September 5, 2006
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Headline News
FMCSA Seeks Industry Safety Representatives to Serve on Committee
FMCSA has announced through the Federal Register the establishment of
the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee as required by SAFETEA-LU. The
advisory committee will provide advice and recommendations to the FMCSA
Administrator on the needs, objectives, plans, approaches, content, and
accomplishments of motor carrier safety programs and motor carrier safety
regulations.
This notice also solicits nominations for interested persons to serve on the
advisory committee. The Administrator will appoint up to 20 members to the
Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. They will be selected from among
individuals who are not employees of FMCSA and who are specially qualified to
serve on the Committee based on their education, training, or experience. The
members will include representatives of the motor carrier industry, safety
advocates, and safety enforcement officials. The advisory committee will begin
work in 2006.
Click
here for a copy of the announcement as it appears in the Federal
Register.
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FMCSA Exempts 45 Drivers with Diabetes
FMCSA announces its decision to exempt forty-five individuals from its rule
prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from
operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. The
exemptions will enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate
commerce.
FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility of the forty-five 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 regulations.
Click
here to review the list of those exempted as they appear in the Federal
Register.
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State Driver Licensing Agencies to Benefit from CDL Grant
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announces the availability of
Commercial Driver's License Program Improvement (CDLPI) grant funding as
authorized by SAFETEA-LU. The program is a discretionary grant program that
provides funding for improving States' implementation of the Commercial
Driver's License (CDL) program, including expenses for computer hardware and
software, publications, testing, personnel, training, and quality control. The
agency in each State designated as the primary driver licensing agency
responsible for the development, implementation, and maintenance of the CDL
program is eligible to apply for grant funding.
To apply for funding, applicants must register with the
grants.gov Web site (http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp)
and submit an application in accordance with instructions provided.
Applications for grant funding must be submitted electronically to the FMCSA
through the grants.gov Web site.
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DHS Has Invested In Handheld Detection Equipment
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced $113 million in
competitive contracts to enhance the detection of radiological materials at the
nation's ports of entry. DHS said it’s awarding Human Portable Radiation
Detection Systems (HPRDS) contracts to Ametec AMT, Oak Ridge, TN, Science
Application International, San Diego, CA, Sanmina-SCI, Huntsville, AL, Target
Instruments, Oak Ridge, TN and Smiths Detection, Pine Brook, NJ.
“These next generation handheld devices will bring an even faster and more
reliable means to detecting and identifying radioactive materials at our
ports,” said Vayl S. Oxford, director of DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection
Office (DNDO). “They are part of a robust global nuclear detection architecture
built for the most consequential threats to the homeland.”
DNDO anticipates purchasing and deploying roughly 1,000 next generation handheld
systems and 200 backpack systems through the HPRDS program. The portable
technology will be used primarily by Customs and Border Protection officers for
secondary screening of cargo to identify and localize radiological material
after a primary alarm has been triggered. DHS said the devices could be used by
Coast Guard officers aboard vessels prior to an arrival at port, according to
the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL).
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Canadian HOS Requirements Are Effective January 1, 2007
The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), which represents
the Canadian federal and provincial motor vehicle departments, has made
available an application guide with information on Canada’s new
Hours-of-Service (HOS) requirements, which are effective January 1, 2007. The
guide is primarily in a question-and-answer format, which provides examples of
logs that will be compliant with the new rules. CCMTA says such a log will also
be compliant with the current HOS rules in the United States. The converse,
however, is not the case: a driver using a U.S. log in Canada will need to add
a few entries, including various odometer readings. In addition, while U.S.
rules require the last seven days logs to be in the truck, Canada will require
the last two weeks’ worth. The site includes much other information about the
new Canadian regulation, according to the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association
(WMCA).
To view the guide, please click here- http://www.ccmta.ca/english/producstandservices/publications/reportcentre.cfm#hoursofservice
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Understand Implications of Your Actions
What you focus on, you get more of. That goes for good things as well as the bad
and it is why a leader has to pay careful attention to focus and understand the
implications of his or her actions. Remember, people are watching your every
move to determine how they should act in similar situations. Your focus is
contagious.
