Hello from the Green Mountains of Vermont.  I must say that it is difficult to focus on trucking issues while here in the mountains, away from the sweltering heat in NYC; but I guess I must.  I hope you are all taking some time to enjoy the summer.

This month we report:

NAFTA – As the battle lines continue to be formed over the opening of the border, the TSA issued its report on thefts in Mexico. According to TSA’s “Transportation Suspicious Incidents Report”, criminals in Mexico hijacked more than 10,000 commercial trucks last year – many of which likely included cargo.  In addition the TSA has reported that drug cartels and other highly organized criminal groups could be able to circumvent American border security by “cloning” trucks that have clearance through programs like the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Free and Secure Trade (FAST).  The FMCSA has also issued notice that it intends to proceed with its pilot program to open the border.  A copy of the notice of intent can be viewed here. The OOIDA immediately filed a petition to seek to stay the border opening which the FMCSA has rejected.  The borders are expected to open under the pilot program in the upcoming weeks.

TORT REFORM – Tennessee has signed into law legislation capping non-economic and punitive damages in personal injury actions. Subject to certain exceptions, non-economic damages can not exceed $750,000 and punitive damages can not exceed twice the total compensatory damages or $500,000 which ever is greater. The act goes into effect on October 1, 2011.  Special thanks to my colleague, John Anderson, Sr of Dickinson Wright, PLLC for passing this info along.  In Pennsylvania, joint and several liability has been eliminated, with each defendant responsible only for their own share of the damages.  Both legislative efforts are applauded by truckers and insurers alike.

SUIT AGAINST FMCSA – An action has been commenced against the FMCSA stemming from a fatal truck accident.  The plaintiff alleges that the FMCSA needs clearer guidelines for carriers with multiple violations so that they are taken off the road before accidents like this happen.  We will follow to see where this goes and expect it to be vigorously fought by the FMCSA.

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Welcome to summer.  I must say that we were all greatly impressed with how smart you all are when we reviewed the submissions to our contest on the meaning of our new logo.  Some of you made it sound even better than what we articulated!  The winning response, as determined by the absolutely subjective decision of the staff here at CAB was submitted by Anthony V. Engel from Chubb. His interpretation:

 “New logo looks great and symbolizes that CAB is the place to take multiple data input sources and streamline them through the CAB to get useful analysis for better decision making. CAB – your one-stop source for everything related to Transportation Risk.”

So many of you were close, but he was the first one, timed by e-mail submission to get to the point.  Anthony has asked us to donate his winning gift certificate to a charity.  His prize is being sent to US War Dogs, an organization helping military animals, www.uswardogs.org. Thank you Anthony for that extra showing of kindness.  Thank you all for contributing. We were actually surprised that we did not get many smart alec remarks, since we personally know so many of you!

Just a reminder to all of our premium subscribers that there is a new tab – the History tab – on the Submission Report™  which will allows you to see the changes made by the carrier on its MCS-150 form as well as the historical ISS-D and BASIC scores.  As part of our commitment to help you truly Know Your Insureds, we have added this enhanced feature to provide deeper insight into the potential risks.

This month we report:

INDEMNIFICATION CLAUSES – Oregon has joined forces with 30 other states to preclude shippers from requiring indemnity from motor carriers for transportation contracts, including incidental and assessorial services which carriers provide, including storage incident to transportation.  The new legislation will impact contracts entered into after May 27, 2011.

U.S. FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION FORECAST TO 2022 – The ATA has released its report on its forecast for trucking and the forecast is for sunny skies!  Trucking continues to dominate freight transport, with 67% of the freight tonnage and 81% of the freight revenue. Overall freight tonnage is expected to grow by 24% by 2022, with trucking share of tonnage increasing to 70% and revenues up slightly to 81.4%.

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