Load Securement Blog

Gainesville, FL - Troopers: At Least 9 Dead In Pileups On I-75 In Florida

2012-01-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

By MIKE SCHNEIDER

Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Hazy fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire clouded a north Florida interstate overnight, leaving drivers blinded and causing wrecks that killed at least nine people, authorities said Sunday.
Photographs taken Sunday morning showed the burned-out shells of at least two vehicles and a tractor-trailer, with gray smoke still rising above the asphalt on an otherwise desolate Interstate 75.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said the pileups happened around 3:45 a.m. on both sides of I-75 south of Gainesville. All lanes of the interstate - there are three lanes running each direction - remained closed as investigators began trying to figure out exactly what caused the wrecks. Vehicles were still smoldering, and firefighters sprayed foam to try to put out the fires.
Cars appeared to have smashed into tractor-trailers and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were badly crushed beneath the wreckage of the larger rigs.
Riordan said several people were injured and taken to Gainesville hospitals. Their conditions were unclear.
At least 18 people hurt in the wreck were being treated at Shands at the University of Florida, said hospital spokeswoman Allison Wilson.
Donna Henry told The Gainesville Sun that she was driving south on the interstate at 3:45 a.m. when she encountered the smoke.
"We just hit it, and you couldn't see anything," said Henry, who was driving with friends back home to Palm Bay. She said her car struck a guardrail and ended up sideways in the outside lane. She pulled off the highway and called 911. She told the paper that she could hear the other crashes.
"You heard like 15 times somebody hit, from this side and that, north and south. It was bad."
The FHP had briefly closed the highway before the crashes because of a mixture of fog and smoke from a marsh fire in the Paynes Prairie area south of Gainesville. Officers patrolling the highway had reopened the road when visibility improved.
Riordan said he is not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash.
Riordan said this is the worst accident he's seen in his 27-year career with FHP.
Traffic is being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Riordan said.
Heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash four years ago. In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in a series of similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday's crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, including one pileup that involved 40 vehicles.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/29/3695747/troopers-at-least-9-dead-in-wrecks.html#storylink=cpy

1/20/2012 Cargo Theft Reaches Record High in 2011

2012-01-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

1/20/2012 Cargo Theft Reaches Record High in 2011

Cargo theft rose nearly 9% last year compared to 2010, reaching a record high, according to FreightWatch International -- but the average value per theft has fallen.

The U.S. Cargo Theft Report shows that theft rates totaled 974 in 2011, an 8.8% increase from 2010. The average value per theft incident in 2011 was $319,000.

Though the number of thefts is at its highest, the average value per theft has declined. "This shows that shippers and the industry as a whole is beginning to secure their high value cargo more effectively, forcing criminals to target less valuable loads," says Barry Conlon, CEO of FreightWatch.

One of the most noticeable trends in 2011 was the continued decline in cargo theft incidents
targeting the electronics sector. In 2006, this sector comprised 38% of all recorded supply chain
theft incidents in the United States. In 2011 it recorded just 17%.

The most commonly targeted product types this past year were food and beverage products, electronics and building materials. Specific targeted items include televisions, canned food, cell phones, energy drinks and roofing materials.

A substantial decline in the total value of pharmaceuticals stolen for the year is a significant contributing factor to the overall decrease in the loss value per incident. In previous years, the average loss per pharmaceutical theft averaged between $3.5 million and $4 million, but thefts in 2011 come in at just over a quarter of those figures.

Of the 974 cargo thefts recorded:
- 853 (87.5%) were full‐truckload or container thefts
- 34 (3.4%) were facility burglaries.

2011 also saw a rash of pickups by deception, with 38 recorded for the year, accounting for 4% of all incidents.

The top six states for cargo theft in 2011 were California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Georgia and Illinois.

FreightWatch has been tracking cargo theft rates since 2006.

Overloading is the No. 1 Danger Facing Your Fleet

2012-01-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

By Mike Antich

Overloading is the scourge of fleets. It creates an unsafe vehicle that can cause injuries and fatalities, which will invariably result in a lawsuit. Statistics show that overloaded and improperly loaded trucks are among the leading causes of truck accidents.

Overloading is a growing industry problem. One reason is that more fleets are seeking to lower acquisition costs by selecting lower-GVW trucks. Although this "strategy" saves money on the front end, the inevitable overloading increases operating costs on the back end. A corollary reason for spec'ing lower-GVW trucks is to avoid DOT regulations, which require drivers to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate vehicles greater than 26,001-lbs. GVW. Also, with higher fuel costs, carrying larger loads results in fewer trips, increasing per-trip profitability.

Increased Accident Risk

Besides violating numerous state and federal regulations, when a vehicle is overloaded its emergency handling capability is reduced, which can result in an accident. For example, braking distance will increase, which causes drivers to misjudge stopping distances. Tire failure rates are higher because tires run hotter due to the increased load. In addition, a raised center of gravity adds to the risk of a rollover. Loads that are overweight, overloaded, unbalanced, or shift while moving increase the likelihood that a driver may lose control of the vehicle. For instance, if the load shifts when making a lane change or sudden turn, there is higher risk of rollover. Even if a vehicle does not exceed payload limits, improper loading can cause a truck to be off balance, also making it more susceptible to rollover accidents.
Another prevalent problem is axle overloading. Even though a vehicle's payload is within OEM limits, the vehicle may still be overloaded on one of its axles. It is possible that a front or rear axle is overloaded with only a portion of the maximum payload on the truck. Load distribution is the key to avoiding axle overloading. For instance, if the rear axle is carrying more than 90 percent of the total load for a conventional cab chassis, the front axle does not have enough weight on the driving surface. This can cause premature wear-and-tear on tires and suspension components. It also affects the driving characteristics of the vehicle.

Overloading shortens a truck's service and increases operating expenses. In fact, fleet maintenance surveys consistently show that overloading is the No. 1 cause of unscheduled maintenance for trucks. The manufacturer of the truck sets the GVWR according to what the vehicle can safely stop, carry, and perform at an acceptable level. Failure to consider payload and weight distribution may result in failure of equipment, personal injuries, and possible liabilities. Fleet managers should avoid modifying under-spec'ed trucks to accommodate greater payloads, such as changing tire sizes, adding spring kits, air shocks, heavy-duty brakes, and anti-sway kits. In many ways, these modifications are self-defeating. These components can add significant weight to the chassis, which reduces the available payload by several hundred pounds. However, the key reason to avoid modifying a vehicle is that it creates an unsafe situation by changing the integrity of the vehicle. In addition, modifications may result in warranty claim denial and increase liability exposure if there is an accident.

Fleet managers need to ensure drivers use better load distribution.
Design loading areas that force workers to position freight correctly. Schedule routes so freight is positioned for weight distribution, not just in the interest of delivery time. It is also important to train drivers on proper loading techniques so they don't create an unsafe situation. Eliminate unnecessary equipment or shelving. During the training process, don't forget to train forklift operators on proper freight distribution.
Time to be Proactive

One of the best ways to determine if your vehicles are being overloaded is to go into the field and assess vehicle usage. For instance, drivers may be requesting the wrong vehicle for the fleet application, while the fleet manager thinks everything is fine. Visually check for sagging rear-end; irregular tire wear; premature brake wear; and loose, unresponsive suspension and steering. All may indicate overloading. Maintain tighter inventory control of what is carried in the vehicle. Clean out all unnecessary items. If given an opportunity, drivers will carry everything they can conceivably fit into a vehicle.

A good rule of thumb to avoid overloading is to overspec for a fleet application when placing your new vehicle orders. Build a 15- to 20-percent cushion into a vehicle's payload capacity. Also, involve end users in spec'ing vehicles. If your overriding goal is to minimize acquisition costs by going to lighter trucks (while not changing payload requirements), try selecting a different category of vehicle. For example, a cargo van may not be the best for your needs; you might do better with a pickup truck with a topper combination and pull-out shelving system to haul more weight.

Too often, attempts to curb overloading are simply given lip service. Overloading is a safety issue, a risk management issue, and an operating cost issue. It's time to be proactive and make sure this doesn't apply to your fleet.

Let me know what you think.

mike.antich@bobit.com

Trucking Companies Develop New Steel-Hauling Method

2012-01-11T19:33:00.000-08:00

Nussbaum Transportation and Wabash National have combined forces to give the steel supply chain an alternative to flatbed trucking. The companies have introduced the first dry freight van with a 35,000-pound floor.

"DuraPlate XD-35 revolutionizes transportation and logistics operations by increasing freight load capacities well beyond those of traditional dry freight vans that only handle 18,000 to 20,000 pounds," says Robert Lane, director of new business development for Wabash National transportation products. "For example, now steel coil can be hauled in a dry freight van. Plus, carriers can move both inbound raw material and outbound finished product in the same piece of equipment, improving equipment utilization and reducing dead-head miles."

The origin for the new van dates to a problem faced by appliance manufacturer Electrolux. The company was receiving coils on flatbed trucks, but had no outgoing product suitable for a flatbed, so the trucks went away empty. On top of that, the coils were exposed to inclement weather and subject to rust, and Electrolux was struggling to find consistent rates on flatbed service. They voiced their concerns to Nussbaum, which approached Lafayette, Ind.-based Wabash National to find a solution.
Wabash National developed the DuraPlate XD-35 in response. With this option, coils can be loaded and unloaded at the dock door with the use of a heavy-duty forklift, saving valuable time once spent tarping and untarping or waiting for an overhead crane to become available. Coils are placed in the van with the eye to the sky, then strapped into D-rings built into both sides of the floor.
Nussbaum Transportation and its client Electrolux have been running 25 to 30 of the prototype vehicles over the past year on a dedicated operation between Greenfield, Ind., and St. Cloud, Minn. “It has saved them substantially on rates inbound, allowing them to use the same equipment on outbound. It has combined two modes of equipment into one,” says Brent Nussbaum, CEO of Nussbaum Transportation, Normal, Ill.

The shipping company is already in talks with other customers about adopting the means of transport, though they must have the inside loading docks and heavy-duty forklifts to employ it.
"Carriers and shippers face challenges today that will not be met by yesterday's equipment. They demand proven performance to offset increasing fuel costs, and improve driver and operational efficiency to ultimately enhance profitability," says Dick Giromini, president and chief executive officer, Wabash National Corp.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-12-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

Utility's New Adjustable Load Securement System Option on Flatbeds is Now Available for All Types of Hauls Including Coils

2011-12-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., Nov 29, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company, the industry's largest manufacturer of refrigerated trailers and a leading manufacturer of dry freight vans, flatbeds, and Tautliner(R) curtainsided trailers, is pleased to announce that the Utility Adjustable Load Securement System (ALSS) option for Utility flatbed trailers is now available for all types of hauls including coils.

As previously introduced, Utility's ALSS is another load securement option for Utility's 4000A(R) Flatbed, Drop Deck(TM), Tautliner(R) curtainsided trailers and Conestoga 2. Utility is now making the system available for coil hauls when ordered with the optional J-Hook tie-down plate "stops". These "stops" prevent fore and aft movement of the J-Hook tie-down plates which is essential for proper coil securement.

Utility's ALSS provides an additional tie-down location for load securement over and above winches, side rail and pipe spools. Traditional tie-down devices such as chains, cables, and web straps can be connected to the ALSS movable J-Hook Tie-Down Plates. The new system features a Working Load Limit (WWL) rating of 6,500 lbs. per J-Hook Tie-Down Plate, which matches the current rating for the heavy duty aluminum pipe spool on Utility's 4000A flatbed. An optional J-Hook Tie-Down Plate Storage System can be mounted to the trailers' main frame beam and can hold up to 12 J-Hook Tie-Down Plates. To find out more about the benefits of this new option from Utility Trailer, contact a local dealer. To locate the nearest Utility dealership, visit: www.utilitytrailer.com/dealer-locator .

About Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company

Utility Trailer Manufacturing is America's oldest privately owned, family-operated trailer manufacturer. Founded in 1914, the company designs and manufactures dry freight vans, flatbeds, refrigerated vans, Tautliner(R) curtainsided trailers, and side skirts. Utility currently operates five trailer manufacturing facilities across the United States. Utility's 3000R(R) and the 3000R(R) multi-temp refrigerated trailers are manufactured at the Marion, Virginia and Clearfield, Utah plants. The 4000D(R) and 4000D-X Composite(TM) dry vans are manufactured at the Glade Spring, Virginia and Paragould, Arkansas plants. The 4000A(R), 4000S(R), drop deck and double flatbeds as well as the Tautliner(R) are all manufactured at the Enterprise, Alabama facility. Utility also has an extensive independent dealer network with over 100 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South America.
SOURCE: Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company

Girl, truck driver killed in Missouri bus crash, up to 50 injured in tragic end to camp field trip

2011-12-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

BY MEENA HARTENSTEIN

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, August 05, 2010

A high school girl and a truck driver were killed in a devastating freeway wreck on Thursday, involving two school buses packed with students heading to an amusement park, a tractor trailer and a pickup truck.

The pickup crashed into the back of the tractor trailer, the Missouri State Highway Patrol told The Associated Press.
One of the school buses then slammed into the pickup and was rear-ended by the other bus.
The driver of the pickup and a girl on the second bus were both killed, according to the AP.

Trucking adds 3,600 jobs

2011-12-09T07:12:00.001-08:00

The for-hire trucking industry added 3,600 new payroll employees in November, according to preliminary numbers released Dec. 2, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

BLS, however, revised downward its preliminary figures for October by 600 jobs.

Compared with November 2010, trucking employment is up by 33,800 jobs, or 2.7 percent.

Payroll employment is up by 62,600 jobs, or 5.1 percent, since the bottom of trucking employment in March 2010. The number of trucking jobs — nearly 1.29 million — remains 163,400 jobs below peak employment in January 2007.

The BLS numbers for trucking reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. Nor do the numbers reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.

The entire U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in November, according to preliminary BLS estimates. In addition, BLS revised its initial estimates to show that the economy added 72,000 more jobs in October than initially reported. The unemployment rate dropped 0.4-point to 8.6 percent — its lowest level in about two-and-one-half years.

Christmas tree on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol

2011-12-08T06:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas tree on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree was lit Dec. 6 on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol after being transported cross-country by a Mack Pinnacle Axle Back model truck.

Second-grader Johnny Crawford of California joined Speaker of the House John Boehner to flip the switch, lighting the 63-foot white fir tree.

The tree traveled from the Stanislaus National Forest in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Drivers from Royal Trucking Co. spent nearly three weeks on the road, touring California and making stops across the country to celebrate the tree and the Christmas season.
In addition to the drivers, Concord, Calif.-based Royal Trucking provided a second Mack tractor to haul 3,000 handmade ornaments and 113 smaller fir trees to decorate various government buildings in Washington. Mack and Royal also donated the two trailers that were needed for the project.
Almost 10,000 low-energy LED and 3,000 ornaments adorn the tree, which will be lit nightly through Jan. 1. When the holiday concludes, the tree will be chipped into mulch and placed throughout the Capitol complex.

Hearing Raises Political Profile of Hours Rule

2011-12-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

12/1/2011
Hearing Raises Political Profile of Hours Rule
By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

A new piece of information emerged from yesterday's hearing on the pending hours of service rule. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Anne Ferro said that preliminary estimates show a possible uptick in truck-related fatalities, from 3,360 in 2009 to "approaching 4,000" in 2010.

Even if that increase is confirmed, however, it will not materially change the downward trend in truck accidents over the years -- a trend that supporters of the current hours rule point to as proof that the current rule is not detrimental to safety.

"The rule appears to be a solution in search of a problem," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs. "It appears the current rules are working and strike a fair balance."

The questioning from the dais broke down along party lines. Jordan and other Republican members took the view that the pending rewrite of the rule is an example of excessive government regulation. Democrats contended that safety deserves as much consideration as cost.

Even the shorter work hours in the proposed rule do not mean that drivers will get their proper rest, noted Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee of which the Regulatory Affairs panel is a unit.

"Nothing in this regulation is going to guarantee that the driver is going to go to bed and stay there for eight hours," Issa said. "Drivers can meet all the requirements of the regulation and still not be fit."

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the ranking minority member of the panel, said the hearing was framed as an issue of cost to the consumer but it is more appropriate to focus on safety. "The evidence suggests that fatigue is a major factor in crashes," he said.

Democrat Bruce Braley of Iowa said, "It's not the Federal Motor Carrier Profit Administration."

Braley went on to say that maybe the reason the trucking industry cannot find enough qualified drivers in a time of 9% unemployment is because the industry's workplace conditions and pay do not attract would-be drivers. "One reason may be the hours of service requirement," he said.

The hearing is not likely to lead to any legislative action, said a congressional source speaking on background. But it does raise the profile of the hours of service issue as the White House Office of Management and Budget considers the changes that the safety agency is proposing.

The details of the changes will remain sealed until OMB has completed its review, possibly before the end of the year, but trucking interests are on high alert based on what FMCSA proposed in earlier stages of the rulemaking process.

Among other changes, the agency said it is leaning toward cutting driving time from 11 to 10 hours a day. It also proposed giving drivers a one-hour break during the day by limiting actual duty time within the 14-hour driving window to 13 hours. Another significant change would modify the 34-hour restart to include two periods between midnight and 6 a.m., to be used only once a week.

The trucking and shipping community believe these changes would not improve safety and would add significant costs to doing business. American Trucking Associations is prepared to sue if the agency goes ahead as it has proposed.

And the safety advocacy community is prepared to reinstate its suit against the current rules if the agency does not tighten the current rule.

Henry Jasny, vice president and general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the panel that the pending HOS rule will have a positive impact on safety and the economy. "The current HOS rule has been struck down two times by the Court of Appeals, and truck driver fatigue remains a serious problem that is killing and injuring too many motorists and truck drivers," he said.

FMCSA, for its part, is focused on reducing excessively long work hours that increase the risk of fatigue-related crashes and long-term health problems for drivers, Ferro told the panel.

"A rule cannot ensure that drivers will be rested, but it can ensure that they have enough time off to obtain adequate rest on a daily and weekly basis," she said.

Other highlights from the testimony:

* Ed Nagle, president and CEO of the Nagle Companies, a refrigerated and dry truckload carrier based in Walbridge, Ohio: "This current proposal is predominantly influenced by Teamster union LTL daytime-only drivers that represent less than 10% of the industry. Placing such great emphasis on statistics and studies based on an irrelevant percentage of the entire trucking industry is a smokescreen. In order for our company just to break even with the proposed constraints, we would need to raise rates we charge shippers 20%, which in turn will have serious hyper-inflationary consequences on our economy."

* Glen Keysaw, executive director of transportation and logistics for Associated Food Stores: "Since the inception of the current HOS rules, Associated has travelled 52 million miles. During this same time period we have had eight preventable DOT recordable accidents. This translates to .15 accidents per million miles, compared to the national average of .47 accidents per million miles. Clearly, no change is warranted based on this data."

* Robb MacKie, president and CEO of the American Bakers Association: "The number of fatal accidents and injuries involving large trucks have declined more than one-third, and are now at historically low levels. Given these facts, we find it difficult to understand the rationale for additional regulation, especially one that even FMCSA recognized would disproportionately negatively impact the short-haul segment of the trucking industry of which the baking industry is a part."

* Frank Miller, director of logistics for furniture retailer Badcock & More: "For Badcock, a reduction in driving time from 11 hours to 10 would affect an estimated 11% of loads, resulting in an approximate cost of $1.5 million, forcing the company to increase its fleet size and pay higher rates for trucking."

* Jesse David, senior vice president of Edgeworth Economics, the firm hired by ATA to analyze the agency's proposed revisions to the rule, said he found three major problems. The agency based its calculations on an outdated figure for the frequency of large-truck crashes, it inappropriately changed its estimation of fatigue as a factor in crashes from 7% to 13%, and it used unsupported assumptions about the effect of sleep on mortality. "When I correct for these (and other issues), I find that the new rule would result in a net cost of $320 million annually, rather than a net benefit of $380 million annually, as calculated by FMCSA."

Police say a 10-vehicle wreck on Interstate 35

2011-11-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

WACO, Texas (AP) - Police say a 10-vehicle wreck on Interstate 35 in Central Texas happened when a truck driver stopped because his oversize load was too big to fit under an overpass.

Waco police say one other person was injured in the accident Tuesday morning that tied up northbound traffic for nearly two hours.

Investigators say the driver of the 18-wheeler, hauling a tank-like container, was either stopped in the two outside lanes or was backing up when the other vehicles could not brake in time. Eight smaller vehicles and two trucks piled up, but did not hit the original rig.

Texas troopers are investigating whether the driver with the oversize load had violated any traffic laws.

Further details on the injured person weren't immediately released.

Thousands Of Trucking Jobs few Take The Wheel

2011-10-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Tough as it is to find work these days, tens of thousands of jobs paying middle-class wages are going unfilled.

Open truck-driving jobs require little more than a high school diploma and a month or so of training. But not everybody wants to be a long-haul truck driver, and many who do find they just can't hack it.

The story began three years ago when freight traffic fell off a cliff, pulling tens of thousands of truck drivers down with it. But now, at the American Central Transport terminal in Kansas City, Mo., recruiting manager Chad Still is showing off a lot of empty concrete.

"Not a lot going on over here today, which in the trucking industry, that's a [big] deal," Still says. "The less trucks and trailers you see around here, the better the freight is."

Freight is now moving at pre-recession levels and companies are hiring. Transportation analyst Noel Perry figures trucking companies are short of about 125,000 drivers. What's the hold up?

"It's real simple," he says. "Let's say you get laid off tomorrow. Do you have a commercial driver's license? No."

Learning To Drive An 18-Wheeler

For that you'd have to spend five or six weeks and a few thousand dollars at an institution like the Fort Scott Community College truck-driving school in Kansas City, Kan., where students like Cory Dockery come to restart their careers.

Student Tommy Wood sits in the driver's seat of a training truck at Central Tech truck-driver training in Drumright, Okla.

"I looked on the Internet and that's all you [basically see for] work: driving jobs and, I guess, working in the health care field. I really didn't want to be a nurse," Dockery says.

But mastering an 18-wheeler is not as easy as it looks. Dockery and another new driver are trained by John Williams, a second-generation trucker. Dockery is focused on mastering all the shifting and tricky backing maneuvers; landing a job is the least of his worries.

"I never thought in my wildest mind that I would ever be a truck driver, you know," he says. "But the way times [are] changing now, you have to find something that's going to be steady and permanent."
Permanent, maybe not: Many people who go into trucking seem to be in a hurry to get out of it.

"Trucking is an industry that goes through people like oats go through a horse. It's a tough job," says Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

He ought to know: He used to be a trucker. Spencer says this driver shortage is a myth.

"It's not a shortage; the problem is retention," he says. "And you won't be able to keep good people if you don't pay them comparatively for the demands that you ask."

Rough Demands From The Job
Long-haul truckers can pull down more than $50,000 before expenses, but it can be a brutal job. Truckers routinely drive for weeks on end without ever going home. They work and live in a cab about the size of a large office cubicle, eating in truck stops and sleeping in parking lots.

They're paid not for their time, but for the miles they drive. They see family only when work permits. Bob Costello of the American Trucking Associations says the work is getting less forgiving.

"If you are a new driver to this industry, you better be on your game every day," he says. "Because once you get a record — [if] you got in an accident, it was your fault — you're going to be fired, and it's going to be very difficult to find another job in the industry."

There's no escaping the scrutiny these days. The government now tracks each violation, from flat tires to fudged records, and scores each driver — a new requirement from last year. Coming regulations will likely trim the maximum workday and force truckers with serious health problems to get off the road.

All this is pushing some drivers out, and making quality drivers increasingly valuable. Bert Johnson with Con-way Truckload says the industry is just starting to respond.

"Pay has gone up a little bit, but really in the grand scheme of things we're paying people the same way we paid years ago," he says. "That's going to change, though."

It will change for the better as far as drivers are concerned. Johnson says companies are also adding benefits, like better health care and signing benefits, even refiguring logistics to get drivers home more often. Because just about everyone in the industry agrees: Good, safe, conscientious truckers are totally in the driver's seat these days.

