Are you prepared?
Vertical Alliance Group is hosting a special webinar on the New HOS Regulations
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 3:00 PM Central Time
Featuring special guest Mike Lamm, Assistant Division Administrator for FMCSA
Mike will be discussing the new HOS regulations, including:
- Mandatory Breaks
- 34 Hour Restart
- On-Duty Time
- Egregious Penalties
- Changes and special provisions for Oil Field
- Electronic Logging Devices (ELD)
CLICK HERE to register today!
Mike Lamm has worked for 7 years as an Investigator, Hazardous Materials Specialist. In 2001, he returned to FMCSA headquarters to work in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance and spent 18 months working in the House of Representatives during the drafting of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act. While in headquarters, Mike also worked as the Chief of the Passenger Carrier Safety Division, and the State Programs Division, with oversight of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
Vertical Alliance Group is an expert in the truck transport industry and has been offering a complete library of training materials on trucking rules and regulations for over ten years.
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Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
Hours-of-service compliance is centered on two areas, limits and logs. Both drivers and carriers are held responsible for compliance with these regulations. Here's a back-to-basics rundown:
Limits
The limits are actually fairly straightforward. These include no driving once you reach:
- The end of the 14th hour after coming on duty for the day
- 11 hours of driving
- 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days, depending on whether the company operates vehicles 7 days a week
The hours that count toward the 14 and 11 hour limits are started and stopped by a break of 10 hours or more.
14-hour rule
Once you reach the end of the 14th consecutive hour since coming on duty from your 10-hour or more break, you cannot drive a commercial vehicle. You can work, but you cannot drive. If you started your day at 7 a.m.., you cannot drive a commercial vehicle any more as of 9:00 p.m. Waiting to load or unload, meals, other breaks, breakdowns, etc., do not impact the 14-hour limit.
There are only a couple of exceptions to the 14-hour limit, but they are fairly narrow exceptions requiring certain conditions be met. The first exception applies only to drivers of vehicles that do not require a CDL to operate and stay within 150 air-miles of, and return to, the work reporting location. This exception allows the driver to drive up to the 16th hour twice during every seven days.
The other exception allows a driver that has returned to his or her work reporting location the last five working days to drive through the 16th hour once every seven days, or once since the driver’s last 34-hour restart. One requirement that is unique to this exception is that the driver must be released for a 10-hour break after the 16th hour, not just “stop driving.”
11 hours driving
Within the 14 hours, you can drive a total of 11 hours. Any time at the controls of a commercial vehicle while on the roadway counts as driving.
There is only one exception to the 11-hour driving limit, and that is the “adverse driving conditions” exception at §395.1(b). This allows a driver to complete his or her run or reach a place of safety using up to an extra two hours of driving time if delayed by adverse conditions that could not have been known at the time of dispatch. However, this exception does not allow the driver to go over his or her 14-hour limit.
Please note that drivers driving in Alaska and passenger-carrying drivers (bus and motor coach drivers) have different daily hours-of-service limits.
60/70-hour rule
To offset the effects of cumulative fatigue, drivers are not allowed to drive if they have been on duty for 60 hours over the last 7 days, or 70 hours over the last 8 days. Companies that operate vehicles seven days a week are allowed to use the 70-hour limit, if they choose to.
Much like the other limits, the driver can continue to work once the 60- or 70-hour limit is reached, but the driver cannot drive.
Any break of 34 hours or more will allow the driver to “restart” the 7 or 8 day days. In effect, once the driver has 34 consecutive hours off, the driver’s total hours for the last 7 or 8 days go to “zero.”
New for July
As of July 1, drivers can only take a restart if the driver has not had a restart in the last 7 days (168 hours) and if the 34 hours include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods. If the 34 hours did not include these two periods, it is not a restart even if it is 34 hours long (§395.3(c) and (d)).
Also new for July is that a driver cannot drive if it has been 8 hours since the driver’s last off-duty break of 30 minutes or more. Basically, a driver will need to stop and take a 30-minute break if it has been 8 hours since the last break of 30 minutes or more and the driver wants to continue or start driving (§395.3(a)(3)(ii)).
