Soon drivers will not need to complete paperwork that many in the trucking and moving industry consider laborious and unnecessary. As part of an initiative to reduce paperwork for businesses, the new ruling cleared by the Office of Management and Budget (OBM) will eliminate paperwork for trucks with no defects and deficiencies.
The initiative by President Obama started in January of 2011 by executive order and has been going on since January of 2012. According to Anthony Foxx, the Transportation Secretary, he will deliver on Obama’s challenge to find innovative ways to cut waste and red tape in the administration. Foxx says that the ruling will save billions of dollars while still maintaining safety standards.
In fact, this proposed ruling on driver paperwork is estimated to reduce costs to the trucking industry by $1.7 billion dollars. Since it has been cleared, the ruling will now be published in the Federal Registrar, which starts a 2-month comment period for people to weigh in on the proposal.
Here are the basics of the ruling: It will eliminate the need for drivers and motor carriers to complete and keep records on trucks when pre- and/or post-trip inspections find no defects. However to maintain safety, the pre- and post-trip inspections are still required. This will maintain high safety standards and eliminate waste.
How does this affect current standards? Well, currently the law requires drivers to complete a Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) on trucks at pre- and post-trip inspections no matter the condition of the truck. This new ruling will let drivers skip this step if there are no problems with the truck.
According to Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Director of OBM, this proposal shows progress with the administration’s regulatory look back initiative. She added that more rules are being examined to determine where the administration can bring more streamlining and modifications for reducing unwanted costs and burdens on both the industry and consumers. Burwell seems to agree with Foxx on the proposal. She says it is a common-sense solution to the problem and the Department of Transportation will reduce burdensome paperwork on the trucking industry while still maintaining public safety.
This proposal may help moving and trucking businesses reduce costs and pass the savings onto customers.
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