|
October 25, 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
Chris Burruss, Kevin Burch Speak at Veterans Affairs Conference
TCA President Chris Burruss and officer Kevin Burch spoke on October 13 in Washington DC at the Employment Coalition for America 's Veterans Conference. TCA is a partner in the Department of Veterans Affairs' led Veterans Employment Initiative. Burruss and Burch shared background on the trucking industry, explained the driver shortage and spoke about the ways that TCA and the industry are working to find solution to the shortage including attracting non-traditional drivers and veterans to transportation. Click here to view Chris Burruss's comments and here to view Kevin Burch's comments.
Top
Officials Say Cargo-Security Should Emphasize Driver Training
Teaching drivers how to lock and seal loads securely and use high-tech tracking systems are key steps to improving cargo security, trucking officials said here earlier this month during the Safety & Loss Prevention Management Council's annual meeting.
SLPMC is a council of American Trucking Associations.
High-tech tracking systems, locks and seals are vital tools, but the “key to tracking freight is the driver,” said Randy Price, director of corporate security with refrigerated carrier Prime Inc.
“Drivers must be trained on how the systems work so that they will be more comfortable using the devices,” Price said.
Top
ATA Replies to OOIDA Letter
On September 26, Jim Johnston, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Associations (OOIDA), sent a letter to motor carrier executives around the country that attacked the efforts of ATA staff on the hours-of-service issue. Bill Graves, president of ATA, became aware of the letter when he received a copy of it from an ATA member. Governor Graves sent to Mr. Johnston a response containing a factual recount of what actions ATA has taken in regard to HOS. ATA hopes to widely distribute this letter as OOIDA widely distributed their letter. Click here to read Jim Johnston's letter. Click here for ATA's response.
Top
Sleeper-berth Bill Introduced, CVSA Opposes
A congressional transportation leader's bill would allow truckers to use the sleeper berth provision in the old hours-of-service rule until Jan. 1.
The new HOS rule requires split sleeper berth time include at least one-eight-hour period whereas the previous rule stipulated only that one of these times be at two hours. This new provision has been the least understood section of the new HOS.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last HOS became effective Oct. 1, with a phase-in period through Dec. 31. It stated it would pursue enforcement against “egregious violations” of the new HOS rule, but indicated this 90-day period would be time of soft enforcement of the new regulations.
“The trucking industry will not be able to retrain all drivers and adjust shipping schedules until the end of calendar year 2005,” H.R. 3943 reads.
U.S. Rep. Don Young introduced the bill Sept. 39. The Alaska Republican's bill was referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and currently has 13 co-sponsors.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance on Oct. 6 submitted a letter to Congress stating that it opposes the bill because it will "cause additional confusion among both enforcement officers and industry drivers." CVSA, which is an association of state, provincial and federal officials and federal officials charged with administering and enforcing motor carrier rules, added that an Oct. 3-4 survey it conducted with the 21 states that have already adopted the revised rule indicated that they are adopting a "soft enforcement" policy.
Top
TSA Releases TRALA Security Guide
The Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in cooperation with the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) has issued a new publication to help truck renting and leasing firms improve security.
Entitled “Safeguarding America's Transportation System – Security Guide for Truck Rental Company Employees,” the guide represents just part of a cooperative effort to heighten security awareness within the truck leasing & rental industry.
The guide identifies certain behaviors and actions that employees of truck rental companies should be on the look out for during the workday and is expected to augment existing security policies and procedures already in place within the industry.
“Security is a top priority for our industry and TRALA will continue to work with government officials and our own security experts in our ongoing commitment to transportation security,” said TRALA president & CEO Peter Vroom.
Vroom added that TRALA is also working on a security self-assessment guide that will soon be made available to all truck renting and leasing companies to enable them to identify areas in which their own security arrangements can be improved.
Top
NMFTA to Publish Freight Classification Resource
The National Motor Freight Traffic Assn. will begin publishing the new issue of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) NMF 100-AP in November. The NMFC classifies all types of goods and materials transported by truck in North America . It is meant to facilitate the classification of goods for transport. It includes the price for shipping goods based on classes and carrier rate schedules. Also included are packaging requirements for each type of commodity. For more information, go to www.nmfta.org or call 866-411-6632.
Top
What's Your Opinion On the Use of Performance-Based Brake Testers (PBBTs)?
Recently, with strong support from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) voted on and approved the use of Performance-Based Brake Testers to be used in the enforcement of placing commercial motor vehicles Out-of-Service. This issue will now be put before the CVSA general membership with a deadline of October 24, 2005.
The use of PBBTs in placing vehicles Out-of-Service presents several issues for the motor carrier, most of which is reliability when conditions other than perfect, influence the testing of the brakes.
