It was great seeing so many of you in Williamsburg, VA last week at the IMUA annual meeting.  As always the meeting was a great success.  Our congratulations and warm wishes go out to Ron Thorton, who announced his retirement as President of the IMUA.  He will be a tough act to follow and we wish him much success in his post retirement career as Grandfather Extraordinaire.

Since I am heading off for a long awaited family trip to Ireland this report will be short this month.  Too much to do and too little time to get it done before I head out. So I report:

INSURANCE SURVEY – NIP Group, Inc. released the results of the Transportation Insurance Pricing Survey (TIPS™) for the first quarter of 2010. Over 95% of the respondents reported that during the 1st quarter, the transportation insurance market was flat or softer when compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. More than half of respondents believe that underwriting capacity has increased as more insurers have entered the transportation market. You can read the report at here.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING – The FMCSA is now allowing access to the safety data base for screening driver applicants. This information is available only to prospective employers. The internet based program allows access to 5 years of an applicant’s crash history and 3 years of inspection history.  The driver must give approval before the information is released.  Underwriters can begin to inquire whether their insureds are utilizing this system to vet drivers.

HOURS OF SERVICE – The FMCSA extended the hours of service for carriers transporting equipment, materials and supplies to help clean up the oil spill.  The exemption applies to transportation within Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, along with any portion of the trip outside those areas.  Carriers or drivers who are placed out of service can not claim the benefit of this extension. In other news the American Transportation Research Institute released its report on its crash survey and found that the majority of commercial vehicle crashes occur during the first eight hours of driving. The analysis, based on hours-of-service surveys from about 260 motor carriers, found that 87% of crashes were in the first eight hours, while 12% occurred in the 9th to 11th hours.  A copy of the report can be viewed here.

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Well Good Day to you all.  Just can’t believe that May is already here. I am looking forward to getting together with so many of you in a few weeks at the IMUA annual meeting in Virginia.  This is a busy time for all as everyone tries to get caught up before summer hits.  It just seems more difficult each year to get everything done with information at an overload stage.  We take extra effort to make this as short and to the point as possible.  The rules at CAB are to keep you informed, about the transportation world and your carrier, with only the need to know information.  SO this month we report: 

CURRENT NEWS

ON BOARD RECORDERS – The FMCSA has now issued a rule that will require carriers and bus companies with serious patterns of hours-of-service violations to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) in all their vehicles. Under the EOBR final rule, carriers who have 10 percent or more HOS violations during a compliance review will be required to install EOBRs in all their vehicles for a minimum of two years. Any carrier who voluntarily adopts the rule will receive relief from certain regulations on the paper trail for hours of service compliance. A copy of the full rulemaking can be viewed here.

DISTRACTED DRIVING –The FMCSA has made distracted driving a number one priority this year. The FMCSA has issued proposed rulemaking which will prohibit texting while operating a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce and will impose sanctions, including civil penalties and disqualification for drivers who fail to comply with this rule. Additionally, motor carriers would be prohibited from requiring or allowing their drivers to engage in texting while driving. The FMCSA has also indicated that a rule making will be issued shortly to restrict the use of cell phones.  A copy of the proposed rulemaking can be viewed here.

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