Cellular Phone Rulings

CMV Drivers Don’t’ Touch That Cell Phone Before Reading This 

The Ban
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s, FMCSA, “Drivers of CMVs: Restricting the Use of [Handheld] Cellular Phones” ruling will be put into effect starting January 3, 2012. The ban is an industry wide ban on the use of all handheld cell phone devices and only carriers exempt from Missouri federal rulings will remain unaffected. Also, this new ruling will carry stiff penalties for drivers and any carriers who allow their drivers to violate the ban. The ban is not just while drivers are on the roadways, but also while sitting in traffic and even stopped at stop lights or signs.
The ban has been labeled as a severe traffic violation and the fines and penalties reflect as much. For each violation of the new ruling, truck drivers will be facing federal civil fines as high as $2,750. A second or third violation within a three year time frame will result in a 60 to 120 day CDL disqualification. In addition, the driver and the carrier’s CSA scores will be affected by any conviction of the ruling. Carriers will face an $11,000 fine for knowingly allowing their drivers to use handheld phones while operating their equipment. The complete ruling can be found here:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-12-02/html/2011-30749.htm.
The Reactions
Coming on the heels of the new CSA rules, many drivers feel this is yet another FMCSA ruling targeting drivers just to extract more fines from their pockets. The ruling was said to have been based on research and was enacted for safety issues, but most drivers use their CB far more than a cell phone yet CB radios were not included in the ban. This has left drivers asking why. Will Smith, a company long haul driver said, “If this was to reduce distracted drivers by banning the use of their hands to hold a phone, why not ban CB radio use while driving? We use our hands constantly to push and hold the key-up button on the mic.” A ban on CB communication while driving would prove too counterproductive as most drivers rely on it for road conditions and such. Also, there is no need to avert the eyes from the road to use a CB as with cell phones.
The few civilians aware of the new ruling feel a sense of relief knowing that the big rigs and busses they share the roadways with will now be even that more focused. They were pleased to learn a ban against texting for CMV drivers had already been enacted and this just adds to their peace of mind. However, most people outside of the industry are unaware of the ruling.
The Allowable
CMV drivers are allowed to use hands free cell phone devices and headsets. However, there are limitations and restrictions on these too. Drivers cannot reach for their phones, dial them or even hold them as long as they are driving or in the roadway at all. So, to be able to dial out while operating a CMV the phone must be equipped with one touch calling and/or voice activated dialing. Therefore, the use of headsets or a hands free system, such as the type that work through the speakers are mandatory for phone usage to avoid a citation and hefty fines.

The Growing Problem of Cargo Theft

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In the good old days truck drivers might have to worry about weigh stations, speed traps, other drivers not paying attention. Now, truck drivers have to worry about thieves stealing their cargo. Although this has always been somewhat of a concern, the number of thefts has increased dramatically. In the 1960’s, when cargo was stolen, it was more of a hijacking than theft. In the 60’s, cargo was often stolen by a hoodlum with mob ties holding a gun in the driver’s ribs and driving away with the merchandise. In the 2000’s, the theft is usually less dangerous but no less frustrating.

In 2009 there was $487 million in goods stolen from truckers in the United States. In 2008 there was $290 million stolen from truck drivers, or a 67% increase. There were over 850 loads stolen in 2009, in 2007 there were 672 stolen. As the national economy struggles, those numbers are likely to keep increasing.

The California Highway Patrol believes that more and more cargo thefts are being performed by individuals rather than organized criminals. The thieves camp out at a warehouse; follow the truck, sometimes for days and often miles. When the truck is left unattended, the thieves steal the cargo. This is usually accomplished in one of two ways. At truck stops, if a driver goes in to eat, use the restroom, or shower, the thieves may break into the rig and drive off with tractor and the trailer. Or, if a driver unhitches from his or her trailer in a drop-lot to run some errands, the thieves may hitch their own tractor to the trailer and take off.

Often, the stolen tractor and trailer or just trailer is found nearby, but the merchandise will have been removed to another trailer. Sometimes the trailer will have been painted or altered in some other way to slow the process of discovering that the trailer once carried the missing merchandise in order to slow pursuit. Unfortunately, more often than not, once the merchandise has been transferred to another trailer, catching the thieves is nearly impossible.
The average loss of merchandise when a trailer’s contents are stolen was $350,000 in 2009. Of course that problem is compounded in those instances when the thieves keep, destroy, or damage the tractor and or the trailer. For independent drivers, those losses can be devastating.

