Safety Fitness Procedures; Safety Ratings
Interim final rule; request for comments.
This interim final rule is being issued in response to a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, entered on March 18, 1997. In this interim final rule, the FHWA is publishing its Safety Fitness Rating Methodology (SFRM) as Appendix B to 49 CFR 385 to be used as an interim measure until a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), published elsewhere in today's Federal Register, becomes final. The SFRM, which is a detailed explanation of the means by which the factors comprising a safety rating are evaluated and calculated, will be used during this interim period only to rate motor carriers that are transporting hazardous materials in quantities for which vehicle placarding is required, or transporting more than 15 passengers, including the driver. This is necessary to implement the prohibitions contained in the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1990.