Source: ttnews.com/articles/petemplate.aspx?storyid=30831
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — If there was ever any doubt that the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program is rattling the freight industry, a recent all-day meeting of industry stakeholders here made it crystal clear that truckers, shippers, brokers and nonprofit groups alike still have concerns with the program.

Despite a consensus that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new safety monitoring program is a step in the right direction, truckers said they remain concerned that the scoring data is not always an accurate predictor of crash risk.

Shippers and brokers say they are grappling with how to use CSA data to help them determine which carriers are the safest to haul their freight.

And, public-interest nonprofits have taken issue with the reliability of police accident reports and data from roadside inspections being forwarded to FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Management Information System — the data ultimately used to assign the safety scores for carriers and drivers.

Those issues, and others, took front and center at a sometimes contentious Dec. 5 meeting of a specially appointed CSA subcommittee of FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee.

Calling CSA a “work in progress,” FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro has tasked the subcommittee with helping the agency to smooth some of CSA’s wrinkles.

“One of the things that has become clear is that it’s all  about the data,” said the subcommittee’s chairman, David Parker.

Parker, who asked the subcommittee to send him a list of its top CSA concerns in time for the group’s next meeting in February, said on some issues they need to act quickly... Continue reading (log-in to TTnews is required.)

Source: ttnews.com/articles/petemplate.aspx?storyid=30831
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This past Saturday, Dec. 15, Schneider National's military-themed truck, the Ride of Pride, embarked on a special mission to deliver 5,000 wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. The annual Wreaths Across America program included 110,000 wreaths delivered and laid upon soldiers' graves by volunteers. Schneider Ride of Pride driver and U.S. Army veteran, Greg Roberts of Eastpointe, Mich., participated in the wreath-laying ceremony to promote veterans' remembrance. (See attached photo of Greg laying a wreath on a soldier's resting place.)

Because similar wreath-laying events were held throughout the country on Saturday, Schneider National also delivered nearly 10,000 wreaths to Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

Schneider National, one of the nation's largest truckload carriers, has been involved with Wreaths Across America's annual wreath-laying effort since 2010.

PLEASE DO NOT WIRE MONEY TO ANYONE SAYING THEY ARE A CON-WAY RECRUITER.

It has come to our attention that there is scamer out there looking for your money! We have received several calls today regarding this and want to inform ALL DRIVERS out there, especially students and those new to driving.

Here is what we have been learning:

Going by the name of Michael Hayes. He is stating that he is a recruiter for Con-way.

Offering to send in return:

• Airline tickets
• Hotel rooms
• Other things that relate to orientation/training transportation

Amounts requested are usually $150, $200 or $250.

Con-way Truckload, or any other Con-way entity (or any other carrier) would NEVER ask for drivers, especially students, to send money.

If this person contacts you, please hang up.

Please spread the word to other drivers out there.

Gretchen Jackson
Recruiting Manager
Con-way  Truckload
Never Settle for Less.

CVTA was honored to be a part of Wreaths Across America. We look forward to our continual participation in the years to come. Thanks to the many CVTA Members who donated to this worthy cause.

Stars and Stripes
Published: December 15, 2012

ARLINGTON, Va. — What began as a goodwill gesture by a Maine businessman who found himself with a surplus of Christmas wreaths two decades ago continued its annual growth trend Saturday when 20,000 volunteers took part in the Wreaths Across America event at Arlington National Cemetery.

Merrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington, Me., marked a special milestone Saturday by presenting the program's one millionth wreath to Gold Star mother Mary Byers, whose son, Army Capt. Joshua Byers, was killed in Afghanistan in 2003. Byers, her husband, Lloyd, and Army Sgt. Justin Lansford — who was severely wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in April —  later placed it at the grave of Vietnam veteran Wilbur Tresvant in Arlington's Section 60.

Also joining in the placing of wreaths were Maine Gov. Paul LePage and his wife, Ann.

According to cemetery officials, the volunteers placed 110,000 wreaths at Arlington on Saturday. Similar events were held at cemeteries across the country.

Source: stripes.com/news/us/wreaths-across-america-2012-at-arlington-national-cemetery-1.200872

By Timothy Cama, Staff Reporter @ Transport Topic

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration asked its advisory committee last week for help crafting minimum training requirements – including classroom and on-the-road instruction – for entry-level commercial drivers.

