DOT Mandates EOBRs in All Trucks
Their rulemaking can be found here.
In brief, all trucks which require logbooks will have to have EOBRs installed 3 years after the final rulemaking is published, which will probably be in the summer of 2011. So, the summer of 2014, you will have to have an EOBR in all of your trucks, if you operate over the road. DOT is accepting comments on their proposal for 60 days.
At this juncture I have no other comments on this.
CSA 2010 Says Mexican Carriers Unsafe?
So, I was playing around with DOT’s new CSA 2010 rankings, looking for potential customers. I noticed something interesting. The DOT’s new CSA 2010 website is barely functional. You can search one carrier at a time, but you really cannot pull up entire lists of carriers at the moment. For example, I can’t pull up all carriers from Pennsylvania. You can, however, download the CSA 2010 rankings. However, in the downloaded data, it only identifies the carriers by DOT #. So, you have to look up each DOT #, one by one, to find out who is who. So who’s at the top of the Driver Fitness and Vehicle Maintenance categories? The Mexican carriers.
I don’t mean just one or two, either. I mean dozens upon dozens of them. Here, you try it yourself. Go to their “Carrier Search” page. Click on the “Advanced Search” tab. Select Outside U.S., and then pick “U.S.” from the drop down menu. Then search for “Driver Fitness” = 100. What you are doing is searching for American carriers whose Driver Fitness score equals 100, which means the American carriers who have the most unfit drivers. The query returns you 6 American companies.
Do it again, except this time, instead of picking “United States” on the drop down menu, pick “Mexico”. The query returns you 100 Mexican carriers. Now a few things to keep in mind. For whatever reason, the CSA 2010 caps these searches at 100 carriers. So, who knows how many Mexican carriers have a Driver Fitness score of 100? All we know is it’s at least 100. Also, in the total census of motor carriers, American carriers probably outnumber the Mexican carriers 100 – 1. So, statistically speaking, all things being equal, there should be 100 American carriers at the top of the list, instead of 100 Mexican carriers. That’s not the case though. Also, under this CSA 2010 system, all carriers with a DOT number are compared against each other, including U.S., Canadian, and Mexican carriers. 100 means you are the worst, 1 means you are the best.
We can do this again with Vehicle Maintenance. There are 5 American carriers with a Vehicle Maintenance score of 100. Search by “Mexico”, and you find there are 74 Mexican carriers with a Vehicle Maintenance score of 100. The figures for the other categories are reversed. Unsafe Driving: 13 American carriers with a 100 score, 1 Mexican carrier with a 100 score. Fatigued Driving: 5 American carriers with a 100 score, 0 Mexican carriers with 100 score. Drug/Alcohol: 4 American carriers with a 100 score, 0 Mexican carriers.
Conclusion? What does this tell us about the Mexican carriers and CSA 2010? Well, either the Mexican carriers are unsafe, or CSA 2010 is a completely flawed methodology. I don’t see it any other way. The Mexican carriers dominate the high ranges of Driver Fitness and Vehicle Maintenance. This means their drivers are either unlicensed, physically unqualified or don’t speak English. As for maintenence, compared to American equipment, their trucks are junk. Again, that’s what CSA 2010 says. Is that the truth? I guess it must be, as DOT has sworn up and down that CSA 2010 is the most accurate system to identify underperforming motor carriers ever devised.
I would love to hear DOT’s answer on this one. The President and Ray LaHood are telling me Mexican trucks are safe. Yet their vaunted CSA 2010 methodolgy tells me they are not safe. Well, which is it?
Flying Dog
My webmaster told me once the site looks much better with a liberal number of graphics. Any graphics. So, I will insert the flying dog, to spruce up the front page. I believe I will name this dog, “CSA 2010″.
More CSA 2010 Thoughts
Well, as we get closer to this thing, I learn more about it. I talked to two DOT people last week. One swears it’s going to revolutionize how the DOT does business. The other says its not much different from the system they’re using now. I sort of agree with the 2nd person. One thing I learned this past week is DOT is focusing even more intensely on the roadside inspections, including citations which were not Out of Service. This is a departure from the current system. For example, even if your logs at the office are in compliance, if you have a bunch of “log not current” cites on your roadside inspections, DOT is going to harass you.
It is important to take every DOT roadside inspection, and address every last citation on every one of them in writing. For example, your driver is written up for not wearing his seatbelt. Make a note that you made the driver watch a video on the importance of seatbelts. Or that you talked to the driver. Or that you pointed him to page 32 of your company manual which says seatbelts must be worn. Or that you fined him $50. Etc.
It might not be a bad idea to come up with a disciplinary policy geared specifically for roadside inspections. Maybe something like for every violation, you get a warning letter…. if you get too many, we suspend you, or fine you. If you pass a roadside inspection, we give you $25 or $50. More on this later….
What Else is New?
