Tag: #commercialmotorvehicledrivers

Get ready California drivers

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Intrastate ELD use is required on January 1

In a few short weeks, intrastate drivers in California will be required to use electronic logging devices (ELDs). The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has issued a final rule, requiring ELD use by intrastate drivers on and after January 1, 2024.

The final rule requires the use of devices that meet the requirements in Part 395, Subpart B of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) by drivers who currently use paper records of duty status to record their hours of service. It also requires that drivers be trained in the proper operation of these devices.

Drivers using an ELD must have a unique user account, assigned by the motor carrier. All entries related to the record of duty status must be entered and certified by the driver.

Exceptions

There are exceptions to the ELD requirement for:

  • A driver operating a commercial motor vehicle in a manner requiring completion of a record of duty status on not more than 8 days within any 30-day period;
  • A driver involved in a driveaway-towaway operation in which the vehicle being driven is part of the shipment being delivered;
  • A vehicle manufactured before model year 2000, as reflected in the vehicle identification number (VIN) and as shown on the vehicle’s registration; and
  • A motor carrier, driver, or vehicle subject to federal regulatory guidance, a waiver, or an exemption issued by the Federal Motor

Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) which specifically exempts the use of an ELD.

Drivers who fall under one of the above exceptions must manually record their hours of service, using a paper logbook, automatic on-board recording device, or electronic logging software.

No changes to limits

While the final rule requires the use of ELDs for most intrastate drivers in California, CHP did not make any changes to the intrastate hours-of-service limits (on-duty, driving, and off-duty time) or applicability (who must comply).

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

Trucking industry’s top concerns include safe parking and driver distraction

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
truck-stop.jpg
Photo: Bim/iStockphoto

Austin, TX — Multiple safety-related issues are spotlighted in the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual list of top trucking industry concerns.

ATRI – the research arm of the American Trucking Associations – surveyed more than 4,000 trucking industry stakeholders, including drivers, motor carriers, suppliers, driver trainers and law enforcement.

A lack of safe places for truckers to park ranks second on the list, while driver distraction is seventh – returning to the top 10 for the first time since 2018. Driver detention/delay at customer facilities is ninth.

“Thankfully, ATRI’s analysis doesn’t just tell us what the issues are, it spells out a number of data-driven strategies that the industry can pursue to address them,” ATA Chair Dan Van Alstine said in a press release.

For safe truck parking, ranking behind only the economy, the top proposed solutions from respondents in order:

  • Advocate for a dedicated federal funding program to increase truck parking capacity at freight-central locations.
  • Encourage local and regional governments to reduce the regulatory burdens limiting the construction and expansion of truck parking facilities.
  • Research the relationship between truck parking availability and highway safety.

Fuel prices and a shortage of drivers, the leading industry concerns in 2022, fell to third and fourth, respectively. Making its first appearance in the top 10, zero-emission vehicles came in at No. 10.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week is Underway

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Washington, D.C. (July 9, 2023) – Today is the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) weeklong driver safety traffic-enforcement initiative, Operation Safe Driver Week.

Safe Driver

Photo: CVSA

Officers, troopers and inspectors throughout North America will take to roadways with keen attention to passenger vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers who are driving unsafely. Law enforcement personnel will be alert for individuals who are speeding, driving aggressively, ignoring roadway signs, using a handheld device, intoxicated, driving distracted, etc. Drivers engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and given a warning or issued a citation/ticket.

This year, the focus area for Operation Safe Driver Week will be on speeding because it continues to be a major factor in traffic deaths and injuries.

  • There were 11,258 fatal crashes in the U.S. where at least one driver was speeding, 29% of the total traffic fatalities for 2020.
  • Speeding/driving too fast accounted for 25.3% of all fatal roadway crashes in Canada in 2020.
  • In 2020, 16.4% of road crashes on Mexico’s federal highway network were attributed to excessive speed.

CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Program aims to reduce unsafe driver behaviors through focused traffic-enforcement, driver interactions with law enforcement, and by educating commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers about ways to share the roads safely.

  • Drivers’ actions contribute to 94% of all traffic crashes.
  • In 45% of fatal passenger vehicle crashes, the drivers were engaged in at least one of the following risky behaviors: speeding, alcohol impairment or not wearing a seat belt.
  • From 2019 to 2020, fatalities in speeding-related crashes increased 17%, fatalities in alcohol-impaired driving crashes went up 14%, and unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities were up by 14%.
  • The top driver-related factors in fatal crashes involving commercial motor vehicles were speeding, impairment and distraction/inattention.

Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel will provide warning and ticket/citation data to CVSA for each traffic-enforcement interaction. CVSA will gather that data and report the results later this year.

Another important aspect of Operation Safe Driver Week is driver-safety education, awareness and outreach. In the days leading up to and during the week, jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will provide safe-driving seminars, information and resources to passenger vehicle drivers, commercial motor vehicle drivers and motor carrier safety personnel. CVSA also offers safe-driving public service announcements and resources and materials for teen and new drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers.

View the results from previous years of Operation Safe Driver Week.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

Operation Safe Driver Week Is July 9-15

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The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced July 9-15 as this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Throughout that week, law enforcement officers in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors. Those exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors will be pulled over and given a warning and/or issued a ticket/citation by law enforcement.

Safe Driver Week

Photo: CVSA

This weeklong driver safety traffic enforcement and awareness campaign aims to identify unsafe drivers, deter dangerous driving behaviors and prompt positive driving habits through officer interactions with drivers.  shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors.

Examples of unsafe driver behaviors are speeding; improper lane changes, passing or turns; driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol; using a handheld device; failure to wear a seat belt, etc.

Each year, Operation Safe Driver Week focuses on a specific unsafe driving behavior to call attention to the dangers of that behavior. This year, the focus will be on . CVSA has continued to focus on speeding because it remains a persistent problem on our roadways. Speeding increases the frequency and severity of crashes, and unsafe speeds are a well-documented factor in fatalities and injuries.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched its , a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on highways, roads and streets. Part of the department’s Safe System Approach is to promote  in all roadway environments through targeted education, outreach campaigns and enforcement. CVSA’s  supports this strategy through its focus on speeding, and other unsafe driving behaviors, during the weeklong traffic enforcement initiative and its continued commitment to improving roadway safety through driver safety education and interactions with law enforcement. Operation Safe Driver Week aims to improve roadway safety by reminding drivers via driver safety communication and education to manage their speeds, and by addressing speeding via responsive traffic enforcement.

In addition to traffic enforcement, driver safety education and awareness is a key component of the Operation Safe Driver Program. CVSA is offering Operation Safe Driver Week postcards at no cost to its industry and enforcement members. The postcards are available in English, French and Spanish. 

Operation Safe Driver is a CVSA program aimed at reducing unsafe driver behaviors through traffic enforcement and by educating all drivers about ways to safely share the roads.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Original article published by CVSA

Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse Now Contains 3 Years of Data

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FMCSA denies petition for federal recognition of hair-sample drug testing

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by Safety+Health

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied a petition calling on the agency to recognize hair samples as an alternative drug-testing method for truckers, reasserting a longstanding position that it lacks the statutory authority to do so.

Federal regulations mandate that truckers be tested for drugs by urinalysis. In August, the Trucking Alliance, a coalition of 11 organizations, requested that FMCSA amend the definition of an employer’s “actual knowledge” of a driver’s positive drug test – which requires the employer to report the results to the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse – to include knowledge of a positive hair test.

The alliance writes in its petition that “public safety is improved through the use of hair testing because drug use is more accurately detected, and drug users are removed from the operation of commercial motor vehicles.”

In a notice published in the Dec. 23 Federal Register, however, FMCSA maintains its stance on following Department of Health and Human Services’ hair-testing guidelines, which remain under review.

“By ignoring the requirement that FMCSA follow the HHS mandatory guidelines for hair testing … the applicant effectively argues that this provision be read in isolation,” FMCSA administrator Robin Hutcheson writes in the notice. “This approach disregards an accepted standard of statutory construction, which provides that statutory text must be construed as a whole.”

In an article published online Dec. 22 in the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s Land Line magazine, OOIDA Director of Federal Affairs Jay Grimes supports FMCSA’s decision.

“FMCSA’s swift denial of another Trucking Alliance exemption request highlights the unanswered questions and validity concerns with hair testing. Just because a small percentage of trucking companies opt to screen their drivers using hair testing does not mean the process should be used for the entire industry. OOIDA maintains our opposition to any hair testing mandate.”

Speaking to industry news resource FreightWaves in a report published online Dec. 24, Robert Moseley, an attorney for one of the firms representing the alliance, said petitioning HHS may be on the horizon.

