HEAVY VEHICLE TAX FORM 2290 READY

 

The Form 2290 is finally available to file your Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. If your vehicle was first used in July, August,September or October 2011, you are required to file Form 2290 by November 30, 2011. You will not be liable for any late filing penalty or interest if you meet this due date.  Beginning November 1, 2011, the IRS will provide a stamped (receipted) Schedule 1 to those who file and pay their tax.

During the month of November 2011 you can still get your 2011 tags and register your new or used vehicle.

IRS e-file for 2290 is now available for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011. Visit the e-file provider page and choose the IRS authorized e-file provider that’s best for you.  You can still get your tags for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011. Existing regulations require states to register a heavy highway vehicle when the application for registration is received between July 1 and November 30, 2011. If you have your receipted Schedule 1 for the previous year’s taxable period (in this case, July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011) states can continue to accept it as proof of payment through November 30, 2011.

States also must register newly acquired heavy highway use vehicles without proof of tax payment if:

You present the original or a photocopy of a bill of sale showing that the vehicle was purchased by the owner
during the 150 days before the date the state received the application for registration; and, the vehicle has not been registered in any state subsequent to the date of purchase.

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CDL Changes Start January 30^th

 

Truckers must keep paper copies of their medical examiner’s certificate with them while driving for another two years, according to a final rule to be published November 15. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s upcoming final rule will extend that mandate for interstate CDL holders until January 30, 2014. It also will continue requiring carriers keep paper copies of their drivers’ certificates until then.

 

This month’s final rule is a follow-up to the agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, issued last June, which proposed amending a 2008 final rule. That 2008 final rule that required CDL holders subject to federal physical qualification provide an original or copy of their medical examiner’s certificate to their state driver’s licensing agency. State agencies must post the medical certification information in the Commercial Driver’s License Information System, the federal electronic data-base.

 

After the 2008 final rule, several states told the FMCSA their offices lacked the capacity to comply by the rule’s January 30, 2012 deadline. The agency extended the paper copy requirement for interstate CDL holders and carriers two years to provide sufficient overlap for state agencies.

 

However, the FMCSA did not extend the deadline for state agencies. Beginning January 30, drivers applying for or renewing CDLs under the non-excepted interstate category will have to self-certify and provide the certificate or a copy to the state licensing agency. All drivers affected by the rule will have to comply by January 30, 2014.

 

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Truckers Risk Stiff Fines, Losing Their CDLs by Using Handheld Cellphones While Driving

 

Truck drivers will face fines of up to $2,750 for using handheld phones while driving and suspension or revocation of their commercial driver licenses for repeat offenses, under a regulation announced last month. The regulation, which applies to interstate truck and bus drivers and all drivers of hazardous materials, follows an earlier regulation prohibiting texting for commercial drivers.

 

“When drivers of large trucks, buses and hazardous materials take their eyes off the road for even a few seconds, the outcome can be deadly,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement announcing the rule. “I hope that this rule will save lives by helping commercial drivers stay laser-focused on safety at all times while behind the wheel.”

 

The ban will take effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register, Which was scheduled for Dec. 2, after Transportation Topics went to press. Employers who allow drivers to use handheld phones will face fines of up to $11,000 under the rule, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed in December 2010. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed the hazmat rule in April, and the joint final rule was announced Nov. 23.

 

“This final rule represents a giant leap for safety,” FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said in the statement. “It’s just too dangerous for drivers to use a handheld cellphone while operating a commercial vehicle.”

 

American Trucking Associations supports the final rule, President Bill Graves said. “Studies have shown that actions like texting and dialing a phone can greatly increase crash risk, so taking steps to curb these behaviors holds great promise to improve highway safety,” he said in a statement.

 

The agencies said that studies of distracted driving do not clearly prove whether or not talking on a phone creates a risk. Instead, the agencies determined “that it is the action of taking one’s eyes off the forward roadway to reach for and dial a handheld mobile telephone . . . that has the greatest risk.” For that reason, the rule also bans reaching for a phone that is out of reach and dialing a phone, but it does not ban hands-free use or using a single button to initiate, answer or end a call. It also allows a driver to reach for a phone, “provided the device is within the driver’s reach while he or she is in the normal seated position, with the seat belt fastened.”

 

ATA, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and some other groups filed comments saying, in part, that the agencies did not clearly define “reaching” in their proposed rules, which also allowed reaching. The definition in the rule is fair, said Abigail Potter, a safety research analyst with ATA. “If you’re reaching into the sleeper berth, that’s reckless driving,” she told TT.

 

A larger change the agencies made was to remove the proposed ban on phone use while idling. Commenters, including the National ready Mixed Concrete Association, objected to language that would have applied the rule to phone use “with or without the motor running.” Instead, phone use is banned while operating on a highway, including when temporarily stopping on the road. It does not include stopping on the side of the road. But while ATA had requested a change in the proposal that held employers liable for drivers’ phone use even if the employers had taken good faith steps to prevent it, the agencies made no such changes.

 

“Our issue is that there’s nothing we can do. There’s nothing for us to prevent them,” said Potter. ATA, along with other commenters, argued that there is little employers can do to prevent phone use byond instituting company policies and training drivers. “We don’t want to get into cellphone records and matching the cellphone records with the hours-of-service logs,” Potter said.

 

While FMCSA acknowledged the concern, it declared that “a motor carrier is responsible for the actions of its drivers.” ATA is “looking into” further steps to change the employer liability, Potter said. OOIDA blasted the final rule. “A handheld cellphone could certainly be a distraction for some, but it’s one of hundreds of possible distractions that confront drivers every day,” Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s executive vice president, said in a statement. “No matter how well-intentioned, the rule is an example of the government overreaching its authority and will most certainly create far more problems than it will ever resolve.”

 

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Execs Say HOS Cut Adds Costs, Aggravates Shortage of Drivers

 

A federal move to cut truck driver’s working hours would be very costly and exacerbate a shortage of drivers, while putting more trucks on the road, a panel of industry executives told Congress last week. Ed Nagle, CEO of Nagle Cos., a Toledo, Ohio-based refrigerated carrier, said two provisions of the proposed hours-of-service rule – one that calls for cutting drivers hours to 10 from 11 and another modifying the 34-hour restart provision – would cut his company’s ability to generate revenues by 17%. “For every truck, we need to generate $4,500 per week plus fuel to meet fixed overhead,” Nagle told members of the House government reform committee’s regulatory subcommittee on Nov. 30. “The cost per truck is $75 per hour currently. With the proposed change to 50 hours a week, our fixed cost becomes $90 per hour, with nothing more than the stroke of a pen.”

 

Glen Keysaw, executive director of transportation and logistics for Associated Food Stores Inc., Salt Lake City, said his company would pay 3% more for shipping if the hours proposal becomes final. That would trigger higher food prices for customers, he said. Jesse David, senior vice president at Edgeworth Economics, Washington, told the committee that while the hours rule would likely reduce truck-related fatalities, it also would be costly. The hours proposal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration leans toward cutting driving hours to 10 and modifying the 34-hour restart by requiring it to include two rest periods of at least six hours and mandating that they fall between midnight and 6 a.m. (1-3, p. 1).

 

The agency said it plans to announce its final hours rule by the end of the year. Anne Ferro, FMCSA administrator, told the committee that reducing hours would cut fatigue-related crashes and that preliminary truck-involved fatality numbers show an uptick in 2010, “approaching 4,000.” Roughly 500 of those fatalities, or about 13% were related to a fatigued driver, Ferro said. Ferro said the agency estimates that the proposed 10-hour maximum would save 49 lives annually. “Crash rates still remain at historic lows, which is a tremendous outcome – but not even close to being low enough,” Ferro said.

