Here we are at the end of February already.  It amazes me how quickly the months go by and how things just never slow up anymore.  We would like to thank those of you who have responded to our recent survey.  If you have not, we would ask that you take a few moments and complete it so that we can determine what else we can do to help make your use of our services the best it can be.   If you do not have the email with the link to the survey please contact Mark Schweber and he will get it to you.  Shuie and his gang of teckies are constantly finding new ways to improve and enhance the CAB experience and are always interested in hearing from you on things you might like to see.

This month we report:

MEXICAN CARRIERS – The beleaguered long haul cross border pilot program has finally added a new participant.  The FMCSA approved Grupo Behr de Baja California as the 10th participant.  Whether they will get to the required numbers before the program expires looks unlikely.

VEHICLE CRASHES – The National Safety Council released its preliminary analysis of vehicle crashes for 2012.   It estimates that 36,200 people died in vehicle crashes in 2012, up from the previous year total of 34,600.  There was also an increase in needed medical care following the events, up 5%. The rate of vehicle deaths increased 1.23 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.  This report is slightly different from the NHTSA report as it reports all deaths as long as they occurred within one year of the accident.  The NTHSA only counts traffic deaths that occurred within 30 days of the crash.

MOTOR COACH REGULATIONS – The FMCSA has announced a crackdown on unsafe bus operations. The FMCSA will work with local and state police to investigate driver qualifications, equipment, scheduling and other safety concerns of high-risk carriers.  The first part of the crackdown will take the next two months and will include a complete analysis of bus safety and enforcement programs. More bus companies are expected to be taken off the roadway.

INTERMODAL FREIGHT – The Intermodal Association of North America reports that intermodal freight in North America set an all-time record of 14.6 million shipments in 2012, with a huge growth in domestic container shipments in the fourth quarter.  We remind underwriters of the additional concerns and risk in underwriting containerized freight when the condition, quality and value of the cargo is often unknown.

BROKER BONDS – October 1, 2013 is the date set for compliance with the new broker bonds.  The bond is being increased from $10,000 to $75,000.   All brokers and forwarders must be registered by that date. You can view the frequently asked questions on the changes in broker regulations here.

HOURS OF SERVICE – The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has requested that the FMCSA delay implementing scheduled changes to the hours-of-service rules for truck drivers until three months after a pending legal challenge is resolved.  Oral arguments are set for March 1 and at the current time the rules are set to take effect in July.

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I know it has only been two short weeks since you received our annual report and so we will keep this month’s report short.  I don’t want you to get tired of hearing from us! We appreciate all of the feedback that we get on these reports and invite any and all comments that can better help us focus this to be a timely and pertinent report for you.

CAB LABS:

We are excited to introduce this month our new Workspace, Carrier ‘Sneak Peek’ and Shared Email Alert features.

The Workspace tool will assist you in comparing multiple entities that are interrelated by different characteristics, allowing you to do a variety of searches by phone, address, email address, etc. and provides quick access to useful tools that will help you analyze your Workspace contents. Carriers you add to the Workspace will stay there until you remove them, even if you log out or sign in to your account on a different computer.

To help sort through search results returned by our Carrier Search page, we’ve offered a ‘Sneak Peek’ feature allowing you to get a high level overview of the safety and operation information of a returned entity by hovering over the magnifying glass adjacent to the DOT number. This month we’ve added the ability to ‘pin’ this information onto the page to make it easier to compare and identify trends across multiple entities.

Similar to the alerts that identify other entities using the same address or phone number which were designed to alert you to possibly related entities, the Shared Email Alert identifies whether or not the email address used to register this carrier was used to register any other carriers.  If there is a match, clicking on the new email icon will load up all the other entities that used that email address.

To learn more about these exciting new features, you can download the most current version of the User Guide or contact us to set up a training session.

This month we report:

DOT SECRETARY – Although a few weeks ago it looked like Secretary LaHood would be staying around for a bit longer he has now announced that he will be leaving his post.  President Obama has not yet announced his replacement.

TRUCKING BANKRUPTCIES – Avondale Partners states that 150 carriers left the industry in the 4th quarter, bringing the yearly total to 495.  This resulted in 7,370 trucks coming off the road.  Avondale indicates that these numbers were fueled by weakening used-truck prices, lower freight demand and higher costs.

HOURS OF SERVICE – The ATA has requested a further extension on the implementation of the most recent proposed hours of service rules.  Oral argument is scheduled for March with a decision from the court expected in early summer.  Rather than implement changes which may be impacted by a court decision, a delay is probably the best action.

2013 AGENDA FOR CONGRESS – The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced its oversight plan for the 113th Congress. Highway funding, the CSA program and hours of service are listed as top priorities for the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.  Last year they requested an audit of CSA, which is expected to be completed this year.

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