When developing company goals and objectives, it is important to focus on the
items you want more of. We don’t want to reduce accidents; we want to increase
accident-free operations. We don’t want to reduce driver turnover; we want to
improve driver retention. We don’t want to eliminate bad debt; we want to
improve on-time payment and collections. We don’t want to reduce late
deliveries. We want to increase on-time deliveries. You get the point. The
difference is subtle but very significant.
Look at the messages you are sending as a company and as a
leader. Are you constantly talking about, and therefore focusing on, what is
wrong? Or are you focused on the desired outcome, what you want more of?
Are you nurturing a forward-looking organization or are you constantly
reminding your people what they are doing wrong?
It is much easier to focus on the problems, because they are obvious, and more
difficult to focus on the solutions because they may not be so obvious … yet.
And when they do reveal themselves, they sometimes require difficult decisions
to implement. Quite simply, it is easier to focus on the problem instead of the
solution.
One of the problems with meetings in today’s business environment is that we
spend a significant amount of time talking about what is wrong,
casting blame for who was wrong, and often debating why they
were wrong. Efficient and effective meetings establish the objective (identify
the problem) and then spend the bulk of the meeting focusing on the solution.
Leaders don’t let meetings get bogged down with the past. They keep their eye
on the ball and the ball in front of you. Once the ball is past you, it is too
late.
As a leader, the challenge is simple: You must learn from the past, learn from
what went wrong, and then let go of it. Focus on the solution, on what
you want more of, on the desired outcome. The best companies in business today
are forward thinking, but more importantly, they are forward focused and
solution-oriented.
Providing a solution-oriented work environment provides your people with a
target, a finish line. And it is clear that racehorses run harder when they
have the finish line in sight. To turn your thoroughbreds loose, give them an
objective to focus on, point them in the right direction, and let ‘em run!
Focus on where we want to go, not where we have been.
Choose to be a great leader today and every day! Remember, managers are a dime a
dozen and leaders are worth their weight in gold, according to Bill Webb.
Bill Webb is Senior Vice President at FFE Transportation Services, Inc., a
publicly held refrigerated carrier based in Dallas, Texas. He is also the
founder of The Blue Flame Project (www.theblueflameproject.com), a nationwide
leadership initiative, and the author of the upcoming book “Igniting The Blue
Flame: A Call to Leadership.” He speaks throughout the country on the issue of
leadership.
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Systematic Communication with Drivers in the First Six
Months Can Improve Retention
The most critical time of a driver's tenure with a carrier is the first six
months. It's during this period that expectations set in the recruiting process
are either met or missed. Moreover, the driver doesn’t yet know the
company well enough to work through the organizational structures to get issues
resolved. Drivers that leave in the first six months make up the majority
of turnover at most carriers and account for the majority of costs related to
recruiting and onboarding replacements. Employers interested in improving
retention need to find a systematic way to better communicate with their
drivers during this pivotal time.
At most carriers, the drivers' primary points of contact are incredibly busy and
often lose sight of the forest for the trees. Even great fleet managers
are often unable to retain drivers because of shortcomings in a company’s
processes or procedures. A systemic, overall approach to interacting with
drivers during critical times during their tenure – including recruiting –
helps turn what appear to be individual driver issues into opportunities for
corporate improvement. Billy Woolsey, vice president of Anderson Trucking
looked outside for a third party, to help ensure that there was an effective
communications channel between employees and management.
Woolsey found that the third party helped them to quickly identify aspects of
their lease program that were causing their new drivers a lot of headaches.
They were able to make rapid improvements and see the incidence of these issues
really drop off. Before the changes, many new lease drivers complained
of trucks that came out of the shop with problems.
After the changes that Woolsey
implemented, all units are test-driven and certified
by a retired driver. The result has been that the
incidence of equipment problems for lease drivers has dropped to
almost zero. Turnover was reduced significantly.
