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Trucking Industry News – Trucking and Texting
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
posted by 18 Wheeler 9:07 PM
Hello, Fellow Drivers, Here’s a little trucking industry news regarding texting and driving. You will no longer be able to text and drive without the possibility of being pulled over for it. First it was cell phones could not be used while driving. Now it’s texting (which is using a cell phone while driving.). Here’s what the US DOT is proposing. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there.
Hot Topics
DOT bans texting for CMV drivers
By David Tanner
staff writer
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s announcement in January that texting while driving is prohibited for commercial drivers is one step in a long list of actions being taken against distracted driving.
OOIDA supports a texting ban in principle, but says the U.S. DOT should have vetted the proposal through a rulemaking instead of jumping in with an immediate ban.
“We support where they are going, but not how they got there,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer.
“Making their action effective immediately bypasses normal regulatory rulemaking processes. Those processes allow actions to be vetted for unintended consequences, as well as potential implementation and enforcement problems.”
LaHood justified the move, saying that “texting” fits into current federal safety regulations for the operation of commercial vehicles and that a separate rulemaking was not needed. LL
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Trucking Industry News – Your CDL & Blood Sugar Levels
Monday, April 19, 2010
posted by 18 Wheeler 4:36 PM
Hello, Fellow Drivers, I saw this article in the latest Land Line Magazine and thought it newsworthy. The bottom line in trucking is that without good health, you won’t make any money. You will feel too sick or too tired to make your trucking business successful without exacting a heavy price from your body. Check out this article about the importance of blood sugar levels and your DOT medical card. This is definitely trucking industry news you want to check out for yourself. If any of you drivers would like to see specific trucking related issues answered, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to research the question and get back with you. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there!
Trucker MD
Why the A1C test for drivers? – Understanding your blood sugar level is important for your CDL and your long-term health
By John McElligott, MD
Land Line contributor
Suppose a driver goes in for a DOT exam and his/her urine specimen indicates sugar “spilling” on the routine test. What does this mean?
The normal kidney can hold up to a 300 mg percent rise in blood sugar without spilling sugar into the urine. If sugar is detected in that urine specimen, here’s what happens next.
Usually, a medical examiner will order a “finger stick” to determine the blood sugar level. If the test comes back with a reading of 160 mg percent or higher, then the driver is diagnosed with new onset diabetes mellitus or uncontrolled diabetes that needs better treatment.
Such a diagnosis can lead to loss of a professional driver’s DOT medical card or a three-month medical card.
The driver must see his doctor – if he has one – and be treated or have his medication adjusted.
Then the driver must demonstrate to the DOT examiner (soon to be “certified medical examiner”) that his blood sugar is being treated. It must also be demonstrated that the driver is compliant with follow-up and is taking medication for his disease.
Here is where the A1C test is going to be a life-changer for professional drivers.
The number that most of us DOT medical examiners look for is an average blood sugar of 160 or less. But how do we find the average blood sugar when we have only three months to demonstrate compliance?
The answer is a test called “hemoglobin A1C.” This test measures the glucose found in the red blood cells. It just so happens that the human red blood cell lives for 120 days, so we can measure the sugar in it.
DOT medical examiners now have either instant A1C in office test or, at worst, a two- to three-day send-out test.
The good news is that the A1C instant test done at the time of a DOT physical can save your ticket to the dance. It provides enough information to put your average 90-day blood sugar into play, which could counteract the test for sugar in the urine and the finger stick, both of which are a snapshot in time.
So what else do you need to know about the A1C test?
- Make sure your examiner uses the instant A1C test to help you stay on the road.
- If you are diabetic, never eat before going in for a DOT medical exam.
- Take your medicine on a regular schedule.
- Get an A1C test from your doctor at least three months before your DOT exam is due and keep a copy to show the examiner.
- If your test shows that your average blood sugar is well-controlled, then continue the same routine every year.
Remember: Medication alone does not treat diabetes. The cornerstone of treatment is diet and exercise. LL
Editor’s note:John McElligott is an M.D. and Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Trucking Authority – UCR Fees For 2010 Not Finalized; Enforcement Delayed
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
posted by 18 Wheeler 7:34 PM
Hello, Fellow Drivers, I found an interesting article from Land Line Magazine, February 2010. For those of you with trucking authority, or want to get trucking authority, this article will be of interest to you. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there.