The most common freight targeted is electronics, food, clothing, pharmaceuticals, and cigarettes. These are items that can be easily resold to either smaller shops that might not be as interested in where the goods originated, or the stolen goods might be sold individually. Perhaps the most dangerous thefts are from trailers carrying pharmaceuticals. In February, 2009, a trailer with over $11 million worth of insulin was stolen. Contaminated medicine bought through the black market presents a major health concern.

Solutions

Haulers are investigating solutions to the cargo theft. One part of the solution includes knowing what kind of freight is most often stolen. Another solution is knowing what areas have the
most threats. Finally, owners are working on better ways to electronically track the merchandise and not just the tractors and trailers.

As the number of cargo thefts increase, cargo companies are cooperating with each other in order to decrease the number of thefts. The cooperation might be limited to loss prevention,
but with more people cooperating and keeping an eye out for thieves and helping each other be safer and keeping cargo safe, everyone wins. Insurance companies are also working with and helping the cargo companies do all they can to prevent loss. With the losses of cargo to thieves mounting, hauling companies and drives realize they have to do all they can to stop that trend.

Refurbished RGN trailer

Customer purchased this 2002 Trail King RGN stretch. We sandblasted, primed and customed painted this trailer for them.

Rising Cost of Fuel

Rising Cost of Fuel Drawing Fire from Industry Leaders

Trucker to Trucker is the premier online resource for buying and selling trucks and equipment and trucking related services. Today, we are looking at senior industry reaction to the rising cost of fuel:
Bill Graves, the CEO and President of the American Trucking Association, told members of the House Natural Resources Committee on March 31, 2011, that in order to allow affordable diesel fuel to the trucking industry, policymakers would have to step up.

In his written statement, Graves stated that there was no one way to solve the problem of high oil prices, that conservation and more drilling combined was the only way to relieve the issue.  He told the committee that the trucking industry will likely use 35 billion gallons of diesel fuel and will spend $135.8 billion dollars this year.  He noted that in 2010, the industry only spent $100.8 or so billion on fuel, and that the spike in cost has impacted the trucking industry negatively, causing them to raise their prices to pay for the more expensive fuel, and in some cases, to shut down.

Graves stated also that the new national speed limit of 65 miles per hour is not enough to cut the fuel prices.  While the speed limit increase does make the trucks more productive, there is still not enough fuel in supply to lower the cost.  In essence, Graves proposes that Congress take action to increase the U.S.’s production of crude oil here on the home front and that Congress should also urge the Obama administration to promote oil shale and coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid fuels, and should issue more permits for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Graves also criticized the government for failing to promote the development and growth of heavy duty vehicles that are powered by natural gas.  He says that the natural gas trucks cost twice what diesel powered trucks cost, so a tax credit might be necessary in order to allow companies to purchase these types of vehicles.
Finally, Graves suggests that Congress should place an incentive on LNG refueling station standardization – weight increases are assured with LNG (liquefied natural gas) trucks and that if there was a federal gross vehicle weight limit variance in place, companies would be more likely to adopt the LNG switchover.

White House launches National Clean Fleets Partnership

By Jeff Crissey

Published April, 04 2011

President Obama on Friday, April 1, announced the National Clean Fleets Partnership, a public-private partnership to help commercial vehicle fleets reduce diesel and gasoline use by sourcing electric vehicles, alternative fuels and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations. Through the partnership, the Department of Energy will assist companies in their efforts to reduce fuel use and achieve greater efficiency and cost savings by offering specialized resources, technical expertise and support. The partnership is part of the DOE Vehicle Technology Program’s Clean Cities initiative and will complement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program by furthering efforts to improve efficiency in goods movement and reducing U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
The partnership includes five charter members representing some of the nation’s largest fleets with a collective 275,000 vehicles: AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo, UPS and Verizon. According to the White House, their planned petroleum reduction strategies will account for the deployment of more than 20,000 advanced technology vehicles and annual petroleum displacement in excess of 7 million gallons.
As part of the announcement, DOE challenged other companies to join the effort. Participating companies will benefit from technical assistance, including peer-to-peer information exchange and collaboration with DOE and national laboratories surrounding research and development initiatives. In addition, group purchasing also will be available so that smaller companies can work with their larger peers to get the benefits of purchasing advanced vehicles in bulk.
The National Clean Fleets Partnership followed the president’s announced goal two days earlier of cutting America’s oil imports amount by one-third by 2025. The White House identified large commercial fleets as a key opportunity to reduce oil imports, “which with the proper incentives can offer significant potential reductions in fuel use,” according to a White House statement.
“Though many hurdles still remain and the path to success will not be easy, the sustainable business benefits of alternative fuels cannot be underemphasized,” said Scott Davis, UPS chairman and chief executive officer. “We must deal with the short-term problems of cost differentials and infrastructure to prepare for our long-term future.”