“I think we’re in a position now where we may bring this FMCSA decision over to HHS directly and request a temporary change in policy until they formalize the mandatory guidelines. It’s just not an acceptable answer to say the industry has all these positive hair tests but they can’t be shared with anyone.”

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Canada’s ELD Progressive Enforcement Period Changes Jan. 1

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Original article published by CVSA

Photo: CVSA

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, inspectors and roadside enforcement personnel in Canadian provinces and territories may begin documenting electronic logging device (ELD) violations and issuing citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers operating vehicles without a Canadian-compliant ELD.

Each Canadian province and territory has jurisdictional regulations for applying the ELD rule to its regulated carriers. Therefore, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance recommends that drivers and motor carriers check with each Canadian province and/or territory they may travel in or through to verify each jurisdiction’s requirements.

The ELD mandate does not change any of Canada’s underlying .

View Transport Canada’s list of .

View  regarding the Canadian ELD mandate, including exemptions, links to each province and territory, the benefits of ELDs and much more.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Bipartisan bill intended to increase truckers’ access to restrooms

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health

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Washington — Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the House would require businesses to give restroom access to truckers who are loading or delivering cargo at their warehouses, manufacturers, distribution centers, retailers and ports.

Reps. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) introduced the Trucker Bathroom Access Act (H.R. 9592) on Dec. 15. Although the bill doesn’t mandate businesses to construct new restrooms, it does stipulate that establishments with restrooms “intended for use by customers or employees” would have to provide truckers the same access.

Facilities not covered in the bill include rail facilities, filling and service stations, and restaurants 800-square feet or smaller whose restrooms are intended for employee use only.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Women in Trucking support the bill.

“The men and women of America’s trucking industry keep our supply chain moving, and it’s only reasonable that their most basic of needs be accommodated while they are on the job,” OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer said in a press release. “We’ve heard from countless drivers who have been forced to ‘hold it’ because they were not allowed to access the bathroom when they were picking up or delivering freight.”

WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie added: “As more women enter the trucking industry, the need for restroom access increases while access to facilities has decreased. We applaud Reps. Nehls and Houlahan’s support.”

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Senators introduce bipartisan truck parking bill

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
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Photo: Missouri Department of Transportation

Washington — Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the Senate would help address a nationwide shortage of safe truck parking by authorizing funding to increase parking capacity and improve existing infrastructure.

Federal hours-of-service regulations require truck drivers to park and rest after being on duty for long periods. A lack of safe places for truckers to park ranked third on the American Transportation Research Institute’s list of top trucking industry concerns, released in October.

The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act (S. 5169), introduced Dec. 1 by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), would permit the transportation secretary to issue grants for projects that provide truck parking, including $175 million for fiscal year 2023 and a combined $580 million over the next three fiscal years.

Entities eligible for the grants would be:

  • States
  • Metropolitan planning organizations
  • Local governments
  • Agencies of states or local governments “carrying out responsibilities relating to commercial motor vehicle parking”
  • Tribal governments or a consortium of tribal governments
  • Multistate or multijurisdictional groups

Grantees would be permitted to partner with private entities “to carry out an eligible project.”

The legislation is a companion bill to H.R. 2187, sponsored by Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) and introduced in the House in March 2021. A vote on the House floor hasn’t yet been scheduled after the chamber’s Transportation Infrastructure Committee approved an updated version of the bill in July.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

CVSA Releases 2022 Operation Safe Driver Week Results

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Washington, D.C. (Nov. 30, 2022) – During this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, which was July 10-16, officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over more than 35,000 commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles and issued 26,164 warnings and citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors.

Speeding, which was the focus of this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, was the top violation – in warnings given and citations issued – for both types of drivers. Officers issued 8,586 citations and 7,299 warnings for speeding/violating basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions. Broken out, that amounts to 2,577 warnings to commercial motor vehicle drivers and 4,722 to passenger vehicle drivers. Citations were given to 1,490 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 7,096 passenger vehicle drivers.

Operation Safe Driver Week is a seven-day, driver-behavior traffic enforcement and awareness and outreach activity of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). CVSA’s law enforcement community participates in this voluntary week-long campaign to identify unsafe driving behaviors and target those unsafe drivers for intervention and education in an effort to reduce driver-behavior-caused crashes on our roadways.

View the full press release for much more data and information.

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.