 

David Osiecki, American Trucking Associations senior vice president of policy and regulatory affairs, declined comment on the new estimate of fatalities involving trucks, saying it was not final number. “Fatigue is an issue,” Osiecki told Transportation Topics. “But the size of the issue is not nearly what the government is saying.” Truck driver fatigue is a complex issue and requires “far smarter solutions” than revising the hours rule, Osiecki said.

 

There were 3,380 truck-involved fatalities in 2009, according to FMCSA’s final statistical report. Fatal truck crashes have decline by more than 30% since 2007, Ferro said. The 2010 preliminary truck fatality data cited by Ferro comes from FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System, which is fed by state law enforcement agencies, an FMCSA spokeswoman said. “The initial 2010 data on fatal truck crashes indicate that the downward trend reversed in the second half of the year as the economy improved,” Ferro told the subcommittee. “Recent crash reports provide a painful reminder of the need to continue doing everything we can to improve truck safety.” However, several Republican members of the committee questioned the validity of a new rule, when truck-related fatalities were at historic lows and the economy was still in a fragile state. “It’s a solution in search of a problem,” said subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan accused federal regulators of “playing games with numbers” and using “fuzzy math” to bolster their case for toughening the hours rule.

 

A safety advocate on the witness panel testified that while cost is a consideration, fatigue is a major factor in truck crashes and that the proposed rule would save lives. “Despite the decline in recent years, large truck fatalities still took a toll of 3,380 lives and caused 73,000 injuries in 2009,” Henry Jasny, vice president and general counsel of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the subcommittee. Ferro also testified that in opposing changes to the current HOS regulations, the motor carrier industry has assumed that fatigue-related crashes, the target of the hours rule, have declined sharply, along with crashes as a whole. “Many commercial drivers are still not getting enough rest and breaks under the current rule,” she said.

 

In a related development, FMCSA said last week it expects to complete work on the final HOS rule, which is currently being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, within 30 days. At a news conference by rule supporters before the hearing, Rep. Dennis Kucinish (D-Ohio), ranking member on the subcommittee and the son of a truck driver, said regulators and members of Congress should not worry about how much the rule will cost the industry

 

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FMCSA Drops Its 2012 Electronic Log Rule Aimed at Carriers with Major HOS Offenses

 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will withdraw its rule requiring motor carriers with serious hours-of-service compliance violations to install electronic logging devices June 1, 2012, Administrator Anne Ferro said last week. That rule was vacated by a U.S. appeals court in August because the rule did not have safeguards to prevent EOBRs from being used to harass drivers, and Ferro told Transport Topics that the agency has decided not to appeal that decision. Instead, FMCSA will concentrate on writing its broader EOBR rule, known in the agency as EOBR 2, she said. “Certianly the next thing you’ll see is us pulling that old rule off the books,” Ferro said during an interview at the Intermodal Association of North America’s Expo here.

 

In its Aug. 26 decision, the 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association that the FMCSA did not thoroughly consider driver harassment when it issued its final remedial EOBR rule (9-5, p. 1). The April 2010 final remedial rule called for about 5,700 carriers, those with a 10% of hours-of-service violations during compliance reviews, to install the devices. EOBR 2, proposed in February, calls for about 500,000 interstate carriers to install the devices three years after the rule becomes final. The EOBR 2 rule will need to be tweaked to avoid the problems the court found in the narrow EOBR rule, Ferro said. “We continue to work on all the pieces of EOBR 2,” Ferro said. “The hard work clearly will be to identify and address the deficiencies the court identified in EOBR 1.”

 

Meanwhile, FMCSA’s top safety officer told executives here that the boarder revised EOBR 2 rule probably won’t be completed soon. “We will be addressing driver privacy in the boarder EOBR rule that we hope to get out probably in a year,” said FMCSA Assistant Administrator Jack Van Steenburg. “We’re going to do a survey of drivers and carriers to address the statutory regulation on driver policy. We also have to address the technical specifications that weren’t really resolved in the first rule.” Richard Clemente, an FMCSA transportation specialist, told intermodal executives at the Expo that the agency is “currently in internal discussions to try and figure out exactly what we’re going to do with EOBR 2.” “We’re going to have to decide at some time how this proposed rule is going to shake out,” Clemente said in a regulatory update session.

 

In his Nov. 13 briefing to intermodal executives, Clemente also said that a five-year plan for the agency proposed in June calls for a “holistic” view of commercial vehicle safety, “from warehouse to boardroom,” known as a “transportation life cycle” concept. “What I mean by that is that the agency currently does not have jurisdiction over shippers,” Clemente said. “We have jurisdiction over trucking companies, brokers, freight forwarders. We would have to get legislative authority from Congress to do that.” Clemente said the agency is working on analyzing an estimated 335 comments on the agency’s long-term plan from stakeholders. “At some time we’re going to have to finalize the plan,” he said. “That’s something to stay tuned for.”

 

After nearly a year in operation, the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program has been effective in identifying “little safety problems” before they become “big safety problems,” Clemente said. Since March, more than 40,000 warning letters have been sent to carriers, he added. Early next year, FMCSA will publish a proposed rule that will amend CSA data and establish the agency’s new safety fitness determination system that will replace the current SafeStat system, Clemente said. The safety determinations, however, will not l likely be completed until 2013, FMCSA officials said.

 

In addition, Van Steenburg said he expects the agency to publish a Federal register notice in May 2012 that will allow carriers to challenge CSA data, through the agency’s Data-Q system, that wrongfully assesses blame for accidents. Currently, all crashes are placed in carrier records in the DCSA database, whether or not they are at fault, Van Steenburg said. To date, the top five CSA carrier violations respectively have been for log book discrepancies, fatigued driving, failure of driver to have medical certificates, drivers not speaking English, and hours-of-service problems, Clemente said.

 

Still pending is a proposed rule published in 2007 calling for a standard for entry-level truck driver training. “Here we are four years later and the proposed rule has not cleared the agency,” Clemente said. Many of the 400 comments the agency received on the driver training proposal cited excessive cost as a problem, and there was disagreement about whether the agency’s hours requirement should be replaced by a performance-based model. “We received a lot of negative feedback,” he said.

 

As a result, Clemente attributed much of the long delay to a difficult cost-benefit analysis process required of the agency. “This is a very important issue, but there are a lot of things going on with the agency in terms of hours-of-service and CSA and on-board recorders, there are shifting priorities within the agency,” he said. “Intuitively, we all believe that a trained driver is a safer driver,” he added,. “But currently there is not federal standard.”

 

 

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Onboard Computers Are Gaining Acceptance Among Truck Drivers After Initial Skepticism

 

Onboard computers, which many drivers and fleet managers greeted with much skepticism when they were introduced, have become a popular in-cab device, according to several users. For instance, “I can communicate with my dispatcher, and I can communicate a breakdown,” said Steve Williams, who has spent nine years hauling for U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc. “I can also call my fuel depot when I need to fill, and if you have a problem with a truck, you can notify them.” U.S. Xpress, Chattanooga, Tenn., ranks No. 15 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers. Williams talked about the advantages of onboard computers during a recent interview at the Pilot Flying J truck stop in Carmel Church, Va. Where other drivers mentioned in this story also were interviewed.

 

Tom Davis, safety manager for Cox Petroleum Transport said, “We have a strict no—cellphone policy, so drivers must use their onboard [computers] to communicate with dispatchers or a terminal manager.” Onboard computers from Qualcomm Inc., Xata Corp. and PeopleNet Communications Inc. are stand-alone devices with view screens that allow drivers to communicate by touching on-screen buttons or using a keyboard, said Braxton Vick, senior vice president of planning and development at Southeastern Freight Lines Inc., Lexington, S.C., which ranks No 27 on the for-hire TT 100. Some models allow instant messaging and e-mails.

 

Rand McNally Co., Skokie, Ill., said its low-end TND 760, which it calls an electronic onboard recorder, allows instant texting via both Wi-Fi and cellphones. Vick said onboard computers and electronic onboard recorders often are used interchangeably, but unless an EOBR is hooked up to a communications system, it will record merely a truck’s performance, he said. “That’s how they can tell if a truck is moving or not,” Vick said, adding that the term EOBR can refer also to software that allows engine performance tracking.

