September 27, 2005

Note: To print this newsletter in its entirety, simply press the print button on your web browser.

CLICK HERE to send us your comments about this newsletter.

Headline News

• PTDI Certifies/Recertifies Courses at Truck Driver Training Schools in Alaska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania
• Mediation Can Be a Key to Resolving Conflicts
• HOS Log Book Examples on FMCSA Website
• FMCSA Required to Modernize CDL Programs
• FMCSA, NHTSA Withdraw Truck Labeling Proposals
• White House Reviewing NHTSA's Stopping Distance Proposal

PTDI Certifies/Recertifies Courses at Truck Driver Training Schools in Alaska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2005
Contact: E. Nancy O'Liddy, Director Public Affairs
703/838-1950 or noliddy@truckload.org

Alexandria, Virginia – The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) is proud to announce that two schools in Alaska and one in Charlotte , N.C. , have received initial certification of their truck driver training courses and a fourth in Pennsylvania has received program recertification for five years. The schools are Vocational Training & Resource Center , Juneau , Alaska ; Northern Industrial Training, Palmer, Alaska ; Schneider Training Academy, Inc., Charlotte , N.C. ; and All-State Career, Essington , Pennsylvania .

Alaska is unusual in that the state requires PTDI certification for commercial vehicle driver training schools with programs in excess of 80 hours. Joe Crum, president of Northern Industrial Training, supported the PTDI certification requirement from the onset. He recalls thinking, “If we're going to do this, let's do it right and make everybody in Alaska adhere to this [PTDI certification] so we have a level playing field.”

In 1994, Alaska passed legislation that only schools with PTDI-certified programs are eligible to bid on contracts with the state. As Crum explained, “it's a win/win situation. The state has a good understanding of PTDI requirements and a respect for their requirements just as we do.”

Northern Industrial, located 40 miles north of Anchorage , opened in September 2003, and has an exclusive contract with the largest carrier in the state. He believes that PTDI plays an important role in the school's success rate with the carrier. “PTDI holds schools to a higher standard and I'm grateful for it,” he said, adding that he wishes schools across the country could be held to such standards.

Alaska 's certification requirement has positively impacted other truck driver training schools as well. According to Archie Cavanaugh, director at Vocational Training & Resource Center , located in Juneau , “The PTDI process has made us a more credible training program.” The school previously offered a tutorial CDL training class but, as Cavanaugh explained, they wanted to expand students' skills and make them more marketable. The school has since increased students' hours on the road and added a certified hazmat instructor and training in the transportation and handling of hazardous materials to its program.

“PTDI makes us better instructors and administrators, it helps us provide safer and better skilled drivers, and for that we're very appreciative,” Cavanaugh said. Although he called the process “agonizing at times,” because of the stringent requirements, “in the end, it made us a more effective and proficient operation than we ever were.”

And that fact allows a school to position itself above the competition, as Don Osterberg, vice president of safety and driver training for Schneider Training Academy, Inc., explained. “PTDI offers a way for schools in this industry to differentiate themselves.” The Charlotte-based school is known for its high-quality program and PTDI certification. As Schneider's second largest facility, the school draws students from all southeastern states.

“My interaction with PTDI is that schools that have chosen to undertake the certification process have a different perspective,” Osterberg said. “The certification acknowledges that we train [our students] not only to drive a truck but to be a professional driver. Not only do they have confidence when they come through our program, but the motoring public should have confidence in them as well.”

Denny Shollenberger, director of education at All-State Career, has been involved with PTDI since its inception. And although his school was already accredited, he has found “PTDI certification is an added benefit when we solicit students and companies in the transportation industry.”

One of the benefits the school has reaped through PTDI certification is the ability to receive city funding for a specialized employment program geared toward the Hispanic population. Shollenberger said that not only does the PTDI certification provide additional funding opportunities, it also attracts students and gives the school an advantage with those companies that only recruit from PTDI-certified programs. “PTDI program certification adds value to our program and to our school in that it says we are meeting standards set forth by the industry, insurance companies, and government,” he said. “People that hire our students know that we're not some run-of-the-mill school.”

PTDI is a national, nonprofit organization established for the twofold purpose of developing uniform industry skill, curriculum, and certification standards for entry-level truck driver training and motor carrier driver finishing programs, and certifying entry-level truck driver training courses at public and private schools and driver finishing programs at carriers for compliance with PTDI standards. PTDI is based in Alexandria , Virginia .
# # #

Top

Mediation Can Be a Key to Resolving Conflicts

Conflicts happen everyday and can decrease morale and productivity. Mediation is one of the ways to resolve a conflict because it allows everyone involved to be part of the solution. Below is an excerpt from the Professional Truck Driver Institute book , Train the Trainer on conflict resolution.

