|
December 20, 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
Call for Nominations for the PTDI Lee Crittenden Award
It is once again time for nominating a recipient for the annual PTDI Lee Crittenden Award. This award is sponsored by GE Commercial Finance, Transportation Finance in honor of Lee Crittenden who helped found PTDIA and was a staunch supporter of PTDI until his death in 1998. This award is given to the individual who best exemplifies the overall message of PTDI. The award is given at the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) Annual Convention in March, 2006 in order to better publicize the recipient.
This year will be the seventh recipient. The prior winners are as follows: 1999-Herb Schmidt, Contract Freighters, Inc.; 2000-Wade Murphree, American Institute of Technology; 2001-Harold Haase, Career Publishing; 2002-Virginia DeRoze, Truckload Carriers Association; 2003-Harry Kowalchyk, National Tractor Trailer School; and 2004- Herb Fotheringham, PTDI Certification Specialist.
In order to have the award engraved and shipped, we need to have your vote back from the full board by January 16. Therefore, could you please submit your nomination for this award, along with the reason that the person best exemplifies the overall PTDI message, to me by email, no later than COB Monday, January 16.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and please call Nancy O'Liddy 703-838-7936 or email me with your response at noliddy@truckload.org if you have any questions.
Top
Innovative Recruitment Strategy highlighted in CCJ
Commercial Carrier Journal magazine highlighted Watkins & Shepard Trucking Inc. as an innovator in its November, 2005 issue. The article outlines how Ray Kuntz, Chairman and CEO of the carrier leveraged relationships with a band and a trucking school to increase funding and recruiting. Kuntz co-chairs a TCA-ATA task force on driver recruiting and developed his idea after learning that trucking schools turn away thousands of applicants due to their lack of funding. CCJ 's Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. Click here to read the entire article.
Top
Kansas teams up with schools to offer driver training
The Kansas Department of Commerce, Fort Scott Community College and Kaw Area Technical School have teamed up to offer truck driving classes in Topeka.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the three entities teamed up to offer the classes based on a growing need for truck drivers in northeast Kansas .
Richard Hoffman, general director at the Kaw Area Technical School – or KATS – told The Capital-Journal that a recent survey of employers by the Department of Commerce showed that there was a need for more training for truck drivers.
The first class began Nov. 21. A second class is scheduled to begin Jan. 30.
KATS was looking for a program, and decided to take Fort Scott 's program and expand it to Topeka . Under the arrangement, KATS provides classroom space, advertising and parking for the truck used in for the class. Fort Scott provides the truck, enrollment, instruction and other equipment needed.
The Capitol-Journal said that Fort Scott started its program in 1979, and later expanded to Kansas City , KS , and Emporia , KS . The program now handles about 60 students per month.
The four-week program includes classroom lectures, discussion, hands-on experience and a review of trucking laws. At the end of the program, students can apply for their commercial driver's license. There is a $22 licensing fee charged by the state of Kansas .
In-state tuition for the program is $1,648 and includes the cost of fuel and instruction.
Top
Stop Sooner? NHTSA Issues NPRM to Improve the Stopping Distance Performance of Truck Tractors
On the heels of an all-time low in terms of fatal crash rate, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the air brake standard to improve the stopping performance of truck tractors.
Based on current safety trend data and brake system technologies for truck tractors, the NHTSA is proposing to reduce the required stopping distance for these vehicles by 20 to 30 percent and have tentatively concluded that truck tractors are capable of achieving a reduction in stopping distance within this range with existing technologies.
OEMs and brake engineers have communicated that the new rule, once it arrives, will be handily met. They anticipate that by then fleets will be able to spec tractors either with what is generally referred to as an “enhanced” or “wide” drum brakes or with versions of today's latest-generation disc brakes, or with the combination of discs up front, drums at the rear. What's more they said both drum and disc brakes will benefit from new friction materials being developed that will help improve braking performance and also deliver longer life.