 

Davis said his Cox Petroleum drivers save on cellphone bills when using their Qualcomm computers to contact company officials. “It gives them an instant communication with dispatch,” he said. Cox Petroleum, based in Bakersfield, Calif., operates 110 tank trucks that haul gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and lubricants. Arturo Ayala, who’s driven for Panther II Transportation, Seville, Ohio, for 14 months, agreed with Davis. “Onboard [computers] do give drivers a lot of information,” he said, adding, “They make it easier to respond to your company.” Husband-wife driving team Tracy and Teresa Stafford began driving for Swift Transportation Inc. in May. Their tractor came equipped with Qualcomm[s newest onboard computer, the MCP200. “It has Web-browser capability, you can check e-mail and you can have training videos sent directly to you,” Tracy Stafford said. Swift Transportation ranks No. 7 on the for-hire TT 100.

 

Southeastern Freight’s original justification for buying Xata onboard computers was to aid pickups and deliveries, Vick said: When customers call in a pickup, the carrier sends an electronic message to drivers in 45 seconds, for example. Drivers access the message by opening the pickup window on their view screens. “We now use the computers for driver inspection reports, e-logs, and next, we’ll get navigation, which will dramatically cut down on fuel [use],” Vick said. If a regular driver is out sick, he said, a replacement driver may not know the ill driver’s routes well. An onboard computer’s navigation capability will eliminate the possibility of the new driver’s going off route, he explained.

 

Because of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s looming mandate on EOBRs – which initially would require carriers with suspect safety records to have them on their vehicles and eventually would extend that requirement to all over-the-road trucks – many carriers have rushed to install onboard computers that perform EOBR functions. But Cox Petroleum’s Davis said his company did so, not because of any regulation, but because the devices improve operations and have been accepted by drivers.

 

During the interviews, drivers rarely indicated a preference for a particular onboard computer, which can range from a powerful compact computer to a device that transmits data through a driver’s cellphone. Williams said his onboard computer, manufactured by DrierTech LLC, measures a compact 8 inches by 8 inches. “When U.S. Xpress installs the device, the company gives you a two-hour class and then one hours of one-on-one training,” he said. Williams said he has no problem with such devices keeping tabs on drivers’ operating performance. “But you’re not driving as much now, and sometimes the lower hours means $100 to $200 less in your pay,” he said. “Now, that hurts, but it keeps the ba drivers off the road.”

 

DriverTech, Salt Lake City, said its onboard computers offer integrated in-vehicle scanning, electronic logs and video-based training.  The EOBR component of onboard computers has proven particularly valuable for trucking company managers.  “Our drivers have seen successes with EOBRs,” said Billy Cartwright, director of safety and driver recruitment for Con-way Truckload, a unit of Con-way Inc., which ranks No. 3 on the for-hire TT 100. “Now, when drivers go to weigh station, the stickers on their windows let law enforcement know they’re e-log compliant. Drivers are questioned less and can get back on the road faster.”

A simple EOBR also can offer peace of mind for drivers, said Ryan Driscoll, marketing manager for tracking software maker GPS Insight, Scottsdale, Ariz. “Suppose a driver gets a ticket for speeding… [he wasn’t]. Well, you can go back and check this,” Driscoll said. “If they’re charged with aggressive driving, there’s a way to check on that as well.” GPS Insight said its software is integrated with navigation devices produced by Switzerland’s Garmin Ltd. Driscoll also said his company is now testing an unidentified on-board computer product in about 60 employee cars in preparation for a rollout as a commercial-vehicle offering. He said many truckers are familiar with Garmin devices because they either would one or used them at previous motor carrier employers.

 

A primary function of EOBRs is to monitor hours-of-service compliance by determining if a vehicle is in motion. Under FMCSA rule 395.16, EOBRs soon will be mandated for all carriers. The regulation, which hasn’t taken effect yet, is designed to stop drivers from falsifying paper logbooks and to improve highway safety by preventing truckers from operating if they’re fatigued. The EOBR requirement also is part of FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, which was instituted in December 2010. U.S. Xpress’ Williams, a former cook, said he likes not having to deal with paper logs to substantiate his HOS compliance. And Cox Petroleum’s Davis said, “You can’t cheat anymore.”

 

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Truckers Face Legal, Compliance Risks Over Sleep Apnea, Health Experts Say

 

 

Trucking companies and drivers face a wide range of risks when dealing with the effects of sleep apnea on individuals and on highway safety, industry experts said. Those risks include hiring decisions, legal liability, lost productivity, health care costs and regulatory compliance for afflicted workers, said Dr. Natalie Hartenbaum, president of OccuMedix, speaking at the Sleep Apnea & Multi-Modal Transportation Conference in Baltimore on Nov 8.

 

“What is an acceptable risk?” Hartenbaum asked, in light of the factors she sited. “How do you hire an individual who has sleep apnea? Would you want to let an employee work if they had undiagnosed sleep apnea?”. The condition characterized by sleep disruption is more prevalent in men who are overweight as their age increases, said Dr. Rochelle Goldberg, regional medical director for the Sleep Health Centers. She estimated that 20 million American s suffer from sleep apnea, with 85% of them undiagnosed. A research paper done for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration concluded that 28% of truck drivers have sleep apnea.

 

“Drivers are scared,” said Bob Stanton, a former driver for Schneider National Inc., who also spoke at the conference. “What driver would reasonably include sleep apnea in their paperwork if they want to keep their job?”. Stanton, who was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2002, said one risk for drivers is that they will be dismissed if they report they have sleep apnea. He added, though, that Schneider has an effective program to deal with the condition. On the other hand, he said, the prospect of not being hired, or being dismissed, because of sleep apnea prompts drivers to try to hide the information from employers, even though their personal doctors are treating them. Another issue is the small number of people who have even been tested for sleep apnea, said Dana Voien, president of SleepSafe Drivers Inc., Laguna Niguel, Calif., which provides testing services. “We’ve only scratched the surface,” he said, because just 1.3 million tests are done annually in the general U.S. population.

 

Among the compliance risks cited by Hartenbaum, whose Dresher, Pa.-based firm does consulting on work-related medical issues, was the lack of clear federal guidelines for diagnosing sleep apnea and the questions about what to do with persons with sleep apnea who have to be accommodated at work under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

 

Other risks she cited included losses related to equipment if a crash is linked to sleep apnea. The medical consequences of sleep apnea were gauged in a study published last year in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and were included in the conference materials. That study found that health care costs for commercial drivers whose sleep apnea was diagnosed and treated were 41% lower than average than the general population of driers, including both those with undiagnosed sleep apnea and those who were free from the condition. Kathe Henke, laboratory director at the Sleep Disorders Center of Virginia, Richmond, said another risk is created by the lack of evidence about the role of sleep apnea in a commercial vehicle crash. “There needs to be more research in the area,” she said, in contrast to what she called “clear evidence” of a link between sleep apnea and a greater incidence of automobile crashes.

 

There have been enough anecdotal reports of sleep apnea’s role in fatal truck-involved accidents to prompt the National Transportation Safety Board to call on the FMCSA to develop programs to identify and treat truck drivers. FMCSA has been working on guidelines for diagnosing sleep apnea and other medical conditions since 2008, and one agency official last month said sleep apnea would be among the first to have guidelines issued early next year.

 

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Top 5 Ways Your MCS-150 Can Hurt Your CSA Score

 

 

There are not many “gimmes” in life, but I think I have one for you. For anyone unclear on the concept: In golf, a gimme is a shot that the other players agree can count automatically without actually being played. In other words – get a benefit from hardly any work on your part. Sound good? In the world of transportation safety, improving your carrier’s CSA score by submitting a new MCS-150 form qualifies as a gimme.

