Have you dug your way out of the turkey fog? Are you ready to move onto the next holiday?  I am, and hope you are too.  Hopefully things start to wind down as we move into the end of the year mode.  Of course, we all have that end of the year rush and the government, with its proposed regulations, is no different. This month we report:

CELL PHONES – The FMCSA has banned all hand-held cell phone use by commercial truck and bus drivers while operating their vehicles. Drivers who violate the restriction will face federal civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense and disqualification from operating a commercial motor vehicle for multiple offenses. Companies whose drivers violate the law will face a maximum penalty of $11,000. In September 2010, FMCSA had banned text messaging.

FMSCA CRACKING DOWN ON BAD CARRIERS – The FMCSA shut down three companies this month, ATA Trail Inc., Gunther Transport and Clock Transport.  The FMCSA issued an imminent hazard out-of-service order against ATA and Gunther following a comprehensive review of their compliance with federal safety standards.  The FMCSA also moved to shut down a chameleon carrier ™, Clock Transport LLC that opened shortly before Gunther was shut down, operating at the same address. In addition, the FMCSA had a nationwide crackdown on unsafe bus operators, during which federal, state and local police conducted 8,300 surprise safety inspections of motorcoaches, tour buses, school buses and other commercial passenger vehicles over a two-week period. The unannounced inspections were part of FMCSA’s annual National Passenger Carrier Inspection Strike Force, which resulted in 902 unsafe buses or drivers being placed out of service.  The DOT has asked Congress to increase the penalty for operating illegally from $2,000 a day to $25,000 per violation, and to close loopholes that allow bus and truck companies that have been shut down to recreate themselves under a new name.

ACCIDENTS – The FMCSA has released its report for fatal truck-involved crashes and the numbers are good, at least for accidents between 2007 and 2009, the most recent years with available crash data.  During that time crashes fell 31% to 3,215 from 4,633, with the fatal crash rate for large trucks dropping to 27%.  Since 2000, the fatal crash rate has fallen to 1 crash per 100 million miles.  80.5% of the time the driver error was with the passenger vehicle and not the truck. A copy of the report can be viewed here.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATIONS – Under new regulations, truck drivers will have to provide proof of medical certification to their state licensing agency. The state agency must electronically tie the medical certification to the commercial driver’s license, which should allow roadside law enforcement to electronically confirm valid medical certification. Once the driver takes this step he will no longer be required to carry the certification with him. However because of delays in getting everything implemented the rule was slightly modified to continue to require drivers to retain the medical certificate for proof on the roadside during an inspection until 2014. Read More

Happy Halloween. We hope that the ghosts and goblins are treating you well and you are getting more treats than tricks.

Tiana Cain, our AVP of Business Development, attended the ATA conference exhibit hall and TIMTC annual meetings held this past month in Dallas. It gave her an excellent opportunity to meet with many of you who also attended the conference.  The focus at the TIMTC was on the exchange and use of data, as the transportation and insurance industries look to harness the data to better service their respective markets. At CAB, where data is our expertise, we are committed to always be on top of all the latest trending data relevant to the industry so we can continue to provide the most the most advanced and sophisticated analysis tools the industry has to offer.

One of the interesting things that came up in one of the sessions is the growing issue of Chameleon Carriers.  A motor carrier addressed this issue during a session, noting that one of their competitors was recently given an unsatisfactory rating by the DOT and simply applied for new authority under a new name which resulted in a clean slate.  As this is a growing trend in the industry, it is very important to use our advanced Carrier Search tool to help identify Chameleon Carriers.  If you are unfamiliar with how to identify Chameleon Carriers using our premium products and would like to set up training sessions, or are interested in a demo of our products, please contact Tiana. 

In other news:

NAFTA – The borders were a big issue this month. The FMCSA rejected the arguments raised by a number of organizations that a full environmental impact study was required before opening the border.  In other news the FMCSA engaged Teletrac to provide EOBRs for all Mexican trucks which will be part of the pilot program.  Only 2 Mexican carriers have received approval to participate in the program.  Right after the program started this month the first participant was granted permanent operating authority. Mexico has indicated that it will lift tariffs on 99 goods following the steps by the government to move toward border opening.

NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE – As trucks travel across the country it is important to recognize that the roads and bridges may not be all that they are ‘cracked’ up to be.  One engineering firm sent me this link which allows you to determine the current status of all bridges within a certain radius of your listed location. I found it very interesting and guess many of you will be looking to see if the bridges in your community or where your truckers generally operate are structurally sound. Special thanks to Engineer Steve Gardner at W.J. Castle P.E. & Associates for this piece of data.

OWNER OPERATOR PORT BAN – A Federal Appeals Court has decided that the Port of Los Angeles cannot ban owner operators from local drayage operations.  Under the proposed rule only licensed motor carriers would have been permitted to operate, a rule fought by the ATA.

Read More