I am not sure anyone is out there in these waning days of summer. There were few newsworthy events this month as focus seems to be on getting in that last bit of summer.   For those of you who are just waiting for the Labor Day Holiday to begin we bring you the most update information on the transportation industry to send you on your way. For those of you who are viewing this report this after the break – welcome back.   This month we report:

CAB LABS – This month we rolled out two new features, one into the Carrier Search section and one into the Submission Report™ section, of our subscriber site. For those of you who use our Carrier Search page, you are undoubtedly familiar with the critical information that accompanies the search results to help quickly identify potential issues with the entities you are viewing without having to load up a complete report. In addition to the Shared Address, Shared Phone, Inactive and Chameleon™ icons that can be found adjacent to any entity in the results, we’ve now added in an Out of Service icon that will alert you instantly to the fact that the FMCSA has taken this carrier out of service. Hovering over the icon will tell you when this OOS order was issued and why. We’ve seen numerous instances of carrier’s being taken out of service and then reincarnating as a ‘new’ Chameleon Carrier™ which is why it’s critical to pay attention to any entities that are related to an out of service carrier. 

In addition to this, for those of you that are taking advantage of our Hot Zone alerts which allow a company to flag specific states and counties and receive an alert if the carrier has traveled in any of those locations, we’ve added in to the Radius tab of the Submission Report™ a chart displaying a breakdown of the inspections that have taken place in flagged zones. For further information on any of these features please contact us and we’d be happy to personally walk you through a demo of these new features. 

COMING CSA CHANGES – The FMCSA has announced proposed coming changes to CSA this December. According to the organization the changes will include modifications to Cargo-Related BASIC (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) to the Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance BASIC, as well changing the Fatigued Driving BASIC to the hours-of-service (HOS) compliance BASIC which is designed to weigh HOS paper and electronic logbook violations equally. In addition, they will incorporate cargo and load securement violations into the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC, include intermodal equipment violations that should be found during drivers’ pre-trip inspections, removing 1 to 5 mph speeding violations; and better record violations accurately to reflect the proper inspection type.  There is also the possibility of the formulation of a CSA subcommittee, which will include shippers, carriers, and safety groups, as well as other interested groups to discuss proposals and recommendations regarding future alterations to the CSA program.  The FMCSA reports that there was a 5% reduction in crashes in the past year and they point to the success of CSA in reducing those numbers.

ATA U.S. FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION FORECAST – The ATA has released its U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2023 and the forecast is positive! Freight tonnage is expected to increase 21% by 2023, with revenue up 59%.   Of those numbers trucking will have 69.6% of the tonnage and 81.7% of the freight revenue.  Rail carrier’s overall share of tonnage will fall to 15% in 2023 from the 15.7% in the baseline year of 2011 but intermodal tonnage will rise.  Domestic waterborne transit is also expected to see some modest growth.

HAZMAT VIOLATIONS – Under the new Federal Highway Reauthorization law, motor carriers and shippers who are cited for hazardous materials violations face the potential of fines of up to $75,000 per day per violation, up from $50,000.  In cases of death, severe injury, serious illness or substantial property damage fines can increase to $175,000 per day per violation.

CVSA REPORT – CVSA has released its report of its most recent inspection blitz.  95.4% of all truck and bus drivers passed inspections, with only 4.6% placed out of service.  The overall out-of-service rate for all vehicle inspections was 20.9%, slightly above the record low of 19.3% from last year.   They also report that the out-of-service rate for Level 1 inspections, the most comprehensive, declined to 22.4%, from 22.8% last year.

FREIGHT POLICY COUNCIL -The DOT has announced a Freight Policy Council to focus on improving the condition and performance of the national freight network to better ensure the ability of the U.S. to compete in today’s global economy. The council is to formulate a national, intermodal plan for improving the efficiency of freight  The Council will be chaired by Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari, and will include DOT leadership from highways, rail, ports and airports and economic and policy experts from across the administration. Read More

It is that time of year again.  I get to write this to you from the Green Mountains in Vermont.  The trip here makes me realize just how long I have been at this trucking stuff.  I look at all of the trucks on the road traveling up Interstate 95 and 91 and realize that I know more about some of those companies than the driver does.  It is wonderful to take some time off and enjoy family vacation time. I hope you all get a chance to do so. 

This month we report:

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING AND THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BILL –  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that there was $17 billion in loans available for critical infrastructure projects across the country now that the surface transportation bill has been passed. The recently enacted surface transportation bill, known as MAP-21, provided $1.7 billion in capital over two years for the TIFIA credit assistance program, up from $120 million in 2012, making it the largest transportation infrastructure finance fund in the Department’s history. The DOT also announced the establishment of the Project Finance Center (PFC) to help state and local government project sponsors analyze financial options for highway, transit, rail, intermodal and other surface transportation projects facing funding challenges.

GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS IMPACTING JOB CREATION? – Who would have thought that could be the case?  The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released its report titled “Continuing Oversight of Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation: Job Creators Still Buried by Red Tape” The study commented that following regulations may be problematic and impact job creation:

• Hours of Service

• Duplicative CDL background checks and credentialing for hazardous materials drivers

• A broaden definition of a tank truck

• A rule that requires truckers to submit a copy of their annual biennial medical certificate to the state agency that issues their CDL

• A rule that requires carriers to review every driver’s motor vehicle record annually to ensure that they are safe and qualified to continue driving despite the fact that many trucking companies review their drivers’ record, anyway, every time they received a driving violation.

• CSA

• Expectation of a proposed rule for judging safety for motor carriers.

• EOBR mandate

• Proposed electronic stability control rulemaking for heavy trucks, and

• A heavy vehicle speed limiter proposed rule.

HOURS OF SERVICE – The hours of service rules continue to be attacked. This month one coalition filed a brief seeking to vacate 2 elements of the rules – the 34 hour restart and the 11 hour driving limit.  The group claims that the FMSCA has repeatedly ignored a Congressional mandate to adopt Hours of Service rules that reduce driver fatigue, increase highway safety and protect driver health by adopting a rule that allows more weekly driving hours.

DRIVER DATABASE – The FMCSA is getting hit from all sides this month. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has brought suit alleging that the database of driver information lacks assurance of accuracy and a functioning process for dispute resolution. The lawsuit asks the court to order FMCSA to purge all data for which there has not been a judicial determination of guilt; purge all reports where a court has dismissed or ruled the driver not guilty; purge all reports that are not “serious driver-related violation(s)”; enjoin the agency from distributing information without any reference to a dispute and a summary of the dispute; and enjoin the agency from distributing false, inaccurate, incomplete or misleading inspection reports.

SMS METHODOLOGY – Another group has filed suit against the FMCSA seeking review of the regulator’s “New Resources Available for Shippers, Brokers, and Insurers”. They allege that the publication is a “bureaucratic overreach without process.”  They claim that the publication seeks to transfer the obligation to evaluate the safety of carriers to shippers, brokers and insurers, rather than to the FMCSA. These groups take the position that the current SMS methodology inappropriately brands safe motor carriers.

In other news, the FMCSA announced a review of crash weighting which is a pivotal issue in the CSA controversy.  Currently, all crashes, whether a motor carrier is at fault or not, count against the carrier in scores derived from data in the CSA safety measurement system. The agency will “analyze a process” for updating the state-reported crash records it receives to include a determination of a motor carrier’s role in a crash. The agency expects to release the results of the study in the summer of 2013. Read More