 

Let’s look at five ways you may be able to improve your CSA scores by voluntarily submitting a new MCS-150 form.

 

First, a quick overview of the MCS-150 form – what it is and when it should be submitted:

 

What is the MCS-150 Form? The MCS-150 form is technically the “Motor Carrier Identification Report (Application for USDOT Number).” In short, this is the form a motor carrier can use to request a USDOT number and, more importantly for our purposes, to update their previous MCS-150 information.

 

When do I submit a new MCS-150? This is the key question. You are required to file the MCS-150 at least every two years. If it has been two years or more since you filed your last MCS-150, you need to file a new one right away. How to check? Use the MVCSA’s Company Snapshot page at http://safersys.org/CompanySnapshot.aspx. If you are within the two years, you may choose to file an updated MCS-150 at any time.

 

Here are five reasons you might want to:

 

1. Number of power units is under-reported. If your number of power units is artificially low – meaning you now actually have more power units than your last MCS-150 shows – then your CSA scores are likely being negatively impacted.

Here’s the problem: Your reported number of power units is used in key CSA calculations in two BASICs: Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator. In these two BASICs, your carrier’s exposure is determined by dividing CSA points by your average power units times a utilization factor. In other words, the more power units you have, the more your violation points are diluted, and the lower your CSA score will be.

 

2. VMT is under-reported. VMT stands for Vehicle Miles Traveled. On your MCS-150, you report your VMT for the last calendar year. If the last reported total is lower than it should have been OR you have results for the next calendar year that are higher than the previous year, your CSA scores are likely worse than they should be.

If this is the case, the same two BASICs – Crash and Unsafe Driving – are likely higher than they would be with the corrected information. VMT is used to calculate the utilization factor used in the calculation. With a high utilization factor, you get a bonus and the FMCSA essentially pretends you have more trucks than you actually do. This high utilization bonus can be significant: Maximum bonus allows a carrier to triple the number of power units – or in other words, eliminate two-thirds of their violation points.

 

3. VMT is over-reported. Surprisingly, if you report a VMT number the FMCSA sees as too high based  on your number of power units, the utilization factor for these same two BASICs, Unsafe Driving and Crash, isn’t just capped at the maximum value. Instead, it resets to absolutely no bonus.

 

4. Incorrectly listed as hazmat or passenger carrier. If your carrier is listed incorrectly as hazardous materials or passenger carrier, then your CSA Percentile rankings won’t change – but your intervention thresholds become much tougher than they would for a general carrier.

Carriers have even made the decision to change their business model due to the stringent intervention thresholds when classified as a hazmat or passenger carrier, including getting out of the passenger or hazmat business entirely, or splitting off that portion of their business into a new carrier with its own USDOT number.

 

5. Number of combo and straight trucks is incorrect. There’s an important distinction made between combo and straight for carriers. Here is, word for word, the explanation from the CSA Methodology:

 

The Unsafe Driving BASIC and Crash Indicator account for carrier differences by segmenting the carrier population into two groups based on the types of vehicles operated. This segmentation ensures that carriers with fundamentally different types of vehicles/operations are not compared to each other: The two segments are: (1) Combo or combination trucks/motor coach buses constituting 70% or more of the total power units and (2) Straight or straight trucks/other vehicles constituting more than 30% of the total power units.

 

If your carrier is classified as the wrong segment, then your CSA percentile rank is very likely different than it would be under the correct segment. Note that different does not necessarily mean better. Ultimately, you will need to submit correct data to the FMCSA at least biennially, so if you are in this position, your main question is about timing the new MCS-150 submission.

 

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EOBR Rule Vacated By Seventh Circuit

 

 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMSCA) April 2010 final EOBR rule, scheduled to become effective in June 2012, has been vacated by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and sent back to the Agency for reconsideration. That version of the EOBR rule requires motor carriers that have more than a 10 percent noncompliance rate in a compliance review to use EOBRs for at least the ensuing 2 year period. The Court overturned the rule on the narrow ground that the Agency had not appropriately considered the issue of how to prevent the use of EOBRs to harass vehicle operators, a consideration expressly mandated by Congress. The Court stated that when Congress specifically requires an agency to address something before issuing a regulation, that factor is by definition an important aspect of the problem and under settled law, when an agency fails to address an important aspect of a problem, its actions are arbitrary to capricious. To fulfill its statutory mandate, the Court suggested that the FMCSA must “consider what types of harassment already exist, how frequently and to what extent harassment happens, and how an electronic device capable of contemporaneous transmission of information to a motor carrier will guard against (or fail to guard against) harassment.” The Court also suggested that a study of these issues related to EOBRs already in use may be one way for the Agency to address the issue. The Court’s ruling makes clear that a “superficial or perfunctory” Agency explanation of the harassment issue will not be sufficient and likely will require significant Agency work before the EOBR rule can be reissued.

 

 

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ATRI Analysis of Carrier and Driver CSA Impacts

 

 

As part of its research to quantify the impact of CSA on the trucking industry, ATRI conducted two separate surveys to identify motor carrier and commercial drier attitudes and understanding of FMCSA’s new regulatory program, Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA), along with operational impacts which may be occurring. Survey results describe more than 4,300 truck driver responses collected between March – April 2011, as well as nearly 700 motor carrier responses from July – August 2011.

 

At the time of the motor carrier survey, 96.5 percent of carriers had accessed their company’s CSA scores at least once, including 85.1 percent who reported viewing their CSA scores monthly. The number of self-reported SafeStat Safety Evaluation Areas (SEAs) and CSA Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) above threshold were strongly correlated, meaning carriers generally maintained their variable or unfavorable safety status under CSA as in SafeStat. However, a higher proportion of carriers reported having at least one identified problem area, likely due to the fact that more safety areas are measured under CSA (i.e. 7 BASICs compared to only 4 SEAs).

 

Interestingly, although roughly two-thirds of drivers were somewhat or extremely concerned about job security under CSA, 90 percent of motor carrier respondents laid off only 5 percent or fewer of their drivers due to CSA-related concerns. Still, a majority of drivers and carriers agreed (83.6% and 89.1%, respectively) that CSA would exacerbate the existing driver shortage. These beliefs were substantiated by claims from 72.2 percent of carriers that it is now more difficult to hire new driers, due to greater driver accountably and increased transparency of historical safety records.

 

There were mixed reports as to whether CSA has increased carrier and driver interactions with FMCSA. Only a quarter of truck drivers believed that roadside inspections (RIs) had increased in frequency since CSA’s national launch in December 2010. Conversely, 55 percent of carriers said this was true, although this increased reporting may have been due to the four month gap between surveys, during which time CSA had time to expand. Further, a third of carrier stated that FMCSA interventions had become more frequent, with interventions now including warning letters, targeted or comprehensive on-site or off-site compliance reviews. Notably, reports of increased RIs and interventions were more common among carriers reporting a greater number of BASICs above threshold.

 

Drivers and carriers both believed that CSA would ultimately improve the quality of truck driver, but only carriers thought the changed would translate into better industry safety overall. As a whole, drivers were more supportive of FMCSA using CSA to measure carrier safety performance than driver safety performance, while carriers were more supportive of FMCSA measuring drivers. Still, carriers approved of FMCSA using the data more than they approved of the data being used by shippers, brokers or insurers, while support was lowest for the general public having access to the data.

 

Finally, on a 14-item CSA knowledge test, drivers answered an average of 5.7 items correctly, compared to 10.2 by carriers. Both groups of respondents struggled with technical details, such as correctly identifying which five BASICs are publicly available. Drivers, however, consistently had difficulty separating CSA fact from fiction, such as believing that CSA will rat drivers on Body mass Index. Although performance on knowledge test varied, drivers and carriers were able to accurately rate their level of CSA expertise prior to taking the test.