So what else is new? The DOT is getting closer to implementing their CSA 2010 system. I guess I should revamp the website, and start pushing CSA 2010 products like JJ Keller is… but I guess I don’t see it as a game changing development. The rules have not changed. CSA 2010 will not change the rules. Presently, DOT uses Safestat to rank the carriers. CSA 2010 will rank the carriers instead of Safestat. CSA 2010 will have a driver component to it. You will be able to see how many times a driver has been placed Out of Service prior to hiring him. This will have new information on it, but presently, you run MVRs on drivers which tells you how many times a driver has been in accidents, and been stopped for moving violations.
So, I guess I’m not seeing where it’s THAT different. I know, that makes me a heretic, go figure. Right now, you have a Safestat score. Shippers and insurance companies can see the Safestat score. They can choose to do business or not do business with you, based on the Safestat score. The CSA 2010 score is going to be just another score. If you have poor Safestat scores, and you have shippers, and you have an insurance company, you’re probably still going to have shippers and insurance under the new system. If you’re a driver who has some tickets or some Out of Services on his record… you’ll still be able to find a job. Especially when the economy takes off 4-5 years from now. Notice I said 4-5 years from now… if you think things are taking off sooner than that, you’re probably an a economist working for the Obama Administration.
The one thing that will change, and probably within months are the hours of service rules. The FMCSA held all of their listening sessions, pulled the rulemaking which had been written prior to the listening sessions out of the drawer, and sent it to the White House for approval. The only way it won’t be approved is if it’s not restrictive enough. Now we just wait to see how bad it’s going to be.
Writer’s Block
Yeah, I know, I haven’t updated the website in a long time. Well, I’ve been busy, and I’ve had writer’s block. So rather than carefully think out a few posts, write and rewrite them until they’re right, I’m just going to type them out, and get this done.
So, what’s happened in the past month? Well, Brett Favre retired. In other news, Brett Favre played in the Vikings exhibition game this weekend. I saw the USA Today had an article out which stated government employees make twice what their private sector counterparts make. The Federal Government through the Office of Personnel Management quickly said this wasn’t true. I’m not sure why the OPM felt it necessary to tell me government workers don’t make outrageous salaries. Especially when they do. But hey, don’t take my word for it, the Federal GS scale is public information. According to the GS Table, a DOT auditor who lives in the Philadelphia area with 15 years experience makes around $90,000. That’s without benefits; from what I remember, the benefits on top of the salary are worth about another $20,000 – 30,000. You have health insurance, they match your retirement contribution into your 401(k) plan up to 5% of your salary, cheap life insurance, etc. Oh yeah, don’t forget the generous vacation and sick time you get.
By comparison, I have a friend, let’s call him Bob. Not his real name. Bob has a bachelor’s degree, Bob has been in sales for 20 years, when the large corporation he worked for laid him off. So Bob starts hunting. Luckily for Bob, he found a job as a human resources director for a large multi-national corporation involved in construction, right before the economy really tanked in 2008. Bob was making $45,000. Bob was in charge of several dozen truck drivers, as well as numerous other duties besides the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Reguations. While working there, Bob completed his masters degree in Business Administration. After 18 months with the large, construction related multi-national, Bob was released, as there was no work, so there was no money to pay Bob. Of course as Human Resources Manager, they made him fire all the drivers and office personnel, before laying him off, and closing the division.
Bob was unemployed for about 9 months, when he got another Human Resources job. This one pays $50,000. I did tell Bob to apply to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for a job, which he did. He didn’t get the job.
Anyway, the point of this long story is not that government workers are lazy. Some are, but most of them do their jobs. The point is, when compared to what’s going on out in the private sector right now…. they are making wa-a-a-ay more than people in the private sector are making. It’s not debatable. It just is.
CSA 2010 Implementation to be Delayed?
The CSA 2010 implementation will be delayed… probably until 2011 according to the American Trucking Association. The FMCSA denies this, and says everything is on schedule, and that an implementation schedule will be issued in a Federal Register in the coming weeks. Just so you know: that means the coming months.
What does it all mean? It means what I’ve been saying from the get-go…. CSA 2010 means CSA 2011 or 2012. One of the undeniable laws of government; they overpromise and underdeliver.
While we are on the subject, here are a few thoughts on CSA 2010. My customers have been ringing my phone off the hook on the subject, whereas I have not gotten that excited about the topic. First: it’s a new way of ranking the motor carriers, and will replace Safestat. It’s unknown if the ranking system will be dramatically different, my guess is in won’t be. In other words, if you’re at the top of the Safestat rankings, you’ll probably be at the top of the CSA 2010 rankings, too.
Second: CSA 2010 does not change the regulations. You still have to take a 10 hour break, you still need a medical, you still need to annually inspect your truck. Third: FMCSA intends to contact more carriers. They are going to use new methods such as conducting audits via the mail and phone, rather than making on-site visits. I suspect they may even send out civil fines based on roadside inspections. Fourth: Drivers are going to be ranked as well, counting up all of their roadside inspections, and/or moving violations that FMCSA has in their giant database. This information can be checked by prospective employers. Drivers who have poor scores will probably be locked out of the better paying jobs, as the more reputable carriers will not want to chance a driver with a poor history.
