
Performance chemistry was soft and U.S. exports were mixed. Equity prices dropped this month, as did product and input prices. Inventory and other indicators were positive.
<h3>EEO-1 Adds Non-Binary ID</h3>
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in response to employer inquiries, has explained how to add non-binary employee identifications to its EEO-1, Component 2 Form that is due Sept. 30.
The deadline for submitting the highly complicated Component 2 data was set after a federal judge overturned an earlier attempt by the commission to simplify the EEO-1 Form which had been imposed by the Obama-era EEOC. (AA, 5-15-19, P. 2).
By Sept. 30, all U.S. employers with 100 or more employees, as well as federal contractors and subcontractors who employ 50 or more workers, must supply aggregated data for 2017 and 2018 regarding the pay and hours employees worked.
The data must be broken down into 12 pay “bands” that range from about $19,000 to more than $208,000 a year, spread across 10 job categories, and then divided into the same racial, ethnic and gender groupings used on EEO-1 forms in the past.
Some employers recently asked the commission how they can include non-binary employees when the form only includes the usual gender groupings of male and female. Non-binary people have simply chosen not to call themselves male or female and usually are gay, transgender or bisexual.
States that recognize non-binary options on driver licenses (allowing the use of “X” instead of “M” or “F”) include Arkansas, Washington State, Oregon, California, Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah and Washington, DC.
EEOC announced that filers may report employee counts and labor hours for non-binary gender employees by job category, pay band and racial groups in the comment box on the Certification Page, prefaced with “Additional Employee Data.” That should make everything clear, doesn’t it?
