FMCSA Declares Bus Company Out of Service
Tornado Bus Company, Inc., of Dallas, TX, which has about 50-60 buses, was placed Out of Service by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on December 27, 2007, because it is an “imminent hazard” on the highways. Here is the link to the Out of Service Order itself.
Tornado was involved in an accident on November 25, 2007, in Arkansas, where their bus crossed the median in Interstate, struck an on-coming pickup truck, killing the pickup driver, and three bus passengers. During the ensuing audit, investigators discovered such egregious violations at Tornado, that they are taking this highly unusual step of basically revoking Tornado’s operating authority until further notice.
After reading the Out of Service Order…. I believe that FMCSA is doing the 100% correct thing here. I don’t know who came up with the idea to place Tornado OOS, Joanne Cisneros, Lucy Johnson, or Darrell Ruban, but kudos for doing your job. According to the OOS Order, Tornado is running buses well in excess of the hours of service rules. On the November fatality accident, the driver was over his hours. Putting two and two together…. over hours, bus crossed the median into oncoming traffic.. the bus driver probably fell asleep. Tornado has a regularly scheduled run from Dallas to Chicago, which is almost 1,000 miles. That would take 16-18 hours to run legally, and would require two drivers. Bus drivers are only allowed 10 hours of driving time in one shift. Tornado is apparently sending only one driver on this run. I know I don’t want to ride in a bus where the driver is driving for 17 straight hours. Of course, I wouldn’t be caught dead riding on a Tornado Bus, but I also don’t want to share the highway with a bus where the driver is driving for 17 straight hours.
The imminent hazard statute is almost never used by FMCSA anymore. Its lawyers are too scared they won’t be able to back it up, as the words, “imminent hazard” really have no definition. It’s hard to prove that an accident could happen today, tomorrow, or the next day, which is what you’re saying if you declare someone to be an imminent hazard. Think of it in terms of how Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart described pornography. It’s hard to define, but “I know it when I see it”. In this case, you have a bus company running drivers well over hours, and you already have a multi-fatality accident caused in all likelihood by fatigue. Tornado is most certainly an imminent hazard.
Back in the day, when FMCSA used to issue imminent hazard OOS Orders more frequently, they had a habit of placing a carrier OOS on Monday, and letting them back in service on Tuesday. I hope they don’t do that in this case.
College Bowl Predictions
Well, I kind of gave up on predicting games every week, as 1) it was taking too much time, and 2) I was getting all my predictions wrong.
However, we have a little free time here around the holidays, so we’ll throw some things down on paper, just for discussion.
Holiday Bowl: Arizona State +2.5 over Texas… We think this game means more to ASU. Texas is probably still reeling from dumping to rival Texas A & M.
Champs Sports Bowl?: Boston College -4 over Michigan State…. This might be the best game to bet on the slate. Michigan State? Average Big 10 team against a very good BC team with a pro QB. Shouldn’t be close, but don’t worry, if it is, MSU will do something dumb to cost themselves the game.
Texas Bowl (what are these bowls??): Houston +6 over TCU…. No real reasoning for this other than Houston is at home.
Emerald Bowl (who’s going to sell those nuts, now that Robert Goulet has died?): Oregon State -5 over Maryland… Oregon State is too good for the Terps, and is on a roll.
Meinike Car Care (didn’t this used to be the Cooper Tire Bowl?): UConn +2.5 over Wake Forest…. Two very middle-of-the-road teams, but we’ll take the points.
Liberty Bowl (I refuse to use the sponsor’s name in Bowls that have actually existed for more than 10 years): Mississippi State +3 over UCF… can’t believe I’m buying into this SEC myth, but it’s been a long time since the Bulldogs have been in a bowl, the game is in Memphis, which should make it a home game for them, I’m getting 3 points? I’ll take it.
Alamo Bowl: Texas A & M +5.5 over Penn State…. I’ve seen Penn State a few times this year, and they stink. Why they’re favored over anyone I don’t know.
Independence Bowl: Alabama -3 over Colorado…. Nick Saban must win this game, or he’ll be the biggest fool in college football.
Bell Helicopter Bowl (what is that??): Air Force +3.5 over Cal…. I was already to pick Cal, and then I looked and saw they’ve lost 6 out of the last 7 games. I don’t care who you’re playing, that sucks. The Cal players have apparently packed it in for the year, Air Force should be excited to be there, expect the unexpected.
Sun Bowl: South Florida -6.5 over Oregon….. Since Dennis Dixon got hurt, Oregon has been horr-rrr-ible. South Florida is explosive, and should cover the 6.5 points.
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl (this game is literally sponsored by a truckstop, not a joke): Fresno State +5.5 over Georgia Tech. Seems like a long way to go for GT to play in a bowl game sponsored by a truckstop.
