December 21, 2004
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News
PTDI Brochures Available, Customize with your School Logo and Gain Students
PTDI is proud to announce that it now has brand new student brochures available. The brochures were created to inform students of the importance and benefit of attending a school with a PTDI-certified course and includes new statistics on truck driver salaries and the impending truck driver shortage. This new marketing piece was sponsored by National Interstate and Great West Casualty Company and can be customized by schools, click here to download an electronics version of the brochure and insert your logo, copy and distribute the brochure to potential students. The eye-catching brochure is a great tool to distribute at career fairs as a way to quickly introduce students to the trucking industry and your school. Pre-printed brochures will also be mailed to you soon so keep your eyes open and reap the benefits of this new tool in the New Year! The PTDI Board of Directors and staff wishes you a Happy Holiday and successful New Year.
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ATA, TCA Filing Comments on FMCSA Supporting Documents Proposal, Your Input Needed
TCA received a request last week from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) to assist them in the filing of comments from motor carriers in response to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSAs) November 3, 2004 Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) on the hours of service supporting documents issue. TCA and ATA are very concerned with elements of the proposal (which is summarized in the November 9, 2004 issue of the Truckload Carriers Report – along with access to the actual SNPRM, click here to view). TCA and ATA will be filing comprehensive comments on behalf of our respective memberships expressing our concerns and requesting changes. After reviewing the SNPRM, if you agree that the proposal is indeed onerous and well beyond where the agency needs to go to regulate driver logbook verification, then we ask you to please file comments with the FMCSA. We believe that in order to obtain beneficial changes in the SNPRM, the agency needs to hear from many, many carriers on this issue.
To make it easier for you to file comments, ATA has developed two sample letters which can be downloaded by clicking here and here. The first letter is rather brief, and the second letter is a bit more comprehensive. Feel free to use either letter, but please tailor it to some degree by adding your company-specific information. To send it to the agency, simply mail it to the address on the top of the letter and please do so no later than January 3, 2005 . We appreciate your assistance in this matter, and please call Rich Clemente at (703) 838-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org if you have any questions.
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Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA to Step Down, Other Agency Personnel Changes Announced
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao formally announced on December 8 that Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) John Henshaw would be departing his post on December 31, 2004 . Mr. Henshaw was nominated by President Bush to head the agency on June 13, 2001 and was confirmed by the Senate on August 3, 2001 . During his administration, OSHA has pursued a vigorous program of “firm and fair” enforcement, combined with outreach, education, and compliance assistance to reduce the number of fatalities, injuries and illnesses in workplaces covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Under Henshaw's leadership, the agency has created hundreds of alliances and partnerships with business, labor and community groups to foster safety and health. As a result of these efforts, there are now more than 1,100 sites in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), more than 200 Strategic Partnership Program sites and nearly 200 Alliances.
In a related development, Ms. Chao later announced that Jonathan Snare has been appointed the deputy assistant secretary for OSHA. Chao also announced that Snare, will also serve as acting assistant secretary upon Henshaw's departure on the 31 st . Snare came to the U.S. Department of Labor in June 2003 where he served as senior advisor to the Solicitor of Labor. In that position, Snare focused on issues at OSHA as well as at other agencies including the Department's Wage and Hour Division and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA has developed and implemented voluntary ergonomic guidelines for the nursing home and retail grocery industries as well as employers and workers in the poultry processing industry. The trucking industry however continues to be unaffected with any proposed or draft ergonomic guidelines resulting from NACE recommendations or other OSHA initiatives on this issue.
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President Bush Signs DOT Reorganization into Law
President Bush signed into law on November 30 the “Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Reorganization Act” [H.R. 5163]. This legislation amends Federal transportation law to establish the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in the Department of Transportation (DOT). The PHMSA will be headed by an Administrator with professional experience in pipeline safety, hazardous materials safety, or other transportation safety, who will be appointed by the President, and approved by the Senate.
This legislation also replaces the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) with the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), which also shall be headed by an Administrator appointed by the President, and approved by the Senate as well. It also transfers the powers and duties of the RSPA Administrator to the RITA Administrator, and directs the Administrator to carry out the responsibilities of the Secretary for:
• coordination, facilitation and review of DOT research and development programs and activities;
• advancement of innovative technologies, including intelligent transportation systems projects and products;
• comprehensive transportation statistics research, analysis and reporting;
• education and training in transportation and transportation-related fields; and
• activities of the Volpe National Transportation Center .