Securing loads: best practice

2011-10-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Securing loads: best practice

Patric Cunnane

Friday 14 October 2011 13:00

Few operators can say they’ve never had a problem with a load shifting during transit – many will have suffered the consequences ranging from goods falling off the trailer to the vehicle toppling over.

Fortunately, the problem is not being ignored. VOSA and the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL), a government body linked to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), regularly work together to combat transport risks. Next year, the two will join forces to investigate the dangers of load shift during multi-drop deliveries.

The project was explained at a recent conference in Leicester, held by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), founded in 1945. “Multi-drops have been identified as a big problem,” said Nina Day, senior engineer at HSL. “As loads diminish during delivery, goods can move around and become insecure.”

The project begins next year and is part of a larger aim by VOSA and HSL to define the causes of load shift, with the possibility of introducing new guidelines. Day is writing a book on the subject.

Vehicles are particularly vulnerable at roundabouts, slip roads, long corners, while breaking or swerving to avoid obstacles. “There’s no one solution to load shift,” said Day. “It depends on what you are delivering, the vehicles you are using and the risk assessment you have carried out. Your operation will be more efficient if you use the right trailers.”

Low publicity

The risks of load shift rarely receive the publicity they deserve. “Half of transport workplace accidents happen in the loading bay, and most start with a load shift,” said Day, “Load shifts can cause huge disruption, yet they usually only get on local news.”

An unstable vehicle recently shed 18 tonnes of mango chutney at a roundabout in Macclesfield, providing local papers with an opportunity for many punning headlines. Yet the consequences can be far more serious.

“I am investigating three fatal accidents on roundabouts,” said Day. Drivers are particularly endangered when part of an insecure load comes through the trailer bulkhead and into the cab. In one instance, 24 tonnes of steel moved and killed the driver in a truck that was travelling at only 20mph. “The load was not properly secured and became a battering ram when it hit the headboard,” said Day.

Lorries are far more vulnerable to roll over than cars because of their high centre of gravity. Sometimes accidents just happen, but very often thoughtlessness plays a part.

How else to explain the operator who transported highly flammable barrels of fuel for racing cars, sitting on the trailer bed of a curtainsider?

“A curtainsider is a flatbed with a gazebo – if you wouldn’t send a load on a flatbed, don’t use a curtainsider,” said Day, “If you look at one properly, you will see how flimsy it is.”

Straps used for securing loads require regular checks. “They are very vulnerable to damage,” said Day. “A strap involved in a fatality failed a HSE test on less than a tonne.” Checking straps is easy as they become brittle with age. “I spoke to one haulier who said: ‘This is my best strap, I’ve had it for 15 years!’ You see poor or damaged straps on the motorway all the time.”

Tips on preventing load shift

Carry out risk assessments;

Choose the right trailers;

Check straps;

Remember that shrink wrap is not load-resistant;

Consider whether the driver should inspect the loading;

Ensure the driver has someone to ring if the load moves.

* For more compliance advice and fleet management best practice, go to our Compliance page and sign up for our monthly bulletin, in association with Tachodisc.

A truck driver on Interstate 5 may have saved the life of a woman who was half-naked

2011-10-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

LACEY, Wash. – A truck driver on Interstate 5 may have saved the life of a woman who was half-naked and soaking wet along the freeway.

John Davis was headed from Portland to Seattle Wednesday morning for a roofing job when the trailer he was hauling got a flat tire near the Nisqually River, according to the Washington State Patrol. As soon as he pulled over, he saw someone climbing over the guardrail.

Davis’ first reaction was to lock his doors. Then he realized the person was a young woman in her underwear. She was soaking wet and had cuts all over her body from sticker bushes. Davis said the woman was cold, hungry, thirsty and in pain.
"She just kept saying she was in a lot of pain, saying 'it hurts. It hurts,'" Davis said.

Davis immediately put her in his truck and drove her to the nearest WSP scale house – still with a flat tire on his trailer. He called 911 and gave the woman food and water while waiting for troopers to arrive.

The woman, 23, is from Centralia. Troopers say the jeep the woman was in got stuck in the mud near Mounts Road. It’s believed she crawled through the swamp and bushes to get to the freeway, which was about 200 yards away.

Troopers say Davis’ willingness to help may have saved the woman’s life.

“She could have easily been hit by a car,” said WSP Trooper Guy Gill.

She was taken to St. Claire Hospital in Lakewood. Her condition was not immediately known, but she was reported to be in the emergency room early Thursday afternoon.

Troopers searched the area by plane and found no indication of anyone else in the area.
Troopers are looking for the man who owns the Jeep Cherokee found near the freeway. They do not believe he did anything criminal, they just want to make sure he is OK, according to Trooper Gill.

It took two good Samaritans and one big crowbar to pull a semi driver from the vehicle's burning cab Sunday morning.

2011-10-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

It took two good Samaritans and one big crowbar to pull a semi driver from the vehicle's burning cab Sunday morning.

The driver, who was not immediately identified, escaped with minor injuries.

That would not have been the case, though, if no one had stopped to help before police and firefighters arrived at the crash on Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs about 9:15 a.m.

Bob and Pat Tallant of Omaha were traveling to a friend's house when they saw a semitrailer truck pulling onto the Interstate near Avenue G. The semi missed the traffic lane and ran into a bridge, tearing the cab from the trailer and landing the cab on the driver's side, Bob Tallant said.

The couple pulled over to help, along with another driver who was behind them. Pat Tallant called 911 and tried to flag down more help, while Bob and the second motorist checked on the semi driver.

The semi driver seemed dazed and incoherent but otherwise OK, Bob Tallant said. He and the other driver who stopped were able to talk to the semi driver, but he was not able to get out on his own. Both rescuers realized that a small fire burning outside the cab was growing and that they didn't have much time.

"It was scary," Tallant said. "It was really scary."

Tallant said he never learned his fellow rescuer's name. But without the man's "huge crowbar," the two would have never been able to open up the obstructed passenger side.

The second rescuer, who was taller, also was able to reach farther into the cab, Tallant said. Together they pulled the semi driver out, just in the nick of time.

They moved the man away from the cab and made sure he was OK. Then they saw the cab and the separated trailer completely engulfed in fire.

The semi driver had a scrape on his right arm and was missing his left sandal, Tallant said. "Other than being shaken up, he seemed to be in good shape."

Two young women, one of whom was a medical student, also stopped to help.

Tallant said he tried to talk to his fellow rescuer. The man rushed off, though. "He said 'I'm late. I've got to go.' "

Fortunately for the semi driver, though, both men made time to help.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1304 402-444-1304 news@owh.com

2011 winter chain advisory

2011-10-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

2011 winter chain advisory

When the snow begins to fall, it's nice to know the laws regarding chain use before Smokey Bear shows up with lights flashing.

By Jami Jones, senior editor

The only thing worse than getting caught in a snowstorm and needing to throw iron, is not knowing if you're legal doing it.

Every year, we plow through the state laws and regulations of the lower 48 states and bring you a comprehensive roundup, delivered in Land Line's trusted plain-speak way, of all of the chain laws.

The online version of this article can be found on landlinemag.com and ooida.com with links to all of the state regulations and laws cited in this roundup. And, in case you don't want to keep your Land Line Magazine in your cab year round, we now offer the comprehensive chain law roundup on Android and Blackberry phone apps.

While every effort has been made to make sure this list is 100 percent complete, if you are in doubt at all, check with the state department of transportation or check in at the first scale house you come to. A few minutes of being safe is a lot better than being sorry with a few hundred dollars worth of fines later.

California

California does not require trucks to carry chains during any specified time period. When the weather hits, though, it takes at least eight chains for a standard tractor-trailer configuration to comply with the regulations.

Chains or cables?

Conventional tire chains and cable chains, as well as other less conventional devices such as "Spikes Spiders," are permitted. Trucks with cable-type chains are legal, but may be restricted at times because of severe conditions – which can happen commonly in the higher elevations.

Placement

Eight total. On the tractor, four chains must be on all four tires of the main drive axle. Two more chains are required on the outside tires of the second drive axle. You have options on the placement of the two more required chains on the trailer axles. Chains can be placed on the outside of either axle or staggered with one chain on the outside of each axle.

Remember, while inside tires of duals are not usually required to be chained, CalTrans can require chains on the inside duals if conditions are bad enough.

Route specific

Chains are most often required in the higher mountain passes of northern California, such as: Interstate 5 north of Redding;

•Interstate 80 over Donner Pass between Sacramento and Reno, NV; and

•U.S. Highway 50 over Echo Summit between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento.

•Chains are also sometimes required on:

•State Route 58 near Tehachapi between Bakersfield and Mojave;

•Interstate 15 over Cajon Pass between Victorville and San Bernardino; and

•Interstate 5 over Tejon Pass between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

However, snow can fall unseasonably at higher elevations at many locations within California. Chains may be required at any time at these higher elevations when conditions warrant.

Colorado

Colorado's chain law applies to every state highway, federal highway and interstate throughout the state. The chain law is in effect when drivers are notified by roadside signs. Truckers will need chains for the four tires of the drive axle to be in compliance when it's time to throw iron. There is no requirement to carry extra chains or cables.

The Colorado law changed a bit in 2007. Now, truckers traveling specifically on I-70 between mile marker 163 in Edwards County and mile marker 259 in Morrison County must carry sufficient chains to be in compliance from Sept. 1 through

May 31. If you get busted without chains on this stretch of road, you will be fined $50 plus a $17 surcharge.

And, if you violate Colorado's chain law, you'd better be ready to pay. You can be fined $500, plus a $157 surcharge, for not putting on chains when required. If you block the roadway because you didn't throw iron when the law was in effect, you can be dinged with a $1,000 fine, plus a $313 surcharge.

There are two levels of the chain law:

•Level 1, Code 17 – Single drive axle, combination commercial vehicles must chain up all four drive tires. Cables are not allowed in this instance. All other commercial vehicles must have either snow tires or chains to proceed.

•Level 2, Code 18 – Chains are required for all commercial vehicles. Again, all four tires of single-drive tractors must be chained. For dual-drive axle tractors, you're only required to chain four drive tires. Outside tires of drive axles must have chains. Inside tires may have cables.

Chains or cables?

•Chains, as well as wheel sanders – which carry enough sand to negotiate a hill – and pneumatically driven chains are allowed. Cables are allowed in some scenarios – such as on trailers and on the inside tires of dual-drive axles.

The Colorado regulations actually give the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Highway Patrol the power to dictate when chain laws go into effect.

Delaware

Here's another state that permits the use of tire chains "for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to slide or skid."

The governor recently signed a bill into law that allows state officials to restrict travel on highways during emergency situations.three different levels of bans to choose from. A Level I ban encourages extreme caution when traveling roadways and advises that non-essential travel be avoided. A Level II ban permits travel only by emergency vehicles, essential government personnel, health care providers and vehicles carrying food and fuel. A Level III ban restricts travel to only emergency vehicles and essential employees such as snowplow operators. The Level III ban also prohibits retaliation by employers against employees complying with the travel ban.

Idaho

Officials in Idaho can determine, at any time, that Lookout Pass or Fourth of July Pass on I-90 or Lolo Pass on Highway 12 are unsafe, either individually or as a group. If that happens, signs will alert you to chain up.

If the alert is in effect, you will have to chain up a minimum of one tire on each side of drive axles and one axle at or near the rear of each trailer.

On a side note, studs are prohibited between May 1 and Sept. 30.

Kentucky

There are no specific dates for the use of tire chains or how many must be used. However, the state is painstakingly specific about the type of chains that are permitted.

Here's the exact language from the Kentucky statute: "Where chains are used on rubber-tired vehicles, the cross chains shall be not more than three-fourths (3/4) of an inch in thickness or diameter, and shall be spaced not more than 10 inches apart, around the circumference of the tires."

Maryland

The Maryland regulations can be a bit misleading. In one section of the regulations, the state has the boilerplate language permitting the use of snow chains.

However, elsewhere in the regs it is stated that chains may be required in Maryland if a snow emergency is declared. Snow emergencies can be declared for individual roads or statewide. Travel – other than for motorcycles – is prohibited on any highway that is designated and appropriately signposted as a vehicle emergency route … for which a snow emergency has been declared and is in effect, unless the vehicle is equipped with chains or snow tires on at least one wheel at each end of a driving axle.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts prohibits the use of studded tires and chains between May 1 and Nov. 1 without a permit. The law does not specifically mention chains; however, the Massachusetts State Patrol confirmed the regulation applies the same way for chains. It should also be noted that commercial vehicles can be ordered off the roadways during "snow emergencies."

Michigan

Chains, of "reasonable proportion," can be used for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to skid. However, guidance provided by the state says that if chains are used, "the chain must not come in contact with the road."

Missouri

There are no laws on the books mandating or prohibiting the use of chains when the roads are covered with snow or ice.

Montana

The chain law goes into effect when roadside signs tell all drivers to chain up. The state's requirement when the law is in effect is for all "driver wheels" to be chained up.

Nevada

There aren't specific dates for chain laws to be in effect. Again, roadside signs will let you know when chaining up is required. In Nevada, truckers will need to chain at least two wheels on the main drive axle. You are also required to chain the "braking wheels of any trailing vehicle in a combination of vehicles."

New Jersey

New Jersey goes a little beyond the standard "chains are permitted when needed" directive. The state allows chains of reasonable proportions when roads, streets and highways are slippery, because of rain, snow, ice, oil, manner of construction or other reason.

However, "no chains shall be used at any time on improved highways when highway conditions do not make such use necessary for the safety of life or property." Also, New Jersey prohibits the use of chains "likely to be thrown so as to endanger any person or property."

New York

If New York officials, either state or local, post a route as a snow emergency route, all vehicles traveling on it will be required to have snow tires and/or chains. There are no specifics in the regs mandating the number of chains or placement.

Oregon

Oregon's law applies to all highways in the state. Signs will tell you when you are required to carry chains and when you are required to use them. You will need to have six chains on hand to comply in Oregon.

Placement

Again, you have a few options for which tires you are required to chain on the tractor, so here goes:

•A tandem-drive axle tractor must have chains on two tires on each side of the primary drive axle (in other words, all four tires of the main axle); or

•If both axles are powered, one tire on each side of each drive axle (again, four chains total required; you just don't have to chain the inside tires).

Now on the trailer, here's the deal:

Chains must also be placed on two tires, one on each side, of any axle on the trailer. The chains can be both on the front axle, both on the rear axle or staggered with one outside tire on the front and the outside tire of the opposite rear axle.

Pennsylvania

Another emergency snow route state here. If officials declare a snow emergency route when the roadway is covered with ice or snow, only vehicles with snow tires or "tire chains on two tires on a driven axle" may proceed.

South Dakota

The South Dakota DOT has the authority to restrict travel on roads. Signs will alert you to these restrictions. Tire chains or "sufficient traction devices" are allowed. You don't have to wait for the signs to tell you to put on your chains. Chains are also permitted if conditions tending to cause a skid are present.

Tennessee

Tennessee sends mixed signals with its regulations. In one reg, it says that it is "permissible" to use snow chains when conditions warrant. However, elsewhere, the Volunteer State requires that every truck "likely to encounter" conditions requiring chains carry at least one set.

So to be safe, you might want to have a couple of chains on board and ready to go.

Utah

The Utah DOT has the authority to restrict highway travel to vehicles either running chains or at least having them in your possession. However, Utah requirements do not expressly state how many chains or on what tires they are to be installed.

Vermont

Vermont has a "traffic committee" that will decide if use of chains will be required. The reg mandates that the "advance notice shall be given to the traveling public through signage and, whenever possible, through public service announcements." This language also mandates that adequate space be provided to chain up.

The regulation does not outline the required number or placement of chains.

Washington

Chains must be carried Nov. 1 through April 1. It takes five chains to comply with the requirement. However, all vehicles of more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight must carry two extra chains for use in the event that road conditions require the use of more chains or in the event that chains in use are broken or otherwise made useless.

Chains or cables?

Chains must have two sides attached with cross-sections. Cables can be permitted. Plastic chains are prohibited.

Placement

On a dual axle trailer the outside tires on both axles will need to be chained in addition to one tire on either side of either trailer axle.

Route specific

On the following routes all vehicles and combinations of vehicles of more than 10,000 pounds shall carry sufficient tire chains to meet the requirements:

•Snoqualmie Pass I-90, North Bend (MP 32) and Ellensburg (MP 101)

•Blewett Pass Route 97, between MP 145 and

•MP 185

•Stevens Pass Route 2, Dryden (MP 108) to Index (MP 36)

•White Pass Route 12, Packwood (MP 135) to Naches (MP 187)

•Satus Pass Route 97, Columbia River (MP 00) to Toppenish (MP 59)

•Chinook Pass Route 410, Enumclaw (MP 25) to SR-12 (MP 342)

•Sherman Pass Route 20, Tonasket (MP 262) to Kettle Falls (MP 342)

•Omak to Nespelem Route 155, Omak (MP 79) to Nespelem (MP 45)

•Cle Elum to Teanaway Route 970, Cle Elum

•(MP 0) to Teanaway (MP 10)

•Gibbons Creek to Intersection of Cliffs Road Route 14, Gibbons Creek (MP 18) to intersection of Cliffs Rd. (MP 108)

•Newhalem to Winthrop Route 20, Newhalem

•(MP 120) to Winthrop (MP 192)

•Mount Baker Highway Route 542, (MP22) to (MP 57)

•Ellensburg to Selah I-82 from Ellensburg (MP 3) to Selah (MP 26)

Wyoming

When Wyoming officials enact the chain law, commercial vehicles must have chains on at least the two outside tires of one drive axle. Signs notify you when the chain law is in effect.

Not complying can cost you a minimum of $250. But, if you block the highway because you don't have chains on, expect a $750 fine. LL

Officers Find Dump Truck Driver Involved in METRORail Accident

2011-10-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

HOUSTON - Officers managed to locate the driver of a dump truck that hit and derailed a METRORail car Tuesday morning in downtown Houston.
Police wanted to question Paniagua Prisciliano Espino about the accident, but were unable to find him.
They later found Espino recovering at Memorial Hermann Hospital, according to Houston METRO. Officers cited him for running a red light at the intersection of Main and Capitol Street.
At least 15 people went to the hospital following that accident.

Survey Finds Drivers Still Don't Understand CSA

2011-10-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

By Truckinginfo Staff
Truck drivers may not have a solid understanding of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new CSA enforcement program, and a majority are concerned that it could cause them to lose their jobs, according to a new survey from the American Transportation Research Institute.

ATRI released a report detailing the extent to which CSA has affected the daily lives of commercial drivers. It also describes and analyzes driver attitudes toward and comprehension of FMCSA's new regulatory program, based on survey data collected from 4,555 U.S. truck drivers.

Among the findings, nearly 78% of drivers incorrectly believe that a trucking company inherits past violations from new hires. Job security concerns still exist, with nearly two-thirds of drivers somewhat or extremely concerned that they will lose their jobs as a result of CSA.

A quarter or the drivers expected their take-home pay would be reduced as a result of CSA. However, 54% expressed no such concern, and 21% actually expected their pay to increase.

Some of the most common CSA myths and misperceptions identified by the ATRI survey:

* 87% falsely believed that traffic tickets/convictions are part of FMCSA's SMS calculations. The data kept by a state (i.e. tickets, citations, written warnings, convictions) and the data that are kept in the SMS (i.e. violations from RI and crash reports) are separate.

* 78% of drivers incorrectly believed that a trucking company inherits past violations from new hires. Carriers do not inherit any of a newly hired driver's past violations; only those inspections that a driver receives while driving under a carrier's authority can be applied to a carrier's SMS record.

* 72% falsely believed that FMCSA can revoke a commercial driver's license (CDL) as a result of CSA. CSA does not give FMCSA the authority to remove drivers from their jobs and cannot be used to rate drivers or to revoke a CDL; only State agencies responsible for issuing licenses, CDL or otherwise, have the authority to suspend them.

* 68.6% of drivers falsely believed that CSA takes into account a driver's personal vehicle driving record. Tickets or warnings that CMV drivers receive while operating their personal vehicles do not count in the SMS.

* 58.5% of drivers falsely believed that the federal motor carrier safety regulations have changed as a result of CSA. CSA has not changed any of FMCSA's regulations, although FMCSA is advocating for a future rule change to alter the carrier safety rating process for determining whether or not a carrier is unfit.

In addition, 99% could not correctly identify which 5 carrier BASIC scores are publicly available, and 98% did not know that FMCSA enforcement staff are the only group of people who can access official driver scores.

ATRI currently has a similar motor carrier survey under way. To access it or a copy of the full CSA Driver Survey Report, visit www.atri-online.org.

Court Tells Minnesota State Patrol to Stop Violating Truckers' Rights

2011-09-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

A judge has issued orders telling the Minnesota State Patrol how to change its practices in order to stop violating truckers' Fourth Amendment rights with its fatigue enforcement program.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association had sued the MSP, alleging that the patrol's roadside inspections to determine fatigue violated truckers' Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. In January, a judge ruled in favor of OOIDA, but left it up to both sides in the lawsuit to work out, under mediation, how the program would be changed. They weren't able to reach an agreement.

So on Wednesday, Sept. 21, U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank issued a court order.

The judge's final order enjoins the state patrol from violating the Fourth Amendment Rights of House and members of OOIDA and from modifying the current General Order that governs the fatigue enforcement program.

Judge Frank ruled that state patrol officers are to "observe drivers for signs of impairment" from fatigue but cannot expand the inspection unless they have "reasonable articulable suspicion that the driver may be impaired." He also ordered that the questions cannot be untruthful or misleading statements, that drivers are to be told the purpose of the questions if they inquire, and that drivers are not required to answer the questions.

Copies of this final decision were ordered to be posted to the state patrol's website; at all officer locations where commercial vehicle enforcement conducts business; emailed to all current, new and future employees involved in commercial vehicle enforcement; and at all locations accessible to drivers where inspections are conducted.

"Lest we forget, during plaintiff Stephen K. House's detention back on May 10, 2008, the questions he was asked included, but were not limited to, such subjects as neck size, whether he had Playboy magazines in his truck, how many times he opened his eyes at night when his wife was driving, whether he had a television and books in his sleeper berth, and the adequacy of the size of the sleeper berth," Judge Frank wrote in the Sept. 21 decision. "Such inquiries have little to do with the determination of fatigue, except in rare circumstances."

OOIDA and House had originally filed a lawsuit against the MSP and individual officers in May 2009. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of truck drivers placed out of service after patrol officers consulted a checklist and arrived at the conclusion the drivers were "fatigued. In May 2008, House had been pulled over along with other truckers as part of a mass inspection conducted by the MSP.

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One dead after accident on West County

2011-09-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

One dead after accident on West County

September 12, 2011 2:08 PM
BY NATHANIEL MILLER
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers had West County Road shut down from 57th through 61st Street as they investigated a fatal accident involving an 18-wheeler pulling a flatbed trailer and a motorcycle.

Troopers at the scene were not releasing the name of the deceased at the scene; however, a man who said he was a friend of the family identified the driver of the motorcycle as 30-year-old Wayne Avila.

Details about the incident were scarce, but Trooper James Lujan said the motorcyclist was northbound on West County Road around 7 a.m. when he collided with the tractor/trailer rig that was turning southbound on West County Road off of 59th Street.

“It was a pretty gruesome scene,” Lujan said.

The posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour at the accident site and Lujan said witness reported the motorcyclist was “going fast.” Lujan was unsure if the driver of the 18-wheeler, who had pulled into the intersection halfway, saw the motorcycle.

“It’s still under investigation and we’re not sure if any charges are going to be filed yet,” Lujan said.

Relatives of the deceased man were on the scene, but did not speak to the media. The mother of the deceased could be heard crying about 200 yards away from where the Texas Department of Transportation set up cones and was re-directing traffic.

