The Trucker- The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced a new inspection standard and procedure designed to govern inspections of commercial motor vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS) .
CVSA-trained motor carrier personnel will conduct the Enhanced CMV Inspection Procedure on selected ADS-equipped vehicles from their fleets at the point of origin before dispatch, as well as in-transit inspections at a dictated interval throughout the trip.
CDL LIfe- As of October 7, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has received 766 public comments on a controversial proposal to require that commercial vehicles be equipped with electronic identification technology accessible by law enforcement when the truck is parked or in motion.
A majority of the commenters are against the rule, with some calling it an overreach of the federal government.
Freight Waves-An application from Intellistop Inc., a company specializing in pulsating brake lights for trucks, has been denied by federal regulators despite strong support from the trucking industry.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ruled that a major bar it uses to grant such exemptions — evidence that it would achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than would be achieved absent the exemption — had not been cleared.
Freight Waves- Extending the limits on truck driver hours-of-service restrictions will help propane haulers respond to spikes in consumer demand, according to an exemption request to be considered by federal regulators.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is giving the public 30 days to comment on the request, submitted by the National Propane Gas Association.
Freight Waves- A hair testing drug screen proposal is getting strong pushback from independent and minority drivers. While owner operators contend adopting the hair test method would be a higher cost burden for smaller carriers given that urinalysis tests generally cost half as much as hair tests, others are expressing religious opposition to testing hair for drugs.
Land Line- On the heels of the Canadian government ending COVID-19 entry requirements for travelers coming into the country, another trucking group is asking the U.S. to follow suit.
FleetOwner-The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent a letter September 28 to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that asks to know the status of a May 2020 petitionto require freight brokers to provide transaction information to carriers within 48 hours of the completion of contractual services.
Also, for the first time, truck parking projects (one each in Florida and Tennessee) were awarded federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America competitive grants.
Transport Topics-The state of New York is now permitting trucking companies and other qualified third parties to administer road tests for commercial driver licenses, a move to help address a shortage of commercial drivers in the state.
Commercial Carriers Journal- Natural disasters are very hindsight things. While they catch very few people by surprise, in the best of cases all you can do is learn from going through one and apply that knowledge to the next one.
That said, a business continuity plan is a critical piece of your operations that should spell out protocols for every possible natural disaster.
Commercial Carriers Journal-The Overhaul company recently sent out an alert to its location tracking and security services subscribers about yet another double-brokering scam.
Specifically, the theft starts with either "fraudulent" or "stolen carrier and driver identities" obtaining freight from a legitimate broker on a load "before double- or even triple-brokering through other trucking companies, some legitimate, some not," the company noted.
Transport Topics- At first glance, it may not be obvious that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s “lockout-tagout” regulations, which control hazardous energy in general industry workplaces, would apply to maintenance chores on trucks. But they could provide guidance to reduce the risk of injury or death to technicians.
