As we have in the past, we would like to take a moment during this Memorial Day holiday to remember and thank all our service members over the years. We truly appreciate all that you have done. We would not be where we are, doing what we do, without you. You have our gratitude and respect.
It was wonderful to once again get a chance to spend time with so many of you at the annual IMUA meeting. We are always pleased to get a chance to show you what it means to have the CAB Advantage. Tiana was even more excited to be on the team that won second place in the golf tournament! Once again it was an outstanding event.
FROM CAB’S LAB™ – In keeping with our commitment to provide you the best and most up-to-date tools possible, our coffee drinking, doughnut guzzling, sugar and caffeine juiced up techies here at CAB are constantly working through the night to bring you the latest features and enhancements to our already feature-laden premium web site. Sometimes the enhancements work behind the scenes, speeding up and optimizing the information provided on the site. Sometimes new features are seamlessly rolled into the website. To help facilitate effective communication and keep you up to date with all the new options available, we are introducing this new section into our monthly Bits & Pieces newsletter in which we will report the latest developments. Our User Guide which can be downloaded from the ‘About Us’ tab that is available when logged in to the Subscriber Site, is always updated to reflect any updates we’ve rolled out to the site.
This past month we added in to the Submission Report™ the date that the US DOT number was first assigned to the relevant entity as well as the date the entity’s US DOT number was set to Inactive if relevant. The “First Assigned” date is particularly helpful in verifying how long the entity was really in business – a critical piece of information for underwriting. We also added in the option for Subscribers to set up alerts on the Submission Report™ if the motor carrier’s inspections show it travelling beyond a designated radius mileage threshold. Additional custom alerts that were added are alerts if the motor carrier’s inspections show it travelling in states or counties that have been flagged by your company as “Hot Zones “. Lastly, we added in a new Radius Distribution section to the “Radius of Operation” tab of the Submission Report™. As a subscriber, you have the option to define Radius Buckets™, which are mileage zones such as 0-100, 101-250, 251+ (these numbers can be completely customized) and we will display a chart and graph showing what the distribution of inspections across those zones is. (Please note that these new alerts and section will not show up by default. Each individual subscribing company must first define the specifications.) Contact us to set these features up for your company.) Look out for this section every month to stay up to date on all of our latest developments here in CAB’s LAB™.
This month we report:
CARRIER SHUT DOWNS – The FMCSA continues to step up efforts to shut down problem carriers. This month BM & L Trucking LLC, of Athens, AL, Judson Mobley Logging Inc. of Girard, GA, and Denny Mekenye, doing business as Demco Express and/or Demco Trans, Inc of Texas were ordered to cease operations immediately. For BM&L, the FMCSA ordered the shutdown after an investigation of the company uncovered “violations of the FMCSRs so widespread as to demonstrate a continuing and flagrant general disregard for compliance.” The carrier was unable to meet the minimal step of providing the FMCSA with the “number of commercial vehicles it owns, leases or otherwise operates, and drivers it employs or uses.” The company also failed to monitor its drivers’ hours of service, did not require drivers to submit records of duty status, and did not have a vehicle maintenance program to ensure the vehicles were maintained. Judson Mobley Logging was deemed an “imminent hazard” to public safety, allegedly having ignored prior FMCSA’s orders to cease operations. The FMCSA previously ordered the company to cease operations on Jan. 30, 2012, after an on-site investigation in November 2011 turned up numerous safety violations. They continued to operation until a crash on April 30. As for Demco, it is the employer of a driver being held in Mexico on charges of arms smuggling after crossing into Juarez with a load of surplus ammunition destined for Phoenix. They also found that the company falsified drivers’ records of duty status; allowed its drivers to operate with commercial driver’s licenses that had been suspended, revoked, or disqualified; and did not conduct proper controlled substances testing of its drivers. In addition, within the last 12 months, 10 of Demco’s drivers have been placed out of service for not being licensed to drive. FMCSA shut down Demco following an extensive review of the company’s operations that uncovered multiple federal safety violations in the areas of drivers’ hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications, and drug testing requirements.
ANTI INDEMNITY LAWS – Alabama has joined the ranks of states prohibiting indemnity clauses in trucking contracts. The Alabama law invalidates the provisions in contracts that provide for shippers to be indemnified for losses caused by their own negligence and making those clauses void and unenforceable. The law was effective immediately. Michigan appears to be next, with a pending bill designed to invalidate the indemnity clauses. Here is link to a site which maintains a list of the anti-indemnification statutes which have been passed.
