Tag: #truckoperators

House committee advances truck parking act and other bills

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by Safety+Health

Photo: Missouri Department of Transportation

Washington — The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, along with 16 other bills, during a May 23 markup.

Introduced by Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), the act (H.R. 2367) would empower the transportation secretary to issue grants for projects that create truck parking. It also would allow for expanded parking at current truck parking areas and prohibit charging drivers for any parking spaces created under the act.

“I grew up in a family trucking business,” Bost said in a committee press release. “I understand how difficult, and oftentimes dangerous, it can be when America’s truckers are forced to park in an unsafe location. By expanding access to parking options for truckers, we are making our roads safer for all commuters and ensuring goods and supplies are shipped to market in the most efficient way possible. This is a matter of public safety, and I’m proud to have led on this important legislation.”

Among the other bills approved:

  • The Licensing Individual Commercial Exam-takers Now Safely and Efficiently (LICENSE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3013), which would direct the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to revise federal regulations on state or third-party administration of commercial driver’s license knowledge tests. In addition, states or third parties would be allowed to administer driving tests regardless of which state an applicant lives in or where they received driver training.
  • The Motor Carrier Safety Selection Standard Act (H.R. 915), which would direct FMCSA “to develop a new safety fitness determination process to change the way a motor carrier is rated.”
  • H.R. 3372, which would establish voluntary 10-year pilot programs for states to increase truck weights on federal interstates to 91,000 pounds on six axles.

The committee postponed its consideration of the Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) Safe Integrity Act (H.R. 3408) – a bill concerning a pilot program for 18- to 20-year-old interstate truck and bus drivers. The status of the bill is undetermined for future markups.

All 17 of the bills passed by the committee now go before the full House.

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.

FMCSA wants to expand Crash Preventability Determination Program

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by Safety+Health

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comment on potentially expanding a program intended to determine to what extent crashes involving commercial trucks and buses are preventable.

Adjusting the Crash Preventability Determination Program would help FMCSA “review even more crashes each year,” the agency says in a notice published in the April 13 Federal Register. “The use of more preventability information in assessing motor carriers will provide an improved indication of a motor carrier’s crash risk.”

FMCSA established the program in May 2020. The agency reviews crashes classified under 16 types while modifying information in its Safety Measurement System to delineate non-preventable crashes.

The proposal would add four new crash types:

  • Commercial motor vehicles struck on the side by a driver operating in the same direction
  • CMVs struck because another driver was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot
  • CMVs struck because another driver lost control of their vehicle
  • Any other type of crash involving a CMV in which video demonstrates the sequence of events

Additionally, FMCSA wants to modify 11 existing crash types “to broaden” them and “allow more crashes to be eligible.” The proposed changes would double the program’s size, FMCSA says.

Between May 1, 2020, and Dec. 30, FMCSA received more than 39,000 requests for data review, the notice states. About 72.5% of the requests fell under an existing category, with approximately 96% of crashes classified as “not preventable.”

Comments on the proposal are due June 12.

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.

It’s not just semitruck drivers who need safety training, researchers say

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
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Lexington, KY — Drivers of utility vans, tow trucks, and other light and medium-weight trucks could use safety training, according to a team from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center.

The researchers analyzed incident and injury data from state workers’ compensation first report of injury claims, as well as injury narratives from drivers.

They found that drivers of light trucks (those weighing 10,000 pounds or less) and medium-weight trucks (10,000 to 26,000 pounds) had higher FROI rates than drivers of trucks weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

Unlike drivers of heavy trucks, drivers of light and medium-weight trucks aren’t required to complete federally mandated training. They also tend to be younger. Younger drivers of light and medium-weight trucks had higher FROI rates compared with counterparts who operate heavy trucks.

Crashes involving light/medium-weight trucks most commonly involved being rear-ended, running red lights and turning in front of other vehicles.

“Because of this, the researchers recommend that employers of light and medium drivers provide targeted trainings to drivers with previous crashes that address distracted driving and emphasize rear-end crash prevention,” a KIPRC press release states.

Terry Bunn, principal investigator and director of KIPRC, suggests that “national regulations can be developed and implemented” for the growing number of drivers of light and medium-weight trucks.

The study was published online in the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research.

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.

Speeding tops list of most cited violations during Operation Safe Driver Week

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
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Photo: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued more than 26,000 citations and warnings to passenger-vehicle, truck and bus drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

From July 10 to July 16, law enforcement officials throughout North America remained on the lookout for drivers engaging in unsafe behaviors including speeding, following too closely, driving distracted, making improper lane changes, failing to wear a seat belt and driving while impaired.