It should be noted that RSPA has been the agency responsible for producing and maintaining national safety standards for hazardous materials transportation, participating in international standards, and providing guidance in compliance and enforcement of the HM standards.
In addition, this Act transfers the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to RITA, and requires the BTS Director to be appointed in the competitive service by the Secretary, instead (as currently) by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. A copy of the full text of the legislation, along with a summary of the bill, can be found by clicking here.
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FDA’S Food Safety Rule Issued; Provisions Favorable to Trucking
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule in the December 9, 2004 Federal Register on the Establishment and Maintenance of Records (Section 306) of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. This final rule implements the fourth and final section of the Bioterrorism Act, which directed the agency to issue regulations requiring persons who manufacture, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, hold, or import food to establish and maintain records. These required records would be used to identify the immediate previous source of all food received, as well as, the immediate subsequent recipient of all food released. The effective date of this rule is February 7, 2005, however, the agency specifies that all businesses covered by it must comply within 12 months from the date it was published in the Register [December 9, 2005], except small and very small businesses. Small businesses (11-499 full-time equivalent employees) must comply within 18 months from this date [ June 9, 2006 ], and businesses with 10 or fewer full-time equivalent employees the compliance date is December 11, 2006 .
The rule specifies that for food transporters the maximum record retention period for all types of food is one year, and companies may keep the required information in any format, paper or electronic. These records have to include names of the transporter's immediate previous source and the transporter's immediate subsequent receipt, origin and destination points, date shipment received and date released, number of packages, description of the freight, route of movement during the time food was transported, and transfer point through which the shipment was moved. Of “key” interest to our industry, the FDA specifies that trucking companies do have alternative methods of meeting the rule's requirements. This “method” for motor carriers is establishing and maintaining specified information that is in records required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in 49 CFR §373.101 and §373.103. What this means is that motor carrier bills of lading and expense bills are acceptable alternative methods for meeting these recordkeeping requirements. On the same day, FDA issued a concurrent Register notice announcing a series of public meetings to discuss the final regulation implementing the Section 306 Recordkeeping rules. The dates and locations of these public meetings are as follows:
• January 13, 2005 – College Park , MD ;
• January 25, 2005 – Chicago , IL and Seattle , WA ;
• January 27, 2005 – San Francisco , CA and Orlando , FL ; and
• February 1, 2005 – Philadelphia , PA and Boston , MA .
As noted earlier, the FDA has already issued the three other final rules under the Bioterrorism Act that are now all in effect: Administrative Detention (Section 303); Registration (Section 305); and Prior Notice (Section 307). By way of review, and of good news to the trucking industry, there are several “key” provisions in these rules that have been favorable to motor carriers. These four important components include:
• trucking companies and terminals do not have to register as food facilities;
• as mentioned earlier, the bill of lading and expense bills provided for in the FMCSA rules in §§373.101 and 373.103 are acceptable alternative records for trucking companies;
• the maximum record retention requirement for transporters of all types of food is one year; and
• records may be maintained in any format, paper or electronic, if the records contain all of the required information.
A copy of the December 9 Register notice can be downloaded by clicking here for a PDF and here for an HTML. In addition, for a copy of a fact sheet prepared by FDA on this latest recordkeeping rule go to the following website click here For more information or questions, contact Rich Clemente at (703) 838-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org .
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Industry Group Seeks Postponement of TSA’s Fingerprinting Rules
In comments filed with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on December 6, the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), the trade association representing the tank truck industry has asked the agency for an “indefinite postponement” of their proposed fingerprint-based criminal background checks for drivers requiring a hazardous materials (HM) CDL endorsement. You will recall that TSA recently issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) and request for comments in the November 24 Federal Register in which the agency is amending certain standards relating to security threat assessments on drivers seeking or renewing an HM-endorsement on their CDL. A number of changes were detailed, most notably the rule moves the start date of the fingerprint-based checks for transfer and renewal applicants back to May 31, 2005 , although TSA did not extend the compliance date for new entrants [which remains at January 31, 2005 ]. Furthermore, to comply with mandates of the USA PATRIOT Act, TSA also issued a November 10 companion Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish user fees for individuals who apply to obtain or renew an HM-endorsement on their CDL.