Despite the best of intentions, things obviously go wrong and the driver often
pays the price. A key element of practical retention programs is to give the
drivers an avenue to get problems resolved when the normal channels are not
working for some reason. According to Woolsey, “The program both offered our
drivers the ability to get urgent individual problems resolved and demonstrates
our appreciation for their service to our company and our customers.
Having a third party involved also helps defuse much of the emotion that
unresolved problems often bring with them. It gives both the drivers and
management the chance to step back and look at the facts of a situation,
separate from the personalities involved.”
Much planning went into rolling out the retention program at Anderson. The
major success factors included:
-
Getting senior management involvement and support in resolving the issues that
the program would uncover.
-
Customizing the program to fit Anderson's orientation, escalation and operating
procedures.
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Confirming the key points in time to reach out to drivers (first paycheck,
first load, anniversary with Anderson, etc.)
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Distributing a joint Anderson/vendor description of the program to all drivers
as they go through orientation.
-
Implementing a pilot program to fine tune communications between the drivers,
Anderson and vendor.
Of course, the issues vary from carrier to carrier. But by regularly taking the
pulse of the driver group, giving drivers a means to be heard and then reacting
to the information discovered, carriers create the ability to make meaningful
improvements in their ability to retain quality drivers. For more information,
visit www.tenstreet.com
.
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Reminder TCA Open House December 8 – 12:00 – 3:00 pm
TCA Open House, which has been planned for December 8, 2006, from 12:00 p.m. –
3:00 p.m., at our new headquarters. Please join us, as we would like to show
our appreciation to all those who have continued their support of TCA over its
68 years of operation and who have made this wonderful event possible.
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TCA December Audio Conference – December 14 from 12:00 –
1:30 –pm et
Your business relationships, whether they are with independent contractors,
brokers, shippers, third party logistics providers, or other parties, are
usually established by a contract. Learn to take a proactive view
of the litigation hazards facing your company and improve your
chances for success if you are faced with litigation. Bob Browning, a
partner in the law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light & Hanson,
will walk you through contract provisions that will affect your
ability to succeed in litigation and explain initial litigation concerns you
should be aware of such as preserving electronic data, dealing with former
employees and settlement considerations.
Lawyers who sue motor carriers for accident claims have become
increasingly aggressive and sophisticated with their theories of liability.
Mike Langford, a partner with Scopelitis, Garvin, Light & Hanson, will
address some of these emerging theories and claims. He will also explain how
motor carriers can best defend themselves - both before the accident ever
happens and then once it occurs.
Click here for more information on how to register and the detailed description
of what this audio conference has to offer…..
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A Quiet Way to Support the TCA Scholarship Fund
It’s going to be hard to top the last two years, as the generosity of our
members never seizes to amaze me stated Don Orr, Chair of the Scholarship Fund.
Every year the TCA Scholarship Fund holds a fundraiser that allows it to
continue to Award College scholarships to those in the trucking industry and
their relatives.
Amanda Daigle one of this year’s scholarship recipients wrote: Thank you so much
for rewarding my family and me with the generous scholarship. We are so honored
to be chosen as I know many applicants were reviewed. Thank you so much – this
school year will be easier because of your generosity.
Last year we held our second successful silent and live auction. The Silent
Auction will be held again in the Exhibit Hall at the Bellagio Resort, in Las
Vegas, NV, March 11-14, 2007, and the auction item sign-up sheets and item
photos will be located in one central location in the Exhibit Hall with a
framed photo of the item and the item itself [if small enough] located at each
exhibitor's booth. Each participating exhibitor will also have their booth
marked in a clear way to show their participation in the Auction.
The Auction is open to both carriers and those associate members who are
participating in the exhibition. Click here for a silent auction donation form. If you
are interested in donating an item for the Live Auction, please contact Nancy
O'Liddy at 703-838-1950. Please note donated items must be of a value of $500
or more. This is an easy and effective way of promoting your business! Show
our attendees that you support the industry and education.
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