The ‘records’
The main record that is used to show compliance with these limits is the driver’s daily log, officially known as the “driver’s record of duty status” (see §395.8). The driver’s log must account for all activities based on the four “duty lines” on the “grid graph.” These duty lines are:
- Off duty: Driver has no responsibility to the carrier, the vehicle, or the cargo, is performing no work for the carrier (or anyone else), and is free to pursue activities of his/her choosing.
- Sleeper berth: Time spent is the “bunk” (sleeper berth) on the truck.
- Driving: Time spent at the controls of a commercial vehicle on the road.
- On duty: The driver is performing any work for, or has any responsibility to the carrier. Waiting to load or unload, loading and unloading, inspecting the vehicle, fueling the vehicle, standing by, and taking a drug test (including driving to and from) would all be examples of on-duty time.
As well as the grid graph accounting for the time, the log must contain other information. This includes the date, miles driven, driver’s signature, co-driver’s name (if there is one), shipment number (or shipper and cargo), starting time, carrier’s name and address, total hours on each duty line, and the remarks section where the location of any duty change is recorded. A duty change is any time the driver changes duty lines.
The driver’s log must be current at all times to the “last duty change.” If the driver changes duty from on duty to driving at 3 p.m. at Toledo, Ohio, and the driver’s log is checked at 6 p.m. by an officer, the log will need to show the driver driving since 3 p.m. starting at Toledo, Ohio.
Electronic options
There are electronic versions of logs available. These fall into two general categories, automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs), and electronic logging applications (apps) and programs.
AOBRDs are connected to the vehicle and automatically determine when the driver is driving. If the driver is using an AOBRD, the officers will only ask to see the screen, smartphone, or tablet that is used to display the data the AOBRD has recorded. These are discussed in the regulations at §395.2 and §395.15.
Electronic logging apps and programs that are not getting movement data from the vehicle to determine when the driver is driving are basically an electronic version of a paper log, and are regulated under the “regular” log requirements in §395.8. One key point to using such electronic logging apps and programs is that the driver must be able to print his/her logs on demand during a roadside inspection.
Exceptions
There are a couple of exceptions in the regulations that allow the driver to keep time records rather than having to complete a log. These apply to drivers that stay within 100 or 150 air-miles of their work reporting location and return nightly. There are other requirements, so if you think one of these exceptions might apply, check §395.1(e).
There are other “specialized” exceptions as well. These apply to driver-salespeople, drivers involved exclusively in oilfield operations, drivers specializing in transporting construction materials and supplies, and certain drivers transporting agricultural products. Each of these exceptions has certain requirements that must be met to use them, and they only exempt the driver from specific hours-of-service regulations (see §395.1).
Who is responsible for what?
The driver is always responsible for compliance with the limits and logging requirements. The driver can be written a violation on a roadside inspection report and fined (and maybe even placed out of service), if:
- The driver is not able to present a log or an acceptable electronic record from an AOBRD for today and the previous seven days at the time of the inspection.
- The driver’s log is not current to the last change in duty status at the time of the inspection.
- The driver is operating over a limit or has operated over a limit in the past seven days.
- The driver has falsified a log entry.
The company (the carrier whose DOT number the driver was operating for) is responsible for making sure that:
- Drivers submit the completed logs within 13 days.
- Drivers are operating within the limits.
- Drivers are submitting logs that are true and correct (not false and containing all information).
- The logs are retained for 6 months.
To verify that drivers are obeying the hours-of-service regulations, the company must have a mechanism in place to verify compliance, and catch and prevent violations. This is referred to as a “safety management control.” The safety management control must at least be able to make sure that drivers are obeying the limits and not submitting false logs.
During the six months that the company must keep logs on file, the logs are subject to investigation by FMCSA safety investigators. The investigation involves:
- Checking form and manner (all required information is on all logs),
- Checking for compliance with the 11, 14, and 60/70 hour limits, and
- Comparing the logs to supporting documents (such as fuel receipts, toll receipts, inspection reports, accident reports, etc.) to verify that the logs have not been falsified.