Citations and warnings related to speeding were most common among both passenger-vehicle drivers and commercial truck/bus drivers. Passenger-vehicle drivers were assessed 7,096 citations and 4,722 warnings for speeding, while truck and bus drivers received 1,490 citations and 2,577 warnings.

Citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, CVSA says more than 11,000 speeding-related deaths occurred in the United States in 2020.

The next most common citations issued to truck and bus drivers were failure to use seat belt (735), failure to obey a traffic-control device (505), texting/using a handheld phone (239) and improper lane change (84).

For passenger-vehicle drivers, the next most common citations involved failure to wear a seat belt (1,156), reckless driving (703), improper lane change (263) and texting/using a handheld phone (257).

The next Operation Safe Driver Week is slated for July 9-15.

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.

Trucking survey asks: What are the industry’s top concerns?

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Photo property of FMCSA

Arlington, VA — Trucking industry stakeholders are encouraged to help identify the most critical issues facing the industry by participating in an annual survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute.

Respondents are asked to rank their top three issues from a selection of 28. The list includes:

Respondents can submit additional concerns not on the list, as well as suggest potential strategies for addressing each issue.

The survey results will be used to help ATRI, the research arm of the American Trucking Associations, develop possible strategies for the concerns.

“The annual Top Industry Issues Survey has long been a crucial part of understanding the issues facing our country’s supply chain,” ATA Chair Harold Sumerford Jr. said in a press release. “ATRI’s research provides a chance for thousands of trucking industry professionals, from drivers to executives, to weigh in on the most important topics that affect trucking and collectively decide on the best strategies for addressing each.”

The deadline to complete the survey is Oct. 7. Survey results are slated to be released Oct. 22 during the 2022 ATA Management Conference and Exhibition in San Diego.

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.

FMCSA final rule adds rear impact guards to annual truck inspection list

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication.

Washington — Rear impact guards on large commercial trucks must be inspected annually, under a recently issued final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Rear impact guards are designed to prevent “underrides,” which occur when a passenger vehicle strikes the rear of a CMV and slides underneath. FMCSA notes that although rear impact guards have been required on CMVs for more than 65 years, they have not been one of components listed in Appendix G for required inspections. This has meant “that a vehicle can pass an annual inspection with a missing or damaged rear impact guard.”

Published in the Nov. 9 Federal Register and effective Dec. 9, the rule adds rear impact guards to Appendix G and amends labeling requirements. “Road construction controlled (RCC) horizontal discharge trailers” are exempt.

In December, FMCSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, with a two-month comment period. Seven months later, the Department of Transportation listed the measure in the final rule stage as part of its Spring 2021 regulatory agenda.

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.

OSHA ETS on COVID-19 wouldn’t apply to most truckers

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Washington — The majority of truck drivers will be exempt from OSHA’s emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 vaccination, testing and masking, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said during a recent TV interview.

Should the ETS survive the multiple legal challenges it’s facing, it would apply to employers with more than 100 employees. Those employers would have until Dec. 5 to develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy – or develop a policy that gives employees the choice to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

Meanwhile, covered employees would have a deadline of Jan. 4 to be fully vaccinated or begin undergoing weekly COVID-19 testing. Unvaccinated workers also would be required to wear a face covering while indoors or in a vehicle “with another person for work purposes.”

Reacting to concerns from trucking groups – including the American Trucking Associations – over the ETS, Walsh said during the interview on CNBC that “the ironic thing is most truckers aren’t covered by this because they’re driving a truck, they’re in a cab, they’re by themselves. They wouldn’t be covered by this.”

ATA and other groups fear that many drivers would leave the industry as a result of the ETS, amid a perceived shortage of drivers.

In a statement issued shortly after Walsh’s comments, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear called them “an enormous victory for our association and industry.”

Spear continued: “Given the nationwide shortage of truck drivers, it is vital that our industry has the relief it needs to keep critical goods moving, including food, fuel, medicine and the (COVID-19) vaccine itself.”

In a letter dated Oct. 21 and addressed to Sharon Block, acting administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Spear wrote that the association was “gravely concerned” about the impact the ETS would have on the industry, which he estimated could lead to a loss of “up to 37% of drivers to retirements, attrition to smaller carriers and/or conversion to independent contractor owner-operators.”

A Department of Labor spokesperson told CNBC that the vaccination, testing and masking requirements would apply to truck drivers who work in teams – such as two people in a cab – or those who “interact with people in buildings at their destinations or starting points.”

McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, DOT 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.