Bus Driver Killed In NJ Turnpike Crash

2011-08-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

South Brunswick, NJ - A bus traveling from New York City to Washington, D.C., collided with at least two tractor-trailers on the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday, critically injuring the bus driver and wounding about a dozen others, state police said.
Two of the more than 50 passengers on board were hospitalized in serious condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. State police said 14 others were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

The driver was flown to the hospital, where a spokeswoman said he was being treated for multiple broken bones and was still bleeding.
State police initially reported the driver had died from his injuries, but Sgt. Brian Polite later said that was a mistaken report.
The crash occurred shortly after noon in the southbound lanes in South Brunswick. The cause remained under investigation.
Wednesday’s incident followed a bad year for bus accidents in the United States that draw increased scrutiny to bus industry safety and driver fatigue. More than 30 people died in 18 crashes as of late July, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
The 52-year-old driver in Wednesday’s accident was well rested before his shift and had slept in New York the night before, said Dan Ronan, a spokesman for the American Bus Association. Ronan said the driver had been a professional driver for 11 years.
“His safety record is very good,” Ronan said. “He had a current commercial driver’s license in Virginia with no violations. His medical certification is current.”
The passengers on board had purchased tickets for travel from New York to Washington from curbside coach provider Washington Deluxe, Ronan said, but that company had contracted with Virginia-based DC Trails Inc. to operate the bus.
The bus left Brooklyn at about 11 a.m. Wednesday and made a stop in Manhattan before heading to Washington, Ronan said.
The turnpike and local roads suffered extensive delays after the crash, but the interruptions had cleared by late afternoon.

New Directors for Women in Trucking

2011-08-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

New Directors for Women in Trucking

The Women In Trucking association recently approved the addition of two new members of the Board of Directors.

Tom Nightingale, vice president, communications and chief marketing officer for Con-way Inc., and Linda Caffee, an owner-operator leased to FedEx Custom Critical, were approved unanimously to the director positions.

Nightingale is responsible for the oversight of the global branding of Con-way and its business units. "Con-way supports Women In Trucking, and has for more than four years, because it makes the trucking industry more attractive and welcoming to women, who can make this industry even better," he said.

Caffee has been on the road for 11 years, the last six as a co-driver with her husband, Bob. "I am enthusiastic about the trucking industry and women in the trucking industry, and continue to strive to improve myself by staying involved, reading and talking with other drivers as well as company representatives." Caffee has served on the FedEx Custom Critical Contractor Council since 2006 and currently chairs the group. She has also served on the Women In Trucking driver advisory committee and is a charter member of the association.

"Both Tom and Linda have been active in promoting the mission of Women In Trucking since its inception," said Ellen Voie, President/CEO, "we are honored to have their expertise to bring even greater value to our members." Both will serve two-year terms to expire in 2013.

Women In Trucking was established in 2007 to encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, promote their accomplishments and minimize obstacles faced by women working in the trucking industry.

Senate Highway Reauthorization Draft Addresses Truck Safety Issues

2011-08-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

8/19/2011
Senate Highway Reauthorization Draft Addresses Truck Safety Issues
By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

The Senate is considering truck safety legislation that would buttress a number of regulatory reforms under way at the Department of Transportation, such as an electronic onboard recorder mandate and mandatory 65-mph speed limiters, and give the agency more authority in a number of areas.

The draft safety title of pending legislation to reauthorize the federal highway program lays out a broad agenda for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Many of the dozens of provisions already are in development, but the draft does give the agency additional authority in a number of areas.

It would strengthen FMCSA's ability to revoke the registration of a carrier, forwarder or broker that has "reincarnated" itself under a different identity after having been sanctioned for safety violations. Carriers and managers found to have repeatedly dodged compliance requirements also would be subject to sanctions.

It would toughen barriers to entry by requiring would-be carriers to submit a comprehensive safety management plan and pass a written exam covering safety regulations. And it would require the agency to conduct a safety review of a new entrant within a year of registration.

Picking up on an issue put forward by the owner-operator segment of the industry, the draft calls for a study of how detention time affects hours of service violations and driver fatigue. The study would be conducted by the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, a panel of officials from the industry, the enforcement community and labor and safety advocacy groups to which the agency turns for feedback and ideas on industry issues.

The draft orders DOT to study the need for a heavy truck crashworthiness standard, covering roof and pillar strength, air bags and front and back wall standards. This follows a call for such a standard from American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Speed and logs

The speed limiter provision in the draft, which would require 65-mph limiters, is similar to a rule now under way at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the request of the American Trucking Associations and a truck safety group, Road Safe America. The one difference is that ATA has requested the retrofit requirement go back to 1992, rather than 1990 as the draft specifies. ATA and truck safety advocates are united behind this idea, but OOIDA is strongly against it.

The EOBR language in the draft addresses a range of technical issues that have arisen around FMCSA's ongoing rulemaking. It also sets tougher standards for driver identification and data security, and would require the agency to set up a certification process to make sure the devices on the market comply with these requirements. Further details on these points will emerge later in August when the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, which has been studying the issue, makes its recommendations to FMCSA.

Several provisions in the draft address safety concerns about Canadian carriers. One says that if a Canadian agency prohibits a Canadian carrier from operating in that country, then FMCSA has the authority do the same in the U.S. Another says U.S. officials may negotiate with Canadian officials to provide reciprocal recognition of each country's fitness determination. And a third requires states to report convictions of Canadian drivers to a federal database.

Safety fitness

The draft tells FMCSA to get on with the safety fitness rule that is the next step in CSA safety enforcement process, ordering the agency to act by the end of the year to put an interim safety fitness methodology in place.

In other provisions the draft sets up a safety fitness rating system under which drivers who do not meet standards can be prohibited from driving for up to a year. And it requires the agency to review carriers who fall among the most high-risk carriers in the CSA database for two months in a row.

The draft tells FMCSA to set up a CDL notification system, in which employers would have to check each driver's violation record with the state DMV at least once a year. Also, states would have to notify employers if a driver's license status changes due to legal actions such as a conviction for a moving violation, an accident or a license suspension.

The draft also addresses a number of ongoing rulemakings, such as driver training, the license program, and the national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results.

Long way to go

This proposal is a long way from passage. It has yet to be voted on by the Senate Surface Transportation Subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., or the full committee. Even if it clears those hurdles in its present form, it would have to be reconciled with the House version of the safety title, which still is being written.

More important, it is not likely that Congress will be able to pass reauthorization legislation by the end of September when the current extension expires.

The Senate is working on a two-year reauthorization funded at current levels, while the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee opted for a six-year bill that cuts funding by 36%. These huge differences would be hard to overcome in the month's time that will be available after Congress returns from summer recess, even if there were no differences over taxation, budget cuts, stimulus investment and the 2012 presidential election.

Heavy Industry Drives Flatbed Uptick

2011-08-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Heavy Industry Drives Flatbed Uptick
By Tom Nunlist, Associate Editor

The Great Recession hit trucking hard, but the rebound has begun with the open-deck sector leading the charge back to profitability. For the week ending March 19, a 3.2 percent uptick in flatbed freight volume compared to the previous week helped lead overall truckload freight availability on TransCore's DAT Network of load boards to increase by 2 percent nationwide.

Flatbed freight availability has increased in every consecutive week since the beginning of January, TransCore reports. Flatbed capacity for the week ending March 19 declined by 4.3 percent, bringing the week's load-to-truck ratio to 43.3, the highest for flatbeds since 2006. The ratio indicates unusually strong demand coupled with extreme capacity constraints in that segment on the spot market.

AccordÂing to TransCore's North American Freight Index report on March 15, total February load volume rose by 38 percent over January. However, the flatbed freight segment alone had a whopping 44 percent volume increase, with load-to-truck numbers doubling over February. Overall, February marked the highest spot-market volume for that month in the index's 25-year history.

Driving the Increase

Much of the flatbed industry is tied closely to construction and residential housing - mostly the shipment of lumber and drywall. The housing market, or course, is still in the pits. According to Noel Perry, managing director of trucking research and analysis firm FTR Associates, the force behind this recent uptick is steel and heavy machinery, driven in part by renewed American automotive production. Flatbeds serve primarily these heavy industries, with housing and construction making up 20 percent to 25 percent of shipping demand normally.

"[Steel and machinery] are shipping like crazy," Perry says. "There is a strong possibility of a spot platform shortage, especially in spring and early fall."

Typically, flatbeds are the first trucking segment to feel the impact of larger economic wheels. Unlike the larger freight segments, flatbeds ship raw materials more than finished products. This placement early in the supply chain can make flatbeds a good barometer of freight industry movement as a whole. When the recession first hit, many flatbed carriers began feeling the pinch three or four months in advance of other trucking segments. However, they are also the first to come back.

"Flatbeds are cyclical," Perry explains. "There is a huge swing between bottom and top. MachinÂery and metals went down in the downturn. It has the most rapid growth in the upturn."

Since flatbeds are also a smaller segment, a comparatively small market force can make flatbeds jump higher than vans, as was the case in February and March.

"Platforms are ground zero," Perry says. "What you can say without a doubt is that this is entirely predictable."

Early Onset

What makes this particular surge noteworthy is the early onset during a seasonally rough time of year - and a particularly rough season at that. Usually, the arrival of spring marks a pickup in flatbeds, but this time around things have been happening much sooner.

"It is kind of interesting because our business started to pick up in the middle of November last year," says Dan Taylor, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Melton Truck Lines. Good business continued in December and January. "It has been totally against tradition."

Taylor indicated that other flatbed players have been experiencing similar upticks, mostly in relation to steel production. Last December, one of his steel clients reported booked production through next quarter. He says some shippers have been voluntarily offering surcharges to secure a haul.

"We are turning down two or three loads for every one we take. We haven't seen that in years," Taylor says. "April, May and June we will be running 100 percent [capacity], no question."

Survey Shows Driver Shortage Limiting Hauling Capacity, Growth Potential

2011-08-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

8/5/2011
Survey Shows Driver Shortage Limiting Hauling Capacity, Growth Potential

According to the Q3 2011 Fleet Sentiment Report, conducted by CK Commercial Vehicle Research, 40% of responding fleets say they are already feeling the impact of the shortage of qualified drivers. Another 25% indicate they believe the shortage of good drivers will affect their ability to grow in the future.

Of those reporting an immediate concern, three quarters need drivers to fill current vacant seats, 63% say it is limiting their ability to add capacity and 42% are changing the way they deploy their fleet such as targeting more regional and local freight opportunities instead of long haul loads.

"Freight demand is good among the majority of fleets that report to us, but some could definitely haul more if they could find good drivers," explains CKCVR founder, Chris Kemmer. "Even for those that have a full complement of drivers now there is concern that this scarce resource will likely impact their future growth potential."

Additionally, CKCVR's Q3 2011 Fleet Sentiment Buying Index, a measure of the number of fleets planning to place orders for power units and trailers in the next three months, rose to 104.3. The increase came exclusively from an added number of fleets planning trailer orders.

The FSR Buying Index Table can be accessed at www.ckcvr.com

CKCVR regularly polls a group of small, medium and large for-hire, private and government fleet operators about their equipment purchasing plans and overall fleet environment. The quarterly Fleet Sentiment survey includes questions about short and longer term equipment buying plans, preferred OEM, new specs, current fleet capacity vs. freight demand, equipment utilization rates including the percent of parked vehicles, 2010 emission engine choices, the impact of a driver shortage and a product discussion.

Complete survey results are reported in the Fleet Sentiment Report, a quarterly report of CK Commercial Vehicle Research. For more information about the Fleet Sentiment Report, visit www.ckcvr.com/FSR.html.

Truckstop Electrification Program Opens First Location on I-84 in Oregon The Baker Truck Corral on I-84 will provide electric shore power

2011-07-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Truckstop Electrification Program Opens First Location on I-84 in Oregon

The Baker Truck Corral on I-84 will provide electric shore power starting August 12. It is the first electrified truckstop parking location to become operational as part of the national Shorepower Truck Electrification Project program funded by the US Dept. of Energy. It is the first of 50 truckstops across the country that will be electrified in the next 12-18 months through the program.

The Baker Truck Corral, at milepost 304 on Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon, is located about 450 miles west of Salt Lake City on the way to Portland, Ore. (300 miles) or Seattle (380 miles).

The August 12 opening, hosted by partners Cascade Sierra Solutions and Shorepower Technologies, offers an opportunity for equipment vendors, fleet managers, owner operators, and truckstop owners to experience firsthand the benefits of using plug-in power for idle reduction equipment.

New power pedestals there will provide 24 new electrified parking spaces. Plugged-in demonstration vehicles and shore power compatible products will be available for evaluation; vendors and CSS staff will be on hand to answer questions and inform drivers about the 20% rebate program for idle-reduction equipment. Shorepower Technologies will be there to demonstrate how easy and affordable it is to use the payment kiosk and plug-in receptacles.

Activities begin at 1:00 pm with speakers and representatives from local and regional governments, and other project partners. Equipment will be on display afterwards, and the Truck Corral will host a free BBQ dinner beginning at 5:00 pm.

Most Carriers Expect Driver Pay to Increase This Year

2011-07-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Most Carriers Expect Driver Pay to Increase This Year

Two thirds of carriers expect driver wage increases of 1-5% in the recent Second Quarter Business Expectations Survey by Transport Capital Partners.

This is about the same as the first quarter's survey.

"The responses were skewed to a higher level with 28% saying rates would increase more than five percent this quarter compared to only 12% expected over 5% in the prior quarter," said Richard Mikes, TCP partner and survey founder.

Seven percent anticipate wage rates would remain unchanged, as the reality of parked trucks without drivers became more commonplace. This will contribute to rate pressures, according to TCP.

A higher share of larger carriers (over $25 million in revenue) reported expectations of increases beyond five percent compared to smaller carriers, 30% to 22%.

"The larger carriers apparently are feeling the pressure first as the driver pendulum is swinging to the more typical levels of this phase of the supply demand cycle and truck capacity is tightening both because of lack of equipment as well as now drivers," said Mikes.

A follow up question asked how high driver wages must be before the industry can attract and retain drivers with 73% forecasting required wages in ranges of $50,000 to $70,000. Mikes noted that the industry reports of a mounting driver shortage can no longer be left out of the industry capacity and underlying cost structure discussions on potential rates in the months and years ahead.

U.S. Cargo Theft Report: Theft Down March to May

2011-06-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

U.S. Cargo Theft Report: Theft Down March to May

Cargo theft appeared to be down somewhat for the three-month period of March, April and May compared to last year, according to FreightWatch International, although the May numbers for two of the most highly targeted states are still pending.

FreightWatch recorded 185 incidents from March to May, a down from the 215 incidents recorded for the same period in 2010. April recorded the highest number of incidents with 74 thefts, followed by March, 64, and May, 39 (reports from California and New Jersey still pending).

There was a 50% increase in the number of thefts involving multiple trailers stolen during a single incident compared with the same period in 2010. The average number of stolen trailer during multi-theft incidents increased from 2 to 3 trailers/containers.

The top five states for cargo theft for the period were California, 43, Florida, 30, Georgia, 16, New Jersey, 14, and Texas, 11. In California, the counties accounting for the highest amount of thefts were Los Angeles, 15, San Bernardino, 8, Orange, 6, and Riverside, 5. In the state of Florida, Miami-Dade reported the highest amount of thefts.

From all thefts recorded from March to April, 85% were theft of trailers, 64% occurred at unsecured parking lots and 22% at secured parking lots. Theft from containers was the second most common type of theft at 5%.

Building/Industrial, Electronics and Food/Drinks were the most targeted product types. Within these categories, the most targeted products were copper, steel, aluminum, laptops, televisions, computers, audio equipment, chicken, beef, candy and frozen food.

By day of the week, Saturday, Sunday and Monday were the days with the highest cargo theft activity during the time period under study.

The number of deceptive pickups and thefts by drivers were high in April. Throughout Easter holiday an organized gang with fraudulent identification credentials of a trucking company stole multiple loads from different companies, which total value exceeds $1.2 million. The increase in fraudulent pickups during April was evident in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey and New York.

Also in April, a cargo theft gang was identified operating in Kentucky and Ohio responsible for multiple thefts in the Louisville area.

The 6 Steps to Becoming an Owner Operator

2011-06-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

The 6 Steps to Becoming an Owner Operator

Regardless of whether you’re a starry-eyed rookie driver or a grizzled veteran with a million safe miles under your belt, you’ve at least considered the possibility of giving up the security of a guaranteed weekly paycheck for the chance to live the entrepreneurial lifestyle as an owner/operator. This is an achievable goal, but before you pick out a new truck and kick your current employer to the curb, you need to ensure that your ducks are in a row and you have set yourself up for success in what is a highly-competitive business environment.

In order to put yourself firmly on the road to success, there are a number of critical decisions and self-assessments that need to be made. While failing to take all of these steps doesn’t guarantee that your new venture is destined for the trash heap, following this roadmap does dramatically increase the chances that you will look back on this time with fond memories. So use this guide as a general framework around which to build a profitable, self-sustaining business.

1. Personal Assessment

Taking a good, hard look at your work ethic, habits, and other factors can yield solid answers about the likelihood you have of succeeding as an owner/operator. Do you like to spend weekends holed up in truckstops watching races or ballgames, shooting the breeze with other drivers for hours on end, or trolling around on the Internet? If so, you may not be cut out for the rigors of truck ownership. Some of the personal factors you will need to examine include:

* Driving Preferences – How hard do you like to run? Do you prefer to maximize your available hours so that you can run as many hours as possible or is it more important to you that get a choice parking spot and a place in the buffet line while the food is still fresh?

* Hometime – If you prefer weekends at home regardless of what that time off might mean to your take-home pay, you might be better off remaining on the company payroll.

* Family Considerations – Do you have special family considerations – such as a spouse with a strange work schedule or shared child custody – that heavily restricts when you’re available to drive? While it’s possible to successfully manage these issues, there may be times when hometime may have to be sacrificed in order to remain profitable.

* Health Considerations – Is your health generally good? While you may have a current medical card, do you have health conditions that will get progressively worse over time? If so, you might want to remain on the company payroll as an employee because serious health problems can strike a death blow to your business if you’re not financially prepared.

* Insurance – Do you need employer-sponsored health insurance or do you have a spouse that has an employer plan that covers you? If not, in most cases, you’ll discover that insurance can be a costly expense that might be beyond your reach (depending upon your health, age, weight, and other factors). Pending health legislation might change that, but until all the details are worked out there’s simply no good way of knowing how it could impact you.

* Short- and long-term career goals – What are your goals? Are you a “lifer” or do you plan on eventually moving into a non-driving position? If you’re planning on making a move within 3 to 5 years, you probably shouldn’t plan on becoming an owner operator. However, if your long-term plan is to stay on the road as long as possible, your plans could very well include becoming an owner operator.

These are just a few of the practical considerations that you need to think about before making the decision to become an owner operator. By honestly assessing your personal wants, needs, and goals you can ensure that becoming an owner operator passes the compatibility test and is in your best interest.

2. Financial Considerations

Your finances impact every part of your life – and will be a critical component in your eventual success or failure as an owner operator. To help ensure that you’re realistically ready to make the leap into full-fledged truck ownership, it’s important that you examine your financial house to ensure that everything is in order.

* Personal Budget – While some truck drivers tend to think that budgeting is the thought that goes into allocating how to spend their last $20 – three days before payday – it is really much more. A personal budget is a financial lifestyle that allocates money equitably to all of your bills so that everything gets paid and you don’t have to resort to selling your CB for $10 in order to keep from starving. Getting a handle on all of your income and expense items, creating and living by a reasonable budget, and planning for a rainy day by setting aside a little bit each week “just in case” is not only wise – it’s critical to your financial health.

* Eliminate Excessive Debt – Setting yourself up for success as an owner/operator might sound easy, but it can be a challenge, particularly if you’re carrying around excessive debt. Like most Americans, truck drivers tend to carry too much credit card debt, and it chokes off your ability to borrow money for business purposes – and is too frequently the way some truck drivers finance their road expenses if they have a short week. By eliminating most of your credit card debt, you can reduce the amount of money that you have to earn each week, which can improve your bottom line, as well as your chances of succeeding as an owner/operator.

* Emergency Fund – What will you do if you get sick, have a true financial emergency, or need to access cash in a hurry? If you set aside 3 to 6 months of your living expenses, you won’t be dependent upon your dispatcher for cash if something comes up. This is especially important when your dispatcher slips out the door for lunch on a Friday afternoon and then goes AWOL for the rest of the weekend –leaving you high, dry, and penniless until he or she returns the following Monday morning.

* Disability Insurance – It’s important that you get disability insurance, especially if you plan on becoming an owner/operator. If you get sick or injure yourself, you will need cash for everyday living expenses as well as having the means to continue making your truck payment while you are out of commission. You may have an emergency fund, but that money will be siphoned off in record time – especially if you have a truck payment to make each month.

* Life Insurance – If you have dependents or other financial obligations, you need to have some life insurance in place to pay these debts and provide for the future financial needs of your loved ones in the event that you exit stage left before you are old and ready to step into eternity. Term life insurance is extremely cheap and is a much less expensive alternative than signing up for credit life insurance for your truck loan.

* Credit – Finally, your overall credit situation paints a vivid picture about the overall state of your financial health. Just as your blood acts as the conduit for transferring oxygen throughout your body, your credit rating affects your ability to access the capital you will need for equipment, fuel cards, credit cards, etc. Before attempting to obtain truck financing, it is important that you eliminate or minimize any hurdles that could prevent your credit application from being approved. Checking your credit report for inaccuracies, clearing any judgements, unpaid bills, and ensuring that you aren’t carrying too much personal debt can improve your chances of being approved for truck financing – and achieving your goal of becoming an owner/operator.

3. Go Independent – or Lease to a Company?

One of the most important questions that you need to answer is, “Do I truly want to be independent or do I want to lease on to a carrier?” While the answer to this question is neither easy nor short, there is a right answer. Unfortunately, this is a decision that can’t be made for you. Because no two truckers are alike, you will have to weigh the pros and the cons and make the best decision for you and your trucking business.

Some truckers would prefer to be beaten about the head with a hammer than give up their independence by leasing onto a company, while others prefer the security of knowing that they will have a more consistent base of freight from which to get loads.

Major benefits of being an independent owner/operator are that you can:

* Select the loads and lanes that best suit you and your lifestyle

* Not have to deal with company politics, dispatcher favoritism, and policies with which you might not always agree

* Decide when you run and when you don’t

* Take responsibility for load selection and not face possible dispatcher retaliation for refusing a particular load that might not be to your liking

However, leasing your truck onto another carrier has some advantages as well:

* Access (in most cases) to company-provided fuel cards, advances, and money transfer systems

* Company-provided trailers

* Load and freight consistency (and more loaded miles)

* Access (in most cases) to fleet rates on the insurance you will need to operate your truck

* In many cases, company-paid or reimbursed tolls, plates, and permits

* Not having to worry about obtaining your own operating authority

These factors will weigh heavily on your decision-making process because they will also impact the income you can generate with your truck. Leasing onto a large carrier usually means that you will earn less per mile with your truck, but in many cases that deficit can be partially absorbed by reduced deadhead miles, less sitting around waiting for loads, and company-negotiated pricing discounts on certain items such as fuel, tires, and parts.

The only way to know for sure which way is best for you is to crunch the numbers and see how things turn out for you. Because no two drivers are the same, this is your decision to make, based upon a massive list of factors and variables that can vary from company to company, driver to driver, and even day to day.

4. Equipment

The type of equipment you choose to run, the type of operation you have, and the way you drive will be a determining factor in your profitability. You might prefer the sleek looks and the classic styling of a long-nosed Peterbilt or KW, but can your business afford to look good at the expense of profitability and fuel economy?

Other factors to consider include:

* Age of truck (including mileage, warranty, and amenities)

* Your area of operation

* How long you’ll be out (more frequent trips home generally means you might be willing to forego some creature comforts in exchange for a lower price)

* Fuel economy

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to being an owner/operator and selecting the equipment that you will operate. Horsepower, torque, transmissions, engines, driving style, and the cost of tea in China (OK – that might be a stretch but you get the point) all contribute to your bottom line, but the habits and driving style of the the man or woman behind the wheel can also play a huge role in profitability.

5. Legal & Accounting

In order to become an owner/operator you will have to choose a business structure for your trucking business and plan for taxes. Because so much goes into this process that is dependent upon specific professional advice that can only be given based upon your specific situation, you will need to locate qualified professionals that can provide you with sound advice that can help to ensure your success.