Conflict Resolution through Mediation

The goal of conflict resolution is to help each individual involved in the conflict develop a mutually agreeable plan for action through mediation. Conflict resolution is not a silver bullet—not all conflict resolution works, and not all disputes can be mediated. Conflict resolution is almost always a compromise in which each individual agrees to do something more to the liking of the other. The compromise, or resolution, must be mutually agreeable to all individuals involved in the conflict. As a mediator of conflict, you must always begin with this goal in mind.

Mediation is useful in situations in which two parties have not been able to communicate openly or clearly and those in which conflicting expectations exist or issues of territory arise. For example, let's say another driver and a dock worker have had a problem. If tempers have flared to the point of violence by the time you arrive at the scene, all disputants must be separated, given instruction to take a cooling-off time-out (15 minutes, for instance) and asked to report back at a specific time to begin to resolve the dispute.

Begin the mediation process with two basic assumptions:

(1) Conflict can be constructive and, when viewed positively, is seen as a sign of a need for change, and
(2) Angry people are hurt people.

The following are basic rules of mediation:

1. To avoid being seen as taking sides or having one or the other party fabricate or exaggerate details, the mediator must bring all the disputants together in the same place at the same time. Separate interviews are more time consuming and send a subtle signal that the mediator is responsible for the ultimate outcome of the conflict.

2. The mediator must maintain control of the situation by keeping everyone focused on the issues, by staying in the “here and now,” and by stopping any bickering or provocative behavior immediately. All these things are attempts by the disputants to express their anger and be heard. Assure everyone that by following the rules, everyone will be heard.

3. Establish rapport with the disputants by using the techniques of active listening, repeating back what you've heard, clarifying to confirm your understanding, and probing through the use of open-ended questions that begin with the words who , what , when , where , under what circumstances , and in what way . Using these words to begin questions allows you to avoid “leading” the disputants in their answers. Use of these words ensures that you get specific information about behaviors and avoid assumptions about the thoughts behind behaviors. Questions beginning with the word why are closed questions and limit the information available to the mediator.

Avoid closed questions.

• Use silence as a tool to make disputants feel heard.
• Avoid breaking a silence to end your own discomfort.
• Finally, use review and summary techniques to help disputants feel you are actively engaged and to understand their positions.
• Briefly summarize the main points and ask each disputant if there are things to be added.
• Stay with each individual until he is satisfied that you have all the information and you understand it.

4. It is extremely important that you stay neutral. If you agree or sympathize with any disputant, you lose control as well as credibility.

5. Use the 80:20 ratio to determine who does the talking. The mediator must stay in the 20% category, the disputants in the 80%.

6. Stay in your role of interviewer. Answer questions that relate to process only. Use review and summary to avoid answering other questions.

7. Mediate one problem at a time by keeping everyone on topic. Draw discussion back to the stated problem by saying things like, “Today we have agreed to discuss…” You will surely lose control by allowing a disputant to confuse or diffuse the current topic of mediation.

8. Remain impartial at all costs. If you are seen as taking sides, disputants shut down and become defensive, hostile, and resistant to successful resolution.

9. Accept each disputant's view on face value. There is no right or wrong point of view.

10. Avoid making suggestions. Rules of social etiquette do not apply in conflict resolution, except those that relate to being respectful of others' rights.

11. Encourage disputants to express their feelings. All disputes have an emotional content, and usually hostility and anger are easier to express than hurt. Acknowledging feelings helps build rapport.

At this point you have completed the information-gathering phase of conflict resolution and are now prepared to move to support the disputants in reaching resolution. Begin by asking for specific suggestions from the disputants. “I don't know” is not acceptable as an answer. Press for specific change by always staying at the “doing” level. “Doing” things are easier to measure. Check all suggestions with the other disputants by repeating the suggestion. If the suggestion is accepted, you are on the way to an action plan. If the other disputant rejects the suggestion, immediately ask that person for his suggestion for a solution. Disputants learn quickly that if they reject an idea, they must then come up with the next idea. If the original idea seems reasonable, the rejecting disputant begins to look unreasonable. Remember the rule to stay neutral! Agreeing with or criticizing a suggestion at this point could destroy the whole process. Additionally, if you make a suggestion at this point, you become responsible for the outcome of the process.