Mack Truck comes to CBS reality TV

Class 8 trucks come to CBS reality-TV series Undercover Boss this weekend, featuring Mack Trucks President and CEO Denny Slagle. The broadcast will be from 9-10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, Eastern and Pacific.

In making the episode, as with others in the series, the company president went undercover to work side-by-side with Mack employees at the Macungie, Pa., plant that assembles every Mack truck sold in North America; the Hagerstown, Md., plant that produces every Mack engine sold in North America; and the Baltimore, Md., distribution center that provides parts to Mack dealers and customers

FMCSA proposes to mandate EOBRs

January 31, 2011

 | by: Avery Vise

All interstate commercial truck and bus carriers that now use logbooks to track compliance with hours-of-service regulations would have to use electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) instead under a proposed regulation issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Jan. 31.
The proposal would relieve carriers of the current requirement to retain certain HOS documents, such as delivery and toll receipts, that are now used to verify the number of hours the vehicle is in operation. Approximately 500,000 carriers would be affected by the proposed rule, FMCSA said.

Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered FMCSA to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on HOS supporting documents by yearend. In December, the court gave the agency another month — until Jan. 31 — to comply. The court order stemmed from a lawsuit the American Trucking Associations filed just over a year ago to compel FMCSA to move forward with a regulation as mandated by Congress in the mid-1990s.
By the time ATA filed its lawsuit, FMCSA had already announced that it was planning to link new regulations on supporting documents to an expansion of the EOBR mandate. In April 2010, FMCSA issued a final rule requiring carriers that have a history of serious log violations to install EOBRs. That rule takes effect in June 2012.
“We cannot protect our roadways when commercial truck and bus companies exceed hours-of-service rules,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday. “This proposal would make our roads safer by ensuring that carriers traveling across state lines are using EOBRs to track the hours their drivers spend behind the wheel.”
Interstate carriers that currently use records of duty status (RODS) logbooks to document drivers’ HOS would be required to use EOBRs. Short-haul interstate carriers that use timecards to document HOS would not be required to use them. Carriers that violate this EOBR requirement would face civil penalties of up to $11,000 for each offense. Noncompliance would also negatively impact a carrier’s safety fitness rating and DOT operating authority.
“This proposal is an important step in our efforts to raise the safety bar for commercial carriers and drivers,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro. “We believe broader use of EOBRs would give carriers and drivers an effective tool to strengthen their HOS compliance.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association saw it differently. “EOBRs are nothing more than over-priced record keepers,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. “This proposal is actually another example of the administration’s determination to wipe out small businesses by continuing to crank out overly burdensome regulations that simply run up costs.”

 

The organizations said EOBRs cannot accurately and automatically record a driver’s hours of service and duty status. They can only track the movement and location of a truck and require human interaction to record any change of duty status. Therefore, such as in the case of loading and unloading time, the device is incapable of determining the actual duty status of drivers without interaction from drivers indicating to the device that they are on-duty. Loading and unloading time should typically be logged as “on-duty, not driving” in order to accurately reflect the hours a driver has worked.

For more information, go to http://regulationroom.org/.

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Freight index fell 0.3% in November

The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.3 percent in November from October, after increasing the two previous months, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Jan. 12. 
     
BTS reported the Freight TSI has increased in 14 of the last 18 months. Through the first 11 months of 2010, the index declined 1.0 percent. For additional historic data, go to www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
     
The November Freight TSI of 98.5 is down 12.7 percent from its peak of 112.9 in May 2006.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

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