6. Before You Buy Your Truck

This article is designed to guide you through many of the decisions that you will need to make in order to succeed as an owner/operator. Give careful consideration to each item and make the decision that you feel is right.

While there are a lot of truck drivers making the determination that now is not a good time to become an owner/operator, thousands of truckers have found a way of remaining profitable – regardless of a sluggish economy, low freight rates, and high fuel costs.

There is money to be made in the trucking industry if you make sound business decisions and with common sense, sound planning, and a little luck, you might be one of the thousands of truck drivers living your life’s dream as a profitable owner/operator.

The road construction is especially causing some big problems for truck companies.

2011-06-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

The road construction is especially causing some big problems for truck companies.

Construction throughout the area isn't just putting drivers at a standstill; it's slowing down semis, costing those companies big bucks.

"Logistically it's a nightmare. We transport a lot of oversize loads, farm machinery manufactured in the quad cities," said Aaron Tennant, President, Tennant Truck Lines.

Orion business owner Aaron Tennant said his drivers have changed their routes because of the construction.

"They have to drive on city streets rather than staying on the interstates which is a bit of a safety issue and a time concern as well," said Tennant.

Kevin Betcher drives a truck and said getting his cargo from Davenport to Moline is a huge hassle.

"Its hard to get a wide load around anywhere so you're adding an hour everyday just trying to get out of the quad cities or back in the quad cities on the Illinois side," said Betcher.

"We've been paying about 20% more in over time… we do consume about 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel a month," said Tennant.

That comes to a grand total of $800,000 a month in diesel.

"Sitting in construction takes time, takes time away from the drivers and from us making a paycheck and it back up traffic a lot more," said Betcher.

Tennant Truck Lines is dealing with the cost issue for now and it looks like it's going to be a long summer for drivers.

Enough is enough

2011-06-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Spencer tells NTSB it's time to shift blame, regulatory agenda away from truck drivers who just delivered yet another historic low in truck-related fatalities

By Jami Jones, senior editor

The voice of truckers was heard loud and clear during a two-day marathon NTSB forum focused on the regulatory scheme that truckers face.

And the message was simple: Enough is enough with the regulations.

The Truck and Bus Safety: A Decade of Progress forum was hosted by the National Transportation Safety Board, May 10-11. The purpose was to review motor carrier oversight.

The various panels consisted of experts from the truck and bus industry and included representatives from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer set the tone early in the forum by pointing at the drivers’ role in the new historic lows in highway fatalities.

“I know that through the transportation community and the enforcement community, people are patting themselves on the back talking about, ‘Wow, we did a great job,’” Spencer told the NTSB members. “Everybody gets the credit, but there’s really only one place where the credit belongs, and that’s with the drivers out there.”

He laid claim to the historic low in traffic fatalities for the experienced drivers on the road – drivers who have weathered the economic storm and kept their jobs and trucking businesses.

“Trucking has absolutely never been safer, and the key to that is drivers – those men and women who do it every day…with hardly any recognition of just how good they are,” he said.

With that thought hanging in the air, Spencer quickly turned his remarks toward the barrage of new regulations targeting truckers and the overall lack of justification behind them.

“When I look at so many of these initiatives, I see a lot of activity but we have accomplished very little. Much of what we are doing really isn’t focused in the direction that it should be,” he said.

He used the Large Truck Crash Causation Study as an example of errant justification for the current flurry of proposed regulations.

“Some of us in the industry complained for years that there was no effort made to actually look at what’s causing crashes,” Spencer said. “When that study was finally done, it is basically junk. It’s worthless when it comes to actually identifying things that could be used to improve motor carrier safety.”

Too many events, such as the NTSB forum, focus on the actions of truck drivers, Spencer pointed out. But when the data is correctly analyzed with faults legitimately assigned, a very different picture emerges.

“Any analysis of accident data shows that the leading cause of truck crashes is not the fault of the truck driver,” Spencer said.

Spencer didn’t mince words when he told the NTSB forum that there is only one reason trucking is achieving historic lows in truck-related fatalities: There are more experienced drivers on the road now thanks to a huge drop in driver turnover.

“Driver turnover can be linked to crash causation,” he said. “There’s no substitute for experience.”

That led Spencer to a pointed question, which as of yet remains unanswered: Why is the simplest approach to improving highway safety, driver training, still languishing in the regulatory process?

“It’s really abysmal that this is an industry for which there is still no training required for commercial drivers, none whatsoever,” Spencer said. “It’s an economic issue to some. It’s very much a safety issue out there for us.”

As the agenda for the forum turned to specific enforcement and regulatory programs such as hours of service, electronic on-board recorders, etc., Spencer continued to stand his ground and pointed out that drivers are not the problem, yet they are left on their own with no support system.

To illustrate this point, Spencer turned the conversation from fatigue enforcement to a very common reason drivers may find themselves tired – parking.

He told the story of Jason Rivenburg, a driver who was killed while parked at an abandoned gas station after being turned away from a shipper because he was too early to deliver. He had only $7 in his possession.

Spencer said the murder of Rivenburg highlights how motor carriers as well as shippers and receivers simply offer no support to drivers.

“Drivers are left on their own. That’s where the safety culture is,” Spencer said.

They are left to navigate highways filled with not only dangerous four-wheelers but also overzealous law enforcement with sights set on trucks.

“It’s nuttiness. There is a zeal going on right now for the need to write something up on a truck. They’re not going to stop one unless they can write something up, and they’re going to look until they find that,” Spencer said.

The trifecta of relentless pressure and misguided blame on truckers is completed by relentless profiteering by the private sector – specifically third party service and software providers, according to Spencer.

“They, and many motor carriers, spent an unbelievable amount of time sending a message with a tone of we’re going to scare drivers straight,” Spencer told the forum. “They wouldn’t dare do anything wrong because of all of these Draconian measures that are going to be put in place.

“Drivers are the biggest casualties of bad, bad information.”

The combination of bad data, such as that contained in CSA, and a skewed approach to enforcement and regulation led Spencer to caution NTSB about the future.

“Nobody reviews this stuff, and it hangs with drivers. There currently isn’t any due process, and some of these issues won’t be just swept under the rug,” he said. “There will be a major fight, major issues over this and there certainly are many in Congress who would question the wisdom of proceeding without certain safeguards for individuals in small business.

“Maybe we can get there with minimal court challenges,” he said. “But maybe not.” LL

Size & weight increase still a “tough sell:” MacKay

2011-05-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

The ongoing push on Capitol Hill to allow states to raise highway truck weight limits from 80,000 lbs. to 97,000 lbs. remains a tough sell according to some transportation experts, largely because the general public still views the trucking industry in a negative light.

Stu MacKay, president of market research firm MacKay & Company, said that obtaining an increase in tractor-trailer weight limits “remains a rough road to drive down.”

He added: “We’ve kicked around this idea before, raising the truck weight limit. My feeling is that there would be some benefit for TL carriers, as they tend to load to gross weight capacity - versus LTL carriers, which tend to ‘cube out’ their trailers - though some would see an advantage” from a higher weight allowance.

MacKay made his comments during a conference call with reporters hosted this week by H. Peter Nesvold, managing director of equity research for Jeffries & Co.

“But my gut tells me getting 97,000 lbs. will be tough,” MacKay added. “The public tends to see trucks as a nuisance. Then there’s the infrastructure issue; the states and the federal government simply don’t have the money to invest in the infrastructure upgrades required to handle heavier trucks.”

Indeed, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters noted that very point at an event on Capitol Hill earlier this month as part of the group’s effort to pass the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act (SHIPA), legislation that would restrict the size and weight of trucks that travel U.S. highways.

Teamster’s General President James Hoffa pointed to a nationwide poll that claimed 89% of the general public strongly opposes larger trucks, both in terms of safety and impact on highway infrastructure.

“Large trucks are more dangerous to drive and damage highways and bridges,” he said. “As the nation’s infrastructure ages, heavier trucks will only accelerate the wear and tear. Nearly half of the nation’s bridges are more than 40 years old, with one in four structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.”

MacKay also noted that truck productivity has skyrocketed to such an extent over the last two decades that size and weight increases may not be necessary – or profitable.

“One of the reasons many carriers themselves oppose higher weight allowances now, as in the past, is that they’d be hauling more freight for the same rate,” he explained.

The reason is related to improved trucking productivity. For example, in the 1970s, 41,500 new Class 8 truck were needed to handle every $100 billion worth of truck freight-related economic activity, according to MacKay & Co.’s data. By the 1980s, that number shrank to 30,000 Class 8 units, rising slightly to 32,000 in the 1990s before falling to 22,000 units by the first decade of the 21st century.

The same type of shrinkage occurred in the trailer population over the same period as well, MacKay added – with the number of new trailers needed to handle every $100 billion worth of trucking economic activity falling by 50%.

“The significant degree of improved productivity we’ve seen in trucking since industry deregulation [in 1981] means we need fewer of them,” he said. “The industry is twice as productive as it was 40 years ago.”

What MacKay believes will step in and fill the “capacity breech” existing in the truck freight right now won’t be size & weight rule changes but more intermodal activity, specifically truck-rail transport combinations.

“Fuel costs are up, the number of available drivers is down, and regulatory changes from hours of service to CSA are impacting trucking operations, so carriers need other options,” he explained. “ It used to be that intermodal only worked with lengths of haul 1,000 miles or greater. Then it dropped to 700 to 800 miles. Now it’s down to 400 miles in some cases. So we expect to see more intermodal business as a result.”

Truckers were caught off guard by a safety inspection in southeast Calgary on Tuesday.

2011-05-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

Truckers were caught off guard by a safety inspection in southeast Calgary on Tuesday.

The combined forces of several police departments and other agencies pulled trucks off the road for safety inspections.

The inspection group set up shop on Glenmore Trail for five hours.

Dozens of drivers got tickets and warnings about serious vehicle safety violations.

Police say they are determined to deal harshly with drivers and companies who aren't taking care of their vehicles and the loads they carry.

"Mechanical defects such as brake components, air brakes, steering system, suspension system, load securement, driver credentials, logs books, the whole gamut of materials we are looking for," said CPS Sgt. Derek Emmott.

The inspection also included special brake testing and thermal imaging to find faulty or worn out brakes.

Violators are fined $575 for not properly securing a load and $230 for operating a vehicle with bad brakes or a flat tire.

Truck company under scrutiny after fatal I-70 crash

2011-05-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Indianapolis - The company whose driver caused a fatal chain reaction crash on I-70 this week apparently applied for a special permit only after the wreck happened. An Indianapolis man died in the multiple vehicle pile-up on Monday.

According to State Police, Poindexter, which does excavating and transportation work, asked for the "oversize load" permit an hour after the crash occurred.

On Monday morning, one of Poindexter's semi drivers who was hauling a road paver crashed into a construction median, pushing it in to oncoming traffic and causing a chain reaction crash in the opposite lanes.

"A permit is required to be obtained prior to ever starting the route," said Stephanie McFarland, Department of Revenue.

Judson "Dale" Dye, 41, was killed. The Indianapolis man was on his way to work in Plainfield. Four others were injured and six vehicles were damaged.

A man who said he is an estimator for Poindexter asked that we not show video of the east side company.

"I'm not saying that something that something didn't happen. I'm sorry it did. But this company is having a hard enough time as it is," he said. "We don't need any more bad publicity."

Poindexter has worked on massive projects like the Honda plant in Greensburg and smaller ones like the Glendale Mall renovation.

According to Poindexter's website, safety is a priority. They have a full-time safety director whose job it is to make sure that all employees are up to date on safety procedures and regulations.

Had Poindexter applied for the "oversize load" permit prior to Monday, it's possible state officials would have altered the route, or time of delivery - not necessarily during rush hour.

"We need to be able to look at the dimensions of that load and also to look at the route so we can determine - is this a permit that we can grant?" said McFarland.

Just two months ago, the company was ordered to pay $12,500 in fines for safety violations while doing excavation work at a site in Greenwood. The US Department of Transportation gave Poindexter a 72.4 percent, essentially a failing grade. Anything over 65 percent is above the federal government's threshold for unsafe driving. During that past 24 months, the company received 15 citations for moving violations.

At Poindexter we tried to find out what happened with Monday's permit request. An unidentified employee asked us to leave the property, which we did. Across the street, the estimator was insistent we not show the place at all.

Indiana State Police detectives are currently investigating the crash and the permit issue. They have cited the semi driver and will eventually hand over the case to the Marion County Prosecutor's office to decide if criminal charges are appropriate. The state can fine Poindexter up to $5,000 for the permit violation

Bill ignites war of words over trucking safety

2011-05-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

Ringgold, Ga., widow Cindy Whitaker lost her husband, brother and niece in 2009 when a bucket truck hit their vehicle head-on.

Now she’s pushing for tighter federal regulations for truckers, even as the trucking industry points to federal statistics indicating that America’s roads are safer than ever.

Whitaker, in conjunction with the Truck Safety Coalition, threw her support Tuesday behind the newly reintroduced Safe Highways and Infrastructure Protection Act during a press conference in Washington, D.C.

The bill would freeze current federal truck size and weight limits, disallow the operation of overweight trucks and establish an enforcement program, the organization said.

The coalition released poll results that said 74 percent of Americans oppose heavier trucks and 79 percent favor lowering the maximum number of hours truckers may drive daily.

But a spokesman for the American Trucking Associations slammed the Truck Safety Coalition’s poll results, calling them slanted and misleading.

The questions begin with a sentence or statistic from a safety advocate point of view before getting to the questions, according to the methodology posted on trucksafety.org.

“This is a push poll of the worst kind, and proves that while figures don’t lie, liars can figure,” said ATA spokesman Sean McNally.

Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations, accused the bill’s backers of co-opting the grief of Americans who have lost family members in accidents “to advance an agenda designed to hurt our economy and our industry, and benefit trucking’s competitors and well-heeled union interests.”

Trucking has improved its fatality and injury crash rate by 30 percent since the current rules were implemented in 2004, Graves said.

The rate of trucking accident fatalities fell to 1.17 per 100 million miles in 2009, the safest year since the government began tracking the statistics in 1975, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Safety Administration.

However, the Truck Safety Coalition released statistics showing that 4,000 people are still killed each year and 100,000 more are injured in truck crashes, according to Joan Claybrook, chairwoman of the Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways.

“Families and truck drivers are being slaughtered on our highways because of the trucking industry’s relentless push for bigger, overweight trucks operated by drivers who are exhausted and pressured to meet unreasonable delivery deadlines,” Claybrook said.

Morgan Adams, a Chattanooga-based lawyer who specializes in truck accident cases, called for restructuring driver pay to an hourly rate instead of by the mile as an incentive toward safety.

“Truck drivers are the last sweatshop industry in America,” Adams said.

“Almost 20 percent of the trucks and drivers have a safety violation every year,” he said. “Two percent of the drivers have alcohol and drug safety violations.”

dump truck and a tractor trailer crashed into the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza this morning,

2011-04-12T07:05:00.001-07:00

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A dump truck and a tractor trailer crashed into the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza this morning, causing Staten Island bound delays. Details of how the accident happened were under investigation. The tractor trailer driver was injured in the crash in the westbound lanes of the Verrazano-Narrow bridge just before 8:00 this morning. The crash closed at least four Staten Island bound toll lanes. Related Content More: Metro Traffic Channel More: Gas Price Check Traffic quickly backed up across the bridge into Brooklyn.

Freedom of the road. Endless job opportunities. Big paychecks.

2011-04-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

By Eve Tahmincioglu
msnbc.com contributor
updated 4/11/2011 10:04:58 AM ET
Freedom of the road. Endless job opportunities. Big paychecks.
There’s been a lot of hype about jobs in the trucking industry lately, but it’s time for a reality check. In this economy, exaggerations about a so called “growing field” where there are ample, easy-to-land jobs with lucrative paychecks can cause hardships for people who are desperate for work.
Take Aaron Archer, 46, of Garden Grove, Calif.
Life Inc.: Burger King has transformed the classic Whopper into the aptly named Meat Monster by squeezing two ground beef patties, two slices of cheese, three strips of bacon and a chicken breast between two buns.

The trucking school Archer attended in 2007 assured him he’d be able to get a job driving a truck locally, but the only jobs he has found since leaving the school are long-haul jobs, also known as “over the road” gigs, or OTRs.
“I could have a job if I were willing to work for slave wages as an OTR trucker,” Archer said. “In school they said I could drive locally, which was misleading,” he added, noting that it is possible to drive locally, but only after one or two years of experience as an OTR trucker.
Ronnie P. from New York — who didn’t want his full named used because he doesn’t want anything to jeopardize his search — would take any trucking job he’s offered. He received his commercial driver’s license, known as a CDL, last May and has been unable to find work since, even though he’s “tried and tried.” One company even said they wouldn’t hire him because he had a moving violation on his regular driver’s license from many years back.
While the trucking industry, hit hard by The Great Recession, is beginning to show signs of life, good jobs in the profession are still can be hard to come by. And if you do get a job expect to pay your dues and start at the bottom with low pay (as little at $25,000 starting out) and endure tough working conditions, including weeks on the road. Median pay for all truck drivers (regardless of experience) is $38,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many people believe in the illusion that they can simply go out and drive a truck, and that’s going to make them big bucks, said Michael Belzer, an economics professor at Wayne State University, a former truck driver and author of Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation.
As for the actual work for long-haul jobs — the bulk of gigs in the male-dominated profession — many drivers sleep in their trucks to save money, and many end up eating unhealthy foods on the road.
“McDonald’s is cheap, and then you’ll be sitting in the truck,” he explained. “There’s a high propensity for obesity.”
Despite the challenges, many laid-off Americans are looking for jobs in the industry just to make ends meet, and the recent flurry of media reports that say trucking jobs are plentiful is driving even more job seekers in that direction.
Gregg Aversa, president and CEO of The Sage Corp. — which has 32 truck driving schools around the country including 15 in community college and technical school — has seen a 20 percent spike in applications this year.
But many of the interested individuals, many of whom have been laid off from other industries, can’t afford the tuition, Aversa said. The five-week program costs about $5,000 and that includes a physical and a drug-screening test. The fee also includes life-time placement services for graduates, Aversa noted, adding that, “our placement rate is in the high 90th percentile.”
The growth rate of the industry going forward isn’t much better than other fields.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects average growth rates for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and below average increases for light or delivery services truck drivers through 2018. And even the industry’s trade group played down claims made by a host of media outlets in recent months that the industry has tons of jobs to fill.
“Today’s shortage is more of a quality than a quantity issue,” said Bob Costello, chief economist with the American Trucking Association. He said he recently talked to one of the association’s member who told him he has 100 jobs to fill, but 800 applications.
“He’s being very selective,” Costello said, because of new federal safety regulations and the fact that accidents cost truck companies more money in the long run.
Indeed, applicants with any spots on their driving records, health issues, or any brushes with the law have the hardest time finding positions. But it’s not unlike the hill many of today’s jobless workers have to climb in other professions since there are 13.6 million people unemployed and employers can afford to be as picky as they like.
“There are plenty of drivers who are out there and who are ready to go to work,” said Allen Smith, who writes the AskTheTrucker.com blog. He said claims of a shortage of drivers are “a self-made problem created by the industry itself. They create this image of a shortage to keep wages down for drivers.”
Many trucking companies disagree.
Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express Inc., a company that transports parts for the auto industry, said he sees a “perfect storm” brewing in the trucking industry.
“We saw the storm coming a year and a half ago,” he explained. “We have an aging workforce and as an industry we’ve done a poor job getting people interested in our industry and getting younger drivers involved in our industry.”
He said he has 12 to 15 driver positions open right now and is offering a $1,000 signing bonus to those new hires that stay for at least 90 days.
Nicole Mitchell, president of M7, a company in Omaha, Neb., that specializes in transporting organic commodities nationwide, said there’s a particular need for drivers in agricultural-related products.
It used to be that transportation was a family business, but now the kids of trucking families are going to college and going onto “bigger and better things out there,” she explained.
Mitchell also believes new trucking regulations haven’t helped matters because they limit the pool of job candidates.
“Now with these drivers, you get a moving violation and that's going to make you a higher risk for someone to hire you.”
And job seekers who have some sort of medical condition may find it hard to land a job.
David Fraunberger graduated from driving school in October and believes he’s been unable to find work because he has Type 2 Diabetes. Unlike many other jobs, a driving position requires a physical exam, and even though he has a government waiver that shows his diabetes is under control with insulin employers still won’t give him a chance.
“It takes six months to get a waiver and after that I took a seven-week course and it went downhill from there,” he said.
Even truckers with no medical or driving issues and years of past experience are finding it hard to get back in the game.
Richard Smith of Miamisburg, Ohio, started out as a truck driver at age 23 and drove for ten years until he decided to try something new in 2004. He entered another growth field, health care, and began delivering medical equipment such as oxygen tanks, but found the work physically demanding and decided to return to trucking last year.
Smith, 39, took a refresher driving course that cost him $3,000. He has a spotless driving record and a decade of experience, but no trucking firms would hire him because of his time away from the industry. He eventually got a job with Jet, who he had worked for previously, and is now happy to be back on the road.
“On average I’m doing 10- to 12-hour days, five days a week,” he said, and he makes about $600 a week, but he’s home every night. “If it wasn’t for Jet I would have had to go back to paying my dues again,” he said.

Truck-Involved Highway Fatality Rate Falls to Record Low

2011-04-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

Truck-Involved Highway Fatality Rate Falls to Record Low ATA Praises Safety Efforts of Trucking Industry The rate of highway fatalities from accidents involving large trucks fell 14.1% to the lowest level on record, according to an American Trucking Associations analysis of Department of Transportation data released Monday. ATA’s analysis of vehicle miles traveled showed 1.17 deaths per 100 million miles traveled in 2009, down from a 1.37 rate in 2008. It marks the lowest rate on record since DOT began compiling such data in 1975. “This is great news, not just for the trucking industry but for the entire motoring public,” ATA President Bill Graves said Monday in releasing the analysis. “These improvements are a testament to the commitment to safety made by the trucking industry, the federal government, and trucking’s law enforcement partners,” Graves said. The decline in truck-related fatalities continues a downward trend of the past years and represents the lowest rate since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Highway Administration began compiling data in 1975. NHTSA and FHWA are DOT agencies. NHTSA previously reported a total of 3,380 fatalities in 2,987 crashes involving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds in 2009. That compared with 4,245 fatalities in 3,754 crashes in 2008. FHWA calculated that trucks traveled 288 billion miles in 2009, a decline of 7.4% from 311 billion miles in 2008. “Dedication to safety is a core value of ATA and the trucking industry,” ATA Chairman Barbara Windsor said in a statement

Choosing the most profitable loads

2011-03-31T11:09:00.001-07:00

Load Choices
Factor in costs, mileage and time to help choose your most profitable hauls

Here’s a quiz: Which loads and lane would you choose?
Recently, flatbed loads from Chicago to Denver were paying $2.01-$2.19 per mile, whereas Chicago to Dallas hauls were ranging from $1.60-$1.89. If you chose a trip to Denver, you might want to change your mind. The reason: there were 129 loads to choose from leaving Dallas, while only 43 loads were available out of Denver. Plus, the rates from Dallas were much higher.
This example from trucking columnist and satellite radio host Kevin Rutherford illustrates the options owner-operators face in deciding which loads to take. It also points to some of the information an operator needs to know to choose profitable hauls.
Rutherford says you need to evaluate both the loads and the destinations. A higher-paying load to a particular market may be minimized by lower-paying loads leaving that area. If you’re going to a place with limited load availability, you should consider potential deadhead costs to get the next load, he says. Think twice about accepting a load to a market that doesn’t pay well for outgoing hauls, unless you happen to live there and want to go home.
David Wolff, a consultant at financial services firm ATBS, says the elements to consider in load selection are time, miles and rates. Some operators look for loads with lots of miles that pay lower rates, but the time involved to deliver may reduce the overall payoff. You may be able to land a lucrative local or regional run, but can you sustain it or is it a one-time event? How many loads can you run in a week?
The bottom line in profitable load selection is knowing your costs per mile and break-even point. That means factoring in your trucking expenses, both fixed and operating. Also, don’t forget to add in your personal expenses at home. “If you choose to sit for a day and pass up a load because you felt it didn’t pay enough, be aware you will lose this amount for every day you sit,” Rutherford says.
Wolff adds, “What you should be saying is there is no such thing as an unpaid mile. You have to know how many miles you drive each day and ask how much money did you make that day.”
Wolff advises to pay attention to freight cycles when searching rates. “It doesn’t matter if the economy is good or bad, it’s busier before Christmas than it is in January,” he says. “It’s busier in August than it is in July, because back-to-school gives you a kick.”
If you want to take time off, do it at the beginning of a month or quarter, not at the end when more freight is available, Wolff says. “Every dispatcher is trying to get as many miles on his board as possible every week. Understand those cycles and take advantage of them.”
Rutherford says to keep track of fuel costs per lane. Since fuel costs more on the West Coast, the cost per mile will be greater on a Los Angeles-Denver run than it will be for a Houston to Mobile, Ala., trip. Your fuel mileage will also be less because you’ll have to run through the mountains.
Another consideration is load weight. Reducing weight by 10,000 pounds will increase fuel mileage by 4 percent, Rutherford says. The lighter load might pay less but will cost less in fuel and reduced wear on the truck and engine.