 

Copies of the driver and carrier survey results, as well as the ATRI CSA Knowledge Test, are available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org

 

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ATRI Designing Real-Time Weather Notification System for Truck Drivers

 

 

Inclement weather has become an increasing concern for the trucking industry. As delivery time windows contract and just-in-time manufacturing pressures increase, on-time deliveries are becoming ever more critical. At the same time, trucks are often the first victims of critical weather events; high winds, slippery roads and building precipitation all play havoc with fleet safety and operations.

 

ATRI and FHWA have jointly analyzed ATRI’s “Freight Performance Measures” data – which monitors hundreds of thousands of truck GPS units – to identify numerous instances where weather events dramatically impacted trucking operations. In some instances, these same trucks were deliberately headed into weather events such as hurricanes with must needed emergency response supplies.

 

In an effort to monitor and notify truck drivers of critical weather events, ATRI has undertaken an important research initiative to capture real-time weather data from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) databases. The moving weather event data would be virtually “geo-fenced” onto roadways and truck routes; when trucks enter a weather buffer zone, they would receive real-time weather notifications with enough advance notice to take action, e.g. re-routing or safe parking, as needed.

 

ATRI is now working with a major telecommunications provider to engineer a weather information delivery system that would inform drivers of events without creating un-necessary distractions. ATRI is also working with several motor carriers, state DOTs and NOAA to pilot test the system in operational settings where critical weather events are known to occur. It is hoped that preliminary research data and funding would be available to interested stakeholders in April 2012.

 

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Final Rule Bans Use of Hand-Held Cell Phones

 

Unless you have a hands-free mobile phone that can start or stop a call with one button or is voice-activated, you’ll soon be taking a bigger risk using your cell phone while driving a commercial vehicle. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have issued a final rule that bans the use of hand-held mobile phones. The rule will take effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register, which hasn’t happened yet.

 

For purposes of this rule, using a hand-held mobile phone means using at least one hand to hold the phone while talking or listening; dialing the phone; or, reaching for the phone in a way that causes you to leave your seated driving position or unfasten your seatbelt.

 

The final rule defines texting as “manually entering alphanumeric text into, or reading from, an electronic device. This action includes, but is not limited to, short message service, e-mailing, instant messaging, a command or request to access a World Wide Web page, pressing more than a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone, or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or entry.”

 

The rule goes on to specify that texting does not include

- Inputting, selecting or reading information on a GPS or navigation system

- Pressing a single button to start or end a voice communication using a mobile phone

- Using a device capable of performing multiple functions (e.g. fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, CB radios, music players, etc.) for a purpose not otherwise prohibited in the rule.

 

The federal civil penalty for a driver who violates the rule is $2,750 for each offense with the possibility of disqualification, plus the potential for state suspension of his or her CDL for multiple violations. The maximum penalty for commercial trucks and bus companies that allow driers to use hand-held mobile phones will be $11,000.

 

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Congested Roadways Can Cost More Than Time

 

Dear Driver:

Every Professional driver is personally acquainted with the cost of congestion, especially in terms of time, money and frustration. The 2010 Urban Mobility Report, published by the Texas Transportation Institute, quantified that cost, or at least in part, when it stated that the total cost of congestion in the 101 top urban areas combined equals an astonishing $97.7 billion. AAA estimates the total cost of traffic accidents in those same urban areas triples the cost of congestion at $299.5 billion.

 

The AAA study further reports that “on more congested roadways, the number of crashes may increase… reflecting the increased weaving and access/egress movements often occurring on congested road segments. Crashes may also lead to severe, unexpected congestion in an otherwise congestion-free roadway, reducing the level of service.”

 

Congested areas are frustrating and worrisome, particularly given sometimes tight delivery guidelines and schedules. However, it is important to keep your cool. Being involved in a traffic incident under any conditions – let alone in bumper to bumper traffic – will significantly delay your already slowed pace. Without a doubt, extra vigilance and adherence to defensive driving principles are necessary in congested areas. Here are some tips to get you where you need to be as fast and as safely as possible.

 

1. Avoid the congestion. Be sure to plan your route before departure, taking into consideration the approximate time you expect to approach urban areas. Avoid rush hours or choose alternate routes if practical.

 

2. Tune into traffic reports approaching urban centers, they’ll let you know what to expect.

 

3. Remain calm. Bumper to bumper traffic can be unnerving and exhausting if you let it. Keeping alert and level-headed will be important.

 

4. Find your appropriate lane and stick with it. Weaving in and out of traffic is not only risky, it can actually slow traffic down even more. Additionally, changing lanes only to discover your previous lane was moving faster will only heighten aggravation.

 

5. Merge early. If you see a merge sign, get into the correct lane as soon as possible. Merging with a large truck can be challenging and often requires the courtesy of other motorists which cannot be relied on as congestion takes hold.

 

6. Leave space: By trying to block someone’s attempt to merge in front of you, you will actually be contributing to traffic-slowdown and increase your and the other vehicles’ chances of a collision. Be courteous. Be safe. Maintain a safe following distance.

 

Driving aggressively in congested areas only increases congestion and leads to more accidents. If you can’t avoid an area, stay calm, find a lane and stick with it. You, and those around you, will be safer for it.

 

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Determining Crash Accountability is No Easy Answer

 

 

Of the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs), the crash indicator BASIC, though flawed, is probably the best predictor of future crashes. But crash scores in CSA’s Safety Measurement System traditionally have not been reported because raw data submitted from the field included both preventable and non-preventable accidents. As a result, a carrier that is not in any way at fault can receive high BASIC scores that have no correlation to its own safety procedures or safety fitness.

 

Under the safety rules that have been in place for more than 30 years since the implementation of FMCSA’s Safety Rating Methodology, 1.5 crashes per million miles has been a benchmark for receiving an unsatisfactory safety rating. However, upon audit, a carrier has been able to reduce its crash ratio by showing preventability. Since compliance reviews have been conducted on only about 17,000 carriers per year, this meant the numbers of balls and strikes the agency actually had to call with respect to crash preventability was not significant and was in the context of a compliance review.

 

SMS methodology and FMCSA’s professed intention to use raw data to rate carriers changes all this. To use crash data, the agency recognizes that it must call balls and strikes on all crashes to drill down to preventability. To do this, FMCSA apparently proposes to modify the DataQs system to allow motor carriers to challenge every crash. The appeals process would not go back to the state but would go to “contracted specialists.” Information I have seen suggests that FMCSA believes there are about 150,000 crashes per year that could be subject to the DataQs challenge process.

 

Someone at American Trucking Associations apparently estimates 15 contractors can make decisions on all these accidents based upon police reports. Excuse my skepticism, but police reports alone hardly afford judicial process, and the idea of 15 employees deciding as many as 150,000 cases per year seems like an unreasonable task; if everybody files, that’s one review every 10 minutes. FMCSA apparently will propose that a carrier aggrieved by this specialist determination can appeal the case to the agency’s legal staff.

 

While the goal of identifying preventability is a noble one, one is led to question the ultimate cost or due process achieved under this methodology, as well as the effects of having both an administrative determination of preventability or “driver accountability” and, at the same time, the obvious court suit that determines the rights of litigants. For an agency that is broke and is looking for an efficient measurement system, this proposal bears close monitoring.

 

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DOT to Consider Exempting 20 Deaf Drivers from Minimum Hearing Rule for Their CDLs

 

 

Twenty deaf of hard-of-hearing people are being considered for exemptions from a federal regulation setting minimum hearing requirements for commercial drivers, the first exemption applications to be considered in more than two decades, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said.

 

The National Association for the Deaf is advocating on behalf of the applicants, who submitted the requests for commercial driver licenses in July, the group said. “Although the NAD has long fought for equal access and opportunities for deaf truckers, this is the first time the United States Department of Transportation has agreed to consider waiving its hearing requirements for deaf drivers,” NAD stated on its website this month. NAD contends that the standards FMCSA applies to CDL applicants are not fair to people who are deaf or who have a hard time hearing. “These physical qualification standards include a requirement that unfairly barred deaf and hard-of-hearing people from driving commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce,” it said. The group of drivers requesting exemptions includes both deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers who do not meet FMCSA’s requirements, NAD said. NAD did not respond to requests for further comment by press time.