The agency proposed some requirements in December 2007, but comments its received from industry interest groups took issue with some aspects of the curriculum, how FMCSA would accredit training programs, the effect the regulation would have on the availability of new drivers and the benefits of training compared with the costs, said Rich Clemente, an FMCSA transportation specialist.

“Is a trained driver a safer driver? We would certainly like to think so, and that’s why we’ve been working on this,” Clemente said at a Dec. 3 presentation to the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. “But right now, there is currently no federal standard.”

Federal officials have been working on entry-level driver-training standards for about two decades and even issued a regulation in 2003. But a federal court later told FMCSA the standards must include on-the-road training because the agency had determined that such training is necessary for safety.

That resulted in the 2007 proposal, which the agency has not acted on since then. “We’re coming up on the five-year anniversary of the notice of proposed rulemaking,” Clemente said. “It’s been a long time.”

A major roadblock for the regulation – one identified by many comments on the 2007 proposal – is that no research has shown a positive cost-benefit analysis for requiring training. It would be a “fairly high rule cost, but the benefits are only intuitive,” Clemente said.

FMCSA is overseeing two research projects the agency hopes will demonstrate benefits that exceed the costs of training, said Martin Walker, chief of the agency’s research division.

Members of MCSAC agreed with the push to require driver training, despite the lack of a positive cost-benefit analysis.

John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition, noted that other industries have required operator training for a long time.

“Law enforcement, military, aviation, all see benefits of training… somehow, either by sheer logic or they have a cost-benefit analysis for it, I don’t know,” said Lannen, a MCSAC member. “It’s stunning that we’re struggling with the benefits of this when there are so many other examples that clearly have been done.”

“It’s not that people haven’t been able to find benefits,” said Rob Abbott, vice president for safety policy at American Trucking Associations and a MCSAC member. “It’s that the benefits haven’t exceeded the cost.”

For Abbott, the realities of the cost-benefit analysis mean that the training FMCSA requires should be crafted to cost less than the benefits it causes through increased safety.

Walker noted that the U.S. military does not have to prove that its driver training is cost-beneficial. “You just have to prove that you’re imparting training, and knowledge, and skills,” he said.

And the current requirements for commercial pilot training also did not go through a regulatory cost-benefit analysis, Walker said.

ATA, along with the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) and other groups, is concerned the proposal mandated only the number of training hours required, not whether trainees actually learn the skills.

FMCSA has asked MCSAC to submit its recommendations before a meeting in April.

By Timothy Cama, Staff Reporter @ Transport Topic

Source: ttnews.com/articles/petemplate.aspx?storyid=30774
By Transport Topics Staff
This story appears in the Dec. 10 print edition of Transport Topics.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Natural gas has tremendous potential as a trucking industry fuel, but its era for over-the-road freight hauling is just beginning, according to industry experts who addressed the Natural Gas in Trucking Summit here Nov. 29 and 30.

While a number of fleets have been experimenting with natural gas-powered trucks, appropriate equipment is only now getting close to market and fuel distributors are currently creating a national network of filling stations, the speakers said.

There are not enough equipment choices yet, and it all costs too much, speakers said, and servicing the new trucks requires extensive and expensive changes to maintenance shops, they added.

The summit, sponsored by American Trucking Associations and presented by Transport Topics, attracted some 550 industry officials to a hotel in the Washington, D.C., area.

At the summit, ATA President Bill Graves said, “Natural gas has great potential to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and create more jobs because of domestic production. Natural gas is the most viable bridge we have to the future, although we also know it will not work for everyone.”

Jerry Moyes, chairman and CEO of truckload carrier Swift Transportation Corp., said he decided to turn his company into a “guinea pig” to test natural gas and has found the process “fun,” to a degree... Continue reading - Log-in Required.

Source: ttnews.com/articles/petemplate.aspx?storyid=30774

Source: truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=78715
By Truckinginfo Staff

Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wisc.) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct a pilot program to evaluate the use of hair samples to test commercial drivers for illicit drug use.

American Trucking Associations applauded the move.

For many years, ATA has supported improving drug and alcohol testing procedures for commercial drivers, ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. Hair testing, which research and experience shows can be much more effective than current, conventional sampling and testing methods."

