DEREGULATION, NEW ENTRANTS, AND THE SAFETY LEARNING CURVE

This paper uses recent safety auditing data from a large sample of ICC-certificated carriers to (1) re-examine once again the issue of difference in accident rates between estabished carriers and new entrants and (2) to examine the issue of whether the safety/risk management policies and programs of the new entrants and, particularly, the "newest" of the new entrants are substantially inferior to those of the established carriers. The study results show that, based on approximately 7,000 safety audits during 1987-88, the "newest" of the new entrants have significantly higher accident rates than both established carriers and new entrants. The analysis further indicates that the risk management and safety policies of the "newest" of the new entrants are deficient, particularly in the areas of driver hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and general safety training.