NHTSA also discusses research and requests comments concerning improving the braking performance of other types of heavy vehicles, i.e., trailers, straight trucks, and buses. The agency may address improved braking performance for these other vehicles in a future rulemaking. Click here to review the entire NRPM
How to Comment
Comments for the NPRM may be submitted by April 14, 2006 using the following methods:
- Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov
- Fax: 1-202-493-2251
- Mail:
Docket Management Facility, US DOT
400 Seventh Street, SW, Nassif Building, Rm PL-401
Washington, D.C. 20590-0001
- Hand Delivery: 9 am – 5 pm (M-F)
RM PL-401
On the plaza level of the Nassif Building
400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC
- Fed. eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov
Top
FMCSA Denies Split Rest for Teams
The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) has rejected a request submitted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) to "reconsider reinstating the sleeper-berth exception for sleeper-berth team drivers."
The request from IBT to reconsider had been based on the argument that "drivers are able to drive safely while utilizing the self-selected work/rest cycle." After surveying its 1,000 member drivers that operate in teams, IBT members indicated that a 5-5 driving/rest minimized their fatigue and that the new HOS regulations will force team drivers to operate a CMV while fatigued.
Prior to proposing the "new" HOS rulemaking, FMSCA actively collected and reviewed various studies on driver fatigue. Although they do agree that a short nap will leave drivers feeling refreshed, their researched showed that 7-8 hours of consecutive sleep is needed everyday in order to maintain proper mental and physical functioning. Based on these findings, FMCSA denied the request submitted by the Teamsters.
The new HOS regulations took effect October 1, 2005, with a transitional period for compliance and enforcement from October 1, 2005, through December 31, 2005. According to FMCSA, the new rule is the product of years of research meant to keep drivers healthy and make highways safer. Top
Truck-involved Fatal Crash Rate Falls
The fatal crash rate for large trucks in 2004 fell to its lowest point in 30 years, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Newly released Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) vehicle mileage figures, used to help determine crash rates for all vehicles, show the 2004 rate for large trucks stood at 1.96 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled. This marks the lowest rate since the U.S. Department of Transportation began tracking large truck safety records in 1975 and breaks the previous low of 1.97 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled in 2002.
Remarkably, this record-low improvement in the fatal crash rate comes despite an increase in the number of vehicles on the road. According to the FHWA, there were nearly 6.3 million more registered cars and trucks in 2004 than in 2003.
The lower fatal crash rate underscores the trucking industry's continual efforts to increase safety on the nation's highways. This includes greater education on sharing the road with large trucks and increased traffic enforcement for cars that operate unsafely around large trucks.
Top
Canada Requests Speed Limiter Comments by Dec. 23
As we previously reported the Ontario Trucking Association, which represents many of Canada 's large motor carriers, proposed a mandatory engine speed of 105 km/h or 65 mph on all trucks based in or doing business in Ontario . Click here to view that story. The OTA announcement came at a convention and press conference in November, and OTA has since submitted an 18-point recommendation to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.
Advocates for truckers say it is in the best interest of owner-operators and other drivers, regardless of where they do business, to get up to speed on the issue.
The Ontario Transportation Ministry has opened a short public comment period for anyone for or against mandatory speed limiters. The comment period began on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and will end Dec. 23.
What this means is the provincial government is collecting opinions to consider before it takes up the issue.
Anyone interested in the issue may contact the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario regarding the proposal, which seeks to require speed limiters on all trucks that run in Ontario . Write to:
Attn: Dwain Smith, Senior Policy Advisor
Ministry of Transportation
Carrier Safety and Enforcement Branch
3rd Floor, 301 St. Paul Street
St. Catherines , Ontario , Canada
L2R 7R4
You can also send comments via e-mail to: dwain.smith@mto.gov.on.ca or call Dwain Smith directly at (905) 704-2624. A link to the OTA proposal is available here. Top
Are You A “High-Risk” Carrier? Another SafeStat Report Released
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Center for Transportation Analysis conducted a recent review of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's SafeStat program. The review, contracted to Oak Ridge by the FMCSA based upon the efforts by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) that confirmed the effectiveness of SafeStat, found that "incomplete data resulted in some carriers being ranked at-risk when they would not have been with complete data," and that "geographic and year-to-year variations in missing and late data are likely to bias the SafeStat rankings."