Any violations discovered can result in the company being fined. In some cases, the driver may be fined for violations discovered during an investigation as well. If the violations are frequent and serious enough, the company may end up with a lowered safety rating, or worse, ordered out of service.
The company is also responsible for making sure that any assignment given to the driver can be completed legally. As the hours-of-service limits are what determine how many miles a driver can drive and how much work a driver can do, it is something that must be considered with every work assignment.
This great article was written by Tom Bray, editor in the Transportation Publishing Department of the Editorial Resource Unit at J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc, specializing in motor carrier safety and operations management. The article was originally posted on Truckinginfo.com.
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Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments from American Trucking Associations on Friday, regarding changes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made to the Hours-of-Service rules in 2011.
ATA is calling FMCSA’s 2011 changes “arbitrary and capricious,” and would put onerous restrictions on drivers’ ability to effectively manage their schedules. That’s because the proposed rules would limit use of a restart period to once every seven days, as well as inflexibly mandating off-duty breaks during the workday. ATA contended that these changes were not supported by the data available and should be rejected.
Jonathan Levy, a Department of Justice attorney representing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, told the court that it is “not the court’s duty to weigh in on that kind of dispute,” and that the agency acted reasonably when it wrote the December 2011 regulation requiring drivers to take rest breaks after driving eight hours and limiting use of the 34-hour restart.
“The existing rules have a proven track record, and the agency’s purported reasons for tinkering with them were baseless,” Prasad Sharma, ATA’s general counsel, said in a statement. “We’re hopeful the judges will see through the agency’s mere pleas for deference and after-the-fact explanations for a rule that was agenda-driven rather than evidence-based.”
While ATA says FMCSA is entitled to deference in its rulemaking, that deference is not unbounded. ATA argued the agency must still articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action, including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made.
After hearing ATA attorney Erica Jones attack FMCSA’s methodology, Judge Griffith said he agreed she had made “very persuasive points.” But he was quick to note that the judges were not there to decide which truck safety study was more valid, but rather to decide whether a federal agency has authority to issue such rules.
“It may be bad policy judgment, but we’re not here to decide that,” Judge Griffith said. “We have a very slight hand in this. We’re here to decide whether the rules are arbitrary and capricious. It’s beyond (the court’s) experience to decide which expert to agree with.”
There’s no deadline for when the court must rule, but ATA is hoping for a swift decision. The agency has indicated it plans to begin enforcement as scheduled on July 1. ATA asked for a delay in enforcement, saying it would cost the industry approximately $340 million between now and July 1 to prepare for a rule that might never go into effect because of its legal challenge, but was turned down by FMCSA.
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Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
ATRI just released a survey on the potential impacts of FMCSA’s changes to the 34-hour restart rule and is asking commercial drivers to participate by providing their input. The confidential survey is available online here.
Under the new Hours-of-Service rules that are scheduled to take effect this July, changes to the 34-hour restart will include: 1) a requirement that a restart include two periods between 1 a.m. – 5 a.m., and 2) a limitation of one restart per 7-day time period.
This survey is part of a larger ATRI study quantifying real-world operational impacts on the trucking industry that may result from these revisions. ATRI’s full HOS study is expected to be released in early 2013.
If you have questions about the FMCSA’s 34-hour restart provision, you can go here to view FMCSA’s question and answer section regarding the ruling.
Find more news and engage with us on Driving Ambition's Facebook page!
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
As we approach the end of the 2012 calendar year, naturally, our attention turns to the normal December activities. Holiday planning, ho-ho-ho’ing, family and friend get-together’ing, ugly sweatering, caroling, egg nogging, Fiscal Cliff’ing and, of course, CSA’ing. Who among us doesn’t enjoy tracking a few “end of the year” changes to our two-year old safety program?