 

FMCSA confirmed that it is considering the applicants, and it will soon seek public comment on the waivers, a required step before granting exemptions. The agency’s exemption process allows individual CDL applications to be immune from certain physical requirements that are in regulations, a spokeswoman told Transport Topics. When FMCSA grants an exemption, the requirements still stand, but the driver, who has proven that he or she can drive a commercial vehicle with a level of safety equivalent to driver who fit the qualifications, is exempted from certain requirements, she said. Determinations are made case by case and publicized in the Federal Register.

 

NAD’s requests on behalf of the 20 drivers are the first requests for waivers to the hearing standard since FMCSA, then an office of the Federal Highway Administration, established its current exemption system in 1988, the spokeswoman said. FMCSA’s regulations require that a commercial driver be able to hear a “force whispered voice” in his or her better ear from 5 feet away, with or without a hearing aid. If the driver’s hearing is tested with an audiometric device, he or she must be able to hear, in the better ear, 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz, also with or without a hearing aid.

 

American Trucking Associations supports opening truck driving jobs to more people, but only if FMCSA deems them to be safe, said Boyd Stephenson, manager of safety and security operations for the group. “We have an immense driver shortage in the industry, and we want to do everything that we can to mitigate that,” Stephenson told TT. But carriers have a responsibility to make sure drivers are physically safe to do their jobs, and FMCSA needs to recognize that in giving exemptions, he said. “We are always supportive of exemptions to the medical requirement, provided that FMCSA has done their homework and made sure that these folks that are getting exemptions are at least as safe as drivers who would otherwise be medically qualified,” he said. The agency has not conducted or commissioned research to determine whether the deaf drivers are as safe as those who meet qualifications, the FMSCA spokeswoman said.

 

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Carriers Can Save ‘A Ton of Money’ Keeping Drivers Healthy, Russell Says

 

 

Grapevine, Texas – Celadon Group has turned employees’ health-care costs from a liability into millions of dollars in savings by making access to care and education more accessible, the head of the truckload carrier said. “The reality is our investment has saved a ton of money,” said Stephen Russell, chairman and CEO of the Indianapolis firm. He said the average medical cost per employee in 2011 is $431, up only $2 from 2006, even as health costs over the same time have increased about 7% annually. He shared his methods for improving the health of employees and the carrier’s bottom line during a panel discussion that included a truck-stop executive and a wellness expert on Oct. 16, during American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition.

 

Russell said that when he began to scrutinize the health of his company in 2005, his reaction was, “Oh my God, we have a serious liability.” Test results among drivers and other employees showed 43% had high blood pressure, 46% never exercised and only 15% were at an ideal weight, he said. At the same time, 62% admitted not seeking the health care they needed because they were working. From these “staggering findings,” Russell created the “Highway to Health” program, which started in 2006 as a small on-site facility at the company’s headquarters offering easier access to screenings and educational information. One simple tip that proved effective, Russell said, was letting drivers know that walking around their parked vehicles 50 times was equivalent to a two-mile walk. Offering reductions in health-care premiums for reductions in body-mass index (BMI) also proved effective, and the success of the program led to the opening of a larger on-site facility earlier this year with eight medical professionals.

 

Meanwhile, Michael Lombardi, an executive vice president with TravelCenters of America, said that for many years the number of requests for healthier menu options did not match actual eating habits. Drivers would ask for healthy meals, “but the guy who was the most enthusiastic about them was the one eating chicken-fried steak,” Lombardi said.

 

More recently, however, he has seen a shift in attitudes, which he attributed in part to the federal government’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. “Drivers are much more sensitive now because of CSA,” he said. “They want to reduce BMI.” As a result, Lombardi said, the truck stops offer more meals topping out at about 600 calories, which are noted with a “StayFit” symbol. Choices include shrimp stir-fry and grilled chicken, with an emphasis on regional flavors so there is more variety throughout the country. Lombardi also said TravelCenters discovered something interesting when it looked at ways to improve exercise options at its facilities. “In many cases there was already a walking trail carved out that some people knew about, but we never marked it and publicized it,” he said. Now, at many facilities, these trails are clearly marked and mapped.

 

The next step, he said, was building fitness centers, which TravelCenters started along Interstate 80. Similarly, Pilot Flying J has teamed with Snap Fitness to create the Rolling Strong program, which gives drivers access to fitness centers throughout the country. Gene McGuire, managing partner of Wellness Coaches USA, said providing drivers and employees access can open the doors to rapid results. The company, whose largest trucking client is Con-way Freight, creates an environment “where people are interested in asking for help,” he said. With offers of voluntary and confidential assistance in everything from weight loss and smoking cessation to stress management, McGuire said 66% of Con-way Freight employees south at least 10 individual sessions with coaches in 2010. Along with thousands lowering blood pressure last year, a total of 55,000 pounds were shed. Bob Petrancosta, vice president of safety for Con-way Freight, said that as a former trucker, he was initially skeptical of the program, “but the success has been beyond my wildest expectations.”

 

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Obama’s Jobs Plan Will Require Clean Diesel, DTF Says

 

 

The expansion of new construction programs for U.S. schools, roads, bridges and buildings in the American Jobs Act outlined by President Obama will require the efficient power provided by clean diesel engines and equipment, the Diesel Technology Forum said last month. Obama said his $447 billion jobs plan would include investments in road and highway construction.

 

“All of the construction and infrastructure projects outlined by President Obama could begin immediately thanks to the power, reliability and efficiency of America’s clean diesel engines and equipment,” says Allen Schaeffer, DTF executive director. “After more than a decade of research and development, and billions in investments in cleaner fuels, advanced engines and emissions controls, the new generation of diesel technology is now at the forefront of the cleanest and most energy-efficient technologies available.”

 

Schaeffer says America’s diesel manufacturers are ready and able to meet the challenge to rebuild the nation. “Diesel engines and equipment have been the technology of choice for building and expanding America’s infrastructure for decades, and we have state-of-the-art equipment available right now to accomplish this ambitious national proposal,” he says. “And these can be green construction projects as well, thanks to the new generation (Tier 4) of clean diesel technology machines and equipment, the ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels and the use of advanced emissions controls. The use of high-quality renewable and biodiesel fuels adds yet another green component.”

 

Schaeffer says 94 percent of all global trade today is powered by diesel engines. “The entire global trade network relies on diesel trucks, sips, railroads and vehicles to survive and grow,” he says. “In the United States, over 95 percent of commercial trucks are diesel powered. Virtually everything sold in America gets to market by diesel trucks. From earthmoving to e-commerce, clean diesel power enables the efficient movement of goods and people and the building of our homes, schools and infrastructure. And more than two-thirds of all construction, mining and farm equipment are powered by diesel.”

 

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NTTC Asks LaHood to Withdraw Proposals

 

The NTTC has asked Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to withdraw two regulatory proposals that meet the criteria of President Obama’s commitment to eliminate unnecessary costly regulations. In his jobs speech to a joint session of Congress, the President said: “and I agree that there are some rules and regulations that put an unnecessary burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it.”

 

We suggested to the Secretary that both the HM231D wetlines proposed rule and the HM241 “adoption by reference” proposal are not only unnecessary, but both could actually have a negative impact on safety. Regular readers of our newsletter are more than familiar with these proposals then you probably would like. We will continue to oppose these proposals all the way to the court house, if necessary. In our letter to the Secretary, we wrote: “Neither of these regulations was actually initiated by your agency for safety reasons, but rather were the result in one case from intense Congressional pressure and in the other in response to petitions from an industry group that would financially benefit tremendously if its petitions are granted.”