Bottom-line loading
Oregon-based operator Bill Esser knows his bottom line and uses his expense knowledge in selecting loads. Esser, who’s owned Twin Rivers Transport LLC in Springfield, Ore., for about two years, says it takes about $1.15 a mile to cover his expenses and pay his salary. “Anything less than that is a loss, and anything more than that is a profit, in a sense,” he says.

Bill Esser takes his son on occasional cross-country trips, but most of the time he hauls west of Colorado.
Working exclusively with a broker at a company where he was formerly leased and worked as a driver, Esser estimates he has pulled only three loads this year that didn’t gross him $1.15 a mile. Last year, there were periods when half of his loads dipped below that rate.
Esser, who drives a 2001 Peterbilt 379 and pulls a 48-foot flatbed, doesn’t seek per-mile minimums for his loads. Rather, he considers where the hauls go and what the rates are for loads leaving the area. “You get more going in to compensate for less coming out,” he says. “I don’t look at it trip by trip but the round trip.”
Esser, who’s been driving since 1998, says he sometimes will sit a day if he and his broker believe rates will improve. He says Dallas and Houston are good examples of markets where pay can vary 50 cents a mile or more day to day on outgoing loads. “You roll the dice sometimes on rates — sometimes you guess right and sometimes not,” he says

What You Need to Know About Load Securement

2011-03-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Load/cargo securement is a fairly simple safety concept. There is an expectation that items transported in or on your vehicle will stay on the vehicle until ready to be removed. The concept applies to just about anyone who operates a vehicle(s) to conduct business. The first category of vehicles we typically think of are semis, but also included are dump and service trucks, pickups — with or without trailers — and in some cases, sedans.

A company may transport product, parts, tooling, or any number of items in support of customers or its business. Fleet managers and their companies are responsible to ensure those items are transported safely, efficiently, and free from damage. Failure to transport properly secured items may result in property damage, injury, or even a fatality. Claims from these incidents cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars annually. However, most of these incidents are preventable.

To provide guidance in reviewing your company’s cargo/load securement program, this article addresses requirements found in parts 392 and 393 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). Though the content includes sections of the federal guidelines, non-regulated fleets will benefit from the information.

Is Cargo Securement Important?

The answer to this question is obviously yes. How many times have you witnessed a service truck, pickup, trailer (small or large), or semi with loose or improperly secured cargo? A piece of loose cargo can easily bounce off the vehicle and present a hazard to other motorists or pedestrians.

Ultimately, as fleet operators, our customers trust us to safeguard the product transported on their behalf. Customers expect a service provider (e.g., plumber, welder, or mechanic) will safely transport tools/materials/parts.

The motoring public expects a company or organization to protect it against the risk of becoming involved in a crash caused by shifting or falling cargo. Safe cargo handling minimizes company liability exposure and helps project a safety-conscious corporate image.

Lastly, senior executives and shareholders expect fleet managers will protect the company from expensive claims whether those claims are cargo or tool/material losses or third-party liability claims.

In addition to strictly monetary costs, other potential costs may arise:

•The impact of an injury or fatality.
•The effect on customers if the cargo or service is not delivered.
•The impact on a company’s third-party insurance rates.
•The consequences of a vehicle loss on business operations.
To proactively deal with these cost and liability issues, a company must develop and implement a cargo securement process. Ensure all drivers are adequately trained for the specific class of vehicle they operate. As the old adage advises, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Cover the Basics of Cargo Securement

Good housekeeping practices for all fleet vehicles are important. A clean, tidy vehicle is the first step in projecting a positive corporate image to customers and the motoring public.

•Complete a thorough pre-trip vehicle inspection, including all components and accessories. A good reference for a pre-trip inspection can be found in the FMCSR 392.7 Equipment, Inspection and Use (See sidebar below).
•Remove all debris from the vehicle bed or trailer deck. These areas can sustain a certain amount of damage from normal use; make sure they are in good repair.
•A critical precaution is securing a vehicle from movement while it is loaded. The parking brake may be adequate on smaller vehicles, while larger vehicles may require parking chalks.
•Ensure the vehicle is correctly sized if it hauls large or bulky items.
Cargo Inspection, Securement Devices & Systems

As transporters under FMCSR regulation 392.9, companies and drivers are required to:

•Properly distribute and secure cargo.
•Secure all vehicle load securement devices (chains, straps, and tarps) and cargo.
•Ensure drivers have clear visibility on all sides of the vehicle.
•Ensure drivers have free movement of their arms and legs.
•Provide driver access to emergency equipment and easy vehicle exit.
•Inspect the load and devices to secure the load prior to beginning trip.
•Inspect the load within the first 50 miles and adjust securement devices as needed.
•Re-examine the load and securement devices during the trip, adjusting as needed.
•Re-examination intervals must occur whenever a change-of-duty status occurs and when the vehicle has been in operation more than three hours or driven 150 miles (whichever occurs first).

Protect Against Shifting and Falling Cargo

Under Part FMCRS 393.100, the company and driver must ensure cargo transported on a public road is loaded in a manner that prevents the cargo from leaking, spilling, blowing, or falling from the vehicle. In addition, the load or vehicle contents must be secured to prevent shifting. Further, any load shifting may not negatively affect vehicle stability or maneuverability.

States Regulate Vehicle and Axle Weights

Individual states may have both gross vehicle and per-axle weight restrictions. Furthermore, some states may also have cargo covering requirements. Fleet managers and drivers must be knowledgeable about the regulations and restrictions in each state company vehicles travel.

In summary, a poorly or overloaded loaded vehicle is difficult to operate and can contribute to excessive wear and poor fuel economy. Everyone benefits from a sound cargo securement policy: companies, drivers, customers, and the motoring public. WT

About the Author

Mike Butsch is North America/fleet alliance manager for Joy Global, a worldwide machinery and services company. He can be reached at mbutsch@phmining.com.

Cargo Securement Definition of Terms

These definitions relate to cargo securement issues. The complete list can be found in Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation 393.5.

•Aggregate working load limit. The summation of the working load limits or restraining capacity of all devices used to secure an article of cargo on a vehicle.
•Anchor point. Part of the structure, fitting, or attachment on a vehicle or article of cargo to which a tie-down is attached.
•Article of cargo. A unit of cargo, other than a liquid, gas, or aggregate lacking physical structure (e.g., grain, gravel, etc.), including articles grouped so that they can be handled as a single unit or unitized by wrapping, strapping, banding, or edge protection device(s).
•Blocking. A structure, device, or another substantial article placed against or around an article of cargo to prevent its horizontal movement.
•Bracing. A structure, device, or another substantial article placed against an article of cargo to prevent it from tipping and may also prevent it from shifting.
•Dunnage. All loose materials used to support and protect cargo.
•Edge protector. A device placed on the exposed edge of an article to distribute tie-down forces over a larger area of cargo than the tie-down itself, to protect the tie-down and/or cargo from damage, and allow the tie-down to slide freely when tensioned.
•Friction mat. A device placed between the deck of a vehicle and article of cargo, or between articles of cargo, intended to provide greater friction than exists naturally between these surfaces.
•Tie-down. A combination of securing devices that forms an assembly attaching articles of cargo to, or restrains articles of cargo on, a vehicle or trailer, and is attached to anchor point(s).
•Working load limit (WLL). The maximum load that may be applied to a component of a cargo securement system during normal service, usually assigned by the manufacturer of the component.
FMCSR 392.7 Equipment, Inspection and Use

No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied the following parts and accessories are in good working order, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such parts and accessories when and as needed:

•Service brakes, including trailer brake connections.
•Parking (hand) brake.
•Steering mechanism.
•Lighting devices and reflectors.
•Tires.
•Horn.
•Windshield wiper(s).
•Rear-vision mirror(s).
•Coupling devices.
FMCRS 393.100 Which types of commercial motor vehicles are subject to the cargo securement standards of this subpart, and what general requirements apply?

(a) Applicability. The rules in this subpart are applicable to trucks, truck tractors, semitrailers, full trailers, and pole trailers.

(b) Prevention against loss of load. Each commercial motor vehicle must, when transporting cargo on public roads, be loaded and equipped, and the cargo secured, in accordance with this subpart to prevent the cargo from leaking, spilling, blowing or falling from the motor vehicle.

(c) Prevention against shifting of load. Cargo must be contained, immobilized or secured in accordance with this subpart to prevent shifting upon or within the vehicle to such an extent that the vehicle’s stability or maneuverability is adversely affected.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations Parts 393.102-201 provide specific details of cargo securement devices and systems.

Are private fleets about to hit a wall?

2011-03-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

By John D. Schulz, Contributing Editor
March 01, 2011

The trucking world is about to be turned on its regulatory head. An aggressive and costly new truck safety agenda is being rolled out this year by the Obama administration that promises to increase costs for all fleets. Carriers will have to spend more on equipment, personnel, and planning in order to comply with the new regs.
While few are disputing that the potential changes in trucking enforcement will toss the “bad apples” out of the bushel of 4 million truck drivers, the cost of making the highways safer for all of us will eventually be paid through higher driver wages that carriers will be offering to a diminished pool of available, qualified, legal drivers.
CSA stands for “Comprehensive, Safety, Accountability,” a program that’s being rolled out in earnest over the course of 2011. It’s a new initiative designed to improve the efficiency of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) enforcement and compliance program to achieve the agency’s stated mission of reducing commercial motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
How big of a change is this? American Trucking Associations’ President and CEO Bill Graves has called CSA potentially the biggest change in the industry since trucking was economically deregulated in 1980.
Scott Willert, senior manager of private and dedicated fleets at Kraft Foods, calls CSA “a very significant change” in the way truck safety is measured and monitored. In fact, Willert says it has the potential to greatly reduce the availability of qualified drivers at Kraft, which operates more than 2,500 power units and 1,100 trailers. Willert says Kraft Foods “fully supports” the new initiatives because of their overall benefit to highway safety, but acknowledges the new system will be more complex, and expensive for all carriers.
In a nutshell, CSA uses a new safety measurement system that’s more comprehensive and is better able to pinpoint specific violations to better identify high crash-risk behavior by drivers. It involves more interventions, and a wider range of inspections to try and match the government’s enforcement efforts with fleet safety performance levels.
By their very nature, private fleets have a huge advantage over the for-hire sector when it comes to CSA 2010, industry officials and private fleet operators say: Their more stringent hiring and operational procedures are already in place.
“We don’t think CSA will be a big problem for our members,” says Gary Petty, president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council. “When there’s an economic turnaround, truck capacity may not be available to shippers at any price. So, from the private fleet perspective, we feel that this has a pretty positive outlook.”
The second half of the double-whammy about to hit trucking is proposed changes on the HOS rules. A highly-charged political issue, HOS has the potential to reduce available truck capacity by about 9 percent if the legal daily limit on driving is reduced from the current 11 hours a day to 10 hours.
“A change in the HOS rules is going to have some effect on how we operate,” says Greg Whisenhant, a 16-year industry veteran and transportation safety manager for Shaw Industries, a Dalton, Ga.-based floor covering business that operates a sizable private fleet consisting of 900 drivers and 1,400 power units.
“We won’t be able to get as many drop offs in a day if we went back to a 10-hour driving day,” Whisenhant says. “It’s going to be a financial hit in some lanes where we now run single drivers, but might have to use a team operation. Teams are a tougher dog.”
In a typical Washington move, the federal government has not actually ordered such a reduction, at least not yet; although FMCSA has indicated it would like to make that change. According to our reporting, the trucking industry is united in wanting to maintain the current 11 hours, though there will likely be reductions through greater mandatory off-duty time and other driving limits.
Again, while the private fleet sector is not immune from these changes, private fleet operators say that any changes in HOS will be mitigated by the very high-service, high-cost nature of fleet operations.
So, what are the top private fleet managers doing to help mitigate the costs of these expensive new regulatory initiatives? Logistics Management found some of the best private fleet operators and most knowledgeable industry insiders to discover how they’re preparing their operations for this ongoing one-two regulatory punch.
Not since deregulation…
Trucking veterans say CSA 2010 has the potential to be the biggest thing to affect the industry in three decades of deregulation. The ramifications of CSA are multifold—legal, operational, planning, and financial.
First, let’s look at some of the myths associated with CSA: it will kill the trucking industry; that no one will make any money after CSA starts rating everyone; more “good” drivers will lose their jobs; that it was begun to create more government revenue; and that you have nothing to worry about if you’re a carrier with a current “satisfactory rating.”
It is none of that. In reality it’s a sophisticated program that will use technology to gather data collected at roadside inspections and through crash reports to identify unsafe carriers and drivers in an attempt to pinpoint their exact problems.
In short, it gives the federal government and state enforcement personnel more accurate tools to cite and crack down on the estimated 150,000 “bad apples” who give truck driving a bad name and are involved in a disproportionately high percentage of accidents that lead to the 40,000 or so truck-related fatalities every year.
It takes the best points of the current audit system and enhances and supplements it with other tools in an attempt to improve truck fleet safety through a less intrusive, more focused fashion. Data involving fleets and individual drivers will be uploaded monthly, creating more visibility and accountability on both sides.
“It’s just a new way of accounting for the rules,” says Tom Moore, executive director of the NPTC Institute and vice president of public affairs. “It creates a minimum standard of truck safety compliance. But our members are so far beyond these minimum levels. If you’re already above and beyond and over the top, it’s not going to be a huge adjustment.”
Still, there will be adjustments. Individual driving records will be available to both carriers and shippers. Private fleet drivers average about three more years of driving experience at their current companies, and managers say the advent of CSA will cause them to work even harder to keep the good drivers they already employ. “Drivers are going to be given better pay, better equipment, more sophisticated technology, and other incentives that make the job worth keeping,” Petty predicts.
Fleet managers agree. Kraft Foods’ Willert predicts that the shorter length of haul and more regular schedule that characterize many private fleet operations tends to attract very well qualified drivers and minimizes turnover—Kraft Foods’ driver turnover is less than 5 percent, compared to around 100 percent for truckload sector in total.
“In that respect we would anticipate that private fleets as a group may be less affected than contract carriers,” Willert says. However, this could change though with the aging workforce and eventual need to replace current drivers.
Kraft Foods is one of thousands of private fleets directly affected by the changes, however. As Willert explained: “The vast majority of our freight is handled by contract carriers. As such, we are putting in place enhanced monitoring of CSA scores as well as considering changes to our contract language to reflect the new expectations. In the case of our private fleet, the safety and compliance programs we’ve had in place—electronic logs, regular safety training, and incentives based on safety performance—mean that for the most part it has just been a matter of educating our team on the new expectations.”
Jim Angel is a former private fleet manager with Atrium Co., a manufacturer of aluminum and vinyl doors and windows. Angel currently is product manager of safety and compliance for PeopleNet, a provider of Internet-based and integrated onboard computing and mobile communications systems for fleet management. He sees a stark difference between the safety cultures at the top private fleets compared with the typical for-hire carrier.
“Private fleets have the name of their company on the side of the trailer in huge letters,” Angel says. “They have much better control of their operations. They’re willing to use speed governors. They’re interested in better fuel mileage. On the flip side, the for-hire guys hanging on by a shoestring are just interested in survival.”
If survivability isn’t the main concern on the private fleet side, profitability surely is. Kraft Foods is one of many well-run private fleets taking early steps to educate its work force about CSA ramifications when it is fully implemented later this year.
“We’re focusing on educating our management teams and driver groups,” Kraft’s Willert says. “Through these discussions our people have given us ideas on what we can do to help them—such as the development of a maintenance kit that drivers can use on the road for small repairs or quick fixes that will get them to a shop. The conversations have also allowed the drivers to ask questions and share their concerns.”
Kraft has also developed computer-based training for employees and tied this to an incentive program where employees are awarded points to use for prizes for completing the training. “We are also monitoring our data and promptly addressing any issues that arise,” Willert says
The most contentious issue
No trucking topic evokes a hotter response than the proposed HOS rules that were formally proposed in a rulemaking set out by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on Dec. 23.
The government has been fiddling with HOS revisions since 1999. In that time, the industry has endured at least two changes, and the federal government has fought at least three lawsuits challenging the propriety of its proposed changes. Throw in three changes in administrations—with Republicans likely to be perceived as softer on the industry than Democrats—and the result is utter confusion when it comes to any type of long-term planning.
The federal government is due to come out with a final rulemaking this summer that could reduce the actual driving time of an operator from 11 to 10 hours. In addition, there are proposed changes requiring more half-hour breaks during a driver’s on-duty time, current 14 hours in a day. That could also reduce productivity. But there are provisions that would allow the standard 14-hour window to be extended to 16 hours twice every eight-day driving period.
Just the thought of reducing driving time by one hour causes trucking executives to break out their pocket calculators to estimate the cost and inefficiencies that would result. That’s because their networks are built typically on a series of regional distribution centers, serviced by TL and LTL moves, typically with “pedal runs” of about 200 miles to 400 miles—easily accomplished in one day’s driving.
If that driving time is reduced, analysts say, it would be nothing short of chaos. Dick Armstrong, chairman of Armstrong Associates, a supply chain management consulting company, predicts a one-hour reduction would be “very disruptive.”
The biggest immediate impact of HOS will likely be the cost and the increasing calls to end the 70-year-old outdated practice of paper log books, often called “comic books” by drivers and industry officials.
Shaw Industries was among the first private fleets to recognize that the government was going to crack down on HOS, forcing violators to use electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) instead of paper logs to track hours. The company was an early adaptor and has used electronic logging for nearly a decade.
“I wish they were mandated for all carriers,” Whisenhant says. “I’m already running legally, but am competing on backhauls with some drivers who are shaving a 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there off their actual driving time. It isn’t fair.”
How to avoid the brick wall
In NPTC surveys, the overwhelming reason for operating a private fleet was service. If HOS were reduced, that would strain available for-hire capacity even more, further tipping the service equation in favor of private fleets.

“As capacity is affected and some carriers fall to the wayside, rates are going to go up,” says Peoplenet’s Angel. A recent Morgan Stanley survey showed 84 percent of shippers expect rates to go up at least 5 percent because of CSA as capacity is going to get stretched. If an hour of driving time was also eliminated, that would effectively cut capacity by 9 percent and raise carrier costs.

Private fleet advocates say this all plays to their advantage. “Companies will make the investment to go to private fleets to get their product to market,” adds Angel. “If loads are sitting on their dock for two days, somebody in C-level management is going to say, ‘Enough of this, we’re going to get our own trucks.’”

Other wild cards in the CSA equation are how the insurance companies and plaintiff lawyers will react to this flood of new safety data now available to all. If, say, a shipper is involved in an accident and knowingly used an unsafe operator, how much does that increase one’s legal liability? The limit is bound only by the fertile imagination of plaintiff lawyers, insiders say.

“Negligent hiring lawsuits are possible,” Angel says. “All these tentacles are out there. We’ve yet to see how the effects of CSA and HOS will rear their head. But on the other hand, it will make the highways safer for everyone.”

Mostly everyone agrees CSA and HOS are works in progress. “Consistent enforcement across individuals and regions is a concern, especially in the “start-up” period,” Kraft’s Willert says. “We understand CSA is something of a work in progress that we expect will be refined over time. We would like to be involved in any conversations and forums that are taking place. This will give us a chance to hear what is being experienced so far and to share our thoughts and ideas.”

There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of thoughts and ideas, but the real concern is the significant costs for everyone.

See below for related articles.

Justify your private fleet

Uproar over proposed HOS regulations not abating anytime soon

Trucking industry officials, analysts, shippers, rip FMCSA proposal to reduce driving time

Uncertainty over HOS aside, truckers see “opportunities” ahead in transport policy

CSA is off and running

New ExpressPass for Lewiston truckers

2011-03-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

New ExpressPass for Lewiston truckers
System will cut time at Lewiston-Queenston bridge
Updated: Wednesday, 16 Mar 2011, 1:02 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 16 Mar 2011, 1:00 PM EDT

Posted by Nancy Sanders
LEWISTON, NY (Release) - The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, operator of three of the four Niagara River bridges between Western New York and Southern Ontario, today unveiled the new ExpressPass for trucks crossing the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge that will help reduce wait times for all motorists.

The first commercial automatic crossing pass of its kind on a northern border bridge, the ExpressPass program is expected to serve 270 trucking companies using some 15,000 individual trucks and tractor-trailers that pay the one-way toll into Canada at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

The pass also works for tour buses crossing the Rainbow Bridge, which does not handle trucks, or at Queenston. The NFBC’s third bridge, the Whirlpool Bridge, is NEXUS only.

The ExpressPass for commercial vehicles utilizes two fully automated, unmanned toll booths. The driver pulls up to a booth and flashes the ExpressPass card – essentially a debit card – at the designated sensor. The system then deducts the appropriate amount of money from a pre-deposited account maintained by enrolled truckers, counts the pre-registered number of axles on the truck, and up- or down-charges for more or fewer axles as needed, to ensure a speedy, fair and accurate transaction. There is a web-based account management system that allows companies to manage their commercial account online.

“This is essentially a VIP line for truckers. We created the commercial ExpressPass system in-house and it is the first of its kind to be used on the northern border,” said Victor Montalbo, NFBC manager of administration and finance. “The response we received from those who helped us during the testing and pilot phase has been overwhelmingly positive because this system will help them better meet their budgetary needs and shipping deadlines.”

Indiana looking for 2,000 new drivers as economy improves

2011-03-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

Indiana looking for 2,000 new drivers as economy improves
03/14/2011
INDIANAPOLIS — About 2,000 new truck-driving jobs will open in Indiana in 2011, according to The Indianapolis Star.

The newspaper, which interviewed transportation experts and major players in the industry, says economic gains and the retirement of baby-boomer truckers are key factors driving the need for more drivers this year.

It said the average trucker earns US$37,588 a year.
Gary Langston, president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, said more drivers will be needed to haul consumer goods this year. "I try to be optimistic that will happen," he is quoted as saying.

Indianapolis-based Celadon, which has 3,000 trailers and 9,000 trailers, expects to hire about 100 drivers this year. The company’s founder and chief executive Steve Russell says the economic difficulties of the past couple of years have driven some smaller truck companies out of business, leading to “a competitive shortage in the industry”

“We want to take advantage of that," he said.

Changes Proposed for Trucking Regulations

2011-03-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

Changes Proposed for Trucking Regulations
FMCSA proposed trucking regulations may impact the entire supply chain. Hours of service and electronic on-board recorders rules would change schedules and routes.

By DeAnna Stephens Baker
Date Posted: 3/1/2011

Many trucking carriers may soon be making changes to their routes and schedules.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently proposed both a change to the hours-of-service (HOS) requirements and mandatory electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to monitor drivers’ HOS compliance for commercial truck drivers. These changes could affect the entire supply chain, as they would incur additional costs to the carriers as well as adjustments to shipping timetables.

