ROADCHECK 2010. June 8, 9, 10. BE PREPARED FOR SUCCESS!

ROADCHECK is an annual safety enforcement that targets commercial vehicles.
Inspectors will focus upon commercial trucks and busses on June, 8, 9, and 10, 2010.
Are your drivers prepared? Is your equipment prepared? The probability of an inspection occurring during these days is greater than normal. Now is the time to begin preparing for success.
Your drivers need to ensure their hours of service logbooks are current, accurate, and that they have at least 7 days of records with them at the time of the inspection. Be sure to tell them, teach them, and have them prepared for a review of their logs.
Your equipment needs to be ready for a complete inspection and to pass with no failures. Now is a great time to be sure the drivers fully understand how to do a quality pre-trip and post-trip inspection. An extra effort to have a thorough review of the mechanical aspects of your equipment and tires may be a worthwhile investment.
This can also be a time of delay as your drivers and/or equipment is inspected. Ensure extra travel time is included by the dispatch and the drivers as they prepare for their routes and deliveries that week.
ROADCHECK has been applauded for helping to reduce crashes; thus preventing property damage, personal injuries, and fatalities. Be prepared to be a ‘good statistic’ in this year’s charts!



Compliments of:

www.gicauto.com

CSA 2010 or 2011?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced April 5th, that full implementation required for all states, of CSA 2010, will be delayed to 2011. The agency's original plan was to begin implementing the program in July 2010 and to have all states fully functional by December of this year; currently their are nine states that are operating at 100%. It now appears that although certain phases of CSA 2010 will begin this fall, full implementation will not be completed until mid year 2011.

FMCSA Published Final Rule on Electronic Logging Devices April 5

On Monday, April 5, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register on the use of electronic logging devices for tracking hours-of-service compliance by the trucking industry.

Click here for a summary of the final rule.

FMCSA's final rule differs from the 2007 proposed rule in that it includes broader criteria for identifying non-compliant carriers that will be required to install such devices. With the use of broader criteria, more carriers will be required to install electronic logging devices. The Final Rule has three major components:

1. Regulatory Incentives - to encourage greater voluntary adoption of devices; 2. Mandatory Adoption - for those motor carriers with a pattern of hours-of-service violations found during a single compliance review; 3. Device Specifications - that address how the devices must work and what data they must collect.

The rule includes a few other matters that will be of particular interest to motor

carriers:

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While this rule only mandates electronic logging devices for a relatively small number of motor carriers, FMCSA intends to initiate a rulemaking later this year that will consider a mandate for a broader population of motor carriers. In particular, FMCSA will likely propose a mandate for carriers it feels have "higher potential risks," such as passenger carriers, hazardous materials carriers, and new motor carriers initiating operations.

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Supporting Documents - In addition to including violations of the 11, 14, and 60/70 hour rule, the list of violations that could trigger a mandate also includes "failing to preserve driver's records of duty status supporting documents for six months."

As a result, a carrier not found to have violated the driving and on-duty time regulations (e.g., 11 hour driving rule) could still be required to install electronic logging devices in its vehicles, merely for improper recordkeeping.

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Existing Fleet Management Devices - It is important to note that the final rule addresses the use of devices that can capture the data necessary for verification of HOS compliance. It does not speak to more comprehensive fleet management systems that also capture engine and driver performance data. However, motor carriers can use such devices to meet the requirements and conditions of the Final Rule if their devices also include a component that meets the specifications for capturing required HOS compliance information.

Questions? Give us a call!

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Proposes Rule to Ban Texting for Truck and Bus Drivers

Department Announces Unprecedented Partnership with Cornell University to Engage Public in Rulemaking Process

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced a federal rule that proposes to specifically prohibit texting by interstate commercial truck and bus drivers. The proposed rule would make permanent an interim ban announced in January 2010 that applied existing safety rules to the specific issue of texting.

The Department also announced an unprecedented partnership with Cornell University to increase public involvement and collaboration in the rulemaking process. The Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) partnership will make the federal regulatory process more accessible to the public through Regulation Room, an online public participation environment where people can learn about and discuss proposed federal regulations and provide effective feedback to the Department.

"This is good news on two fronts," said Secretary LaHood. "This rulemaking keeps our commitment to making our roads safer by reducing the threat of distracted driving. And our partnership with Cornell on the e-Rulemaking Initiative is an important step toward keeping President Obama's promise of opening government to more effective citizen participation."

Today's proposed rule to ban texting by drivers of commercial vehicles and bus drivers is the first effort in this innovative partnership. Citizens can find more information on the Cornell online effort and provide comments on the proposed rule at regulationroom.org over the next 30 days. The Department of Transportation encourages participation in this rulemaking through Regulation Room, but the public may also submit comments to the DOT docket at regulation.gov.

FMCSA research shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road.

Drivers who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. Because of the safety risks associated with the use of electronic devices while driving, FMCSA is also working on additional regulatory measures that will be announced in the coming months.

"We are committed to using every resource available to eliminate the dangers of distracted driving," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "This rulemaking to prohibit texting by interstate commercial truck and bus drivers, along with the Cornell E-Rulemaking Initiative, reinforces our unwavering commitment and provides the public with a unique opportunity to share their ideas and comments on how together we can make our roads safer."

The proposed rule will be on public display in the Federal Register March 31 and will appear in print in the Federal Register on April 1.

During the September 2009 Distracted Driving Summit, the Secretary announced the Department's plan to pursue this regulatory action, as well as rulemakings to reduce the other risks posed by distracted driving.

President Obama also signed an Executive Order directing federal employees not to engage in text messaging while driving government-owned vehicles or with government-owned equipment. Federal employees were required to comply with the ban starting on December 30, 2009.

The public can follow the progress of the U.S. Department of Transportation in working to combat distracted driving at [1]www.distraction.gov.

References

1. http://www.distraction.gov/