 

We also noted that NTTC is a true safety advocacy organization that has worked closely with the Department of Transportation for many years to develop a hazardous materials transportation system that is now the envy of the world. While we do not expect the Secretary to get personally involved in the minutia of these proposals, we do hope that his office will at least raise the issues with PHMSA and, more importantly, tell the agency that the Department “has its back” should a withdrawal of the rules be attacked by political opponents.

 

 

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Experienced Drivers Are First Line of Defense Against Weather Hazards, Carrier Execs Say

 

As winter approaches – and with some parts of the country already being subjected to an early taste of seasonal traffic problems – carrier executives and drivers have said experienced people behind the wheels of the tractor-trailers re the best defense against the hazards caused by the weather.

They also said that both companies and drivers must be flexible and vigilant during winter months.

 

Don Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security for Schneider National Inc., said one of the keys to preventing accidents, especially for long-haul companies, is matching “the driver’s skill with the load complexity.” That means being certain that drivers who spend most of their time in Texas aren’t asked to driver through bad weather in Philadelphia until their driving skills indicate that they are capable of doing so. He also said filing to heed that strategy can lead to an accident or increased driver turnover – or both.

 

“We never want to hit what… I sometimes… refer to as ‘the terminal anxiety point,’ where you’ve just essentially sent the driver to the bridge too far,” Osterberg said. “You send an inexperienced driver domiciled in the Southwest on a multistep load into New York City during winter weather, you would be setting yourself and the driver up for failure.”

 

Schneider National, based in Green Bay, Wis., ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.

 

 

Nate McCarty, an America’s Road Team member who has achieved 1.4 million safe-driving miles over 19 years in the industry and drives for ABF Freight System, agreed.

 

“I think it’s’ important that you know your limitations, and you don’t overdrive your abilities,” he said.

 

ABF Freight System is a unit of Arkansas Best Corp., Fort Smith, Ark., which ranks No. 14 on the TT for-hire list.

 

America’s Road Team is a group of drivers specially selected by American Trucking Associations to serve as ambassadors for the industry.

 

Among the most difficult – and important – winter driving decisions is when to park a truck in bad weather, and the consensus of those interviewed is that drivers must be trusted to make the call.

 

Dean Newell, vice president of safety and driver training for Maverick Transportation – a unit of Maverick USA, Little Rock, Ark., which ranks No. 96 on the TT for-hire list – said he considers drivers “the captain of their ship” and empowers them to decide when to get off the road.

 

Osterberg said he can’t make decisions for Schneider National drivers who are hundreds or thousands of miles away. What he can do, he said, is make sure relevant information about weather and road conditions is available to them so the drivers can make the right decisions – and then support them afterward.

 

Osterberg also said he’s not worried that some drivers will abuse the privilege. Given the realities of the way drivers are compensated, the company more likely has to encourage them to park their vehicles, he said.

 

“I can’t tell you that I’ve heard of us having kind of a counseling session with a diver saying, ‘Boy, we think you shut down prematurely,’” he said. “Generally speaking, there are far more conversations perhaps on the other side of that, ‘In light of the weather conditions, it would have been prudent at that point to simply shut down.’”

 

Road Team member Joe Allen Boyd said that when he is hauling a load for Walmart Transportation, a unit of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores, which ranks No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 private carriers list, he  won’t hesitate to park in bad weather, knowing he’ll have his company’s’ s support.

 

“Wal-Mart’s got a great big billboard on the side,” said Boyd, who drivers out of Bedford, Pa. “They don’t want their trucks lying in the ditch somewhere.”

 

For Steve Davis, director of safety and security at Houston-based intermodal hauler W.W. Rowland Trucking Co., winter weather is an irregular problem, but it can be a big one – especially when it strikes warm-weather cities that aren’t prepared to respond to snow and ice.

 

Davis said drivers are instructed to operate their equipment based on the current road conditions and, if the weather is bad enough, they are encouraged to park their trucks on their own initiative and communicate all delays to company personnel.

 

“We all have heard the saying that there’s no load that’s so hot that it can’t cool off in the ditch, and I believe that companywide mentality has definitely minimized the frequency of winter weather-related crashes involving our drivers,” Davis Said.

 

Winter weather also can force haulers into difficult routing decisions that add miles and extra costs.

 

Maverick’s Newell said that if the situation requires it, his company will take an Interstate 40 route to Nashville or Knoxville and head northeast instead of traveling up Interstate 44 across the Midwest.

 

John Ripley, UPS air network planning manager, said his Atlanta-based company, which sits at the top of the TT for-hire list, is prepared to change its flows based on weather – sorting some of its 16 million packages a day at Louisville, Ky., instead of the Northeast, for example, and flying instead of driving or vice versa.

 

The U.S. Postal Service, on the other hand, does not change its routes, according to Dean Granholm, vice president, delivery and post office operations. Instead, routes are planned with winter driving in mind, with longhaul drivers expected to average only 45 mph, even in good weather.

 

Road Team Captain J.W. Ray offered an example of how important it is for drivers to know their route – and to be aware of those passenger cars that share those roads.

 

Ray, who drivers for Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Neb., said he knew a particular stretch of highway well, so he was prepared for the swirling wind and snow that would drop visibility to near zero. Nevertheless, he was surprised to see how several passenger-car drivers reacted to it.

 

“They just stopped in the middle of the highway, and a big truck ran into the back of three or four of them,” said Ray, whose truckload company ranks No. 11 on the TT for-hire carriers list.

 

No one was killed or seriously hurt, but the accident underscores the challenges for drivers and trucking executives as they prepare for winter weather.

 

Randall Dee Briggs, a Road Team captain who drivers YRC Worldwide – headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., and No. 4 on the TT for-hire list – said that once cold weather arrives, a good pre-trip inspection is a must.

 

Briggs said days of low temperatures can cause moisture to freeze in air tanks, so he checks them vigilantly to make sure they are oil- and water-free. He also said that after an overnight snow, drivers should clean the snow off drivelines, from between dual tires and out of the jaws on the fifth wheel. An ignored chunk of snow or ice there, he said, will keep a trailer from locking and result in a dropped load when the driver hits a bump or pulls away hard from a dock.

 

ABF’s McCarty said he visually inspects his tire chains before each trip to make sure there are no broken links. Colorado road crews use not only salt to melt off snow but also magnesium chloride, which can be greasy on windshields so he makes sure his winter blades are in good working order and his washer fluid container is full.

 

An equipment manufacturer said successful winter driving requires planning that starts long before the weather gets bad, including preventive maintenance. For instance, transport temperature-control systems manufacturer Thermo King Corp, Minneapolis, has a checklist of pre-winter procedures that includes replacing the heather fuel pump screen on its auxiliary power unit (APU) systems and inspecting and cleaning the fuel pre-strainer on its refrigeration units. Those can get plugged with particles, particularly in cold weather when fuel can jell and flow less freely, starving the engine and perhaps causing a nuisance shutdown.

 

The Postal Service said it undertakes a full review of its 216,000 vehicles, the largest civilian fleet in the world, before the onset of the winter season. Vehicles are stocked with shovels, sand, scrapers and appropriate antifreeze and window-washing fluid. Puzzle Weights, or interlocking sand containers, are installed in the back of rear-wheel-drive vehicles to reduce sliding in mountainous areas.

 

The trucking ambassadors also said they try to take care of their health this time of year because of the stresses of driving in winter, when hauls can carry them from pleasant weather through a blizzard and then back into pleasant weather within a 24-hour period.

 

ABF’s McCarty said drivers need more rest during the seasons. And Ray of Werner said he consumes extra vitamin C and milk, stays hydrated and tries to stay showered and clean.

 

As for the hauls, the America’s Road Team drivers said they bring changes of clothes and extra sets of gloves, which can get cold and wet if a need arises to drop trailers or chain up. Blankets and sleeping bags also should be stored.

