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August 22 , 2006
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Headline News
PTDI Has Now Moved
The important PTDI information is PTDI has now moved. Our new address is 555 E.
Braddock Road , Alexandria , VA 22314 .
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Much Anticipated Regulation Under Review
On Thursday, August 10th , the Department of Transportation submitted for
review, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Electronic On-Board Recorders
(EOBRs) to The White House Office of Management and Budget Review.
Although the precise scope of the proposed rulemaking is not known, it is
expected to be a comprehensive package of incentives and, possibly,
requirements that would encourage wider adoption of EOBRs. This long
anticipated NPRM is estimated to appear in the Federal Register sometime
in early November and is expected to address the use of
electronic-on-board-recorders for enforcing hours-of-service compliance.
For those that remember, Electronic On-Board Recorders was introduced originally
as an ANPRM that came right on the heels of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
July 16, 2004 decision to vacate the FMCSA's “old” new HOS rules. Despite the
fact that the Court vacated the rules as the agency “ignored the issue of the
driver's health”, the Circuit Court Judge also wrote, “the agency's
justification for not requiring EOBRs….is another aspect of the final HOS rule
of questionable rationality.”
In addition, the Court had suggested that the FMCSA had not fulfilled its duty
in properly testing and evaluating EOBRs. From their decision, “It is .…
plausible that EOBRs will have substantial safety benefits, and it was
incumbent on the agency at least to attempt to analyze those benefits. We
cannot fathom, therefore, why the agency has not even taken the seemingly
obvious step of testing existing EOBRs on the road, or why the agency has not
attempted to estimate their benefits on imperfect empirical assumptions.” In
response, FMCSA stated in the ANPRM, “This Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, which has been under development for some time, is an effort to do
just that.”
Click Here for a
copy of the EOBR ANPRM as it appeared in the Federal Register on
September 1, 2004
Click
Here to review the comments filed by TCA in response to the ANPRM
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(PHMSA) Is Seeking Comments On The NPRM
Recently, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and is seeking comments on the
NPRM to amend the statutorily mandated registration and fee assessment program
for persons who transport or offer for transportation certain categories and
quantities of hazardous materials. For those registrants not qualifying as a
small business or not-for-profit organization, they are proposing to increase
the fee to $1,975 (plus a $25 administrative fee) for registration year
2007-2008 and increase the fee to $2,975 (plus a $25 administrative fee) for
registration year 2008-2009 and following years. The fee increase is necessary
to fund the national Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants
program at approximately $28,000,000 in accordance with the Administration's
fiscal year 2007 budget proposal to Congress.
Since 1992, PHMSA has conducted a national registration program for persons who
offer for transportation or transport certain hazardous materials in
intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce. The purposes of the registration
program are to gather information about the transportation of hazardous
materials, and fund the Hazardous Materials and Emergency Preparedness (HMEP)
grants program.
PHMSA is also proposing to eliminate the expedited telephonic registration
option. The number of telephonic registrations has steadily decreased with the
addition of the Internet registration option; therefore, we believe that this
registration option is no longer necessary, according to the Federal Register.
For a copy of the NPRM ,
click here.
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Focus of Study is On-Road Diesel Fuel Properties
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has completed the first
round of a research study tracking the changes occurring to on-road diesel fuel
properties as a result of the transition from low sulfur diesel (LSD) to ultra
low sulfur diesel (ULSD). New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
standards require ULSD, which has a sulfur content of no more than 15 parts per
million (ppm), to be the dominant highway diesel fuel produced in the U.S. and
become available at many retail outlets by October 15, 2006. The primary
focus of ATRI's research is to determine what, if any, changes occur to the
energy content of diesel fuel as a result of this transition.
ATRI worked with a number of trucking companies to obtain fuel samples from
on-site or primary fueling locations this past April and May. Samples
were collected in each of the five Petroleum Administration Defense Districts,
as well as, in the three states with boutique diesel fuel requirements –
California , Minnesota and Texas . Each sample was then sent to an
independent laboratory for testing and analysis.
Results from the first phase of the research study, involved samples collected
prior to the introduction of ULSD, which indicated sulfur levels averaged 276
ppm and ranged from a high of 415 ppm to a low of 48 ppm. While sulfur
content had a low correlation to the fuel's energy content, other fuel
parameters, which more closely affect energy content, may be affected as sulfur
is removed during the refining process. The two fuel properties with the
highest correlation to energy content were density and aromatic content.
Aromatic content is regulated under boutique diesel fuel standards in the
states of California and Texas . Overall, the per gallon energy content
of the samples has varied by as much as 2.3%. The next step in this research
study will involve pulling ULSD samples next April and May from the same
locations to determine what changes in fuel properties have occurred and
whether these changes have an impact on energy content according to a press
release from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
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FMCSA Announces Additional Exemptions
On Tuesday, August 8 th , the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
announced its decision to exempt forty-seven individuals from its rule
prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from
operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce.
FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility of the forty-seven applicants and determined
that granting the exemptions to these individuals would achieve a level of
safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved by
complying with the current regulation. The exemptions will enable these
individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.
Click here to
review the list of those exempted as they appear in the Federal Register.
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PHMSA Special Permits Delayed Mostly by Other Priority
Issues
PHMSA has published a list of special permit applications through the Federal
Register that have been in process for 180 days or more. The reason(s)
for delay and the expected completion date for action on each application is
provided in association with each identified application. Of the special
permits that have been delayed, 60% can be attributed to being delayed by other
priority issues or volume of special permit applications, according to the
announcement.
Click here to review
the list of delays, as well as reasons, as they appear in the Federal Register.
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PHMSA Requests Comments on Economic Impact of Regs
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has requested
comments through the Federal Register on the economic impact of its
regulations on small entities.The purpose of the review is to determine whether
such rules should be continued without change, amended, or rescinded,
consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes, and to minimize any
significant economic impact of the rules on a substantial number of such small
entities.
The review will determine whether a specific rule should be revised or revoked
to lessen its impact on small entities. PHMSA will consider the following:
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The continued need for the rule;
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The nature of complaints or comments received from the public;
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The complexity of the rule;
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The extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with other
federal rules or with state or local government rules;
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The length of time since the rule has been evaluated or the degree to which
technology, economic conditions, or other factors that have changed in the area
affected by the rule.
PHMSA is analyzing the HazMat Regulations applicable to specifications for
non-bulk packaging's and training and planning grants. They are also analyzing
the Pipeline Safety Regulations applicable to oil pipeline response plans and
the hazardous liquid reporting requirements. They are also requesting comments
on ways to make these regulations easier to read and understand.
Click Here to
review the announcement as it appeared in the Federal Register.
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Titles Available For Purchase Through LINK Conference
Service
The Truckload Academy , TCA's education and training resource arm for truckload
carriers, conducts audio conferences on a variety of subjects. A number of the
audio conferences address recruitment and retention issues. Each audio
conference is taped and the cassettes and CDs can be purchased through
LINK Conference Service.
To purchase a cassette or CD, please call LINK at 1-800-756-8280 or to view the
list of all of the audio conferences, click here-
Below are examples of the Recruitment and Retention titles which are available:
Developing Recruiting Sales Skills To Close The Deal or The Top Ten Ways To
Become More Effective In Driver Recruiting
The process of recruiting drivers has changed over the years from focusing on a
screening out process to now focusing on recruitment as a sale process. You
will hear from David Mattson, nationally known speaker from the Sandler Sales
Institute, and Eric Stegman Vice President, Driver Development at Craig
Transportation Company. Eric is a past graduate of the Sandler program and will
bring real world trucking practices and observations to the audio conference
from the practitioner side.
Controlling Driver Turnover
In this session you will learn how a carefully designed turnover analysis
process provides you with the information you need to go after so that you can
solve the right problems and monitor your progress. The right information also
provides an early warning system to alert you to potential problems in their
early stages. The speakers are Rim Yurkus, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic
Programs Inc., Denver , CO ; Don Osterberg, Vice President of Capacity
Development, Schneider National Inc., Green Bay , WI , and Tres Parker, Vice
President of Operations, Boyd Brothers Transportation, Clayton , AL .
De-Mystifying Internet Recruiting
In this session, you will learn from three carriers and a recruiting Internet
provider: the top 10 things your corporate website needs to be; what you need
to look for when choosing an Internet service; 6 things you need to know about
your Internet applications; and how to track them. The speakers are Richard
Crook, VP of Safety & Recruiting, Willis Shaw Express Transportation, LLC,
Elm Springs, AR, Stacia DeWitt, SPHR, Recruiting Director, Marten Transport,
Ltd., Mondovi WI, Betty Nix, Director of Driver Personnel, Boyd Bros.
Transportation, Clayton, AL, and Darin Williams, President, CDLjobs.com,
Lisbon, IA.
Successful Driver Recruitment Techniques in a Tight Driver Market
You will learn how to conduct a recruiting department audit, monitor, measure
and track advertising, streamline the application process, and how to follow-up
with the drivers that got away. The speakers are Kelly Anderson, President
& CEO, Impact Transportation Solutions, Neosho , MO , Tom Kretsinger, Jr.,
President & COO, American Central Transport, Inc., Liberty , MO , and Gary
Salisbury, Sr. VP & COO, Fikes Truck Line, Inc., Hope , AR.
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