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) revealed CSA as the #1 critical issue facing the North American trucking industry in its annual survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry executives. Obviously, CSA has our industry’s attention…as do the most recent changes announced last week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). From a big-picture standpoint, collectively, we agree it’s a good thing CSA continues to evolve. As our industry continues to openly share thoughts, experiences and recommendations about the safety program, the evolution of CSA slowly moves toward becoming more equitable and fair product and measurement system for the majority of the nation’s carrier participants. We hope it gets better and better over time.
Last week’s news is the FMCSA has implemented a number of changes to the CSA Safety Management System under which carriers are evaluated and prioritized for regulatory enforcement. The SMS changes are intended to provide the FMCSA more precise information to assess a company’s on-the-road safety performance. The revisions, which go into effect immediately, include:
- Changing the Cargo-Related BASIC (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) to the Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance BASIC to better identify HM-related safety and compliance problems. Motor carriers and law enforcement can view this new BASIC score effective immediately, but the scores will not be made public for the foreseeable future.
- Revising the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC by including cargo and load securement violations that were previously in the Cargo-Related BASIC.
- Counting intermodal equipment violations found during drivers’ pre-trip inspections.
- Aligning speeding violations to be consistent with current speedometer regulations that require speedometers to be accurate within 5 mph. The change applies to the prior 24 months of data used by the SMS and all SMS data moving forward.
- Changing the name of the Fatigued Driving BASIC to the Hours-of-Service (HOS) Compliance BASIC to more accurately reflect violations contained within the BASIC.
- Aligning the severity weight of paper and electronic logbook violations equally on the SMS for consistency purposes.
Motor carriers are encouraged to check their safety data at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/ to see how the SMS changes may have affected their SMS results. The FMCSA has also published a factsheet on the SMS revisions at the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) web site at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/
Happy holidays…happy egg noggin…happy fiscal cliff results…and a sincere Happy New Year!!
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Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
Trucking 2012: Year in Review – CSA, Recruiting & Retention, Safety Tips, & More!
We hope you enjoy Driving Ambition's annual Year in Review as we highlight some of the most widely read trucking topics of 2012.
We'll start off with Distracted Driving since it's an important topic and contains our first article written in 2012.
Distracted Driving
Final Rule Bans Cell Phone Use for CDL Truck Drivers (1/5/2012)
FMCSA Updates Interpretation on Cell Phone Ban for CDL Drivers (2/14/2012)
Trucking Companies: Update Your Cell Phone Policy (2/15/2012)
Distracted Driving during National Safety Month (6/7/12)
Unsafe Drivers Targeted During Operation Safe Driver (10/9/2012)
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
FMCSA Makes Changes to CSA Methodology (4/12/2012)
Truck Crash Accountability in a CSA World (6/16/2012)
ATRI Reveals the Top 10 Trucking Industry Issues for 2012 (10/18/2012)
Recruiting & Retention
Truck Driver Recruiting: Hiring Veterans (1/16/2012)
Truck Driver Recruitment & Retention Presentation (3/11/12)
Diesel $4+/gallon, CDL Driver $15-20/hr, Honesty & Respect…Priceless (3/29/2012)
Driving Ambition Supports Military CDL Drivers Transitioning to Civilian Life (4/12/2012)
NEED CDL TRUCK DRIVERS? HIRE A VETERAN (5/4/2012)
CDL Driver Retention (8/3/2012)
Driving Ambition supports Obama's signing of Military CDL Act (10/17/2012)
Truck Drivers and Carriers Benefit from Temp-to-Hire Jobs (11/19/2012)
Sleep Apnea
Joint Committee Addresses Sleep Apnea among CDL Drivers (3/4/2012)
Sleep Apnea Screening and Treatment Needed for Truck Drivers (11/13/2012)
Driver Medical Cards
CDL Driver Medical Cards to be Randomly Verified by FMCSA (11/15/2012)
Drug & Alcohol Testing
Hair Testing for CDL Truck Drivers: $80 Haircut can Save Millions (2/5/2012)
Why a Drug and Alcohol Database for CDL Drivers Makes Sense (6/6/12)
HOS / Logbook
New Hours-of-Service Logbook Examples Now Available (3/8/2012)
Various Safety
Top Hazards for Truck Drivers during Roadside Inspections (4/17/2012)
