Another summer – but this time we get to spend it on the Jersey Shore!   No longer stuck in endless traffic we have even more time to create new little secrets to be found in the website.  We hope you take some time to enjoy some fun in the sun. I have been remiss in not welcoming the many new subscribers we have to our Premium Subscription.  The list has grown so much over the last few months and we welcome you all to CAB and look forward to getting to know you all.

FROM CAB’S LAB™ – As promised, we return this month to report on the latest website features and enhancements released this month.

Design your own Submission Report™: Our Submission Report™ started out as a 2 page, PDF report with only a few sections when it was launched 5 years ago. Today, there are 6 tabs and over 25 different sections that are available on the report. This does not even include all the sub-reports that can be loaded up and drilled-down into. While we believe all the information included in the report is relevant to the entity’s operation, different users of our site may have different needs as it pertains to their specific roles and operations. To help users process the information most critical to them as efficiently as possible, we now offer subscribers the tools to customize which sections will be included in their default view of the Submission Report™. Using these tools, subscribers will have the ability to choose which tabs and sections should be displayed when viewing the Submission Report™ online, when downloading or receiving the automatic PDF by email and when scheduling a report to be sent to you on an automatic frequency. To access these options, log in to your account on CAB’s subscriber site, hover your mouse over ‘My Account’ on the menu bar and choose ‘Preferences’. On the Preferences page, you will now see  “Submissions Report™ Format:“. Clicking on the any of the three icons that follow will allow you to customize which sections will be displayed in the respective reports. Please note: if you do choose a custom format for the website version of the Submission Report, you will have the option of switching between your custom view and the standard, complete Submission Report with all the sections. As always, you can download our updated User Guide for details on changing your settings.

In the news this month we report:

NEW STATUTES – The States are continuing the focus of getting unsafe carriers off the road and punishing unsafe truck operations.  This month Louisiana enacted legislation targeting carriers who violate out of service orders.   A driver will now see his license suspended for 6 months for violating out of service rules and repeat offenses within 10 years would result in loss of driving privileges for two years. Louisiana also moved to prohibit texting while driving any vehicle. The National Safety Council reports that driver distractions, as well as alcohol and speeding, are leading factors in serious injury crashes. At least 28 percent of all traffic crashes – or at least 1.6 million crashes – involve cell phone use with an additional 200,000 crashes annually involving drivers who are texting.

Ohio also signed into law a bill prohibiting drivers from sending text messages while driving, although it is a secondary offense (meaning you have to be stopped for something else).  Alabama, Idaho and West Virginia already acted this year to prohibit drivers from text messaging while at the wheel. The Idaho and West Virginia bans take effect July 1. The Alabama law takes effect Aug. 1. Similar bills are currently waiting signature in Illinois and New Jersey has a number of bills moving quickly through the system.

INTERMODAL CONTAINERS – The FMCSA has modified its equipment reporting requirements.  The newest regulation eliminates the requirement for drivers to complete clean inspections and for intermodal chassis providers to file and retain the clean inspection reports.  Reports will only be required for intermodal containers which reflect damages. The FMCSA has also indicated that inspection violations which are directed to the equipment provider will not be held against the motor carrier in evaluating crash accountability.

CHAMELEON CARRIER™ REPORTS – This month the FMCSA issued an out-of-service order and record consolidation order against WTSA US Express LLC, TJA Express Transportation and Wolf Trucking Company LLC, all listed at the same address in Racine, WI. According to the FMCSA’s order, WTSA US Express was closed down and deactivated by its owner, Tadeusz Wrzesniewski, and his son Adrian Wrzesniewski, in order to avoid submitting to a mandatory safety review.  TJA Express was created as a true Chameleon Carrier™ to replace WTSA. In between the same individuals started up Wolf Trucking as a hedge against FMCSA actions.  A separate out-of-service order was issued to Adrian Wrzesniewski for failing to “monitor drivers’ hours of service requirements, violations of drivers’ qualification requirements, commercial drivers’ licensing requirements and the controlled substance and alcohol testing requirements.”

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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.

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