Lightweight Vehicles and the DOT
DOT rules and regulations apply to all vehicles, and their drivers, used in interstate commerce with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GWVR) of 10,001 pounds or more. The GVWR of a vehicle is a value assigned by the manufacturer. It is how much he thinks the vehicle can safely carry, including the weight of the vehicle. It is not the weight of the vehicle, or the weight at which you register the vehicle. The GVWR is commonly found on a metal plate on the inside of the door.
Power units are not the only vehicles with GVWR’s; trailers have them as well. When determining the GWVR of a combination unit, you must add the GVWR of the truck to that of the trailer. If it is 10,001 pounds or more, and goes across state lines, it is subject to the rules.
It doesn’t take much to come up with a 10,001 pound or more rig. A ¾ ton pickup probably has a GVWR of around 8,000 pounds. A one ton pickup is close to 10,000 pounds, if not over. If you pull any sort of trailer with these type of pickups, you are very likely over 10,001 pounds for the combination, thus making you subject to the rules.
A vehicle, which has a GVWR of over 10,001 pounds, but not over 26,001 pounds, which is a CDL vehicle, is subject to all of the same rules as a CDL vehicle, except for drug and alcohol testing. This means if you have a one ton pickup, pulling a kiddie ride, going state to state on your route, that driver must fill out logbook. He must have a medical card. The truck and the trailer must have an annual inspection. The truck must have a fire extinguisher and reflectors. The truck must have a USDOT number on it.
Trucks being used for non-commercial purposes are not subject to the rules. For example, you use your one ton truck to pull a trailer loaded with construction equipment for your job: subject to the rules. You use your one ton truck to pull a trailer with some ATV’s on them so you can so four-wheeling on the weekend: not subject.
Undoubtedly, you are thinking, “hey, I see those type of hot-shot combinations all the time on the highway, and none of these guys have USDOT numbers on them”. They’re probably violating the law. Most DOT cops don’t bother with the smaller combinations. However, if a DOT cop wants to write some easy tickets, all he needs to find is a one ton pulling a trailer for a business purpose with out-of-state plates, and no USDOT number on it. It just a question of if the officer wants to spend the time writing all those tickets that day. If you get stopped in one of these smaller rigs, and your driver is not adhering to any of the rules, it can be several hundreds of dollars in tickets. You should review their equipment and determine if they have any of the 10,001 – 26,001 pound GVWR vehicles. These vehicles and their drivers are subject to nearly the same rules as the big trucks!
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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.
Head of the DOT Wants a Mileage-based Tax
Last week, head of the DOT, Ray LaHood said we needed to consider taxing motorists (and trucks, naturally) for the amount of miles driven, rather than the amount of fuel consumed.
This idea was hastily denied by the White House….. despite the fact that LaHood works for the White House. A mileage based tax is something the government has been eyeing for years, particularly now that Americans have begun fueling their vehicles less. Due to $4 gas, we traded in our SUVs, and bought fuel efficient cars. Plus, nobody has a whole lot of loose change, so we’re not driving as much. So revenue from gas taxes have gone down. The DOT could try to do what we’re all doing, make more with less, cut back on spending…………… I’m sorry I had to pause there, because I made myself laugh too hard to keep typing!
The fact is, the government never gets any smaller. Ever. Bureaucrats like LaHood exist for one purpose, to make his agency bigger. That’s his sole function. Get more funding from Congress. Hire more bureaucrats. Spend it all and ask for more. Repeat cycle. So if one of the main sources of revenue for his agency is declining, clearly LaHood can’t say, well, we at DOT need to tighten out belts and make what money we have go further. He needs to find more cash.
President Obama doesn’t necesarily have a problem with shaking us down for more money, but he doesn’t want to be so obvious about it. This is an idea that won’t go away though. Oregon and Massachusetts are already tinkering with the idea on a State level, and undoubtably more States who have squandered their tax monies will join them. So pay attention, there’s going to be more and more of this in the next 4 years. So here’s a little George Harrison:
Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah I’m the taxman
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet
Taxman!
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah I’m the taxman
Don’t ask me what I want it for (Aahh Mr. Wilson)
If you don’t want to pay some more (Aahh Mr. Heath)
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
And you’re working for no one but me
Taxman!
Fraudulent DOT Procurement Scam
Somebody is sending motor carriers a letter, designed to look like it is from the DOT, asking for bank account information, purportedly so the DOT can award contracts to the motor carrier. One of the letters can be seen here.
It is a scam. Do not send these people any financial information. For that matter, if President Obama himself shows up asking for your bank account numbers, don’t give them to him. This scam has been going on for at least 2 years, and apparently DOT has been unable, or uninterested in catching the thieves.
Fox News Announces the deadliest highways in U.S.
Fox News has analyzed the government’s highway crash data, from the Department of Transportation, and listed the stretches of highway where the most deaths occur. Turns out they are all in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. I’m not sure what to make of that. I live in Pennsylvania, so I don’t drive on those roads. I thought we had a lot of crashes around here, but apparently not as many as those other States.
Miami Driver Sentenced to 36 Years for Fatal Crash
In December, 2008, truck driver Flavio Sanitisteban was sentenced to 36 years in jail for causing a fiery wreck on February 11, 2005, which killed 4 people. Sanitisteban was driving a 9,000 gallon propane tanker, when he lost control on the ramp from I-595 merging to the Florida Turnpike. The truck flipped over onto a car, killing all four inside.