Other issues involving the use of PBBTs in placing a vehicle Out-of-Service are its thoroughness and timeliness. In roughly the same amount of time, PBBT's will report only brake force data, not determine that the vehicle has a severely worn brake hose or other defective hardware that has not yet affected brake performance, possibly allowing an unsafe vehicle back on the roadway.
Another important note to remember, is that after extensive testing with PBBTs, the states of Washington and Indiana have both withdrawn their support of PBBT's as a useful Out-of-Service enforcement tool, due to the fact that the testing results did not meet their expectations. For more information contact Dave Heller at dheller@truckload.org.
Top
Activists Want Tighter Hours Rule
Four activist groups, calling themselves the Truck Safety Coalition, held a press conference Oct. 17 in Washington, D.C., urging the U.S. Congress not to write the new driver hours-of-service rule into law.
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, Parents Against Tired Truckers, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and Public Citizen also renewed their pleas for the U.S. Department of Transportation to lower the maximum driving time. The groups criticized the 11-hour drive times, the 34-hour restart provision and the absence of electronic on-board recorders.
The groups also criticized the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's “soft enforcement” period during the first weeks of the new rule. Until Oct. 31, minor infractions will be given nothing but a warning, but obvious violations will be cited and the drivers penalized.
The groups issued what they called a Travelers Alert, saying they wanted to warn the public they were sharing the road with tired truckers.
The press conference was part of the activists' Sorrow to Strength conference for survivors and victims of truck crashes, which drew attendees from 15 states and the District of Columbia .
Top
Developing Effective Listening Skills
In the October 11, 2005 newsletter we provided a quiz to assess your listening skills. This week we are talking about developing effective listening skills. Below is an excerpt from the Professional Truck Driver Institute book , Train the Trainer.
How to improve your listening abilities
Use and encourage nonverbal signals, such as:
- Eye contact.
- Facial expression.
- Saying things like “tell me more…” or “hmmmm…”
- Nodding.
- Remaining silent.
- Appropriate posture.
Establish eye contact. This is especially important. Think about how frustrating it is to be speaking with someone who fails to return your eye contact. You automatically assume they are not paying attention to you and are not interested in what you are saying.
Rephrase or paraphrase comments by restating the main idea or content to:
- Check or clarify accuracy.
- Let the speaker know that you understand.
- Hear yourself say the idea.
- Encourage more discussion.
Focus on key words , main ideas , and visual images (or examples) to help retain important points. Mentally outline ideas and put them into categories, such as similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages, and a specific chronology.
Ask questions if what the other person is saying is not clear or complete. Do not pretend to understand if you do not! The following phrases can help you, as a listener, interject nonjudgmental feedback into a conversation:
1. Clarifying . Get the other person to explain something that was not clear: “I don't understand what you mean,” or “Would you repeat that again?”
2. Paraphrasing. Repeat what the other person said, but in your own words: “Let me see if I'm with you. You said…” or “In other words, you think…” or “What I hear you saying is…”
3. Summarizing . Put a number of points into one sentence: “What you have said so far is…” or “As I understand it, your key point is…”
Take notes, in list or outline form, if that will help you keep up with the conversation. However, do not concentrate on the notes at the expense of the conversation.
Avoid bad listening habits , such as:
• Assuming in advance that whatever the speaker says will not be rewarding or interesting.
• Mentally criticizing the way the other person speaks instead of listening to the words.
• Reacting with such immediate opposition to an idea that you do not even hear the remainder of the speaker's arguments—you are busy thinking of opposing arguments instead of listening to what is being said.
• Concentrating on small details and missing the main ideas.
• Trying to take notes on everything someone says instead of just the main points.
• Pretending to pay attention but thinking about something else.
• Remaining silent when the speaker is unclear or incomplete in expressing thoughts.
• Tuning out when the speaker uses technical terms that do not mean anything to you.
• Letting prejudice against certain words or phrases block your receptivity to the speaker's ideas.
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
TCA's New Director of Safety Assumes Responsibilities
TCA welcomed David Heller as its Director of Safety on October 10, 2005. David most recently served as Manager of Safety Programs for the American Trucking Associations while working on programs such as the National Truck Driving Championships and other industry safety programs initiated by ATA and its Safety & Loss Prevention Management Council.
David recently received his Certified Director of Safety (CDS) through NATMI in July and is excited to focus even more on safety as his career continues with TCA.
He graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a degree in Business Management.
David is excited about the new challenge he faces with TCA and eager to work with TCA and its members. For information on safety regulations or safety in general, please feel free to contact David at 703/838-8847 or e-mail to dheller@truckload.org.
Top
|