 

Ray, a native of Idaho, said he brings along a shovel and 50 pounds of cat litter in case he gets stuck in snow or on an incline. (It’s also good for cleaning up oil spills.) He said two lit candles are surprisingly effective at heating up a cab.

 

The Road Team captains also advised drivers to bring extra food in case they get stuck on the road – particularly nonperishables such as beef jerky and food that can be heated without a microwave. Cans of soup, for example, can be warmed up quickly on an Espar heater or an exhaust pipe.

 

Among the biggest challenges for this time of year is unpredictability. Boyd said that, because winter storms can strike unexpectedly, road crews may not be prepared to sufficiently clear highways and streets in a timely manner – especially when the season begins.

 

As for winter precipitation, a consensus of drivers and executives said that snow is better to drive on than ice, and black ice is the worst. Ray said he will run his hand up the side of his rearview mirror to see if ice is forming. If it is, that means the road might be freezing as well.

 

Boyd said he will stop at rest areas to test the road to see if he can continue.

 

Larry Bizzell, senior corporate safety adviser for FedEx Corp., Memphis, Tenn., said his drivers are advised to watch the vehicles in front of them.

 

“If that spray all of a sudden stops and the road’s still shiny, you probably have  black ice, and you need to adjust your driving habits for that,” he said. FedEx Corp. ranks No. 2 on the TT for-hire list.

 

Of course, no preventive measure is more important than driver preparation. UPS’ global fleet safety manager, Emilio Lopez, said safety is stressed from the time drivers first put on their brown uniforms – even before then, in fact, because most drivers come from the company’s package-delivery ranks.

 

And although winter weather produces challenges unique to the season, so does autumn driving.

 

Dan McMackin, a spokesman for UPS, said that when he was a company driver, he was reminded often in safety meetings that we, falling leaves can be hazardous.

 

“Remember, they’re just like grease. If you don’t’ plan ahead, you’ll skid on those things,” he remembers he was told.

 

While there’s no way to ensure that drivers are always safe and that loads always get delivered on time, Osterberg said companies do have many tolls at their disposal. Schneider National publishes copies of a 52-page winter driving guide each year for its 15,000 drivers – all of whom undergo skid simulation training on one of the company’s more than 50 simulators. Any time day or night, the company’s drivers can call for advice and speak to experienced drivers.

 

“You try to layer as many imperfect solutions as you can,” Osterberg said. “The net effect of multiple layers of imperfect solutions tends to have a positive effect.”

 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the winter months of January through March consistently see the least traffic fatalities – 7,539 in 2009, for example, compared to 9,094 in July, August and September of that year. But that’s because the streets are less crowded, according to NHTSA statistics.

 

 

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Anti-Indemnification Laws:
Saving Lives, Preventing Losses

 

The contract between a motor carrier and the carrier’s customer typically sets the conditions under which the carrier provides service to the customer. Among other things, the contract should set out which party is liable if something goes wrong. More and more frequently, shippers are presenting motor carriers with contracts that make the carrier liable to indemnify the shipper for any damages in connection with a transportation service, even if the damage was caused by the shipper’s own negligence or intentional acts. Such shifting of liability is not only unfair; since it holds the shipper harmless from its own actions, but also eliminates the shipper’s interest in making sure its procedures are safe.

 

Since the motor carrier industry is made up overwhelming of small entities – only some 3% of motor carriers operate more than 20 trucks – shippers very frequently exercise far more economic power than their carriers. Consequently, a motor carrier may often be forced to accept it is, in order to secure the freight. Although certain industries make more use of such contractual indemnity clauses than others (we might mention oil and gas and chemical companies and the railroads in this respect) the problem appears to be spreading.

 

In response, American Trucking Associations has drafted model language suitable for enactment by state legislatures, which makes liability-shifting provisions in motor carrier transportation contracts void and unenforceable as against state public policy. In 2008, ATA’s Insurance Task Force made the adoption of such anti-indemnification laws in all the states one of its focus areas. At that time, only ten states had such statutes. As of July 2011, only three years later, thirty states have adopted these laws, nearly all of which closely follow the ATA model language.  (See the map.)  Contributions from the Insurance Task Force have helped to fund the legislative efforts in many of these states, and ATA staff has provided technical assistance, but in each instance the work has been done primarily by ATA’s affiliated state trucking associations.

 

The extraordinary progress in this area can be explained at least in part by the strong appeal to legislators across the whole political range of the two basic arguments in favor of anti-indemnification laws: First, that the shifting of liability by contract from one party to another relieves the party indemnified from liability for its own unsafe actions and thus endangers public safety. Second, that the mere presence of such a liability-shifting provision in a contract strongly indicates that the contract is what lawyers call a “contract of adhesion”; that is, that the motor carrier had no choice but to sign it or lose the job. These two arguments have made clear, in a majority of the states, that such contractual provisions should indeed be declared to be against public policy and unenforceable.

 

The enactment of anti-indemnification laws has not been without opposition in many states. In several, the effort has required more than one legislative session for success, and many state laws as finally passed include one or more exceptions. In particular, most states have seen fit to exempt intermodal exchanges from the reach of the law, since such contracts are governed by the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement, which was negotiated by the trucking, railroad, and steamship industries and has its own indemnification rules.

 

In one state, Louisiana, opposition to motor carrier anti-indemnification has taken the form of a legal challenge. There, the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA) has sued the state on the grounds that its new law, enacted in 2010, is unconstitutional. ATA and its affiliate, Louisiana Motor Transport Association (LMTA), have filed an amicus brief in support of the state which proved to be successful.

 

A Louisiana District Court tentatively granted the State’s motion to dismiss a legal challenge brought by LCA to that State’s anti-indemnification law. The Court agreed with the State that LCA had not presented a cause of action upon which relief could be granted. In coming to that conclusion, the Court considered the various constitutional grounds upon which the law was challenged (inducing the Contracts Clause; the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses; and the Commerce Clause) and found that none of the allegations made by LCA in its pleadings would support a finding that any of those constitutional provisions had been violated. In accordance with Louisiana law, the Court gave the Association 30 days to amend its pleadings to attempt to establish a cause of action. ATA and LMTA are participating in the case as amici in support of the State.

 

For the future, state trucking associations in a number of the states that don’t yet have anti-indemnification laws are gearing up to obtain such legislation, and at the present rate, it won’t be too long before all or nearly all the states have these laws. Even if that happens, it won’t end the problem of liability shifting for motor carriers overnight. Both shippers and carriers must be aware of the new laws in order to incorporate their prohibition into their contracts, and judges need to be made aware of the laws as prohibited indemnity claims come before their courts. In all, much remains to be done. If you’re interested in helping in the effort for anti-indemnification, the ATA Insurance Task Force needs your support. The ITF is funded entirely by contributions from interested parties, not from ATA dues. For more, contact Bob Pitcher, Vice President of State Laws at American Trucking Associations at bpitcher@trucking.org.

 

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Trucks May Look Differently

 

President Obama has announced new fuel efficiency standards for large trucks, including construction and semi-trucks. The first of its kind, the proposal will apply to vehicle model years 2014-2018.

The standards will require trucks to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions from 9 percent to 23 percent, depending on the type of heavy truck.

The administration did not release a miles-per-gallon equivalent for the new standards, saying that to do so would be confusing given the multiple categories of vehicles, the different types of vehicles in each category and the varying payloads that each one carries.

Analysts agree that to meet the standards, truck and engine manufacturers will likely redesign cabs, further modify tires and transmissions and make engine adjustments.
Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said the industry has long-supported the idea of more fuel-efficient trucks, noting that many companies have adopted the SmartWay program launched  by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“But there’s no question that an 80,000 pound truck will ever get the miles per gallon that a small SUV will get,” said Kidd, doubting fuel efficiency standards could be made without some kind of engine modification.

 

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IRS sets up temporary reg to deal with HVUT Form 2290 delay