Be on the lookout for our announcement later this week launching our new and improved Carrier and Vehicle Research System (the CAB subscriber website for those of you IT challenged like myself) to our premium subscribers.  We are very excited about this and look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Here we are at the end of the summer once again. Hope you all enjoyed your summer and got a chance to take some time off.  We have had many calls from underwriters concerning the upcoming termination of the BMC-32 endorsement. Right now there is no specific answer on what steps an underwriter should take to terminate existing endorsements. There is no rulemaking which automatically deletes them from any policy.  We would be happy to discuss options with any subscriber to our services.  This month we report:

NAFTA – Mexico is getting tired of waiting for the U.S. to move forward and open the border.  More retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports have been imposed to pressure the government to take action. Pork, cheese, pistachio nuts, ketchup and citrus fruits are among the new products subject to levies as high as 25%. Those Senators involved in the Transportation Department’s 2011 budget have included a provision in the proposed legislation which would require that that the President come up with a plan by October. Read More

You are getting this month’s Bits and Pieces a bit early. I am in the mountains in Vermont this week and want this out and done so that I can enjoy the time off. Vacation is better than work.  But alas, work goes on and we must continue to pay attention to all that come up in the industry.

News this month:

CVSA ROADSCHECK – The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has reported that that out-of-service rates for commercial motor vehicles did not change much from last year.  This year there were more mobile roadside inspections, with a focus on North American Standard (NAS) Level I inspection, safety belt enforcement, and motor coach inspections, with more than 65,327 truck and bus inspections.  The vehicle compliance rate was 80 percent and driver compliance was 95.6 percent.  NAS Level I inspections compliance rate was 76.7 percent for vehicles and 96.3 percent for drivers.  Hazardous materials inspections showed a vehicle compliance rate of 83.7 percent, and driver compliance rate of 97.5 percent. There were 26,605 CVSA decals issued to vehicles that passed the inspection.

HOURS OF SERVICE RULES – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released its first draft of a new Hours of Service rule, one month earlier than required by the settlement of the lawsuit brought against the current rules. The DOT will complete its review and send the proposed rule making to the OMB. The OMB has 90 days to review the proposal before it is scheduled to be published November 4 for the public comment period, which will end Jan. 4, 2011.

ANTI INDEMNITY STATUTES -Louisiana has signed into law a statute which prohibits indemnification clause in motor carrier and construction contracts.  A second statute was put into place which will revoke hazmat and tank endorsements after a second offense for reckless operations.

CANADIAN MOTOR CARRIERS – Effective August 2, 2010, the FMCSA has issued rulemaking that Canadian motor carriers are no longer required to be insured with U.S. based insurers.  Carriers only need to utilize insurance carriers licensed to issue policies in the province or territory where the motor carrier is based.

FOOD SAFETY – The FDA is seeking comments on proposed sanitary transportation practices. A copy of the request for comments can be viewed here and I recommend you take a look and provide this information to your claims department. It provides a chart on all of the FDA regulations addressing the transportation of food products.  The statute defining adulterated products includes products transported in violation of any regulation so these new rules could become a big issue for claims handlers. Read More