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August
3, 2004
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Headline
News
Wichita Eagle Features School Using High Tech Equipment to Train Truckers
Wichita
Area Technical College’s commercial truck driver education program
(which has a PTDI certified course) was featured in the July 25th edition
of The Wichita Eagle. The article highlighted the technology used by
the program to ensure safety, including cameras attached to the back
and sides of tractors, dash mounted detection devices, and beepers that
sound when objects are close by. The article also included comments
from Chuck Mosqueda, director of the program, and the person behind
most of the high tech safety devices. Mosqueda hopes to eventually equip
the trucks with real-time cameras and a global positioning system. The
story also highlighted the increased demand for qualified drivers. Click
here to read the entire article.
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Important Security Information for the Industry
The
attached bulletin is a joint release from the Department of Homeland
Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The release is of
an important nature and details a sector specific threat (financial)
and the potential for vehicles to include trucks to strike targets within
the financial sector. The DHS and FBI have outlined general protective
measures and the Highway ISAC encourages all within the highway community
to assess the feasibility of implementing the attached prescribed measures
with a sense of urgency. In addition to the measures suggested by DHS
and FBI, the Highway ISAC advises all within the community to consider
the following suggestions:
- Verify the location and status of all trucks and buses that deliver
to the affected region (New York, New Jersey, and Washington DC).
Those vehicles without tracking devices may be tracked by the establishment
of regular telephone (not cell) check in procedure.
- Where possible/feasible consider altering, suspending, or add protective
measures to routes to the affected areas / articulated targets or
places that fit the profile of the targets identified in the DHS/FBI
bulletin. Special attention should be paid to deliveries to facilities
in close proximity to the articulated targets.
- Carriers should communicate with clients for the purpose of ensuring
that appropriate security measures are in place and to articulate
any security related business continuity issues. Verify the identity
of drivers as well as the times for delivery /pick up.
- Inspect any and all weaponizable cargo or trucks/buses/vehicles
that have been unattended for an extended period of time. Physically
verify cargo amounts.
- Establish a protocol that will allow for security personnel to locate
trucks (ongoing).
- Immediately report any and all missing trucks and weaponizable cargo
to local authorities (DHS, FBI contact info attached) and the Highway
ISAC at 1877-USA –SAFE (1-877-872-7233). (Review past criminal
activity for a period of 18 months.)
- Report all incidents of potential surveillance or Intel gathering
of any kind. (Review past activity for a period of 18 months.)
Those involved in the leasing
and rental of trucks should take appropriate steps to verify the identity
of customers, the location of all trucks, and report any suspicious
request for equipment or features (example: any request for a wooden
floor may mean that a terrorist operative is attempting to mitigate
the chance of an explosive detonating prematurely due to the (static
electricity) conductive nature or metal floors. Report any missing or
overdue trucks.
Click
here to
view the DHS/ FBI Threat Bulletin.
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HOS
– FMCSA Ponders Options, CVSA Weighs in
The Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is presently weighing its options
to appeal the July 16 U.S. Court of Appeals decision to vacate the new
hours of service (HOS) rules. As we reported to you previously in the
Truckload Carrier Report, the agency has 45 days from the date of the
decision in which to seek a rehearing with the Court. If the motion
is denied, the Court’s mandate to remand the issue to the FMCSA
for further action will be issued 7 days after the denial. If the rehearing
is granted, the Court will issue a new order staying the issuance of
the mandate until determination of the case after the rehearing.
The FMCSA could
also choose to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court within the
same 45-day period. As part of its appeal, the agency could request
an additional 90-day stay for a total of 135 days – which could
be extended even further if the Supreme Court decides to grant the petition.
If, however, the Supreme Court denies the request, the Court of Appeals
is required to issue the mandate immediately. If FMCSA does not choose
either of the above, the mandate or actual Court order remanding the
matter to FMCSA would be issued 7 days after the rehearing period runs
out. This would fall on September 7, as September 6 is a Federal holiday.
It is important to note that until the Court issues its mandate remanding
the issue to the agency, depending upon which action may be exercised,
the “new” HOS rules remain in effect.