Music City Bowl: Kentucky -3 over Florida State…. Seems like a pretty even matchup, but apparently Bobby Bowden has suspended his whole team for the game, so we’ll take the home standing Wildcats.
Copper Bowl (didn’t this used to be the Copper Bowl?): Indiana +4 over Oklahoma State…. Two crummy teams, so we’ll take the points.
Peach Bowl: Auburn +2.5 over Clemson…. Damn, I did it again, picked another SEC team.
Outback Bowl: Wisconsin +2 over Tennessee…. Somehow Tennessee lost to Penn State last year, and if they can lose to PSU, they can lose to anyone.
Cotton Bowl: Arkansas +3 over Missouri…. We think Missouri has a helluva team, and is better than the Hogs, but it’s hard to get up for a game after you have a shot at the big game, and then fall all the way out of the BCS.
Gator Bowl: Virginia +6 over Texas Tech…. Seems like a bunch of points, we’ll take ’em.
Capital One Bowl: Florida -10 over Michigan… The Wolverines stink. Lloyd Carr stinks. We’re sorry to see him go. One thing Lloyd knows how to do, other than lose to the Bucks, is lose his bowl games. Lloyd’s Last Stand is a predictable blowout loss.
Rose Bowl: USC -13 over Illinois… the trendy pick would be the Illini, but we have a hunch that USC is going to make a statement.
Sugar Bowl: Georgia -7.5 over Hawaii… Another game where I wish I still bet. Hawaii is simply outclassed. Georgia will destroy them, no Boise State miracle this year. Although if Hawaii wins, shouldn’t they be the undefeated National Champions?
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma -7.5 over West Virginia… Hard for WVU to get ready for this game without a coach. Good job, Rodriguez, blow the national championship vs. Pitt, then screw WVU again. Funny, if he’d beaten Pitt, I wonder if he’d be reupping with WVU, and Les Miles would be at Michigan?
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech -3 over Kansas… VT is the real deal.
International Bowl??? (what the hell is this doing here?): Rutgers -10 over Ball State…. Coach stays put, team is excited, team wins.
GMAC Bowl: Tulsa -5 over Bowling Green….. I have no reason why, just don’t care.
Championship Game: LSU -4 over Ohio State…. Aggggghhhh!!!!! I hate LSU, I hate LSU’s fans, I hate the SEC, I hate all the ESPN bootlickers who worship the SEC, but it’s just going to be too tough a hurdle for the Bucks to climb. It’s a home game for LSU. We suspended two of our cornerbacks, and we’re still coming off this ridiculously long layoff. I just don’t think our defense is good enough to carry us. We’ll probably hang close for awhile, then be done in by some Boeckman picks. LSU 31, Ohio State 20.
Well, I’ve been wrong all year, so here’s hoping I continue to be wrong! Go Bucks! Go Big Ten!
Sound Off on Hours of Service!!!
Do you want the powers that be to hear what you have to say? Then say it!!! Now!
FMCSA is accepting comments on their interim rules… which in case you missed it, are the current rules, which have been in place since 2004.
Not only are you sounding off to FMCSA, you are also sounding off to the Courts and to Congress, both of which may get in involved in this before it’s all over. Do you think the 70 hour rule is a good thing? Do you think it’s stupid that you can’t split your sleeper berth? Do you want on-board recorders in all trucks? Let ‘em hear it!
TO COMMENT ON THE HOURS OF SERVICE RULES, GO HERE!
They are accepting comments until February 15, 2008.
It doesn’t matter if you’re Yellow Freight, or John Q. Public, they have to read your comments. The more statistics you can use, the more they may consider them. Of course, FMCSA is probably going to do, whatever they want to do, but you’ll feel better if you speak your piece.
Trucker Kills 4, NOT Charged
Dimitrios Tseperkas crashes into stopped traffic on the NJ Turnpike, August 14, 2006.
Well, this is the flip side of what I keep preaching. I keep saying, “if you get in a big crash, and you don’t have your ducks in a row, you’ll go to jail”. Well, not always. August 14, 2006, Dimitrios Tseperkas slams into stopped traffic on the NJ Turnpike. He kills 3 people in the car he hit, then flips his trailer full of bricks onto another car, killing a fourth. He was estimated to be doing 70 MPH in a 55 zone, and had 4 out of 10 brakes out of adjustment at the time of the wreck. According to the newspapers, Tseperkas also was suspended at the time of the wreck for unpaid tickets, and had been involved in 7 accidents in the past 15 years.
The State of New Jersey elected not to charge him with anything more than careless driving. He ultimately ended up paying a fine of……. wait for it……. $234. I’ve had bar tabs higher than that. Here’s what the Bergen Record had to say about that.