By Jami Jones
senior editor
With the start of a new year, truckers wanting to clear out their fee obligations are left without a clear answer on what they owe in Unified Carrier Registration fees for 2010.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration posted a notice to the Federal Register in September 2009 outlining new proposed fees. The extended comment period closed later that month.
FMCSA officials reported during the rulemaking process that states have been unable to effectively collect the UCR revenue they are entitled to by law during the 2007-2009 registration years. They believe the proposed new fee levels will both encourage states to aggressively enforce the UCR fees rule and generate the necessary revenue to execute state motor carrier safety programs.
The fee structure proposed in the rulemaking for 2010 is:
0-1 trucks………………………. $83
2-5 trucks…………………….. $166
6-20 trucks…………………… $497
21-100 trucks……………… $1,741
101-1,000 trucks…………. $8,373
1,001 or more trucks….. $82,983
Brokers and leasing companies will still be subject to the same fee paid by truckers in the 0-1 truck category.
However, as of mid-December 2009, the agency still had not published a final determination on the fees.
“There is an enforcement memo going out telling roadside law enforcement after the first of the year to not write tickets for not having your credentials in place in the cab because there simply isn’t going to be anything in place yet,” OOIDA Director of Regulatory Affairs Joe Rajkovacz told Land Line.
“That is not to say they will not be enforcing the payment of previous years’ UCR fees,” he added.Rajkovacz said truckers really need to make sure they have their proof of payment on
2009 UCR fees.
“Some jurisdictions are writing $1,000 tickets,” he said.
Rajkovacz said he expects the 2010 UCR fees to be settled sometime in the first quarter of 2010. LL
Trucking Industry News – Resolutions Next Exit! Part 2 of 3
Monday, January 4, 2010
posted by 18 Wheeler 12:05 AM
Hello, Fellow Drivers! Well, the holidays are over! It’s back to the old grind! Although without the grind, there would no living! Because it’s the start of a new year, I wanted to get you some trucking resources that will start your year off right! Here is Part 2 of a three-part article. I hope you enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there!
Driver Health And Wellness
Cut back on junk food. It may be an easy choice to grab a donut or high-fat burger on the run, but leaner and greener foods give you the nutrients to maintain vital energy and strong muscles. Keep healthy snack foods, like whole grain, high fiber bars, apples or lower sodium nuts close by to tide you over until you can get to your next meal.
Learn proper lifting techniques, such as bending your knees and lifting from your legs rather than bending at the waist. Get help if you need it, or use mechanical aids to lift heavy loads. Take breaks from repetitive motions that can result in soreness of your hands, arms, neck and back to avoid long-term injuries.
Rest and relaxation. Make days off and vacations a mandatory part of your personal health plan. Take time off to participate in the things you and those around you enjoy. Take some time to simple relax, you deserve it.
This is part two of this informative article. Stay tuned for part three! Happy New Year!
Trucking Industry News – Resolutions Next Exit! Part 1 of 3
Friday, January 1, 2010
posted by 18 Wheeler 10:28 PM
Happy New Year, Fellow Drivers!
I recently read this article in a trucking magazine called The Long Haul from 2008. I will copy it because it seems fit for the first day of the new year! This is the first of three parts. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there!
The most common resolutions made each year include losing weight, getting fit, quitting smoking and reducing stress. As an over-the-road driver, the challenges you face differ from those borne by someone working in an office environment. for you, improving your health isn’t as easy as simply getting up from a desk and taking a walk. Some health risk factors that commonly affect professional drivers today are smoking, obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure) and stress.
Driver Health And Wellness
Tips to get you started on the path toward better health include:
Get enough sleep. Most adults need 7-9 hours to maintain proper alertness. Adequate rest keeps your mind alert and your immune system strong. (We all know that most of the truckers don’t get enough sleep. Most of the time you’re stretching your log book to make the next drop. When you can’t get this amount of sleep, try to get naps along the way. If you get sleepy, pull over and take a power nap of 15 to 20 minutes. It will wake you up and help you get to the next stop.) Parenthesis added.
