Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Since May, 2003, he has been running Arnold Safety Consulting, which specializes in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, and their applicability to motor carriers of all shapes and sizes. He also is well-versed in the Hazardous Materials Regulations as well.
He served as Enforcement Program Manager, 1999 – 2003, Baltimore, MD
Eric ran the Enforcement office for the Eastern region of the FMCSA. He directed the negotiation and settlement of agency fines, as well as helped write the policies and procedures which govern the actions of the field personnel. He qualified as an expert in the regulations, and conducted training of agency personnel throughout the country.
While Transportation Specialist, Federal Programs Office, 1996 – 1999, in Washington, DC, Eric Arnold designed the very first Safestat list. As many of you are well aware, the Safestat list today is what the agency uses to rank carriers in terms of who is the worst. It is rapidly becoming more important to shippers and insurance carriers than the safety rating. In addition to Safestat, Eric was part of a very small group that created the agency’s Uniform Fine Assessment program, which is used in nearly every fine the agency makes. There may be three or four people in the country that totally understand this complex formula, and Mr. Arnold is one of them. Also, he became familiar with the workings of the agency, how it issues rulemakings, how it assesses fines, and how its procedures are created.
Eric Also served as:
Safety Investigator, 1993 – 1996, Lakeland, Florida
Safety Investigator, 1992 – 1993, New York City, NY
Safety Investigator, 1990 – 1992, Jefferson City, MO
As an investigator in three different regions of the country, Eric got to see all types of motor carriers and businesses. He saw carriers who were successful in running their safety departments, and saw ones who weren’t, and the mistakes they made, with respect to compliance, as well as accident experience. He established contacts throughout the agency and safety consulting business.
Eric Arnold graduated with Honors from The Ohio State University (home of the 2002 National Champion Buckeyes!) with majors in History and Political Science.
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Hi Eric,
I am the managing Director of a company called National Calibration Inc. We have a mobile calibration trailer pulled by a van. The combined weight is less than 10000 pounds. DO we have to fill out log books and comply with federal regulations,
WE Are having a hard time determining what is the right answer to our question
BucK: I apologize for my tardy reply. The applicability of the regulations is determined by the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), or the actual weight of the vehicles, whichever is greater. You would take the GVWR of the van, and add it to the GVWR of the trailer. If the combined GVWR is under 10,001 lbs…. and it weighs less than 10,001 lbs, which you say it does… then it would not be subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which includes logbooks.
Question for you kind sir…. If a trucking company that’s in conditional status buys a carrier in satisfactory status, will the “new” company maintain that satisfactory status or be brought down to the “conditional” status?
Thank you in advance.
That’s a good question. I don’t think FMCSA has any hard and fast rules on that. In other words, you can’t look up the answer in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, because it’s not there. I think there would be a number of factors in play. If the Conditional carrier is buying the Satisfactory carrier, it’s probably more likely the New combined company will keep the Conditional rating. However, if the Conditional carrier has 3 trucks, and the Satisfactory carrier has 300 trucks, maybe then the New combined company might keep its Satisfactory rating, especially if the New company is going to be managed by the Satisfactory management. I would probably try to operate the New company under the DOT numbers of the Satisfactory company, if possible.