Oh, but it gets better. The Turnpike Authority filed suit against Tseperkas in an attempt to collect money for the damage he caused to the Turnpike. But they also named 3 of dead people Tseperkas ran over in the lawsuit! So that’s how it goes in New Jersey. Get killed by a speeding truck, and then get sued for the damage your crushed car caused to the road after you’re dead. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, watch the guy who killed you walk away scot-free.
For the record, the state of New Jersey said it was all a big mistake to sue the deceased. Yeah right, it was a big mistake after somebody made a big deal of it. If nobody had spoken up, New Jersey certainly wouldn’t have caught the mistake. As for the driver in the wreck, I guess the moral of the story is this: if you’re going to kill people in a truck due to your own negligence, make sure to do it in a place where the prosecutors and the police don’t do their jobs.
Rapper Gets Placed Out of Service
R. Kelly’s tour buses are sidelined due to no logbooks.
According to the article, rapper R. Kelly was traveling through Utah on Tuesday December 18, heading to Chicago from Sacremento, where he had performed on Sunday. He was traveling in a convoy of 4 tour buses. The Utah Highway Patrol clocked the lead bus going 101 MPH, with the others close behind. The troopers checked the bus drivers’ logbooks: none of them had up to date logs, so all were placed Out of Service for 10 hours. Yet it gets better. R. Kelly then missed a scheduled court appearance in Chicago on Wednesday, where he had to appear on a charge of videotaping himself having sex with a 14 year old. Apparently, R. Kelly is the rap version of John Madden, and won’t fly.
What’s the moral of this story? If you’re going to videotape yourself having sex with a 14 year old, make sure your logs are up to date, and your bus isn’t going 101 MPH. (Politically correct note: ASC, Inc. does not condone having sex with 14 year olds. We thought that went without saying, however, apparently there are some PC people out there, undoubtably voting for Hillary Clinton, who need it spelled out.)
Trucker Charged in July, 2006 Harrisburg Crash
Trucker Charged in July, 2006 Harrisburg Crash
In July, 2006, a tractor-trailer came upon stopped traffic on Route 581 in Camp Hill, PA. He was unable to stop, crashed into the traffic ahead on a bridge. The truck pushed a 1996 Lincoln about 100 feet, and then launched it over the 3 foot high side of the bridge. The car fell 30 feet to the street below, landing on the roof. The driver of the car was declared dead at the scene.
The truck driver has finally been charged with homicide by vehicle, among other charges. An inspection of the truck found it had defective rear brakes. A total of six Out of Service defects were discovered. The lesson here is that if you’re a truck driver, your truck must be in proper operating condition at all times. My guess is that the defective brakes were not the primary cause of the accident. The driver was probably driving way too fast, came upon the stopped traffic, and too late! Crunch. However, the fact that his truck was in an obvious state of disrepair was no doubt a prime factor in charging him with vehicular homicide. If you are driving junk around, even if it’s not yours, and you’ve told your boss umpteen times to get it fixed…….. you’re still responsible. Just like this truck driver.
What happens if I violate the Hours of Service Rules?
I taught another safety class for my construction company in Cincinnati this week. One of the best questions I got was, “well what if I drive beyond the 14 hour rule, how much trouble am I in?” If you get stopped by the police while you are over hours, you’ll be placed Out of Service for 10 hours, and get a big ticket. If DOT audits you, and they discover you went over the limit, there could be penalties for it. Usually, DOT will allow a small percentage of violations without penalty, as long as you are not 5 or 6 hours over the limit.
The main thing you must keep in mind is legal jeopardy. If you are operating over the hours limits, you are civilly and possibly criminally liable should a big accident occur. A few days ago I posted an article about how Swift Transportation has to pay a $36.5 million judgement because their driver was (probably) over hours at the time of a fatal wreck. Or, the driver himself can be prosecuted and put in jail. It may not even matter if the accident wasn’t your fault. The prosecutor can use the argument that you wouldn’t have been there to be invovled in the accident if you were following the hours rules…. an argument he will win. Here’s an example of a driver who violated the rules, and was found guilty this year. Most of time, there are little or no consequences for violating the rules. If something happens, though, there can be devastating consequences.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.
FMCSA issues Interim Final Rule on Hours of Service
This week, FMCSA issued an interim Final Rule on Hours of Service, which is…. the same as the existing rules! What is this all about? To recap: FMCSA changed the hours of service rules in 2004 at the direction of Congress. They were sued by public safety groups, such as “CRASH”, and “PATT” (that’s Parents Against Tired Truckers), complaining that the new rules allowed the drivers to work too many hours. This summer, a U.S. Court of Appeals agreed that FMCSA had erred in issuing the rules, and vacated some key points of the current rules, such as the 34 hour reset of the 70 hour rule. The implementation of the Court’s decision, however, has been delayed twice. Now, prior to the Court decision becoming effective, FMCSA has stepped forward and re-issued the current rules, while stating that it is working on a new, permanent set of rules, which will be issued in 2008.