Eyewitnesses testified the truck driver was going upwards of 60 mph, and was cutting off other traffic. The curve is rated for 35 mph. The truck driver had an extensive history of traffic violations. The Miami Herald has a good article. Also, there is one at some type of Jewish website. I posted both links, because there are some interesting comments at the end of each article, regarding the sentence. Apparently, the truck driver was somewhat less-than remorseful, and the judge let him have it.
I can see both sides of the argument. This guy killed 4 people because he was reckless and stupid. The evidence leaves little doubt that his actions led directly to the accident. As a professional truck driver, he is expected to drive safely and professionally. He should be held to a higher standard, than your regular, schmuck four-wheeler.
Nevertheless, 36 years? We have murderers in this country who use a gun, and they get less than 36 years. Or what about this guy, James Polehinke? On August 27, 2006, a Comair regional jet crashed at the Lexington, KY airport, killing all onboard, except First Officer Polehinke. The pilot and the First Officer, mistakenly tried to take off on a secondary runway, which was half as long as the correct runway used for commerical traffic at that airport. The runway wasn’t long enough, the plane couldn’t get up in the air fast enough, and it crashed. The First Officer, Polehinke, survived, but he hasn’t been charged criminally with anything. I’m not saying he should be. It just seems you have two somewhat similar circumstances: crashes caused by negligence, one guy kills 4, and gets 36 years, the other guy kills 49, and isn’t charged with anything.
I guess the moral of the story is, if you’re a truck driver, you’re more likely to be judged harshly if you cause a crash.
Getting a Conditional Rating Upgraded
Following an FMCSA audit, the FMCSA issues a safety rating. They have 3 ratings: Satisfactory, Conditional, and Unsatisfactory. Actually, the really only have 2 ratings, Satisfactory and Conditional. If you are given an Unsatisfactory rating, you’re so screwed up, they only give you 60 days to fix what’s wrong, or they put you out of business. Well, I’m paraphrasing, but that’s more or less correct.
You can operate indefinitely with a Conditional rating. However, if you’re a for-hire motor carrier, a Conditional rating will generally hurt your business. Some shippers won’t load a Conditional carrier. For example, I had heard that CH Robinson had a problem with Conditional carriers. Insurance companies can use a Conditional rating as an excuse to raise rates.
The traditional method of getting FMCSA to up your rating to Satisfactory is getting them to re-audit you, and pass the audit. Then you get the Satisfactory rating, your Safestat scores drop, and everything is A-OK. FMCSA, however, is changing their procedures on that, though. FMCSA has so many audits which need to be done, they are unable to get to the carriers who need their ratings upgraded. FMCSA has a petition procedure, where a carrier can send written documentation into FMCSA, showing how they’ve mended their ways and come into compliance with the rules. If the documentation is thorough and compelling (their word), then they upgrade the rating.
The trick is, these petitions have to be complete, voluminous, and just the way FMCSA wants them. If they are going to give you the upgraded rating, without an audit, then they have to be sure you’ve earned it. If you end up in a wreck, and kill a family of six, the FMCSA guys don’t want to be on the nightly news because they gave you a rating you didn’t earn. In other words they need to CYA. Actually when talking about FMCSA personnel, CYA is one of their prime motivating factors. Remember that line from The Hunt for the Red October when Fred Thompson tells Alec Baldwin, “Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan”. Well, you could change that to “FMCSA doesn’t take a dump, son, without CYA”, and it would still be true.
At any rate, if you have a Conditional rating, want to get it upgraded, you could spend a week trying to figure it out yourself, or you could save yourself some aggravation and time: call me.
A-Fraud
If you want to see a good example of a guy lying his *ss off, watch Alex Rodriguez’s confessional interview with Peter Gammons, which is on ESPN’s website. For those of you who missed it, Alex Rodriguez, 3rd baseman with the New York Yankees, and most likely to amass more home runs than Barry Bonds, has been outed has having failed a steroids test in 2003. So, now he’s admitting to doping in 2001 – 2003, in an interview with ESPN.
I admit, I expected this to be a whitewash, since ESPN is in bed financially with Major League Baseball, but I thought Gammons did a pretty fair job. Rodriguez is sooooooo sorry, and wants you to know how soooooooorrrrry he is, and that he only did it from 2001 – 2003, and hasn’t done it since. Not once, no, no, never, never, not since 2003. Riiiiiiiiiiight. Hell, Gammons asked him if he lied to 60 Minutes in 2007 when he told them, and America, no, no, never done steroids, no, no, never. Rodriguez said, “NO” that he didn’t lie in 2007. This guy can’t even remember what he took. He can’t remember where he got the roids. Bullshit. I would bet my bottom dollar this guy has been juicing all the way since the beginning when he was in Seattle. He probably transitioned over from the roids in 2004-2005 to HGH, which is pretty much undetectable. He’s juicing right now. Bet on it.
Put him on the scum list with Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, and Pettitte. Any sportswriter who votes this jerk for the Hall of Fame should be ashamed of himself.
Groundhog says 6 More Weeks of Winter
Well, there you have it, the Groundhog saw his shadow today, so that means six more weeks of winter. So for all of you out there dealing with frozen trailer brakes, impassible roads, broken pipes, and homes without electricity…. get ready for more of the same. Maybe we should have Al Gore come out of a hole, see if he sees his shadow…….