Finally, the FMCSA wants to eliminate the Satisfactory, Conditional, and Unsatisfactory rating system they have in place now, and replace it with the CSA 2010 scores. My opinion is this will never happen. Maybe this is what is being delayed. There are several legal issues the agency needs to solve before this happens, and I highly doubt they’ll be able to do it. The new ranking methodology, the background check website, and threatening letters in the mail…. all of that you might see by the end of the year.
Pennsylvania Farmers Facing Tougher DOT Rules
There is a growing brou-ha-ha here is Pennsylvania regarding the farmers, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The Federal DOT issues their truck safety regulations, found in 49 CFR 300 – 399. They apply to vehicles and drivers operating in interstate commerce, which are basically movements across state lines.
If a vehicle or driver stays wholly within one state, Pennsylvania in this instance, then they are subject to the state of Pennsylvania’s truck safety regulations. Each state has slightly different regulations. Some states adopt the Federal regulations exactly. Others have minor differences. Still others have more significant differences. This is why my DVD training package focuses on the Federal rules only. As I point out on the DVD, I don’t know what all 50 state regulations are. However, states are not supposed to have more stringent requirements than the Federal requirements, although they can be more lenient.
The Federal DOT monitors these state variances, and if they find they vary too much from their regulations they will punish the states, by withholding highway funding dollars. Nearly all the states, who have spent themselves into the poorhouse, quickly abandon any states-rights principles when Federal money is at stake. This is the same way the Federal government forced all the States to adopt the 0.08 blood alcohol level for drunk driving.
Apparently, the issue in Pennsylvania presently is the State of Pennsylvania has broadly exempted farmers from large segments of the Federal safety regulations. The Feds have found fault with this, and are threatening Pennsylvania with removal of highway funding. Pennsylvania is deciding whether or not to apply the safety regulations to vehicles and drivers operating on the road at 17,001 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating or more.
Farmers are screaming bloody murder. The State of Pennsylvania is trying to cut a deal with the Federal DOT to make everyone happy. A decision is supposed to be made in the next month. I guess I find it somewhat humorous. For one thing, the DOT regulations apply at 10,001 lbs. in interstate commerce, instead of the more lenient 17,001 lbs. in Pennsylvania, so right there, it could be worse. Also, other industries do not get nearly as many special breaks as farmers. I have no doubt there all sorts of special goodies, breaks and exemptions in the rules, depending on where you are, but I think the farmers get the most.
I think the farmers are somewhat right. If all they are doing is crossing the road to get to the other part of their property with equipment, it’s overkill to make them subject to all the rules. However, if they’re taking their 80,000 truck 15 miles down the road to the processing plant, then they should be subject to the rules, just like the construction dump truck, or landscaper truck, or carnival ride truck.
Actually, if I were made King, I would make all the rules apply at 26,001 lbs. (the CDL standard), and not below. Last I checked, there is no imminent danger of me being made King………
DOT Bans Texting While Driving
Well, I had written a vast, long post about the texting ban, which can be found here. Then I went to a bad minor league hockey game, thought about it, and decided to edit my post.
It’s clear you can’t text on a cellphone in a truck. What is less clear is whether or not you can text on a Qualcomm device. The Federal Register and the new interpretation are written with weasel words, so it’s nearly impossible to tell what they mean. I would wager it will be nearly impossible to get them to put in writing that you are allowed to text on Qualcomm devices, but they probably won’t specifically say you can’t do it, either.
So, that’s all I have to say about that. The American Trucking Association seems to think you can still legally type on a Qualcomm unit while driving, so that’s fine with me. Now I have to get back to watching the State of the Union address to see how much more money Obama wants from me.
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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.
DOT Signals Change in the Hours of Service Rules
After defending the new hours of service rules since 2003 when they were implemented, DOT is waving the white flag, surrendering to the safety crazies. In late October, 2009, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced the agency was starting over in developing an hours of service rule. In exchange, Public Citizen and the safety crazies have suspended their lawsuit against the agency. Quid Pro Quo.
The DOT has said they will have a proposed rule in 9 months, and a final rule in 21 months. If they stick to this timetable, this means you will have a new set of hours of service rules to work under in 2 years. My guess is they will adhere to the timetable, since the rewrite is going to be relatively simple. I believe (and I have no inside information on this, it is merely my educated guess), the new rules will be a 10 hour rule, instead of 11, the 14 hour rule will stay the same, and we’ll lose the 34 hour restart of the 70 hour rule. That’s my guess, although it might be worse than that, since Joan Claybrook is writing the rule.
The new rule will not prevent any more accidents than the current rule. Bank on that. It will make transportation more costly and less efficient. These costs will be partially absorbed by the industry, although most of them will be passed along to the consumers. So prepare yourselves: in 2 years you will not be allowed to work as many hours as you do today.