Find ways to relax or reduce stress. Basic deep breathing techniques and taking yourself out of the moment can go a long way toward relieving stress. If you feel you don’t have the control over your stress level, talk to a doctor about options available to you. (You can always make a list of areas in your life that are causing worry and anxiety and think of solutions to reduce those feelings so you can put your energy in making your trucking business a success.)
Stay fit and get regular exercisesuch as walking. Even three 15-minute walks a day can help take the pounds off and make you healthier. Studies also show that building muscle will help increase your metabolism and significantly increase your weight loss efforts. Include basic stretches to help relieve stressed muscles to further enhance stress relief.
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 to get the REST of the story! Happy New Year!
Trucking Authority – The FMCSA Goes High Tech – Part 1 of 3
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
posted by 18 Wheeler 10:26 AM
Hello, Fellow, Drivers! I hope you are moving along with holiday plans that you’re looking forward to. I saw this article in the latest issue of Land Lind Magazine by OOIDA, of which I’m a member. It seems that in 2010 to get trucking authority you will have to be aware of these new high tech additions to the FMCSA’s enforcement of trucking authority compliance. I want to share this article in three parts. So for the next two days, I will be posting another part of this lengthy article on my blog.
I also wanted to ask my faithful readers if they had any specific topics that they would like to see covered here on this site. Please feel free to email me at truckersandtravelers@gmail.com. I welcome your questions and comments. The goal with this blog site is to have a place for drivers to find valuable information that will help with your trucking business success. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there!
December 2009/January 2010
Cover story:FMCSA takes enforcement to the digital age in 2010
By Jami Jones
Senior editor
With technology morphing the way we live our lives at warp speed, it’s no big surprise that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has decided to go high-tech with its compliance enforcement.
Currently, the odds of being hit with any substantive on-site compliance review are somewhere between slim and none. Because of the lack of staffing and the cumbersome nature of plowing through mountains of paperwork, each year FMCSA officials are able to conduct compliance reviews on fewer than 2 percent of the motor carriers in the U.S.
Enter the technology knight on a white horse – CSA 2010 – short for Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010.
Back in 2004, FMCSA officials started developing a data-driven system of analyzing all inspection reports on motor carriers and drivers to identify trends of non-compliance.
The mega database system, with all of its algorithms and programs, will spit out monthly safety ratings for companies and drivers. Those who crop up with numerous violations – ranging from the not-so-serious to out-of-service – will pop up on FMCSA’s compliance radar.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a full-blown on-site compliance review. Depending on the severity of the rating, you could get anything from a letter telling you to straighten up your act to the dreaded on-site review that likens to an IRS audit.
Companies will have a chance to get it together and report back to FMCSA to keep a good safety fitness rating. There are three proposed fitness ratings in the 2010 program: “unfit,” “marginal” and “continue to operate.”
The overall concept is simple enough but, as with anything, the devil is in the details – and with CSA 2010, there are a ton of details.
The program can be broken down into the data, the math behind the number, enforcement, safety fitness determinations, and the possible hiccups that motor carriers and truckers could encounter along the way.
The following is the first in a series of articles that will explain the ins and outs of the new enforcement program bearing down on the trucking industry.
The data
It seems like nowadays everywhere you turn, some group, business or government entity is collecting data on you.
Credit agencies record your every financial move. Grocery stores track your every purchase with their “shopper cards.” And now FMCSA is going to collect every single mark made on your inspection reports – for both the company and the driver – and from crash reports.
FMCSA will calculate the safety performance of motor carriers – which includes owner-operators running under their own authority – based on seven Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories. Those seven categories, dubbed BASICs, and the federal regulations they relate to are:
Unsafe driving (Parts 392 and 397);
Fatigued driving (Parts 392 and 395);
Driver fitness (Parts 383 and 391);
Controlled substances/alcohol
(Parts 382 and 392);
Vehicle maintenance (Parts 393
and 396);
Cargo related (Parts 392, 393, 397
and hazmat); and
Crash indicator.
Data from those seven areas will be collected from inspections and crash reports.