CDL Truck Drivers Endure Roadcheck 2012 (6/14/2012)
At last! Truckers Relieved by New Highway Reauthorization Bill (7/16/2012)
Results of Roadcheck 2012: Mixed Results for Trucking Safety (8/15/2012)
CDL Drivers: Keep your Truck Cool in the Heat (8/2/2012)
CDL Driver Guide to Best Practices for Safe Backing (9/18/2012)
Safe Winter Driving Tips for Truck Drivers (11/29/2012)
Driving Ambition News
Trucking Companies & CDL Truck Drivers: Louisville here we come! (2/16/2012)
Driving Ambition Opens CDL Driver Staffing Office in Kansas City, MO (7/19/2012)
Driving Ambition's CDL Driver Introduction Video (10/10/2012)
Driving Ambition will continue to blog with updates on important safety and regulatory topics. You can also visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for additional information.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
ATRI just released a survey on the potential impacts of FMCSA’s changes to the 34-hour restart rule and is asking motor carriers to participate by providing their input. The confidential survey is available online here.
Under the new Hours-of-Service rules that are scheduled to take effect next year, changes to the 34-hour restart will include: 1) a requirement that a restart include two periods between 1 a.m. – 5 a.m., and 2) a limitation of one restart per 7-day time period.
This survey is part of a larger ATRI study quantifying real-world operational impacts on the trucking industry that may result from these revisions. The aggregated results of this survey will be available later this year and ATRI’s full HOS study will be released in early 2013.
If you have questions about the FMCSA’s 34-hour restart provision, you can go here to view FMCSA’s question and answer section regarding the ruling.
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) revealed its list of the top ten critical issues facing the North American trucking industry in its annual survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry executives.
- CSA: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) tops the list for the first time with its two-year old safety program. Click here to see FMCSA's response to the report.
- Hours of Service: Ongoing concerns with recent as well as potential changes in the federal hours-of-service regulation caused that issue to remain in the number two position for the second consecutive year. Many in the industry are concerned over how changes to the 34-hour restart provision, the addition of a mandatory rest break after 8 hours of driving, and threats to reduce total drive time will impact industry operations.
- Economy: Last year’s top industry issue, the economy, fell two spots this year to third place. That issue topped the list for a record three consecutive years and remains a source of concern for many in the industry.
- Driver Shortage: Worry over the increasing driver shortage put that issue at number four. Economic recovery, CSA and HOS changes may be contributing factors to a shrinking pool of qualified drivers according to some in the industry.
The complete top 10 list includes the economy, HOS, the driver shortage, CSA, fuel prices, congestion, infrastructure funding, tort reform, onboard truck technology and truck size and weight.
"ATRI's annual survey of critical industry issues gives ATA, and all trucking stakeholders, a clearer understanding of the challenges our industry faces," said ATA chairman Dan England, Chairman of the Board, C.R. England, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT.
"As we all know, the trucking industry operates in a complex and evolving environment and we must constantly work to understand how economic and regulatory changes will impact the industry,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. “By improving our understanding of the issues, we can be better stewards of the important job our industry is tasked with. ATRI’s work once again gives ATA the information we need to effectively represent the industry.”
ATRI’s annual survey has been conducted since 2005 and is commissioned by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
A copy of the survey results is available from ATRI here: Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry 2012.
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Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
Earlier this month, President Obama signed the Highway Reauthorization bill known as Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21.
The fully-funded 27 month bill (running through the end of FY 2014) allows more than $100 billion to be spent on highway, mass transit, and other transportation programs. MAP-21 represents a bi-partisan compromise, ending nearly three years of deadlock and delay, with nine extensions, since the last comprehensive funding law expired in September 2009.
