CDTA Newsletter
July 2018 Articles
CVSA’s annual driver-focused enforcement blitz next week
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, July 13, 2018
Operation Safe Driver Week, an annual enforcement spree put on by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, is set this year for July 15-21.
During the weeklong blitz, enforcers will be focusing on traffic violations, seat belt enforcement, driver roadside inspections and driver regulatory compliance. CVSA says driver behavior is the cause of more than 88 percent of large truck crashes and 93 percent of passenger vehicle crashes.
Driving behaviors that will be targeted during the week include speeding, distracted driving, texting, failure to use a seat belt, following too closely, improper lane change, failure to obey traffic control devices and more.
Last year, nearly 39,000 citations and warnings were issued to truck drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week. More than 84 percent of these violations were for state and local moving violations.
FMCSA: Numbers Show ELD Mandate Is Working
Source: https://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Trucking Info Staff, June 25, 2018
The electronic logging device mandate is working, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as it posted a new infographic on its website it plans to update monthly. FMCSA describes the infographic as a "snapshot of the positive impact electronic logging devices (ELDs) are having on improving hours-of-service compliance on our nation’s roads."
Since the ELD mandate went fully into effect April 1 with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Out-of-Service criteria for ELDs, less than 1% (4,720) of all driver inspections (559,940) have resulted in the driver being cited for operating without a required ELD or grandfathered AOBRD, the agency reported.
According to the infographic, only 0.64% of driver inspections in May had at least one hours-of-service violation.
Compare this to a year earlier, in May 2017, when 1.31% of driver inspections had at least one hours-of-service violation.
The rate dropped significantly after December 2017, when the first “soft enforcement” phase went into effect, dropping from 1.19% in December to .83% in January. The rate stayed right around that mark for the first quarter of the year, then dropped again once the "hard" deadline hit in April, to .69%.
Meanwhile, trucking interests are pushing for legislation on Capitol Hill that would reform the underlying hours of service regulations, now that strict enforcement is highlighting some of the operational difficulties with the rules, such as the Honest Operators Undertake Road Safety, or HOURS, Act (H.R. 6178). Other bills would ease the rules for specific types of trucking, most specifically livestock haulers.
11 Habits That Are Ruining Your Sleep (and How to Fix Them)
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Meghan McDowell, June 15, 2018
We all know what it feels like not to get enough sleep. And the scary thing is that the effects are almost instantaneous. Insufficient sleep has been linked to car crashes, industrial disasters and medical errors. In the long-term, poor sleep habits are linked to chronic diseases, increased mortality and overall reduced quality of life. National Sleep Foundation environmental scholar Natalie Dautovich says that deep, quality sleep is important for cognitive, physical and social functioning. Here are 11 surprising habits that might be ruining your sleep and some tips for getting a better night’s sleep tonight.
1. Working Too Much
According to a 2014 study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, work was the primary culprit that kept people from getting enough sleep. Unsurprisingly, this was often tied to early start times and long commutes. Another 2014 study found that repeatedly getting too little sleep could lead to memory problems. And University of Arkansas research found that lack of sleep might make someone more likely to react emotionally when facing stress. According to the National Sleep Foundation, those 18 to 64 years old should get between seven and nine hours a night, and those 65 and older should get seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Try negotiating for a later start time at work: Researchers found that starting one hour later in the morning increased sleep time by about 20 minutes.
2. Using Electronics Before Bed
You’ve probably heard that it’s not recommended to use your smartphone in bed. Reading on your cell phone, laptop or e-reader before bed can mess with your circadian rhythms, according to a 2014 study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital comparing e-readers to traditional books. Researchers found that the blue light from electronic devices resulted in taking longer to fall asleep, reduced melatonin and reduced alertness in the morning. Solution: Read a book, not your email.
3. Drinking Alcohol Before Bed
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2014 Sleep in America Poll, 12 percent of parents often or sometimes drink alcohol to help them sleep. But although alcohol initially acts as a sedative, it actually diminishes your quality of sleep. A 2011 article in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research found that large amounts of alcohol not only interfere with sleep quality, but also impedes the restorative functions of sleep. Researchers found this to be especially true for regular heavy drinkers. A 2015 study, also published in ACER, found that drinking before sleep disrupts "non-rapid eye movement" sleep, and regular disruptions to sleep can affect well-being, learning and memory. The solution to this is easy: Decrease the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption before bed.