If any, or all of
the agency’s efforts to appeal the decision should fail, the FMCSA
must begin a new rulemaking process – or conversely, the agency
could decide not to exercise any of its appeal options and begin a new
rulemaking process. The key question becomes which set of rules would
be in effect during the time it would take for a new rulemaking process
– old or new? There may be a possibility of the Commercial Vehicle
Safety Alliance (CVSA) petitioning the Court to keep the new rules in
effect during this entire period. There also is the possibility of seeking
a Congressional directive in the 2005 appropriations process to have
the “new” rules remain in effect during the time needed
for the new rulemaking. However, the Congressional schedule for passing
the 2005 appropriations bills remains in doubt. The 2005 appropriations
bill may not pass until October or in a “lame-duck session”
in November. CVSA reports that if the FMCSA exercises one or more of
its appeal options, then they may need to consider filing a brief with
the Court. This brief would outline the concerns and impacts of any
decision to alter the current rules.
As this HOS issue remains extremely fluid, we will keep you up-to-date
as further developments warrant. For further comments or questions,
please contact TCA’s Director of Safety Rich Clemente at (703)
838-8847 or by email: rclemente@truckload.org
.
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SafeStat
Funding Publicly Questioned
The Office of the
Inspector General (OIG) on June 29 publicly released a memorandum on
the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Investment Review
Board’s deliberations on the Motor Carrier Management Information
System (MCMIS). In the memorandum, the OIG reports that the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) needs to provide a more
thorough report on its system to monitor motor carriers before it invests
in upgrading that system. The OIG stated that it had attended a recent
meeting of the transportation department’s Investment Review Board,
which prompted the office to study the justification of MCMIS. The IRB
oversees major information technology investments. “We found problems
with how well FMCSA had addressed data quality issues in its MCMIS justification
and in overall support for system cost estimates,” according to
their memo. MCMIS currently monitors more than 600,000 interstate motor
carriers and is the public’s source for carriers’ safety
data. MCMIS supplies data to SafeStat on carrier characteristics, reported
crashes, roadside inspections and other safety information.
The IRB briefing
included proposed MCMIS enhancements that would allow the FMCSA to respond
to Congressional mandates. Those mandates include requiring a single,
unified carrier registration system and upgrading the systems operation.
Implementing the upgrades and maintaining the current system will cost
$5.7 million annually in fiscal years 2005 and 2006, while life-cycle
costs through FY 2009 would total $60.5 million.
The OIG also criticized
the FMCSA for not adequately supporting the MCMIS cost estimates. Separate
from the MCMIS request, FMCSA also requested funding in its FY 2005
budget to address data quality issues. The OIG recommends the MCMIS
budget identify known data quality risks, plans to correct them and
success of these measures. The changes should state cost implications
and be part of the FY 2006 budget submission. The OIG also noted that
the quality of data being fed into SafeStat is so poor, that the agency
recently announced it would remove key data elements from the public
Internet site until it improved. The FMCSA has 30 calendar days to submit
written comments in response to the recommendations.
A copy of the OIG’s
report and memorandum can be accessed by clicking
here. For further questions please contact Rich Clemente at (703)
883-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org.
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New Information on Whistleblower Program Affects Driver Training
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced last week the launching
of their brand-new web page: [www.osha.gov/dep/oia/whistleblower/index.html]
devoted entirely to provide a single source for obtaining detailed information
on the laws with whistleblower protections that are administered by
OSHA. The new web page consolidates a variety of whistleblower information
previously available on the website, and supplements that with access
to other resources, including the Office of Administrative Law Judges,
and the Administrative Review Board.
In addition, the
web page includes direct links to the 14 laws with whistleblower protections
administered by OSHA, and lists the regulations governing the procedures
for handling complaints under the various statutes. Detailed procedures
on filing workplace discrimination complaints are provided, as is direct
access to five separate OSHA facts sheets that focus on the whistleblower
program. The agency’s whistleblower protection responsibilities
have grown from one statute to a total of 14 laws, the latest being
the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, and the
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002.
On of the reasons
that this issue has taken on an added importance is that on May 21, 2004,
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a Final
Rule on the mandatory training requirements for entry-level operators
of commercial motor vehicles who are required to hold or obtain a CDL.
In the ruling, the Agency is requiring entry-level drivers to receive
training in the following four areas:
- driver qualifications—medical, and drug and alcohol testing,
- driver hours of service limitations;
- driver wellness; and
- whistle blower protection.
As we reported
to you when this rule was issued, the effective date was July 20, 2004.
However, §380.500 provides a “grace period” for training
certain individuals as follows: “each employer must ensure that
each entry-level driver who first began operating a CMV between July
20, 2003 and October 18, 2004, has received the required training no
later than October 18, 2004.”
For further questions
or comments please contact Rich Clemente at (703) 838-8847 or email:
rclemente@truckload.org.
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