Hours of Service

According to the FMCSA, the new HOS proposal would require drivers to complete all driving within a 14-hour workday and complete all on-duty work-related activities within 13 hours, allowing for at least a one hour break. While the proposal does not specify a limit of daily driving time, it does favor a 10-hour limit. It would retain the “34-hour restart” provision allowing drivers to restart the clock on their weekly hours by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. However, some provisions would apply.

“A fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a large commercial truck,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We are committed to an hours-of-service rule that will help create an environment where commercial truck drivers are rested, alert and focused on safety while on the job.”

Civil penalties for violating this proposed rule would be up to $2,750 for commercial truck drivers for each offense. Penalties for trucking companies that allow their drivers to violate it would be as high as $11,000 for each offense.

Many in the industry see the proposal as harmful to productivity and the economy and have already requested Congress hold a hearing on it. In a letter signed by over 30 organizations, including the American Trucking Association (ATA), Fed Ex, and the National Association of Wholesale-Distributors, industry members said the proposed changes would disrupt the supply chain, noting that many companies have organized delivery schedules and routes around the current regulations, including physically relocating drivers to make the most of the driving time limits.

“Trucking companies, and private carriers with fleets, would need to put additional trucks and drivers on the road to deliver the same amount of freight, adding to final product costs and increasing congestion on the nation’s already clogged highways,” the letter stated. “The significant changes proposed by FMCSA would seriously disrupt parts of the nation’s supply chain and require the business community to incur costly adjustments to their transportation systems – adjustments to make their distribution systems less efficient.”

The ATA also contends that the FMCSA misapplied its own crash numbers so as to elevate driver fatigue as a cause of truck crashes in an effort to rationalize the change in HOS requirements.

“Since the current HOS rules were introduced in 2003, the trucking industry has achieved a continually improving safety record, reaching the lowest fatality and injury rate levels in recorded history,” said ATA president Bill Graves. “It is troubling that this complex, restrictive set of proposed rules is founded on what appears to be incorrect analysis and inflated math.”

Electronic On-board Recorders

The EOBR proposal would require interstate carriers that currently use Records of Duty (RODS) logbooks to document drivers’ HOS to use EOBRs to automatically record the number of hours drivers spend operating the vehicle. Under the proposal, short-haul interstate carriers that use timecards to document HOS would not be required to use EOBRs.

FMCSA estimates, the proposal would affect around 500,000 carriers. FMCSA already mandates EOBRs for interstate carriers with serious patterns of HOS violations and some large carriers have also installed EOBR technology on their fleets. Carriers that violate the 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 Anne Ferro, FMCSA administrator. “We believe broader use of EOBRs would give carriers and drivers an effective tool to strengthen their HOS compliance.”

Many small companies and independent drivers disagree, contending that EOBRs cannot accurately and automatically record a driver’s hours of service and duty status as they can only track the movement and location of a truck and require human interaction to record any change of duty status.

“EOBRs are nothing more than over-priced record keepers,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (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 comment period on the hours of service proposal closed February 28. Comments on the EOBR proposal will be accepted until April 4. Both proposals and information on how to submit comments are available on FMCSA’s Website, www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Disputed oversized loads to start rolling in Idaho

2011-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — ConocoPhillips will start moving its first load of oversized oil-refinery equipment across northern Idaho and into Montana starting Tuesday, said a spokesman for the oil company.

Bill Stephens said the first of four large loads starting from the port of Lewiston will take four days to cross Idaho on a winding and scenic stretch of U.S. Highway 12 on its way to a refinery in Billings, Mont. The shipment follows months of legal challenges over the Idaho Transportation Department's initial decision to permit the oversized loads and approval of the travel plan.

Earlier this month, Idaho Transportation Director Brian Ness agreed to issue travel permits allowing ConocoPhillips to start moving the huge loads.

Stephens told the Missoulian that first load will be joined by a second near Lolo Pass, and the two loads will start a 14-day trip across Montana, beginning Feb. 10 and covering 172 miles from start to finish.

The big rigs are authorized to travel from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. in Idaho, and midnight to 6 a.m. in Montana. They would be parked at roadside turnouts during the day, and likely some nights as well.

In Montana, traffic can be delayed for no more than 10 minutes. In Idaho, delays of up to 15 minutes are allowed.

"They agree that safety's more important than the day you move it," said Jim Lynch, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, referring to the company. "We're interested not only in the safety of the rigs that are moving down the roadway, but what are the conditions for the motorists that are traveling on the roadway? We want to make sure that we're not creating an unsafe environment for them as well."

The transporters have 24 axles and 96 wheels, carrying the huge loads that weight about 300 tons each. The trucks are 29 feet wide, 28 feet high, and 226 feet long.

Officials said each load will be accompanied by about 30 workers, ranging from law enforcement to flaggers and civilian escorts. On tight corners, workers will walk on the roadway and manipulate dollies that support beams on which the refinery equipment sits.

Idaho-based Advocates for the West and Montana-based All Against the Hall said they planned to protest the passing loads, but won't try to block the shipments.

"We think it is important for local residents to understand exactly how massive these shipments are and what their impacts may be for traffic and business on Highway 12," said Linwood Laughy of Advocates for the West. "But we do not suggest that anyone attempt to interfere with them."

"We'll have a demonstration or rally in Lolo whenever the loads happen to be sitting there, and we expect hundreds of people to be there," said Zack Porter of All Against the Haul.

Later this year, ExxonMobil hopes to begin shipping the first of more than 200 oversized loads along the byway, into Montana, then north to the tar sands of Alberta, Canada. ExxonMobil has already delivered more than a dozen massive modules of refinery machinery to the port in Lewiston.

Sartre Vehicle Platooning

2011-01-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

HHA 16 Axle Big Move - 241 ton Generator

2011-01-26T18:49:00.001-08:00

Jig Saw Puzzle

2011-01-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Veeboards

2011-01-26T18:39:00.001-08:00

CSA 2010 Effect On Driver Shortage

2011-01-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

CSA 2010 Effect On Driver Shortage - Not So Much In The Near Term...
January 23, 2011

Jay Thompson

Summary
Nascent freight predictions have many fleets and investors turning their focus toward the impact of CSA 2010, the aging driver pool and other issues on "an impending acute" driver shortage. Our requests around what CSA 2010 really means - are up from shippers, logistics providers, smaller truckers and others watching the industry. We agree that the driver pool is changing, but we don't see it as the crisis and happening as quickly as some think. Here are some thoughts.

Analysis
First of all, I must correct myself. CSA is no longer Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, but the acronym CSA was recently changed to mean Compliance Safety Accountability. For most, this creates some good comments (jokes) in the field around why Comprehensive and Analysis were changed. Needless to say the current name is more appropriate than the former.

Key to the program - or any analysis - is data. Just ask any statistician. One can run some controlled tests like we are doing with 2010-compliant engines - but that is a different animal. Another data argument surrounds the low percent of containers actually inspected that come into the country. Trucking / Logistics can be characterized as anything but a controlled test environment.

So when you ask statistics-folks how much data is needed to make decisions - they say lots. When you ask about the minimum amount needed - they say enough to make a decision. OK, I recently learned about enough and lots when we got trailer temperature data for loads for an Arizona State University USDA study. We got hundreds-of-thousands of data points from runs from Mexico and from across the US where I thought we had lots, but was told it was just enough. Even more would be better!

The same holds true when we look at macro fleet fuel mileage, average fuel costs, equipment utilization data, logbook data, maintenance data and all the other data truckers have to keep an eye on. That gets us into the old DOT SafeStat data, as well and the current "at least more comprehensive" approach. It was estimated by DOT that perhaps 2% of fleets were actually audited in the previous program, which came as a result of on-road inspections, log violations and tickets input. In other words, we needed more data to do it all better (we agree).

The data kicked out to date in CSA is interesting. Of the 400.000+ carriers that are estimated to be in the database, about 20% are rated. This percentage drops if the actual number of fleets are somewhere in-between the 400,000 and 700,000 shown in the DOT registration database (probably too much data here). Regardless if it's 400,000, this means that 80% aren't rated. Why? Not enough data. Why is this? Generally, smaller fleets don't get inspected as often as larger fleets (it's a numbers game) - so there's not "enough" data to rate them.

A good example of data needed comes from the previous Mexico Cross-Border Program. The 25 Mexican carriers and their 100 trucks in the pilot had driver out-of-service violations at one-half of 1% and vehicle violations were 9% - and NO fatalities. This compares to US-domiciled trucking fleets at 7% for drivers and 23% for vehicles. Of course, if you know you are going to be inspected - you do things the best you can - and is what we hope to see with CSA. The conclusion however was that there was not enough data to make comments as to whether these operations were safe.

Then there are the CSA data issues around equipment versus driver. An equipment issue affects both the fleet and driver's scores. What feeds the database? Data for the equipment comes from "certified" inspections entered in from the home-base - and those done on the roadside. Data for drivers comes from their driving record, logbooks, accidents - and those done on the roadside. Positive data can come from more "certified" equipment inspections and driver screening before trucks / drivers are put out on the road.

The key to staying out of trouble comes from data. Roughly a third of road-side inspections are triggered by speed - too fast / too close for conditions. Another third are triggered by visual defects seen in drive-bys such as brakes, lights and tires. The key here is to drive responsibly and do pre-inspections. Once pulled over, the big issues cited are driver logs and equipment maintenance.

As a reference, the 7 Behavioral Analysis & Safety Improvement Categories for Commercial Motor Vehicles are as follows:
1. Unsafe Driving - Dangerous or careless operation (e.g. speed / following too close).
2. Fatigued Driving - Driving when fatigued including Hours-of-Service violations
3. Driver Fitness - Operation by drivers who are unfit due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualification.
4. Controlled Substances and Alcohol - Operation impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of prescription medications or over-the-counter medications.
5. Vehicle Maintenance - Issues due to improper or inadequate maintenance.
6. Improper Loading/Cargo Securement - Shifting loads, spilled or dropped cargo, and unsafe hazardous materials handling.
7. Crash/Incident Experience - Histories or patterns (frequency and severity of crashes.

So what does this mean? If only a small percentage of trucking companies and drivers are rated, then it doesn't seem there will be a massive squeeze on capacity and drivers that some are predicting - until we get a lot more data in for smaller carriers. For the major carriers producing lots of data like Swift, Schneider, Con-way, Fed-Ex, US Xpress, etc., who are the some of most productive, they will be affected more around drivers - since they already do a good job in keeping the equipment up to snuff. The vast majority of the trucking industry will be less affected - for years. Those who do things right, even less so.

Otherwise, the driver opportunities are being planned for with fleets hiring recruiters - and driver schools being cranked up. Additionally, a driver new to the industry has a much better driver score than does an experienced one. Therefore, we feel that the driver shortage may not be coming as quickly as some think - and some others feel the same!

Man Walks Away After Car Crushed by Semi

2011-01-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

So You Got a CSA Warning Letter ...

2011-01-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

This month the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expects to start expanding the reach of its new safety regime, CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability). It's going beyond the nine pilot test states to all states with warning letters to carriers whose safety performance is falling short.

The warning letters will identify the areas where the carrier has missed the mark and explain how carriers can see their own data online and correct it if it is wrong. The letters also spell out what steps the agency may take against the carrier if it does not correct the problem.

"We urge you to take this warning letter seriously and improve your safety record," the letters will say.

CSA Program Manager Gary Woodford said the agency will take a phased approach to sending out the letters. The agency wants to be sure its state and regional personnel are not overwhelmed by phone calls from carriers that receive the letters.

The agency's experience in the pilot states indicates that there will be a strong response. More than half of the pilot-state carriers that received warning letters took action, mainly by going to the CSA website and checking their data. Woodford said the agency is encouraged by that strong response.

The first step

The warning letter, which is triggered by a carrier's performance in roadside inspections and any crashes it may have been involved in, is the first step in a series of gradually tougher enforcement actions.

The letter will cite deficiencies in any of the seven safety categories the agency has established as a way to gauge performance. These categories, called Behavioral Analysis Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs, are: Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances and Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator.

Carriers receive a percentile ranking of their performance in each category compared to other, similar carriers. The warning letter is triggered when their rank exceeds a threshold determined by the agency.

The agency will inform carriers in separate communications about any egregious violations by drivers, such as driving without a commercial license or driving after being placed out of service.
The warning letters also say that failure to improve safety performance will lead to further action.

What comes next

If carriers don't improve their performance after receiving an intervention letter, FMCSA has a range of actions in its arsenal, starting with a targeted roadside inspection based on data that inspectors get from the CSA system. These inspections will take place at permanent and temporary facilities where the inspectors can wirelessly link into the CSA database.

The next step would be an offsite investigation, in which the carrier must submit documents such as toll receipts or drug testing records to the agency or a state partner so officials can identify safety problems.

Continued problems, or more significant ones, can lead to an onsite investigation that focuses on a specific problem or looks comprehensively at the carrier's safety management system.
From there, the agency can move to a voluntary Cooperative Safety Plan in which the carrier addresses safety issues in its operations.

Getting tougher

Getting even tougher, the agency can issue a Notice of Violation that spells out a carrier's safety deficiencies and requires a response.

The next steps would be a NoÂtice of Claim - a civil penalty - or the ultimate penalty, an Out of Service Order requiring the carrier to stop operating.

Woodford said if a carrier's initial violations are significant enough, the agency will not necessarily send a warning letter but will move straight to an offsite or onsite investigation.
Later this year, probably in August or September, the agency intends to publish a proposal to establish new safety fitness procedures under CSA. That rule would not be final until close to the end of the year.

From the January 2011 issue of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine.

Trucker charged in death of teen struck by cement block in Owatonna

2011-01-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

By Nick Ferraro

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

OWATONNA — A truck driver is scheduled to appear in Steele County District Court next month on charges that his negligence led to a landscaping block falling off his trailer and killing a 17-year-old boy last summer.

Darrell W. Jensen is accused of not secur ing pallets of cement blocks properly, resulting in one block bouncing on an Owatonna, Minn., highway, smashing through the windshield of a minivan traveling the opposite direction and striking Steven K. Batt of Waseca, Minn., in the head.

Jensen, 41, of Medford, Minn., faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor charges of failing to secure a load, leaking load and damaged securement devices.

“Based on the information we have, this incident was easily avoidable,” Steele County Attorney Dan McIntosh said.

Jensen was a truck driver for Mendota Heights-based Cemstone Products Co. at the time of the Aug. 3 accident, according to the Dec. 27 criminal complaint, as well as during a 2009 incident in which a block fell off his truck and damaged a car on Interstate 35W in Burnsville.

Jensen, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, pleaded guilty to the 2009 offense and paid a $300 fine in Dakota County District Court, court records show.

Jensen was in violation of five federal regulations that govern securing cargo during the Owatonna accident, according to the criminal complaint.

A trooper with the State Patrol’s commercial vehicle section inspected Jensen’s trailer and noted damaged straps, loose metal edging reinforcement and a load that was insufficiently tied down to prevent movement given the weight of each pallet of blocks, the complaint states. Each pallet weighed about 2,120 pounds, the 36 blocks on each weighing about 59 pounds.

In addition, the pallets were loaded with space between them.

An accident reconstruction report concluded that Jensen’s failure to secure the pallets resulted in the block falling off, according to the complaint.

Batt, who died at the scene, was a front-seat passenger in a Dodge Caravan driven by his friend Steven M. Masberg, 16, also of Waseca. Masberg was not injured and was able to drive to the side of the road.

Jensen told a trooper at the accident scene that he checked his mirrors often to make sure the load was not shifting, according to the complaint. He said as he went around a curve, he saw the block fall off.

Jensen said he had personally secured the load before leaving Mankato, according to the charges. He said that after he realized a block fell off, he placed another strap on the load “to make sure nothing else moved.”

Cemstone’s safety director, Mike Brekken, did not return calls Wednesday from the Pioneer Press seeking comment about the two incidents involving Jensen.

In an e-mail to the Pioneer Press, Tim Becken, the company’s senior vice president of operations, called the August accident “tragic.”

“No one feels worse than Mr. Jensen and everyone at Cemstone, and our sympathies continue to be for the family,” he wrote.

Becken did not respond to a follow-up e-mail from the Pioneer Press asking whether Jensen is still employed with Cemstone.

Jensen, who was charged by summons, is scheduled to make an initial appearance in Steele County District Court on Feb. 28.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for each of the two felony charges and 90 days in jail and $1,000 fine for each of the three misdemeanor counts.

Bungee cords and tarp straps are not suitable for use as tiedowns,

2011-01-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA – Just in case you were thinking of it, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) clarified in a FAQ update that bungee cords are not acceptable as primary restraints under the new cargo securement rules taking effect January 1, 2011.

"Bungee cords and tarp straps are not suitable for use as tiedowns, and are equally unsuited to having an assigned Working Load Limit (WLL). There is no intention to prohibit the use of these devices as supplementary restraint for light weight cargo and equipment," CCMTA added in its guidance.

Originally, the CCMTA referred to bungee cord usage as a tiedown marked with the WLL. However, the agency states in an update that bungee cords are prohibited as securement devices.

On Jan. 1, the educational enforcement period, which for the last six months has consisted of warnings to carriers, will come to a close and carriers who don't have the minimum number of tie-downs rated and marked by a manufacturer with a working load limit will risk being placed out-of-service.

As with many National Safety Code issues, though, carriers are concerned about likely inconsistencies in enforcement policy between jurisdictions

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-12-31T08:21:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

DC Cargo Mall is an established retailer of cargo carrier equipment. Our goal is to provide affordable, efficient, and sound freight restraining tools for all vehicles, to allow you to safely maneuver and secure your load for transit.

Get the best range of Load Securement supplies from DCCargoMall.com

At DCCargoMall.com, we pride ourselves on providing the best range of Flatbed Accessories, cargo securement tools and accessories to help you secure your load, at the best prices. Whether you’re hoisting cargo on and off a flatbed or driving a truckload, you need the best cargo carrier equipment including winch straps, ratchet straps and other freight transmission materials to ensure safe and smooth operation.

At DCCargoMall.com we offer a huge range of affordable cargo carrier equipment fastening gear to enable you to maneuver and secure your freight, including winch straps, winches, ratchet straps and cam straps, e-track, d-rings corner protectors, wheel nets, transport grade chain and binders, and safety flags. Constructed of heavy-duty materials and manufactured under careful supervision, our cargo carrier equipment and stabilizing equipment protects against injuries and damage caused by article shifts and falling cargo.

At DCCargoMall.com, your safety and security is our chief concern. By providing quality cargo carrier equipment to avoid truckload incidents, DCCargoMall.com is making a difference and helping to create a safer environment on the road for everyone. Our winch straps and other cargo handling supplies allow you to transport your goods safety and securely, no matter what the destination.

Shopping for cargo control equipment is easy at DCCargoMall.com
At DCCargoMall.com, we provide fast and efficient shipping of our cargo carrier equipment and products. All products generally ship within 24 hours of ordering, and custom orders are shipped within 3-5 business days. At DCCargoMall.com we ship our products via UPS Ground, and quicker shipping is available at an additional charge. To place an order, simply visit our website at DCCargoMall.com or telephone our customer service staff on 1-866-998-0577

We provide ourselves on providing an exceptional standard of customer assistance. Our customer service representatives take all inquiries seriously and are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about cargo carrier equipment including winch straps, winches, ratchet straps, cam straps and other freight transporting devices. To contact us, simply fill out the online form on our website or telephone our customer service staff.

10-hour driving limit for long-haul truckers.

2010-12-24T06:08:00.001-08:00

Washington - The Obama administration is considering the establishment of a 10-hour driving limit for long-haul truckers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Administration said Thursday it favors reducing the current 11-hour limit by an hour. But the agency is accepting comments on whether to change the rule, signaling it may not be completely behind the idea.

The Obama administration has been considering whether to rewrite rules passed in the waning hours of the Bush administration that allowed commercial truckers to drive 11 consecutive hours before resting. That changed a six-decade standard for truckers.

The administration is “leaning” toward the change, said Henry Jasny, general counsel with Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “They didn’t say they are going to do it.”

Administration officials have been looking at changes since an October 2009 agreement with safety and labor groups who, in return, shelved a third lawsuit over the rules. Groups have specifically sought the 10-hour limit in the proposed rules.

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The Bush administration also cut rest and recovery time at the end of a work week to as little as 34 hours off duty, from the previous guideline of from 50 or more hours.

Safety groups want a 48-hour rest period. But the Obama administration wants to continue the 34 hour off-duty rule while requiring drivers to have two nights sleep before restarting the clock on a work week that could reach 60 hours of driving.

The administration also wants to limit the maximum daily time on duty to 13 hours instead of 14, allowing for a one-hour break.

“We are committed to an hours-of-service rule that will help create an environment where commercial truck drivers are rested, alert and focused on safety while on the job,” Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood said in a news release.

Dave Osiecki, a senior vice president at the American Trucking Associations, said it was strange that the Obama administration was hesitating on the 10-hour rule. “What’s holding them back?” he asked. Osiecki said industry opposes changes to the rules.

The proposed changes are to be published on Dec. 29 in the Federal Register. The public will then have 60 days to comment and make suggested changes. Final rules are to be published by July 26, 2011.

U.S. Proposes Cellphone Ban For Truck Drivers

2010-12-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

The U.S. government on Friday proposed prohibiting commercial truck and bus drivers from using cellphones while behind the wheel.

The Transportation Department rule would affect approximately 4 million drivers, who are already banned by the government from texting while working.

The proposal is the latest move in Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s stepped-up campaign against distracted driving in which he has questioned cellphone use in passenger cars and “hands free” communications technology.

“Every time a commercial truck or bus driver takes his or her eyes off the road to use a cellphone, even for a few seconds, the driver places everyone around them at risk,” LaHood said in a statement.

Nearly 5,000 people were killed and another 500,000 were hurt in crashes of all vehicles involving a distracted driver in 2009, government safety figures show.

Inattention was a factor in 9 percent of large truck crashes, which fell overall in 2009 from the previous year. Most truck crashes involve collisions with other vehicles.

Fatal bus crashes jumped from 20 to 38 in 2009.

Between 6 percent and 13 percent of bus crashes were linked to inattention, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of those types of accidents between 1998-2008.

Many big transport companies, like UPS Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, already prohibit drivers from using a cellphone while operating their trucks.

The cellphone proposal is subject to a 60-day comment period before being finalized.

(Source: CNBC)

CTA concerned over upcoming tiedown marking rules

2010-12-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

CTA concerned over upcoming tiedown marking rules
12/15/2010

TORONTO – The Canadian Trucking Alliance is warning carriers about inconsistencies in enforcement of cargo securement rule changes

taking effect on Jan. 1.

The educational enforcement period, which so far has consisted of warnings to carriers, ends on Dec. 31, 2010 and carriers in violation will risk being put out-of-service.

On New Years Day, each of the minimum number of tie-downs required must be rated and marked with a working load limit. Default values for working load limits will be eliminated from the Cargo Securement Standard.

Unmarked and unrated tiedowns will be disregarded by enforcement if they are used as one of the minimum number of tiedowns to achieve compliance, says CTA.

As with many National Safety Code issues, CTA says that there are likely to be some inconsistencies in enforcement policy between jurisdictions, potentially creating challenges for inter-provincial carriers.

"Governments are committed to moving forward with this change January 1st, despite the fact it will put Canadian and U.S. regulations out of sync. We also remain concerned regarding the enforcement approach taken by all provinces," said Geoff Wood, CTA’s VP, Operations and Safety.

Under the rule, manufacturers must directly mark the tiedowns with a working load limit value, or use a standard marking method adopted by the Web Sling and Tiedown Association to show the working load limit.

Carriers are encouraged to go over the markings with their drivers to ensure drivers know how to locate them on the tiedowns.

FMCSA tightens rules for loads of veneer

2010-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

FMCSA tightens rules for loads of veneer

According to new guidance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), loads of wood veneer must be secured in the same manner as dressed lumber or similar building products. Motor carriers hauling veneer must follow the load specific requirements of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations Part 393.118, which may include the addition of straps thrown over the middle tier. Enforcement officers can no longer allow drivers to just throw straps over the top of a three-tier load, as pictured here.