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) is cosponsor.

No fleet wants to put the safety of the public at risk by putting an impaired driver behind the wheel of one its trucks, said ATA Chairman Mike Card, president of Combined Transport, Central Point, Ore. More effective drug testing procedures can help us make sure that doesn't happen.

Major fleets such as Schneider National, C.R. England and J.B. Hunt require drivers to undergo hair testing for drugs, but those results cannot be shared with other prospective employers like urine testing can.

The practice of defeating and falsifying urine tests is widespread enough in the trucking industry to have prompted a Government Accountability Office investigation in 2007 that uncovered some disturbing problems.

Undercover investigators were able to use bogus commercial driver's licenses at 24 drug-testing sites, proving that a driver could easily send a substitute in with a fake ID. In addition, 22 of the 24 sites did not follow testing protocols, which opened the door to further cheating, GAO found.

Hair testing for drugs is on the agenda of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, known for short as The Trucking Alliance, which originally was formed to lobby for mandatory electronic onboard recorders. Its agenda for the next two-year congressional cycle includes promoting hair testing for drugs, creation of a drug and alcohol clearinghouse, and other issues.

Source: truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=78715

From: Richard Hidalgo
Subject: Scam Alert
To: "Larry Hobgood", "Gary Strube"
Date: Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 10:11 AM
 
Just got a call from a Michael Hayes 615 268-4393 who claimed to be from Covenant Transport. He said he was in need of drivers so I started to ask him a bit about himself. He hung up on me when I asked who his supervisor was. Now I ask you was he a scammer?

Rick
 
Thanks for the Heads up Rick! Mr. Hayes is back please, make your schools aware.

The Safety Measurement System (SMS) enhancements are here. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is announcing the implementation of 11 changes to the November snapshot of SMS. These changes reflect public input, following a preview period that began in March 2012. During that period, more than 19,000 carriers and 2,900 law enforcement personnel viewed the SMS preview data and provided comments.

For more information about these most recent changes, see the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Website (http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov) or the FMCSA news release under News & Alerts (www.fmcsa.dot.gov). Motor carriers can keep track of their data on the SMS Website (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/) and find out more about the SMS improvements.

FMCSA remains committed to CSA and making enhancements in an open and transparent manner to further reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The Agency values the input of all safety stakeholders and actively seeks constructive input and new ideas that will further improve safety on our Nation’s roadways. To submit a question or contact a member of our team, visit http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/CSA_Feedback.aspx.

By Rip Watson, Senior Reporter
This story appears in the Dec. 3 print edition of Transport Topics.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The emergence of natural gas as a viable fuel for trucking is dependent on progress in overcoming infrastructure hurdles such as a dependable fuel supply network, a new generation of engines and driver acceptance, industry experts said last week.

“The big question is timing,” James Haslam II, chairman of Pilot Flying J, said when he addressed the American Trucking Associations’ Summit on Natural Gas in Trucking here on Nov. 29.

The summit, which continued on Nov. 30, after this edition was printed, attracted executives from fleets, tractor and engine manufacturers, and truck stop operators, suppliers and scientists. All were seeking to gauge the commercial promise of an alternative fuel to diesel, whose price stubbornly remains around $4 a gallon.

ATA President Bill Graves, who moderated a panel of truck stop executives, illustrated the broad interest in the subject by saying that “people always pose the question” about the future of natural

gas as a truck fuel wherever he travels. The event drew an overflow crowd of more than 500 attendees.

“The energy boom is the single greatest thing the country has going for it,” Pilot’s Haslam said. “We have to take advantage of this. The best place to do it is with trucks. We believe we will have the infrastructure in place to take care of your needs.”

Pilot Flying J is backing up that stance by building a natural-gas fueling network in partnership with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. The plan is to have 70 locations equipped by the end of this year and 150 by the end of 2013.

Thomas O’Brien, the CEO of TravelCenters of America, agreed but said the investment is too great to take on alone.

“Natural gas is a very viable option over the long term,” he said. “The demand today from customers, frankly, is not sufficient to start this on my own.”

O’Brien’s chain is proceeding, though, because it has created a natural gas supply partnership with Shell Oil to develop 100 fueling stations at TA locations... Continue reading. (Log-in to TTNews is required.)