SMS Includes Violations Based on New Cell Phone Regulations

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has enhanced the Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology so that it includes violations based on new cell phone use regulations and provides more detailed breakouts of some existing brake, wheel, and coupling regulations. In February, when the January snapshot is released, motor carriers may notice the following two changes.

1. The addition of four texting and cell phone use violations in the Unsafe Driving Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) as outlined below. The violations reflect FMCSA’s decision on January 3, 2012 to ban commercial drivers from using mobile telephones while driving, which includes a ban on texting. Motor carriers should discuss the new violations with their drivers to ensure that they are aware of these requirements.

Added Carrier SMS Unsafe Driving BASIC Violations

Section	Violation Description Shown on Driver/Vehicle Examination Report Given to Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Driver after Roadside Inspection	Violation Group Description	Violation Severity Weight
177.804(b)	Failure to comply with 49 CFR 392.80 – Texting while Oper a CMV – Placardable HM	Texting	10
177.804(b)	Fail to comply with 392.82 – Using Mobile Phone while Oper a CMV – HM	Phone Call	10
392.82(a)(1)	Using a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a CMV	Phone Call	10
392.82(a)(2)	Allowing or requiring driver to use a hand-held mobile tel while operating a CMV	Phone Call	10

2. The addition of 22 Vehicle Maintenance BASIC violations that provide further breakouts of existing brake, wheel, and coupling regulations. This improvement will help to clarify who the responsible party is for the violations, either the motor carrier or the Intermodal Equipment Provider.

FMCSA is revising Appendix A of the SMS Methodology document to take these changes into account. The agency will re-post the document to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Website at the same time the January SMS snapshot is released. Stay tuned by subscribing to the CSA Outreach Website at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/stay_connected.aspx.

Drivers and Hours-of-Service Changes

Recently the HOS regulations changed for over-the-road household carriers, but how much information is truly understood by those drivers who are a passenger carrier? I have not seen most roadside inspectors have not yet baulked at the way the passenger carrier drivers keep their HOS in regards to the 34 restart. But with the pressure on passenger carriers who knows just when that will change.

One of my clients is a passenger carrier in the entertainment coach business and after speaking to their drivers concerning their log audits, it was brought to my attention that they did not realize that passenger carrier drivers do not have the restart and log under the old HOS.

When you look at information concerning the HOS it is hard to understand for the typical layman just how these HOS rules affect each driver depending on the work they do and the operation of their company..

Remember, a passenger carrier driver needs a full 8 days off to recoup the full hours-of-service. Keep track of what your drivers or yourself does in an 8 day period.

Did you realize that depending on what you operation is, determines the HOS rules you fall under. Keep certain criteria in mind as a driver and don’t short yourself in an audit when it comes to the hours-of-service section.

• Do you run interstate or intrastate?
• Do you run within a 150 mile radius?
• Are you a household carrier?
• Do you haul passengers?
• Do you know the current hours-of-service regulations based on your operation?

If you need assistance or information concerning your HOS visit www.thetruckingva.com today!

Notice to Bus and Motorcoach Passenger Carriers

Notice to Bus and Motorcoach Traveling Public and Passenger Motor Carriers: Third-Party Compliance Reviews and Vehicle Inspections

 

Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has received numerous inquiries regarding third-party inspectors offering “safety certifications.”

Please note the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Transportation, is the only agency authorized by the United States Congress to issue Federal interstate operating authority registration, to regulate interstate passenger motor carriers, and to determine their eligibility for continued operations.

Passenger motor carriers are subject to a wide range of interventions including compliance reviews, safety audits, and vehicle and driver inspections. Only the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may terminate a passenger motor carrier’s interstate operating authority.

Companies using aggressive marketing tactics to sell “inspections” and “authorized lists” are not sanctioned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration nor do they have access to the wide range of resources routinely implemented by trained and authorized inspectors to determine a passenger motor carrier’s safety fitness.

Persons or groups considering bus and motor coach transportation are encouraged to visit the Web site below for assistance in selecting a passenger motor carrier: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/Index.aspx

For specific information regarding a passenger motor carrier please visit http://www.safersys.org.

FMCSA/CSA and your Data Access

Did you know that the FMCSA now collects a vast array of information about commercial drivers and Motor Carriers? Without this data the CSA program would not exist. And some of this data is about you – roadside inspections, crashes, and if not familiar with this, you should be the BASIC score.

Motor Carriers and drivers are scored under the BASICS and if you own your own equipment and are the driver with your own operating authority of that vehicle your are not only scored under the motor carrier but also the driver.