The bill stipulates that all federal taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline, and all excise taxes on trucks, tractors, and tires, will remain unchanged through September 30, 2016, and the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax will remain unchanged through September 30, 2017. In addition, the bill focuses on several significant changes to the FMCSA’s safety programs, including:
- 34-hour Restart Study – FMCSA must complete a field study by March 31, 2013 to determine the efficacy of the changes to the hours-of-service 34-hour restart provision, due to go into effect in July 2013. The language does not prohibit the agency from putting the restart changes into effect based on (or pending) the results of the study.
- Electronic Logs (EOBRs) – DOT must establish regulations mandating electronic logging devices within one year. This controversial issue was further complicated by the passing of a recent House amendment that would strip funding for the EOBR mandate. More to come on this topic in August.
- Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse – Within two years, the DOT must establish, operate, and maintain a national clearinghouse to capture drivers’ positive drug/alcohol test results and records of refusals to test. Motor carriers will be required to query the clearinghouse when screening new driver applicants.
- Employer Notification System – Within one year, FMCSA must establish standards for state systems that automatically notify motor carriers of drivers’ moving violations, suspensions, etc. Motor carriers may use these systems to meet the current annual motor vehicle record review requirements. Within 2 years, FMCSA must develop recommendations, and a plan, for implementing a national system to perform these functions.
- New Entrant Testing and Audits – DOT must require new motor carriers entering the industry to complete a proficiency test on safety regulations and to complete a DOT safety fitness review within 12 months
- Broker Bond – The broker bond is increased to $75,000 and applies to freight-forwarders, as well.
- Freight Policy – A new National Freight Network is established, requiring DOT to create a national freight plan, which will include an assessment of the condition and performance of the national freight network and identification of highway freight bottlenecks
- Truck Size and Weight – There is no increase to the size and weight limits, other than an increase in allowable weight for idling reduction devices (from 400 lbs to 550 lbs). However, DOT is required to conduct a comprehensive size and weight study within two years, and to compile a list of the existing truck size and weight limit laws in every state.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has prepared a section-by-section summary of the relevant trucking-specific portions of MAP-21. See it here.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.
Operation Roadcheck is a 72-hour roadside inspection and enforcement blitz in which an estimated 10,000 inspectors set up more than 1,000 checkpoints on highways across North America to monitor truck safety compliance. Since its inception in 1988, Operation Roadcheck is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial vehicles in the world.
As in past events, this year's Roadcheck will focus on commercial vehicle and driver safety and security. However, with the advent of CSA, these roadside inspections now play an even more important role. That’s because all inspection violations will become part of your CSA record. The Safety Measurement System (SMS) uses the on-road safety performance of carriers and drivers to identify candidates for interventions, determine the specific safety problems a carrier or driver exhibits, and to monitor whether safety problems are improving or worsening.
Here are five steps you can take to make sure you survive Roadcheck 2012:
- Understand the inspection process. The roadside inspection involves a comprehensive 37-step procedure which includes items related to vehicle, driver and cargo safety. Click here for a complete list of the inspection procedures.
- Know the most frequently cited violations. Last year, CMV enforcement conducted nearly 71,000 truck and bus inspections during the three-day event, focusing primarily on the Level 1 inspection. HOS logbook violations led overwhelmingly as a percentage of all driver violations cited, as over 50% of drivers placed OOS because of HOS violations. With CSA’s Fatigued Driving BASIC, these HOS violations affect both the driver’s and the carrier’s CSA scores. Only 14% of those drivers inspected indicated they were using electronic logs. For equipment, the most frequent violations include brake issues, tires and wheels, lights, load securement, steering, frames, and suspensions. See Top Hazards for Truck Drivers during Roadside Inspections.
- Keep your vehicle clean and well maintained.
- Conduct thorough pre- and post-trip inspections.
- Treat the inspector with courtesy and respect.
For more information on Operation Roadcheck, visit http://www.cvsa.org/. The 2012 edition of the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria Handbook and Pictorial is also now available for purchase.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
Our commitment to safety and building solid working relationships with both customers and CDL drivers has allowed us to earn an unparalleled reputation with our Proven Drivers and Exceptional Service.