Oregon DOT Motor Carrier Transportation Division safety managers have announced that beginning June 1, 2010, Oregon enforcement officers will place a vehicle out-of-service when veneer loads are not properly secured. Other states may choose to start enforcement earlier than that, however. Washington State, for example, began enforcing the new requirements on December 1, 2009.

Motor carriers should check the complete rules in FMCSR 393.118, but here's a general summary of requirements:

Bundles One or Two Tiers High:
Bundles must be secured with tiedowns over the top tier.

*Bundles Three Tiers High:
Bundles require tiedowns over the top tier, PLUS one of the following:

Stakes on vehicle sides to prevent lateral movement; or
Blocking or friction devices between tiers to prevent lateral movement; or
Tiedowns over the middle tier; or
Tiedowns over each tier; or
Loaded in a sided vehicle or container of adequate strength (does not include curtain vans or tautliners).
NOTE: At least two tiedowns are required for bundles two or more tiers high and longer than 5 feet. All tiedowns required for each tier must be secured under the WEIGHT and LENGTH requirements in FMCSR 393.106 and 393.110.

Background regarding cargo securement rules
Cargo load securement rules apply to trucks, truck tractors, semitrailers, full trailers, and pole trailers. Each commercial motor vehicle must, when transporting cargo on public roads, be loaded and equipped, and the cargo secured, to prevent it from leaking, spilling, blowing or falling from the vehicle. Cargo must also be contained, immobilized or secured to prevent shifting upon or within the vehicle to such an extent that the vehicle´s stability or maneuverability is adversely affected. Read more about the rules at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Web site.

Securement rules changed significantly in January 2004. Comprehensive federal regulations, which were originally announced in December 2002, arose from years of research and the evaluation of U.S. and Canadian regulations, trucking industry best practices, and recommendations presented during a series of public meetings with industry experts, enforcement officials, and interested parties. Read the final rules regarding Development of a North American Standard for Protection Against Shifting and Falling Cargo.

In August 2004, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued guidance regarding the use of tiedowns and the Working Load Limit assigned to a tiedown. The limit assigned depends on whether the tiedown is indirect securement or direct securement. See Guidance Regarding Tiedowns and Working Load Limits.

Securement rules were adjusted in 2005 as a result of a rulemaking that addressed manufacturing standards for tiedowns and securement requirements for dressed lumber, metal coils, paper rolls, intermodal containers, and flattened cars. With most of the changes, securement rules become less strict. View slideshow describing certain changes.

Major changes include the following:

Securement Devices and Rub Rails — A requirement that securement devices must be inboard of the rub rails has been removed. Motor carriers may now place securement devices either inside or outside the rub rails.

Gut Wrappers — Gut wrappers are not required on multiple tiers of lumber, when lumber is loaded in a sided-vehicle and the sides are strong enough.

Flattened or Crushed Vehicles — Vehicles used to transport flattened or crushed vehicles must be equipped with a means to prevent liquids from leaking from the bottom of the vehicle, and loose parts from falling from the bottom and all four sides of the vehicle extending to the full height of the cargo.

Guidance for Securing Heavy Equipment — The Federal Register includes regulatory guidance for securing heavy equipment. Generally, all accessory equipment must be lowered and secured to the vehicle. A locking pin or other mechanism that prevents the accessory equipment from moving up and down and from side-to-side may be used for the securement. If a pin or other mechanism locks the accessory equipment in place, a separate securement device, such as a chain, IS NOT required. If there is no locking pin or other mechanism to prevent the accessory equipment from moving, then separate securement is required.

Definition of Metal Coil — A definition of “metal coil” has been added to the list of definitions in Section 393.5 of the Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Metal coil means an article of cargo comprised of elements, mixtures, compounds, or alloys commonly known as metal, metal foil, metal leaf, forged metal, stamped metal, metal wire, metal rod, or metal chain that are packaged as a roll, coil, spool, wind, or wrap, including plastic or rubber coated electrical wire and communications.

New Guide to Aggregate Working Load Limit
The aggregate working load limit of tiedowns used to secure an article or group of articles against movement must be at least one-half times the weight of the article or group of articles.

The aggregate working load limit is the sum of:

One-half the working load limit of each tiedown that goes from an anchor point on the vehicle to an anchor point on an article of cargo.
(NEW) One-half the working load limit of each tiedown that is attached to an anchor point on the vehicle, passes through, over, or around the article of cargo, and is then attached to an anchor point on the same side of the vehicle.
The full working load limit for each tiedown that goes from an anchor point on the vehicle, through, over, or around the article of cargo, and then attaches to another anchor point on the other side of the vehicle.
(NEW) The aggregate working load limit for tiedowns used to secure a stack of logs on a frame vehicle, or a flatbed vehicle equipped with bunks, bolsters, or stakes must be at least one-sixth the weight of the stack of logs.

Log Securement – Clarification
Many log trucks require only two tiedowns (wrappers) to satisfy the cargo securement requirements in FMCSR Part 393.116. However, to meet OSHA standards the load may require more than two. In an inspection, a violation exists only if the REQUIRED NUMBER of tiedowns, per FMCSR standards, are loose, missing, or defective. If the additional wrappers are loose, it is not considered a violation.

What is a loose wrapper? Generally, for a wrapper to be considered loose on a log truck the wrapper would be hanging down, with no contact between the wrapper and the bottom of the logs. If extra mechanical means is needed to tighten a binder, then it is already tight enough. Manufacturers of lever type load binders recommend AGAINST the use of a handle extender (cheater pipe). The increased leverage gained by using a cheater pipe can cause deformation and failure of the chain and load binder.

Trucking community fighting to keep New York rest areas open

2010-11-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

Trucking community fighting to keep New York rest areas open By Clarissa Kell-Holland, Land Line staff writer

As states like New York continue to struggle with ongoing financial challenges, the New York State Department of Transportation’s deadline of Dec. 1 for closing another four rest areas is drawing near.

On Monday, Nov. 22, the trucking community met with NYSDOT officials to discuss the safety concerns they have with closing these sites, which provide critical parking to both truckers and motorists traveling through the state.

A familiar name at the meeting was Hope Rivenburg, whose husband, Jason, was killed after he was forced to park his rig in an unlit area and was murdered for the $7 in cash he had on him.

She has also been instrumental in organizing protests at two of the rest areas to be closed.

OOIDA Life Member Lou Esposito of Duanesburg, NY, also attended the meeting with state DOT officials. He pointed out that closing the rest areas is a serious safety concern.

“Where are all of these trucks supposed to park? Nobody wants to come to New York anyway because of the taxes, and now we are going to further cut what little truck parking we have in this state,” Esposito said.

In addition to being a safety issue, Esposito said it’s an economic issue in the state as well.

“None of these distribution centers or facilities will allow you in before your appointment time,” he said. “They all have signs posted ‘no overnight parking’ allowed. We think we have problems now. Just wait until it starts costing the shipping and receiving community more money to bring freight into the area because we’re not truck-friendly, then that’s really going to hurt this state.”

Kendra Adams, executive director of the New York State Motor Truck Association, said she understands that the NYSDOT is under financial constraints that prevent them from changing their position on the temporary closure of six rest areas. But the fight is not over to reopen them in the near future.

“We will need to work with Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and his staff to encourage the reopening of these areas,” Adams told Land Line. “The NYSMTA certainly understands the budget issues facing New York, but we find it unacceptable that the state would choose to find savings by potentially jeopardizing the safety and security of not only our truck drivers, but of all travelers.”

According to the NYSDOT, the agency said it will save $500,000 this fiscal year and $1 million annually in subsequent years through rest area closures.

Mike Joyce, director of legislative affairs for OOIDA, said the state DOT’s cost-benefit analysis just doesn’t make sense because they are still going to have maintenance expenses. Joyce cited examples such as expenses to keep the lights and heat so the pipes don’t freeze, and the cost to continue plowing the sites.

“I just don’t think the savings they are anticipating is going to be there,” Joyce said. “We are going to continue pressing the state DOTs, the Federal Highway Administration and Congress to come up with a financial strategy to address this critical need for truck parking.”

Copyright © 2010 OOIDA

FMCSA Makes Changes in CSA 2010

2010-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

FMCSA Makes Changes in CSA 2010
By Truckinginfo.com Staff

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is making some changes in the CSA 2010 program it will roll out next month.

The agency announced yesterday that based on feedback from the industry and the enforcement community, it is going to address concerns about how the system evaluates carriers in the Cargo-Related safety category, which measures compliance with load securement procedures and hazardous materials requirements. It also said it will change the severity weighting in Cargo-Related category.

FMCSA acknowledged concerns that the Cargo-Related category over-represents certain industry segments and creates a potentially misleading safety alert warning. It said it will fix the problem by adjusting the severity weights.

The agency also is looking into the impact on different industry segments of a carrier's exposure in this category. Pending completion of that study, the agency will withhold carriers' performance percentiles and intervention status from the public. The data still will be available to the carrier and enforcement personnel.

Another change concerns the way the agency displays data in the CSA Safety Management System. The agency will no longer use the term "deficient" to identify a score that triggers an intervention. Instead, it will say "alert."

The intent is to clarify that percentiles above the intervention threshold indicate that the carrier is in line for intervention, and do not imply that safety fitness has been determined already.

The changes were applauded by American Trucking Associations.

"ATA continues to support the objectives of CSA 2010, FMCSA's safety monitoring and measurement program, and we are pleased with the Agency's decision to continue working on its Cargo-Related BASIC to get it right before it's made public," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves in a statement.

The agency is strongly encouraging carriers who have not done so to go to the CSA 2010 web site to review their safety data.

More info: http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Bottom Line Cover your assets

2010-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bottom LineCover your assets

Making money in trucking has more to do with the trailer and what's in it than trucker conversation would make on believe. Proper cargo securement isn't just about safety and compliance; it's about protecting your bottom line.

By Paul Abelson
senior technical editor

When drivers talk about their rigs, they speak of engines and transmissions, sleepers and seats, and a host of other items centered on the tractor. That’s where the interest is, but the money to buy all the goodies comes from the other half of the combination: the trailer.

The trailer seems to be the all-so-important, but routinely ignored portion of the equation. After all, it carries the loads that are the heart of trucking – the reason trucking exists.

Because delivering the loads where they’re needed is important, getting them there safely is critical. “Safely” means undamaged, in the condition they were when placed on or in the trailer or in the box. It also means getting there without incident or accident.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration developed rules on securing loads, based on the North American Cargo Securement Standard Model Regulations that went into effect Jan. 1, 2004.

FMCSA is not involved to protect loads from damage, although properly secured cargo is far less prone to damage than loosely packed items. Their interest is in keeping trucks steady and stable in order to prevent crashes. Loose cargo shifting from side to side is a significant factor that contributes to single truck crashes.

The commodity-specific securement requirements are Part 393, Subpart I. According to the title, FMCSA’s concern is “Protection Against Shifting and Falling Cargo.”

One key concern in Section 393.104 is the condition of your tools. Part (b) is a “Prohibition on the use of damaged securement devices.” It states that, “All tie-downs, cargo securement systems, parts and components used to secure cargo must be in proper working order … with no damaged or weakened components … that will adversely affect their performance.”

Part (d) addresses “Material for damage, chocks, cradles, shoring bars, blocking and bracing.” It states that “Material … used for blocking or bracing must not have damage or defects which would compromise … the system.”

FMCSA officials clarified their references to vehicle structures as they pertain to securement devices. While some wording may appear to set zero tolerance with regard to any cracks or cuts, the agency is only concerned if they will “adversely affect the performance of securement devices, vehicle structures or anchor points.”

They believe their stated policy “combined with the use of uniform enforcement tolerances such as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s “Cargo Securement Tie-Down Guidelines” will ensure consistent and appropriate enforcement actions.”

In ordinary language, FMCSA told inspectors that things don’t have to be perfect, just functionally sound. A nicked chain link isn’t the same as one that’s been cut. A small scratch running with the webbing isn’t like a cut across the web.

But while inspectors will be allowing for normal wear and tear, there are steps you can take to prolong the life of your tie-down and securement devices and to keep them functional.

The Technology & Maintenance Council has two Recommended Practices addressing these devices:

•RP739 – Maintenance, Inspection and Operating Guideline for Cargo Securement Systems Used on Flatbed Vehicles – covers anchor points, mounting hardware, chains, straps, wire rope, webbing and wedges used on platform vehicles.
•RP745 – Inspection and Maintenance Guidelines for Cargo Securement Systems Used with Van-Type Trailers and Truck Bodies – covers anchor points, mounting hardware and load control devices including straps, chains, webbing, wedges, logistics tracks, D-rings, load bars, wood blocks, pallet racks, wooden cleats, rubber skid mats and all forms of dunnage.
Before and after each use, inspect all securement devices for wear or damage, especially those exposed to dirt, ice, chemicals or cleaning solutions. Load strength and product ratings are for new products. Wear often occurs gradually. It may greatly reduce strength as products age. It’s a good idea to have a fresh set of eyes check the devices periodically, as an operator using a product daily may not notice gradual wear.

The TMC RPs advise that any field repairs should be limited to replacement. No straightening of bent products or welding is permitted. Securement devices should be placed out of service if synthetic webbing has any acid or alkali burns, or any melting, charring or weld splatter. If there are holes, tears, cuts, snags or embedded particles that will leave the web damaged if removed, the strap should be replaced. Broken or worn stitching in load-bearing areas and any excessive abrasion are cause for removal. Also, don’t use any knotted webbing.

Pitted or corroded fittings should be replaced. So should bent, dented or cracked load bars. If any apparent defects that could affect the ability of any tie-down, anchor point or cargo securement device are found, the device should be replaced if it looks as if its strength might be compromised.

Platform trailers have more specialized equipment, including winches, winch tracks, ratchet tie-downs, chain binders, chains, wire ropes and fiber ropes, both synthetic and manila. Winches should be inspected for secure mounting fasteners, crack-or break-free welds, and any deformation of the mandrel that could affect either anchoring or winding webbing or weaken the mandrel itself.

If deformed or broken ratchet teeth or damage to the pawl mechanism are found, replace the winch. Damaged pawls and teeth could result in a sudden release of a loaded mandrel. Inspect winch tracks for damage. Make sure there are positive stops to prevent unused winches from falling off.

Ratchet tie-downs should have undamaged frames. All pawls and ratchet teeth should operate smoothly. Hooks should be undamaged. Anchors and bolts should extend through lock nuts by at least 1-1/2 threads. Anchor end pins should have cotter pins in place, if so equipped.

Check flatbed webbing for cuts, abrasions and burns, especially near the hook eye. Free ends should be seared to prevent unraveling. Inspect chain binders for damage at hooks, eyes and swivels. If the frame or handle is deformed, or if hooks are bent, remove them from service. Check chains for stretched or deformed links. Never field-weld chain.

No more than six broken strands per full turn around the core are allowed on outside layers of wire rope. If cores have broken wires, discard the rope. Also discard if the rope is kinked. Kinked rope should never be straightened. Fiber ropes should be inspected like wire rope.

Keep your cargo restraints undamaged and make sure they’re in good working order. Your cargo will thank you, and you’ll enhance your reputation for delivering loads claim-free. And that is where the real money comes from. LL

First snow of the season on the Siskiyou Summit brings slides and crashes

2010-11-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

Krystle Henderson / KTVL.com

SISKIYOU SUMMIT, Ore. -- Hazardous driving conditions Tuesday as snow levels drop to pass level. Police reported several accidents up and down the I-5 since the storm arrived Tuesday morning.

The rain and snow made for dangerous driving conditions over the Siskiyou Summit pass.

Cars slid off to the side, Oregon State Police was busy getting them back on the road safely and tow trucks turned one vehicle right-side up after the tires slipped on the icy road and rolled-over a couple of times landing on the roof.

The driver said she may have injured her collar bone and the dog that was with her got a couple of scrapes but she said she was more upset and worried about not being able to drive. Her truck is totaled now and she was on her way to pick up dog food and transport some thirty dogs to an adoption event this weekend.

"Adopting a lot of dogs out this weekend at the adoption event, it was going to open more spaces for other dogs that are going to be euthanized and now I don't know how I'm going to do that," Charlotte McClendon said.

She said she was driving safely and the wet weather was all to blame.

McClendon said she was only going 45 mph in the fast lane but she hit a slick spot on the road and lost traction.

securing wire rod.

2010-11-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Shippers may be held liable in accidents

2010-10-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 25, 2010
By Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer

When a trucking accident is caused by a shift in cargo, the shipper -- not just the trucker or carrier -- may be held responsible if evidence shows that the company sending the cargo shared the duty of securing the load, a federal court has ruled.

The ruling is a victory for a truck driver who was injured in May 2005 when his tractor-trailer overturned as it rounded a bend in Hanover, York County.

In Spence v. ESAB Group Inc., the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument that federal trucking regulations impose a safety obligation only on the carrier, and that Pennsylvania law would not impose the same duty on the shipper.

The unanimous three-judge panel reversed a decision by U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo in Harrisburg, which granted summary judgment in favor of the shipper, on the grounds that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's regulations require of the carrier (but not the shipper) the exclusive duty to safely secure cargo to prevent shifting during transit.

The 3rd Circuit said Judge Rambo read the federal regulations too broadly, and failed to recognize that shippers may share responsibility, depending on the facts of the case.

"Those who undertake the task of loading, securing, and hauling cargo on tractor-trailers have a duty to exercise due care to protect property and persons from the risk of harm," U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Vanaskie wrote. Judge Vanaskie, who was joined by Judges Julio M. Fuentes and Joseph F. Weis, found that the "primary duty" to assure that a load does not shift in transit "generally rests with the carrier and its driver."

But Judge Vanaskie also found that "where there is evidence that a shipper undertook to load and secure the cargo being transported by a third-party carrier, the shipper also bears an obligation to exercise reasonable care."

That's good news for plaintiff Charles Spence, the Houston truck driver who was seriously injured in a rollover accident, soon after picking up a load of welding supplies from the ESAB Group's plant in Hanover, Pa. In the suit, Mr. Spence claims that ESAB workers assured him that their method of securing the load with metal cleats on each pallet was sufficient, and that it was unnecessary to use the more complicated block-and-brace process that calls for securing each pallet in a wooden frame nailed to the floor of the truck.

ESAB's lawyers at Pepper Hamilton moved for dismissal of the suit, arguing that, as the shipper, it owed no duty to Mr. Spence, the driver. Federal regulations, the defense argued, "squarely" and "exclusively" place the duty to ensure that cargo is adequately secured on the driver, and not the shipper.

But the plaintiffs' lawyers from Connelly Baker & Wotring in Houston argued that Pennsylvania law was on their side.

They cited the 1952 decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Kunkle v. Continental Transportation Lines Inc., which held that a shipper can be held to owe a duty of care in both loading and securing the cargo.

Now the 3rd Circuit has sided with the plaintiffs, agreeing that the Kunkle precedent remains good law despite predating the federal trucking regulations.

"By finding the shipper liable, the court in Kunkle necessarily recognized that the shipper had a duty to perform its undertakings [with] due care," Judge Vanaskie wrote.

The evidence could convince a jury that ESAB assumed the duty to secure the load: "There was evidence that ESAB selected the appropriate securement device, that Spence complained to ESAB concerning the way the cargo was loaded and secured, that ESAB in response stated that it never had a problem with any of its loads, and that Spence relied upon this assurance in using only load stars to prevent lateral movement of the cargo," Judge Vanaskie wrote.

Plaintiffs attorney David George of Connelly Baker said he was pleased that the 3rd Circuit decision "clarified an area of law that had become murky."

ESAB's lead lawyer, Charles S. Marion of Pepper Hamilton, said the 3rd Circuit ruling "leaves Pennsylvania in the minority" because most states have followed the 4th Circuit's Savage rule. But Mr. Marion also said that if ESAB is ultimately forced to take the case to trial, he is confident that it will prevail because even if ESAB is held to have a duty of care, the plaintiff "will not be able to show a breach of that duty."

Shannon P. Duffy:

No-one should be in the loading/unloading area if they are not needed.

2010-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Loading and unloading of trucks account for a large number of non-driving injuries within the trucking industry each year. Injuries may be minor from improper lifting or manual handling of freight or could be fatal with industrial machinery involved.

Supervisors shall verify that operators are capable and qualified on each type of equipment before allowing the equipment to be operated unsupervised. Operators shall perform a pre-operational check of their equipment, report necessary repairs promptly and not use any equipment that is unsafe.
Provide a safe place where drivers can wait if they are not involved. Drivers should not remain in their cabs if this can be avoided.

No-one should be in the loading/unloading area if they are not needed.

Vehicles must never be overloaded. Overloaded vehicles can become unstable, difficult to steer or be less able to brake.

Always check the floor or deck of the loading area before loading to make sure it is safe. Look out for debris, broken boarding, etc.
Forklifts shall not be driven into and out of trailers at loading docks until such trailers are securely blocked and brakes set.
Employees shall not place any part of their body outside the running lines of the forklift or between mast uprights or other parts of the unit where shear or crushing hazards exist.
Employees shall slow down and sound horn at all locations where visibility is obscured or obstructed. If the load being carried obstructs forward view, the operator shall be required to travel with the load trailing. Avoid sharp turns and sudden starts and stops.
Employees shall not be allowed to stand, pass, or work under the elevated portion of any forklift.
Use minimum forklift speeds to avoid damage to trailer and material. When ramps are wet or icy, special attention is required to avoid slipping or sliding.
Ensure that all pallets are secured with straps, stretch wrap or other manner and properly loaded to avoid shifting.

Check that the hydraulic dock levelers are properly positioned on the bed of the trailer to allow for safe entry.
Check overhead clearance of doorways and entrances, some are below normal.
Wear personal protective equipment required for any hazards, Steel-toe shoes are always required.
Notify the supervisor if a hazardous substance is spilled. Follow proper procedure for containment.
Proper lifting techniques shall be used. Get help or use lifting equipment if necessary.
Checks must be made before unloading to make sure loads have not shifted during transit, and are not likely to move or fall when restraints are removed.
Be alert for materials which may have been loaded improperly.
Trailer stands shall be used where applicable; i.e. pup trailers, etc.
Restraining devices should not be released until the load is ready to be removed.
Interiors of trailers shall be kept free of debris and hazards.
Cargo heaters and refer units shall be protected to prevent damage or impaired operation resulting from the shifting or handling of cargo.
A satisfactory system of communication and procedures should be arranged between the loader operator and truck driver before loading commences, and the truck driver and the loader operator should agree on a safe place for the driver to stand.
Make it a practice to stay with the load until completion of the unloading process.
All chain, wire strap, load binder attachments and anchor points should be maintained in good condition

There must be safeguards against drivers accidentally driving away too early. This does happen and is extremely dangerous.
Measures could include:
• Traffic lights.
• The use of vehicle or trailer restraints.
• The person in charge of loading or unloading could hold the vehicle keys or paperwork until it is safe for the vehicle to be moved.
Avoid damage in transit, as you make deliveries, you must also adjust the remaining load to further prevent damage; in other words, pile it down so nothing can fall and keep .

Load within your registered gross weight.

The basic five axle weight limitations are 12,000 pounds on the steering axle and 34,000 pounds on each tandem configuration giving an over-all gross of 80,000 pounds. You must check axle weights and maintain them within legal tolerances.

Wben loading vans, each shipment will require different modes of loading. Use common sense and follow these procedures:

Use even distribution of weight from the front of the trailer to the back and from side to side.
Use blocking to prevent the movement of larger items such as reels or machinery.
Ensure there is no threat of movement by loose boxes. For example, pile boxes down or use a load bar and a sheet of plywood to prevent boxes from falling backward.
Use blocking for metal shipping crates that are not butted against each other or supported by the sidewalls of the trailer.
Use strapping or shrink wrap around cartons, which are loaded on a skid and are not butted against one another.
Ensure there is no piling of heavier cartons on top of lighter cartons, which may be crushed.
Use strapping or some form of securing for items, which are, loaded loosely at the back of the trailer and which may fall off the trailer when the doors are opened.