Things will change dramatically in how information from inspection reports is handled. While the current system only calculates a compliance rating based on “out-of-service” and moving violations, that won’t be the case with CSA 2010. All violations included on inspections will be entered and considered– no matter whether it was an out-of-service violation or not.
Another significant change from the current enforcement system is that FMCSA is aiming to hold companies and drivers equally accountable for their roles in safety and performance. So CSA 2010 will also be collecting data on individual drivers.
Records on individual drivers will contain data gleaned from inspection and incident reports. The data will follow the driver no matter how many companies he or she works for.
Access to a driver’s profile will not be restricted to safety inspectors, who will have roadside access to those records. Motor carriers are also going to be allowed to review a driver’s record in the pre-employment screening process. That access will start in December.
FMCSA’s goal with the new driver data collection is to target enforcement on individual drivers with serious violations, such as driving while disqualified, driving without a CDL, making a false entry on a medical certificate, and chronic hours-of-service violations.
The system will hold 24 months of citation and violation data on motor carriers and 36 months for drivers.
All of this data will be housed and maintained by a third-party vendor, not FMCSA. NIC Technologies based in Olathe, KS, was awarded the contract in mid-October.
According to FMCSA, if a motor carrier wants to review a driver profile, they must obtain a privacy release from the driver. Drivers who want to review their own profile must contact the third party vendor or file a Freedom of Information Act request with FMCSA.
NIC’s press release announcing the awarding of the contract stated that the company anticipates charging motor carriers a subscription fee of $100 per year for access to driver profiles and a $10 transaction fee for each record pulled. Drivers will not be charged the annual subscription fee; however, additional fees will be charged for fax or mail requests.
Hello, Fellow Drivers,
It’s been a while since I wrote to you. Today I wanted to share an article written by a company that offers bonds for brokers of all kinds. When you get trucking authority, you will need to check on the FMCSA website to see if you will need a surety bond to proceed in the trucking business. Below is a short article written by one company that offers bonds to truck brokers, specifically freight brokers. These are the people who find the loads for drivers and dispatches them accordingly. Enjoy the read and remember to be safe out there!
Freight Broker Bonds
Like a host of other industries, freight brokers are required to obtain legitimate bonding before they can legally operate.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), www.fmcsa.dot.gov/, mandates that brokers acquire these risk-mitigation tools to help protect consumers, state interests and freight companies. These bonds may also be referred to as BMC-84 Bonds, ICC Bonds or property brokers surety bonds. The FMCSA does have an exemption that allows brokers to possess a BMC-85 trust fund instead of the traditional freight broker bond.
How They Work
In essence, surety bonds are three-party agreements between a principal (the entity needing the bond), the obligee (the project owner or recipient of the work, often the state) and the surety, a neutral third party that guarantees the company will fulfill its obligations. These bonds are not to be confused www.suretybonds.com/insurance.html.
A freight broker bond provides a guarantee that all applicable laws and regulations will be followed. It also provides an avenue of recourse and financial compensation if a broker fails to fulfill its duties or engages in illicit or illegal activity.
Consumers or other injured parties can file a claim against the bond. If the claim is ultimately deemed valid bond company that issued the bond ensures compensation is provided.
How to Obtain Them
The market for freight broker bonds remains volatile after several years of frequent bond claims. In many states, these are considered high-risk bonds that may require significant collateral. There is a high-risk market for these bonds, and applicants should expect to pay higher rates and provide 100 percent collateral.
As we speak, the national average for diesel fuel prices is hovering around $2.50 a gallon. Just a year ago, that average was set at a staggering $4.50 a gallon. To trucking companies, these significantly lowered fuel prices mean a higher profit margin and more resources freed up to offer more trucking jobs. To an entrepreneur considering the trucking business as a career path, these numbers seem inviting indeed.
Low fuel prices lead to greater potential for economic gain, but they also allow upstart trucking companies to grow their business fast. After all, if you can keep your fuel budget low it follows that you’ll have money left over to hire new employees and purchase state-of-the-art trucks and equipment. Fuel prices tend to fall even more as summer shifts into autumn, which makes this an opportune time to enter the industry.