BASICs or Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories and they include:

• Unsafe Driving
• Fatigued Driving
• Driver Fitness
• Controlled Substance
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Cargo-related
• Crash indicator

But did you also realize that when you receive a violation that not all violations will be placed or used in the scoring system.

for more information visit;

Drivers

• FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP)
• Commercial Driver License Program (CDL/CDLIS)
• FMCSA Educational Materials
  • CMV Web-Based Driving Tips

Motor Carriers:

• Analysis & Information Online
  • Safety Measurement System (SMS)
  • Passenger Carrier Safety
• Company Safety Snapshot (SAFER)
• FMCSA Portal – Request a portal account to gain access.

Truckers seek brake on new rules – Washington Times

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/6/truckers-seek-brake-on-new-rules/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Are you an intrastate carrier of passengers or household goods? Are you looking to build your transportation business across state lines? If so look at what you need to concerning your operating authority and make sure you know that if your transportatioon business needs an mc authority that it can take upto 10 weeks to obtain that authority. If you apply for an operating authority ( not a DOT number) that you need to shut down your operation during the application process for upto 10 weeks.

As a company and working on building your business i don’t know of any company that can shut their operation down for 2 to 3 months. Recently i have worked with a client that was unaware of the process and in their operation within a short time had 2 DOT compliance reviews. During which time neither auditor stated that they needed to stop all operations during what is called the vetting process. In short the operating authority was denied and now they are in the appeals process.

Don’t let yourself and your company lose time and money by not knowing the proper procedures in both your operation and safety and compliance. There are several resources you  can look at to make sure you have what you need. Start with the FMCSA website and frequently asked question http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/other/faq/faqs.aspx#question3 . If you have more questions contact us and we can help you answer those questions and assist you in keeping your company running. Http://thetruckingva.com.Ask your questions here get in the know how in your business.

The Improved CSA Website

July 22, 2011

HIGHLIGHTS

You Talked, We Listened … Visit the Improved CSA Website and See What’s Changed!

Since the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Website launched in August of 2008, we have directly responded to more than 6,500 questions from motor carriers, drivers, and others in the commercial vehicle safety industry.  In response to our visitors’ feedback, we improved several areas on the CSA Website in order to support stakeholders’ efforts to increase safety on the nation’s roads . http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/whats_New.aspx#33411

CVSA’S ROADCHECK KEEPS COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SAFETY IN CHECK

Inspections Emphasize Importance of Vehicle, Driver Compliance to Drive Down Highway Deaths

WASHINGTON, DC (July 7, 2011)  – Results from Roadcheck 2011, the three-day, commercial vehicle safety enforcement and education campaign organized annually by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), reveal that the commercial motor carrier and motor coach industries continue to improve the maintenance and safety of their operations, with overall out-of-service (OOS) rates being the lowest since Roadcheck began in 1988.

“Although overall out-of-service rates are at record lows, there is room for improvement until the roads are free from vehicle and driver violations,” said CVSA’s Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “Events that focus on ensuring vehicles and drivers are complying with the law, like Roadcheck and all roadside inspections, draw critical attention to out-of-service rates and are shown to also impact crash reductions.” Read more……..

Have you Noticed Your SMS Score Changing?

Have you noticed your safety score changing since the implementation of CSA? The way that the 7 Basics of CSA are measured from that of the old safety rating system.

I have had several clients ask me why their score was higher or lower since we have changed to the new CSA system. It is important to understand how the basics are scored compared to the old system.

The SMS will initially focus on the two types of entities most likely to impact the
BASICs and Crash Indicator: motor carriers and CMV drivers.  Therefore, two
measurement systems were designed for CSA:
Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS)
Driver Safety Measurement Systems (DSMS)

Both CSMS and DSMS assess an individual entity‘s performance by BASIC and Crash Indicators calculated from information collected during on-road safety inspections and state-reported CMV crash records.  These data are recorded in the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS).  In addition, motor carrier Census data, also recorded in MCMIS, are used for the identification and normalization of safety event data.

To further understand why your score is changing visit: http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMSMethodology.pdf

Additional Resources:

Get virtual trucking assistance www.thetruckingva.com

Educate your drivers in CSA http://dotdqfiles.com/csaorientationtraining.htm

CSA http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/BASICs.aspx

Conflict for Placement of Apportioned Plates and Roadside Inspections

One big problem I have seen with my clients lately is getting roadside inspection violations when it comes to the placement of their apportioned plates. As I googled the information I found that there were more states and more carriers dealing with this issue.

I have taken the time to speak to head of states law enforcement, motor carriers associations and now the contact at IRP (International Rate Plan Inc.) to find out just where to put the assistance needed to help these carriers and drivers to assist in eliminating such a problem.

Since its state regulation for place of the plate on a commercial vehicle and not under Federal regulation, there is not much the FMCSA can do to help in this particular area. Changes need to be made to effectively educate law enforcement and the difference in the placement of apportioned plates and truck drivers.

This problem starts an issue in a roadside inspection and can affect the company and driver safety score.

What I would like is your response on if you have had issues in this area, what states and what you did as an individual or as a company.