The Oak Ridge review on SafeStat addressed two issues:
• the impact of missing and late crash records on the SafeStat ranking, and
• the potential for statistical methods to improve the effectiveness of SafeStat.
As a final result, the study concluded that improving “the timeliness and completeness of the source data are still essential.”
Click here to review a copy of the Oak Ridge Report.
This is the second recent review of SafeStat that stated timeliness and completeness of data are primarily essential to maintain an accurate database and properly identify a “high-risk” carrier. The earlier study was conducted by the Government Accountability Office and was reported in last weeks issue of the TCA Newsletter.
Top
FMCSA Responds to Sleeper Berth "Break" Period
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has accepted the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) petition for rulemaking to consider allowing some flexibility in the sleeper berth rules of the Hours-of Service Regulations for team drivers. The petition, filed in September of 2005, requested that team drivers be allowed to record up to two hours of passenger seat time as off-duty, if that time is taken in conjunction with a consecutive eight-hour sleeper berth period. FMCSA accepted the petition and will respond by issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the definition of on-duty time. At this point however, this particular practice is still not permitted, but we can expect the NPRM on Hours-of-Service Regulations in order to seek comments on this change from the industry and the general public sometime in 2006.
Also, on the Hours-of-Service front, TCA would like to encourage and remind its members to complete the surveys (ATRI, ATA Economics Dept.) forwarded onto them addressing the current Hours-of-Service Regulations. In efforts to collect data related to the current rules, each survey has been designed to request data on the new HOS Regulations vs. the old HOS regulations.
Click here to download the ATA Economics Department Survey due on December 16, 2005.
Top
NTSB Chair Withdraws From Second Term Consideration
National Transportation Safety Board Member Ellen Engleman Conners has asked President Bush to withdraw her nomination for a second term as chairman of NTSB.
In a letter she sent the president Wednesday, Dec. 7, Engleman Conners said she intends to focus on continuing to serve as an aggressive advocate for safety in her role as a Member of the Safety Board, according to an NTSB press release.
“I sincerely request your consideration to withdraw my nomination to serve a second term as chairman of the NTSB in order that I may focus on continuing to serve as an aggressive advocate for safety in my role as Member of the National Transportation Safety Board,” Engleman Conners wrote.
Engleman Conners became member and chairman of NTSB on March 24, 2003. Her term as member runs through 2007. Her two-year term as chairman, which requires separate Senate confirmation, expired in late March of this year. In April, President Bush nominated her for a second term as chairman.
In her letter, Engleman Conners pointed out that the seven months since her term as chairman expired gave her a unique perspective.
“My decision to focus on my role as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board is based in large part on the opportunity these last seven months have given me to serve without the additional demands of the chairmanship,” she wrote. “The NTSB's role in safety advocacy is critical and I hope to aggressively pursue these responsibilities.”
Among issues Engleman Conners wants to focus her attention on as a member of NTSB is the impact accidents have on people.
“During my service at the NTSB, I have traveled to many accident sites – spoken to transportation accident victims' families and witnessed the loss of life and property that transportation accidents cause,” she wrote. “I renew my personal promise to each of these victims and their families each and every time – that I will do my utmost to ensure that another family does not suffer the same loss.”
According to the release, Engleman Conners highlighted her accomplishments as chairman in cutting unnecessary expenditures during a time of limited budgets, expanding the availability of board products such as webcasting public meetings, and working to implement recommendations in the letter. Most importantly, she noted that the current number of unimplemented recommendations is less than 800, the lowest number since 1975.
Top
|