Do not load any freight past the 48' mark of the trailer. This means you will have 5' of empty trailer at the rear. Be sure to brace the load properly to prevent the load from falling back.

Over-Dimensional Loads

Always ensure that you read permits thoroughly with respect to any restrictions regarding routes, which you will travel, restrictions to movement during certain hours of the day, and speed limits that you can maintain.

Loading & Unloading Freight

Drivers are often expected to load and unload freight; this may include manual lifting, such manual lifting can stress the back and lead to injuries. Using forklifts, dollies and other material handling devices can reduce the potential for injuries. Overexertion injuries are another concern, particularly when drivers who have been traveling for an extended time are expected to move freight. Hand injuries are also common. To prevent these injuries:
Evenly distribute loads within the trailer. Proper tandem adjustment and use of landing gear or stabilizer bars are ways to prevent accidents from unstable falling loads. However, their use can be strenuous, which increases the risk of injury.
Proper staging (placement) of freight can help reduce injuries associated with manual materials handling as well. For example, heavy objects should be placed in areas that are easily accessible.
Some carriers use portable adjustable platforms, which can be placed at different heights inside the trailer. This not only better stabilizes the load, it also provides for easier access.
Drivers and dockworkers should avoid pinch-points of the latching mechanisms on trailer doors that either swing back or open overhead.
Wearing gloves can help workers avoid cuts and scrapes from sharp edges and pinch points.

Falling & Leaking Freight

Falling and leaking freight expose drivers and dock workers to additional hazards. Consider these controls:
Swingback doors should be opened slowly and workers should be cautious of freight that may be leaning against the door. To avoid injury, workers should keep the door between themselves and the trailer’s contents as a shield against falling freight.
Overhead doors should be raised slowly until workers are sure that no freight will fall. Before entering the trailer, they must also pause for a moment to ensure that the door will stay up.
Drivers should use the ropes or straps provided when closing an overhead door; these should be long enough to permit drivers to pull the door down while standing on the ground. If a door must be closed while standing on the vehicle, drivers should pull down far enough so it can be closed from the ground, then dismount the vehicle and finish the task. Drivers must also be warned to never pull the rope and dismount at the same time.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your load is evenly balanced and distributed so as not to endanger driving. Check axle weights and maintain them within legal tolerances. Contact Management or Dispatch if any load does not meet legal tolerances.

Dockworkers should be alert for signs of leaking freight, especially if it contains hazardous materials. If employees suspect a release, they should immediately exit the trailer and notify personnel who have been trained to respond to such incidents.
If the truck driver needs to go into the loading zone for any reason (eg, to adjust equipment, make repairs, inspect load, etc) they may do so only with the loader operator’s approval. No loading activity should occur while the truck driver is in the loading zone.

Load Securement & Tie-Downs

According to federal regulations, all freight must be secured while in transit. Achieving this can be physically taxing - i.e., it brings another injury risk into play.
Training drivers how to safely use load-securement devices, such as chains, tarps and binders, will reduce their risk of injury.
Handling tarps in windy conditions is extremely dangerous and should be avoided.
In some cases, a driver harness tie-off is necessary for safe load securement duties.
Systems that allow drivers to make adjustments from the ground further reduce the risk of injury. Making adjustments while standing on the vehicle or its load presents a fall hazard, especially if the load shifts or if the securement device fails. The best practice is to avoid standing on any part of the load when applying or releasing tie-downs.

Loading Docks
A loading dock is a busy area. Forklifts, dollies and carts, and employees usually intermingle continually with one another. As a result, the potential for injury is significant. Forklift tip-overs and falls off loading docks can produce severe injuries. In some cases, a driver may unknowingly pull his/her truck away from the dock while the forklift is moving in between.
In addition, trailers may inch forward during forklift operations. This "trailer creep" can create a gap large enough for the forklift to fall into. Consider the following controls:
Proper communication or the installation of swing gates is important to reducing the potential for these types of injuries.
The use of properly maintained dock locks, spring-loaded braking systems, auxiliary air hoses, and wheel chocks can help prevent this problem.
The driver and loading dock personnel must also secure dock boards and bridge plates between the loading dock and trailer, and verify that these devices are strong enough to support the anticipated load.
Forklift operators must receive extensive training on how to safely operate the vehicle and be made aware of potential hazards that exist within the operating environment.
Dock workers must also make sure that hand trucks, dollies and carts are in good condition prior to use, and ensure that forklifts are properly maintained and used only within their specification limits.

Wear personal protective equipment consistent with the hazard. Steel-toe shoes are required, safety glasses, ear protection etc. may be required.

Ensure that the hydraulic dock levelers are properly positioned on the bed of the trailer to allow for safe entry.

When ramps are wet or icy, special attention is required to avoid slipping or sliding.

To maintain stability, trailers should be parked on firm level ground.

The over-hanging part of the load must be clearly marked.

Shortage of Truckers Will Raise Shipping Costs

2010-10-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

By: Brian A. Shactman
CNBC Reporter

As the national unemployment rate remains at 9.6 percent with Friday's jobs report, there's one part of the U.S. economy that is desperate for workers—or rather, drivers.

According to several trade groups in the trucking industry, there could be a shortage of drivers next year, and the estimates range from 200,000 to as many as 500,000.
At first blush, a person might ask: Who can't drive a truck?
But that is part of the problem.
New regulation is entering the industry, and the higher standards will knock some drivers off the road.
On top of that, Baby Boomers are beginning to retire in large numbers. According to shipping giant UPS, it could lose 25,000 drivers to retirement over the next five years alone.
"We are already seeing a contraction in (driver) supply," said Stephens Inc. analyst Jack Waldo, who added that this is more than a short-cycle issue.
"This is a systematic 5-10 year problem."
Another part of the labor shortage is the uptick in demand. As the economy has moderately recovered, so have freight volumes. Businesses need to expand, and that sparks another leg of driver demand.
It also serves as a catalyst for a rise in cost, especially if trucking companies have to actually cut capacity due to a dearth of drivers. Both UPS [UPS 69.2376 0.5776 (+0.84%) ] and FedEx [FDX 89.23 -0.52 (-0.58%) ] recently raised rates, and according to Dahlman Rose & Co., trucking rates could jump double digits next year.
There is a counterforce here as well. Even though the U.S. jobs picture has not markedly improved, it has not worsened. For many, driving a truck is a last resort. Average salaries are under $40,000, and the job doesn't carry many of the pension benefits it did a generation ago.
However, Waldo says the job profile will soon get better—as the need for drivers spikes.
"I don't think we've spoken to a single truck driver who has said wages will go down in the next 12 months," said Waldo.

Perhaps the biggest take-away, beyond showing a sector full of job opportunities, is the simple fact that as shipping costs filter through the economy, they will ultimately mean higher prices for businesses and for consumers.
If you think this perfect storm for a driver shortage is also a good climate for investing, there are several names to keep in mind. Landstar [LSTR 37.50 -1.42 (-3.65%) ] is a good one to watch because it reports earnings next week and just received an upgrade to buy at Stifel Nicolaus. JB Hunt [JBHT 35.51 -0.43 (-1.2%) ] is a much bigger freight company, and then of course, there are two industry heavyweights UPS and FedEx.
© 2010 CNBC.com

Tanks Falls Off Semi, Land On Car

2010-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

DETROIT -- Two people, including an 8-year-old boy, are recovering after being hurt Wednesday morning when two large plastic tanks fell off a trailer and landed on their car.

Detroit police said the incident happened at about 8 a.m., near Stratton and Waterman streets.

Sheila Santiago said her sister's 45-year-old boyfriend had just dropped her sister off at work and was driving back with her nephew when the tanks fell on them.

"When he was coming this way, the truck driver was going that way, and he just smashed into the top of the bridge and the things just fell on top of the car," Santiago said.

Watch: 2 Hurt When Tanks Fall Off Truck

Truck driver Ron Davis said he was carrying the tanks from Chicago to drop them off at a yard in Detroit when he came up to a railroad trestle.

The clearance sign for the trestle is 12 feet 8 inches. Davis said his truck is 12 feet 4 inches.

"My truck will clear, but these tanks are a little bit higher. By the time I realized that, it was too late," Davis said. "That car just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Santiago said her nephew was in the back seat and wasn't seriously hurt because the tanks fell onto the driver's side.

"He was screaming because of the pain, and my nephew was crying too because he was in pain," she said. The boy was taken to Children's Hospital.

Santiago said her sister's boyfriend was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital with a broken leg.

"I'm just glad nobody got hurt, seriously. The last thing I wanted on my conscious is if somebody got really hurt or worse," Davis said.

Copyright 2010 by ClickOnDetroit.com.

CSA 2010 driver profiles are anything but an open book

2010-10-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

CSA 2010 driver profiles are anything but an open book

By Jami Jones
senior editor

You sit down at your safety director’s desk and he keeps pointing at a piece of paper and talking about your CSA 2010 score.

There’s one big problem with this scenario: Not your company, not the general public, not even you have access to your driver profile in the CSA 2010 system.

Information about drivers is collected in the Driver Safety Management System – called the DSMS by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the driver profile by regular folks on the road. It’s the counterpart to the Carrier Safety Management System, or CSMS and carrier profile.

Both systems collect information from roadside inspections and crash reports. Any violations or citations noted on those inspection and crash reports are collected for use in the CSA 2010 systems.

Only violations and citations that FMCSA has decided drivers are responsible for are collected in the driver profile.

But the question still remains: What the heck is this driver profile used for and who has access?

The driver profile is used for enforcement on drivers by enforcement personnel. The actual CSMS document with all of your info is not available to your motor carrier, the general public, or even you.

To be crystal clear on this, these are FMCSA’s exact words – with the bold type and all – about the DSMS from the CSA 2010 methodology:

“Currently, the DSMS results are being used strictly as an investigative tool for law enforcement and are not available to carriers, drivers or the public.”

That’s pretty clear. Your motor carrier does not have your CSA 2010 “score” as determined by FMCSA.

That still doesn’t change the fact that your motor carrier’s safety director is waving something around that has some sort of score that rates your record of compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations.

Another simple truth that all drivers need to understand is, your compliance with the regs has not ever been a mystery to FMCSA or your motor carrier.

Even before CSA 2010 was dreamed up, the industry was tracked through SafeStat. Motor carriers could log in to their SafeStat profiles and drill down through inspections and see which drivers were racking up tons of violations and citations.

SafeStat focused enforcement on out-of-service violations, but the info was all there.

That still has not changed.

Through the CSA 2010 carrier profile they can see what violations and citations you have received while you are driving for them.

FMCSA has also added a way for motor carriers to get a feel for your compliance before they hire you. That is through the Pre-Employment Screening Program. That program also collects data from all your roadside inspections and crash reports.

So between a PSP report and your track record while employed by motor carrier XYZ, your safety director could have quite a bit of data collected on you.

Third-party software providers that sell “driver management” software have tweaked their programs based on what they know about CSA 2010 methodology and can take all of that data that your motor carrier has on you and plug it into their system.

Remember, the third-party software providers are considered the public, so they are not getting your information from FMCSA. They are getting it solely from your motor carrier.

Now many of these software providers are using the data collected from all of their client motor carriers. So they may have a ton of data. Problem is, it’s probably just a small percentage of all the data out there.

When you think of all of the CDL holders – which by some estimates can be 4 million to 6 million – that’s a lot of data compiled by FMCSA. There’s no way software companies, even ones with mega carriers as clients, can duplicate the sheer mass of FMCSA’s data.

So, even though your company doesn’t have your CSA 2010 “score,” and what it has may or may not even be close to how FMCSA sees your compliance, can you be fired?

The truth is: Yes.

Motor carriers have the right to set their safety policies any way they want to. You can bet that their insurance carriers play a role in deciding how much “bad behavior” they will tolerate out of a driver.

Signing those paychecks allows motor carriers to set their own rules. It’s that simple.

CSA 2010 has a lot of companies and drivers alike running scared. The snake oil salesmen aren’t helping anything with their claims of duplicating CSA 2010 scores and compliance ratings.

That confusion has far too many companies and drivers missing the point of the program and the simplest way to avoid unfortunate enforcement interactions with FMCSA.

It all boils down to one fact: You won’t have any problems if you will just keep your nose clean and comply with the regulations. LL

jami_jones@landlinemag.com

Motor carrier inspector killed in collision

2010-09-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wayne County - Authorities say an Indiana State Police motor carrier inspector was killed when he lost control of a pickup truck and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer.

It happened Sunday afternoon on Interstate 70 near Cambridge City, about 50 miles east of Indianapolis. Westbound I-70 reopened Sunday evening, and the eastbound lanes were expected to reopen shortly after.

A state police news release says 64-year-old Robert E. Pitcher of Pershing was towing a power brake tester when he lost control of the vehicle.

His vehicle struck the guardrail on the north side of the roadway, then crossed both lanes into the median, crossed the median and struck an eastbound semi-tractor trailer head-on.

Pitcher was pronounced dead at the scene. He was a 22-year veteran of the Indiana State Police Motor Carrier Division.

An air ambulance took 42-year-old semi driver Ricky L. Mills of Heidrick, Ky., to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis for treatment of extensive burns. Mills was hauling eight vehicles in his trailer at the time of the crash.

Associated Press.

Stuck between a rock and an A-frame

2010-09-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

Stuck between a rock and an A-frame OOIDA members push for stronger regulations for securing loads of flat stone

By Jami Jones and Paul Abelson
Land Line staff

Hauling granite and marble isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t safe with the collective blind eye that the feds turn to certain cargo securement.
Truckers who make a living hauling granite, marble and other flat, heavy materials are quickly learning that the new cargo securement regs handed down last year are lacking, to say the least.
One who knows this to be very true is OOIDA member Steve Mosbrucker from Kahlotus, WA.
Mosbrucker was picking up a load of granite in Seattle March 22, 2004, as he had many times before. He said everything was pretty much standard operating procedure: The crew of Pental Marble set up the A-frame and started loading the granite.
“This particular A-frame was too short for the slabs they were putting on, so they extended it with two-by-fours,” Mosbrucker said.
Mosbrucker said the crew worked about 30 minutes, taping the wood extensions to the A-frame, and proceeded to load it up. The load made the 280-mile trip. When he arrived, the receiver didn’t have Mosbrucker park in the usual spot. Instead, he was told to park for unloading in a spot that wasn’t quite level.
“I really didn’t like it,” Mosbrucker said. But there was a crew ready to start unloading.
The load had been secured with two straps all the way around the granite to hold it to the A-frame. When the first strap was released, Mosbrucker saw some movement.
“The next thing I knew, somebody was telling me not to move,” Mosbrucker said.
The granite had knocked him from the trailer. As the granite fell flat on the trailer it shattered. Some pieces landed on Mosbrucker.
He had seven orbital fractures, a broken jaw, a compressed left shoulder, a hip injury and deep scrapes to his left leg just below the knee.
His cheekbone was put back together with reconstructive surgery, and over time – with more than 10 weeks off the road – he’s recovered for the most part.
“I still have pain in my shoulder and right hip,” he said. “My jaw even hurts every once in awhile.”
Mosbrucker knows he is very lucky he wasn’t killed.
Others haven’t been so fortunate. Shifting slabs of rock have killed two people in the past few months, one in Utah and one in Indiana.

The regulations
Theoretically, A-frames would have been addressed in the “new” cargo securement rules released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration late last year. But they weren’t.
The common sense of load securement is to prevent motion in any direction. Shifting cargo unbalances trucks, leading to tipovers. Loose cargo can fall off trucks, wreaking havoc on the highways.
About a decade ago, there was a rash of accidents in Toronto and around Buffalo, NY. Ontario enacted a policy of strict liability and increased fines to $50,000 (Canadian) for cargo loss.
These incidents also led the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators to initiate research to develop effective and uniform cargo securement regulations in 1994. John Siebert of the OOIDA Foundation took part in the development process.
In 1997, the proposal was delivered to the joint Canada/U.S. Standards Harmonization Committee. The Mexican government agreed to abide by any regulations adopted by its northern neighbors. By January 1999, a draft model regulation was presented, and by May 1999, a final proposed model regulation was agreed to.
The proposed regs incorporated detailed scientific specifications. Everything from direct and indirect tiedowns to the angle of the tiedowns was specified. The proposal was crafted with the full intent of preventing cargo loss and improving safety.
Canada accepted the model regulation into law by reference; the United States couldn’t do that. Instead, FMSCA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in December 2000. There was a comment period and hearings. FMCSA’s final rule, issued September 2002, left out some critical elements. The weakened version became effective in the states in January 2004. Canada accepted the U.S. regulations last September, effective this July.
References to geometry were removed; regulators felt it impractical for enforcement personnel to carry protractors and measuring equipment. The requirement for weight limit markings on tie-down devices was deleted.
Also left out were regulations on A-frame design, strength, etc., with no mention of hauling flat stone.

Working for change
Charlie Parfrey, owner of the company Mosbrucker is leased to and a member of the OOIDA board of directors, has tried to get several federal agencies to address the problems with A-frames.
Parfrey said that one FMCSA staffer went so far as to tell him that the agency probably would not revisit cargo securement anytime soon.
So with FMCSA doing little to address the issue of inadequate A-frame and lack of regulation in this segment of the industry, Parfrey took up the battle with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
At first, Parfrey’s pleas for help fell on deaf ears. A letter from OSHA essentially blew off the whole situation with Mosbrucker – because he was a contractor and not an employee and therefore not within the agency’s jurisdiction.
Eventually, because of the pressure Parfrey placed on the agency – with the help of a group of interested individuals from the trucking industry – the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, the state equivalent of OSHA, issued a “hazard alert” concerning the dangers of granite and marble transport racks.
While it could be considered a victory, the alert doesn’t implement new regulations regarding design or integrity of A-frames used in stone slab hauling.
For the time being, there are some steps truckers can take to protect themselves while hauling stone slabs.
But there may still be hope as neither Parfrey nor Mosbrucker are willing to let governing agencies continue to ignore what they consider to be a regulatory oversight that is threatening the safety and lives of truckers.

Quick Reference Tie Down Guide Card

2010-08-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Steel Coil

2010-08-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Simply sit at your computer and order !!!

2010-08-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

How to keep your cargo safe and secure

People try their best to thwart the possibility of an accident but you cannot stop it altogether.
There are several variables that are beyond a driver's control. The unfavorable weather, the actions of other motorists, the condition of the road on which the vehicle is running, the quality of maintenance, and cargo carrier equipment in place.

A recent survey conducted by the Center for Truck Statistics reveals that there were more than four hundred thousand truck load crashes involving deaths, injuries, or property damage. This is where the need of high quality safety mechanism and Cargo securement steps in. You need to keep your cargo secure at all costs.

Ratchet tie down straps and load binders are considered as the most reliable means of tying down and securing cargo for transport. These equipments keep the cargo stable and stationary. Rachet straps are of high quality and allow you to take up any slack in the strap, with the help of the ratchet, which will in turn regulate the amount of tension in the tie down strap. Ratchet tie down straps offers you higher stability than other truck tie downs.
When using Cargo securement equipments, it is quite essential to adhere to proper usage procedures to avoid any accident to the user and damage to the cargo being secured. You need to ensure that winch straps do not prevent any doors, such as the tailgate of the vehicle, from shutting appropriately.
Ratchet tie down is a reliable way by which you can secure items atop flatbed or roofless trailers. You can use winch straps to transport heavy cargos without having the need of shifting contents during transport.

There are several stores on the internet that offers you the right safety equipments and tools to help you sustain your cargo. Load Securement is essential to assure smooth operation. These web stores offer high quality cargo fastening gear that ensures that your freight will remain safe and secure all the way.
Simply sit at your computer and do a quick search online for Cargo securement and you will come across wide selection of equipments and tools that comprises of ratchet straps, truck tie downs, logistic straps, cargo bars and much more. These equipments will ensure that your cargo is delivered right at the destination specified by you in a safe and secure way. The high quality winch straps safeguards you from article shifts, falling cargo, and other disasters.
These stores offer you outstanding customer service and the staff is always willing to resolve all your doubts and queries. You can even follow the web stores on social networking sites. To upgrade yourself regarding Load Securement equipments you just need to subscribe for the newsletter. You will get all the details about advanced Load binders and ratchet tie down straps along with the special deals and promotional offers, right in your inbox. These websites are committed to offering you cost effective, efficient, and top notch quality freight restraining tools for nearly all vehicles. Browse online right now to ensure the safety of your cargo in every step of the way.

3 Killed When Steel Coil Falls From Truck

2010-08-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Three people died Monday night when a tractor trailer lost its load in Orleans, Ind.The accident happened around 7:30 p.m. Monday on State Road 37 at the Orange-Lawrence County line. Three people in two cars were killed.

The truck driver, 33-year-old Israel Rankin, of Paoli, Ind., told police he was forced to slam on his brakes a few minutes prior to the crash. Rankin said after that his load didn't feel right.As the truck entered Orange County and came into a curve, the chains broke. The 44,000 pound coil of steel bounced off his truck and slammed into two oncoming vehicles.A Chevy S-10 pickup was hit first by the coil. The driver, 22-year-old Zachary Staggs, of Bedford, Ind., and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Shannon Steele, of French Lick, Ind., were killed instantly.The other passenger, Staggs' 11-year-old sister Mackenzie Taylor, was airlifted to Kosair Children's Hospital with serious injuries. She was last listed in fair condition. A Chevy Aveo was hit after the pickup. The driver of the car, 41-year old Michael Daughtery, of Mitchell, Ind., was pronounced dead on the scene."This one hits home. I used to coach the boy of the truck driver and Mr. Daughtery, even though he lives in Lawrence County, his family is in Orange County, he went to school in Orange County and the 21-year-old girl is from French Lick. Even though they have addresses in other counties, they are all Orange County people," said Orange County Sheriff spokesman Bill Fullington.The truck driver was not cited for any violations.The sheriff's department will send the accident paperwork to the prosecutor, but no charges are expected to be filed.

Load Securement and Unintended Consequences of CSA 2010

2010-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Load Securement and Unintended Consequences of CSA 2010
By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

What will happen to open-deck carriers when the CSA 2010 points for cargo securement violations start piling up? The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has developed a weighted point system for determining the severity of various violations of the FMCSRs, listed in a document called the Safety Measurement System (SMS) methodology. The section dealing with cargo securement lists 95 violations. All but five carry a 10-point rating.

According to Al Koenig, the "retired" chairman of Midwest Specialized Transportation of Rochester, Minn., open-deck carriers are going to accumulate points at a great rate, and that could cause a few shippers and insurance companies to question the integrity of their carriers.

"Overall, the CSA 2010 concept is a good one, but there are some unintended consequences," he says. "More than 50 percent of the violations that end up in the load securement category are not load securement violations at all. They are primarily violations of certain state permit requirements."

For example, one of Koenig's trucks was cited at a scale for violating permit conditions prohibiting travel when temperatures exceeded 85 degrees. The thermometer at the scale facility showed 88 degrees. That kind of problem, Koenig says, is just part of the heavy-haul world - but under CSA 2010, it's also a 7-point violation in the cargo securement category. In other instances, he notes drivers and carriers are being cited for "shifting cargo" that resulted from non-preventable crashes, but not contributing to crashes.

"If you have hours of service problems, or driver or mechanical problems, you can fix those things," he says. "You cannot fix 'load securement' the way it is right now because there are other things going in there that will turbocharge the score."

He's referring to the degree to which the regulations are interpreted differently in various jurisdictions, and to the issue of warning tickets. In the past, warnings were just that. Under CSA 2010, warnings are recorded too - at 10 points a pop. That kind of thing is causing a lot of people to question the need to rate nearly every cargo securement violation a 10.

"What conclusions am I supposed to draw about a 4-point violation for brakes out of adjustment, and 10 points for failing to chain down the screed on a paving machine?" he asks. "We're not supposed to compare points accrued across other categories, but to a shipper, an insurance company, and to enforcement, an 80 is an 80. That's going to attract attention in a hurry."

Discussions are taking place with DOT already, and everyone at the table has an open mind at this point. In the meantime, Koenig urges carriers to bring this issue to the attention of their customers and insurers.

From the July 2010 issue of Heavy Duty Trucking.