Accept small changes and continue in a back-and-forth process until all disputants agree on some specific change. When agreement is reached, review and sum up the plan. Check with all disputants for agreement, and then acknowledge the plan verbally by saying something like, “This looks like a workable plan.” Next, put the plan in writing. A written plan adds to the significance and importance of the agreement. The written plan should be clear and specific, using language as simply as possible. The plan must be signed by everyone, including you. Plan for a follow-up meeting, if applicable, that you include in the written agreement. Finally, reward the success! Support the way the process has worked. Focus on what worked, not on what failed.

For more information on the Train the Trainer Program ( Student Course Book ISBN 1-4018-0512-4, $47.95 List, Instructor's Manual 1-4018-0513-2, $79.95 List or the Video Series ISBN 1-4018-0514-0, $214.95), please contact Joel Morrison at Thomson Delmar Learning, 1-800-998-7498 x4850 or joel.morrison@thomson.com.

Top

HOS Log Book Examples on FMCSA Website

There are now eight log book examples on the new hours-of-service rules on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/hos-logbook-examples.htm . There aren't any team-specific examples, and teams need to follow the same rules.

Top

FMCSA Required to Modernize CDL Programs

The recently enacted highway funding law mandated the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration to modernize and improve commercial driver licensing programs. In the coming months the agency must propose a series of initiatives to modernize both federal and state CDL procedures.

At the Federal level, FMCSA has been ordered to look at how drivers of commercial vehicles are licensed and begin a “modernization” of the Commercial Drivers License Information System that contains driver information and links all 50 state licensing bureaus to FMCSA.

According to the bill (the Motor Carrier Reauthorization Act of 2005), which was signed into law on August 10, 2005, FMCSA must start the modernization program “not later than 120 days” after its enactment. The improved system must provide for the electronic exchange of information, “including the posting of convictions,” have self-auditing features to ensure that data is being posted correctly and consistently by the states, and integrate the CDL and the medical certificate. FMCSA must also provide a schedule for future improvements to CDLIS.

Top

FMCSA, NHTSA Withdraw Truck Labeling Proposals

Two U.S. Department of Transportation agencies on Aug. 26 withdrew controversial proposals to require each commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operating in interstate commerce to display a manufacturer-applied label certifying compliance with all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. Although the proposals would have applied to all CMVs operating in interstate commerce within the United States , it was aimed principally at ensuring the safety of equipment operated by motor carriers based in Canada and Mexico .

Critics of the proposals, which were issued in March 2002, argued that they would require a complex and difficult-to-implement process involving replacement of compliance labels and re-creation of manufacturers' performance test documentation for vehicles long in use. At the same time, critics questioned the benefits of an additional regulation since all CMVs operated in the United States must comply with the federal motor carrier safety regulations and pass roadside inspections.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were generally persuaded by those arguments, saying they will rely on existing motor vehicle safety standards for the United States and Canada and on certifications of Mexican carriers applying for U.S. authority that their vehicles were manufactured or retrofitted in compliance with FMVSSs that applied at the time they were built. Those certifications will be confirmed during pre-authority safety audits and through ongoing enforcement in roadside inspections.

For a copy of the notices of withdrawal, visit http://dms.dot.gov/search and search Docket Nos. 10886 and 22197.

Top

White House Reviewing NHTSA's Stopping Distance Proposal

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finished drafting its proposal to reduce the required stopping distance for new heavy-duty truck tractors, and the White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the document.

Under federal regulations governing rulemakings, the specifics of a proposed or final rule are not disclosed until the White House reviews it and the agency sends it to the Federal Register for publication.

The long-anticipated proposal would revise Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 121, which currently requires a loaded tractor-trailer traveling 60 mph to stop within 355 feet. In 1970, NHTSA proposed changes in FMVSS 121 to shorten that requirement substantially, but the industry persuaded the agency that its proposed standard was not feasible at the time.

A very aggressive change in the stopping standard might require air disc brakes and/or electronically controlled braking systems. A more moderate standard -- which many observers expect -- might allow truckmakers to meet the standard with higher-performing drum brakes.

Whatever the new requirement, it will be several years before new trucks will be required to feature the new braking systems. There is no deadline for NHTSA to publish the proposal, so White House review could take weeks or months. Once issued, interested parties would have an opportunity to comment before a final rule is issued. And once the rule is adopted, NHTSA would give truckmakers and their suppliers time to engineer the new requirements into trucks rolling off assembly lines.

Top