In it's filing, the NTTC noted that this TSA program has been plagued with numerous “false starts” and administrative shortcomings, many of which are not the fault of the agency. Nonetheless, as NTTC points out, one “pivotal element” that has been pushed off to the side on this rulemaking is the impact on the nation's driver population. In addition, NTTC stated that while the individual states have an option to either perform the fingerprint portion of the testing and associated paperwork on their own, or designate these tasks to an unnamed “third party,” that there are a very limited number of working days left until the regulatory deadlines “kick in,” and most states have yet to announce definitive plans for implementation. NTTC also pointed out that TSA's most recent ruling did not include any direction or guidance regarding Canadian and Mexican drivers involved in cross-border HM operations. To this point, the Canadian Border Services Agency estimates that some 80,000 drivers cross the Northern border annually.
In filed comments with TSA on the fee rule, ATA had expressed its dissatisfaction with the agency's decisions that have unnecessarily inflated the fees contained in the proposal. They pointed to other security threat assessment programs where the fees were significantly lower and objected to TSA's perceived intent to have the trucking industry subsidize the construction of a “background screening infrastructure” that would be used by others for a considerably cheaper fee. ATA also intends to comment on the TSA “process rule”, issued in the November 24 Register , which are due to TSA by December 27, 2004 .
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RSPA Again Delays Effective Date of HM Regulations on Loading, Unloading and Storage Operations
The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) issued a final rule in the December 8, 2004 Federal Register , which delays for a second time -- from January 1, 2005 to June 1, 2005 -- the effective date of their October 30, 2003 final rule clarifying the applicability of the hazardous materials regulations (HMR) to loading, unloading and storage operations. The agency has again decided to delay the effective date, as RSPA states that they need further time to address issues raised by a number of appellants related to the consistency of the October 30 rule with Federal HM transportation law, state and local regulation of the HMR to regulations promulgated by OSHA, EPA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) among other things. It should be noted as well, that despite this effective date delay, the agency specifies that HM-223 is based on prior regulatory interpretations so that persons may rely on the preamble discussion from the October 30, 2003 rule for guidance on what agency regulations may apply. The HM-223 delay will not delay the January 1, 2005 effective date of HM-229 (HM Incident Reporting) either.
The HMR changes in the October 30 rule were intended to clarify application of the HMR and reduce confusion among federal, state and local agencies regarding the extent of RSPA's jurisdiction. RSPA amended §171.1 of the HMR to list their regulated and non-regulated functions.
Regulated functions include:
• activities related to the design, manufacture, and qualification of packaging represented as qualified for use in the transportation of HM;
• pre-transportation functions; and
• transportation functions (movement of a HM and loading, unloading, and storage incidental to the movement).
Non-regulated functions include:
• rail and motor vehicle movements of a HM solely within a contiguous facility where public access is restricted;
• transportation of a HM in a transport vehicle or conveyance operated by a Federal, state, or local government employee solely for government purposes;
• transportation of a HM by an individual for non-commercial purposes in a private motor vehicle; and
• any matter subject to U.S. postal laws and regulations.
RSPA also amended the HMR to incorporate the following new definitions and provisions into §171.8: “pre transportation function”; “transportation”; “movement”; “loading incidental to movement”; “unloading incidental to movement”; and “storage incidental to movement”. Furthermore, for purposes of applicability of the HMR, “transportation in commerce” begins when a carrier takes possession of a HM and continues until the carrier delivers the package containing the HM to its destination as indicated on shipping papers or other shipping documentation.
A copy of the December 8 Register notice can be downloaded by clicking here for a PDF and here for an HTML. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Rich Clemente at (703) 838-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org .
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FMCSA Announces Upcoming Research and Technology Forum
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSAs) Office of Research and Technology (R&T) announced in the December 7 Federal Register the scheduling of a forum entitled “FMCSA R&T: Today and Tomorrow” in conjunction with the 84 th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The Forum is scheduled for Sunday, January 9, 2005 , at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Salon III, 2660 Woodley Road, NW , Washington , DC , from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. , and is open to the public.
The purpose of the forum is to provide insight on some of the research and technology work that the agency sponsors in support of its missions of reducing the number and severity of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes and fatalities and enhancing efficiency of CMV operations. Presenters will speak about the FMCSA's R&T projects and elaborate on the progress of the research and technology studies included in FMCSA's 5-Year Strategic Plan. Question and answer sessions with FMCSA subject-area experts will be provided as well. Speaker topics will include the Large Truck and Bus Causation Studies, Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs), Hazardous Materials Safety and Security Field Operational Test, Vehicle Infrastructure Integration, and Fatigue Management Technologies.
As stated earlier, the TRB Annual Meeting is open to the public, and to register for it, visit http://www.trb.org . To attend the forum only, you can send an email to R&Tpartnerships@fmcsa.dot.gov . Representatives from TCA will be attending this Meeting.
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