What does this mean RIGHT NOW? The current rules stay in effect, and will be in effect for probably the next 6-12 months.
What will happen next? Who knows? I imagine the advocacy crazies will be back in Court petitioning for an injunction or something, which they might get. What will DOT’s new rules look like in 2008? Probably going back to only 10 hours driving, but keeping the 34 hour reset, I bet. But stay tuned, as we haven’t heard the last on this issue. The ball is now back in the Court’s court.
Swift Transportation Takes $36.5 M Hit From Crash
In summary, Swift Transportation Co., probably the largest truckload company in the country, was involved in a fatal accident in Kansas in 2004, where their driver ran a stop sign, hit another vehicle, killing the driver. The jury returned a $36.5 million judgement this week against Swift.
$36.5 million! Why so much? Well, the article is posted below, but I’m reading between the lines. Apparently, Swift could (would not?) produce the logs from the accident, which may have shown whether or not the driver was over hours, or fatigued at the time of the accident. Since they did not produce these required documents, the jury punished them.
Huh. My attorney keeps telling me that if documents disappear following a crash, judges and juries just assume the worst, so apparently that is true. Especially in this case, as no doubt Swift had all kinds of documents other than the logs which would have shown how many hours their driver worked prior to the crash, such as GPS documentation. Was that provided? Probably not. I guess the moral of this story is retain all documents following a big accident, don’t get cute and start “disappearing” things.
It also shows what can happen if you have a fatal wreck, and your driver is violating the rules at the time of the crash. From the Arizona Star:
“Swift Transportation Co., a Phoenix-based trucking giant, has been slapped for $36.5 million in damages in a lawsuit over a fatal traffic crash in Kansas. The verdict, which included more than $13.5 million in punitive damages, was returned Friday after a nearly four-week trial in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Steven Copple, a Phoenix lawyer for the winning side in the court battle, argued that significant monetary damages were warranted in the case because Swift failed to cough up driver logs the company was required to keep under federal regulations. The logs, which Swift claimed it was unable to produce, may have shed light on whether the Swift driver at fault in the crash may have been cruising down a roadway in a fatigued physical state, Copple said. “We were hampered in our efforts to determine if he was, in fact, fatigued,” Copple said Monday. The hefty verdict clearly represents the significance placed by jurors over the loss of a Kansas man who left behind a widow and eight children, ages 13 to 26, at the time of the crash, Copple said.
Robert Greer, a Phoenix attorney for Swift, said the verdict will be carefully reviewed and legal remedies for the trucking company will be sought in the trial court and, if necessary, in the appellate courts. The lawsuit was filed in July 2004 by the survivors of Thomas Steven, 57, of Wichita, the owner of a plumbing-supply business who was killed in a crash near Hutchinson, Kan. The crash occurred in April 2004 when the driver of a Swift rig failed to slow down while motoring at 65 mph on Kansas 61 on a sweeping, flat curve leading to the intersection with U.S. 50, according to court documents filed by Copple. Kevin Jones, the driver, cruised over three sets of rumble strips that are designed to warn motorists of an approaching stop-sign controlled intersection, according to the documents. The driver then ran a stop sign and crashed into a Chevrolet Suburban, killing Steven and seriously injuring two passengers in the vehicle, according to the documents.
“Mr. Jones never did more than apply light to moderate pressure on the brakes,” Copple argued in the court papers. “He never thought about stopping.” Following the crash, Jones was unable to offer an explanation why he failed to stop, Copple argued.”
DOT Compliance Package On Sale
I’ve been detained for basically the past 10 weeks on a large project for a big construction company, and I have not been advertising the DVD package as much as I should be. However, I am now getting back into it, and will be making some changes. First, I finally think I have found a good person to be my full-time assistant, which should help me move these DVD packages. Second, I have replaced the giant regulation manual pictured in the graphic above, with a smaller, more compact JJ Keller Management Edition of the regulations. It has exactly the same text in it as the giant 3 ring binder I have been using, except it’s about 1/3 of the cost, which I am passing on to you the customer. Why didn’t I use the Keller book to begin with? Well, basically because I’m a moron, I guess. I thought they would have a problem with me using their stuff. After a conversation with one of their reps, not only do they not care if I use it, they are encouraging it. So, yea, JJ Keller, live and learn. I have been selling the package for $295. Since I can now produce the package for less, I will sell it for $275. Also, the shipping which you pay will be less, as well, since the package does not weigh as much. Such a deal.
At some point in the very near future, we will start selling JJ Keller compliance materials on this site at a discount. I’m not 100% sure how this works out for Keller, but basically, they allow me to buy their stuff at a discount, and do not care how I resell it. I will pass most of the discount on to the customers. Not all of it, hey, I’m in business too, but most of it. So stay tuned, soon we’ll have logbooks, rulebooks, training packages, etc., for sale right here, for less than what Keller charges.