4. Playing Catch Up on Weekends
It’s tempting to "borrow from your future self" by skipping sleep during the week, then making up for it on weekends. But even 30 minutes of lost sleep a day can add up to long-term consequences for your body weight and metabolism. A researcher from Weill Cornell Medical College found that people with a weekday sleep deficit were 72 percent more likely to be obese and were also more likely to be insulin resistant, meaning sleep debt could contribute to developing Type 2 diabetes. But researchers also found that a 30-minute nap can reverse the impact of a night of poor sleep, which might be a good technique for night and shift workers.
5. Constant Sleep Disruptions
Even if you’re in bed for eight hours, if you’re often woken up, you might feel as if you haven’t gotten any rest at all. Even small amounts of light and noise can be a barrier to obtaining deeper, restorative sleep, says the National Sleep Foundation’s Natalie Dautovich. Research from Tel Aviv University’s School of Psychological Sciences found that interrupted sleep is the same to your body as four or fewer consecutive hours of sleep. No surprise here: This type of sleep was linked to difficulties thinking, a shorter attention span and a bad mood. Even if the interruptions are just five minutes, they can have serious consequences. To limit disruptions, set your phone to automatically revert to “sleep” mode at bedtime. And although sleep masks and ear plugs can help, researchers from Capital Medical University concluded that in a bright, noisy environment, taking one milligram of fast-release oral melatonin could help you get more (and better) sleep.
6. Skipping Your Workouts
Although feeling tired isn’t always a great motivator when you’re trying to fit in a workout, regular exercise has been shown to improve your sleep quality and reduce feelings of sleepiness during the day. A 2011 study published in Mental Health and Physical Activity found that getting 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week resulted in a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality for participants. Maciek Drejak, founder of the Sleep Cycle alarm clock, which asks users to record sleep diaries to examine lifestyle habits that contribute to sleep quality, says, “We frequently see low sleep quality scores connected with a low number of daily workouts.” He also says that users with more workouts also reported lower coffee consumption. Consider upping your exercise to get a better night’s sleep. The National Sleep Foundations 2013 Sleep in America poll found that, regardless of exercise level, one-half of respondents reported that their sleep quality improved on days they exercise.
7. High Daily Stress
High stress and poor sleep might be a "chicken or egg" scenario because feeling tired adds to feelings of stress and makes high-stress situations harder to handle. According to a 2013 survey by the American Psychological Association, 43 percent of respondents said that stress had caused them to lie awake at night in the past month, and those with lower stress levels reportedly got more hours of sleep each night than those with higher stress levels. And according to Maciek Drejak, founder of the Sleep Cycle alarm clock, users with a high daily stress recorded low sleep-quality scores. One solution? Spend more time in bed. Drejak also said that users with more time in bed generally record lower stress levels. Trouble falling asleep? Try meditating. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep time, efficiency and quality all improved after patients used meditation. And according to a 2015 article published by JAMA Internal Medicine, mindfulness meditation improved sleep quality for older adults who suffer sleep disturbances.
8. Being Addicted to Caffeine
According to lifestyle habits reported by users of the Sleep Cycle alarm clock, which tracks sleep quality and helps users wake up during lighter sleep periods, users with later bedtimes and wake-up times generally record higher coffee consumption. Although caffeine can help with alertness during the day, it stays in your body for hours after consumption, meaning it might make it harder to fall asleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. As a stimulant, caffeine can also cause insomnia or sleep disturbance. Many of us are addicted to caffeine, but drinking less, especially in the hours before bed, could also ultimately reduce daytime sleepiness if sleep quality improves. And maintain a regular exercise routine to gain more energy. Sleep Cycle founder Maciek Drejak found that users who record more daily workouts also report lower coffee consumption.
9. Burning the Midnight Oil
We have electricity to thank for allowing us to work or socialize long after the sun has gone down, but research published in a 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that this disrupts the body’s perception of how long the night is. According to the research, exposure to electrical lighting after the sun has gone down suppresses melatonin levels and its functions -- like sleepiness, body temperature, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The solution is relatively straightforward: If you’re up way past sunset, dim the lights while you work and consider taking melatonin if you have trouble falling asleep.
10. Ignoring Aches and Pains
Sleeping through physical discomfort can limit the body from going into deep sleep, says Kurt Walchle, founder of Active Edge, which imbeds products like Survival Straps with electromagnetic frequencies that reduce inflammation. "Inflammation, back pain, headaches and ailments like arthritis and fibromyalgia all negatively affect REM sleep," Walchle says. “A person can be in non-REM sleep and not even realize the body is having these pains." He recommends rehabilitation, exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. In clinical trials, Walchle says that participants wearing Active Edge products reported a decrease in back and neck aches and a decrease in soreness, stiffness and pain -- and improved quality of sleep.
11. Double-Timing Your Bedroom
Don’t feel tired when you head to bed? Using the bedroom environment for tasks other than sleeping can create feelings of wakefulness rather than sleepiness when you are in the room, says the National Sleep Foundation’s Natalie Dautovich. Activities she warns against include watching TV, doing work or having discussions. So for those tasks you’d be advised to get a (different) room. "Ideally," she says, "the bedroom should be 60 to 69 degrees, dark, quiet and comfortable." Still not sleeping well? Dautovich recommends keeping a sleep diary like the one available on the NSF website. She recommends noting how factors such as the length of sleep time, bedtime and wake time are associated with next-day performance. "Critically evaluating daytime activities, the evening routine and the bedroom environment can be useful for identifying sleep-interfering behaviors."
Indicators: Driver turnover rate jumped to 94 percent in 2018’s first quarter
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, June 7, 2018
CCJ‘s Indicators rounds up the latest reports on trucking business indicators on rates, freight, equipment, the economy and more.
The driver turnover rate at large truckload carriers (those with more than $30 million a year in annual revenue) climbed six percentage points from the prior quarter to a rate of 94 percent, according to the American Trucking Associations’ quarterly report. What’s more, the turnover rate at large truckload fleets was 20 percentage points higher than the same quarter in 2017.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello says the climbing turnover rate is "consistent with continued tightness in the market for drivers."
"Anecdotally, carriers continue to struggle both recruiting and retaining quality drivers," he says, "leading to increasing wages. The tight driver market should continue and will be a source of concern for carriers in the months ahead."
The turnover rate at small truckload carriers (those with less than $30 million in annual revenue) fell from the prior quarter but was up 7 points from last year’s first quarter. Turnover rate at small truckload carriers was 73 percent.
The turnover rate at less-than-truckload carriers rose two points to 10 percent.
Ride share companies fought stronger background checks, report says
Source: https://kdvr.com/; by CNN Wire, June 1, 2018
For anyone looking, it wouldn’t have been too hard to uncover Talal Chammout’s sordid past.
A simple internet search would have turned up news accounts of his criminal history, such as his assault conviction or the time a federal judge sentenced him to 6½ years in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms.
The judge in that case ticked off a string of allegations against Chammout at his sentencing: He had been accused of shooting a juvenile in the leg, seeking to smuggle rocket launchers into the Middle East, attacking his wife with a crowbar and plotting to hire a hit man.
Three years after he was released from prison, Chammout wanted to be an Uber driver. The company did not run a background check on him and he was allowed to drive in 2015. Three months later, he followed one of his passengers into her home and sexually assaulted her. He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.
It wasn’t the only time Uber welcomed a driver who should have been barred under the company’s policy that excludes people with convictions of serious crimes or major driving offenses from shuttling passengers, a CNN investigation into rideshare background checks found.
Among the shady drivers who cleared Uber’s screening process: A man convicted of attempted murder who is now accused of raping a passenger in Kansas City; a murderer on parole in Brazos County, Texas; a previously deported undocumented immigrant who is now facing trial for sexually assaulting three passengers and attacking another in San Luis Obispo, California. They no longer drive for Uber.
Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft have approved thousands of people who should have been disqualified because of criminal records, according to state agencies and lawsuits examined by CNN.
In statements to CNN, Uber and Lyft said their background checks are robust and fair. Uber acknowledged past mistakes in its screening process, but said, "More than 200,000 people failed our background check process in 2017 alone. While no background check is perfect, this is a process we take seriously and are committed to constantly improving."
Though both companies say they support thorough vetting, they have pushed back on government efforts to add other layers of scrutiny to the screening process. CNN found a massive lobbying effort from rideshare companies led by Uber has successfully fought off additional backgrounding requirements for drivers, such as fingerprint scans or government screening, that some state and local officials say would help protect passengers.
Uber has played a key role in shaping the language of many state laws governing rideshare companies, giving the company authority to conduct its own background checks in most states with little or no oversight, unlike many taxi operations. The company has been particularly forceful in its opposition to requirements that would force it to check criminal records through an applicant’s fingerprint.
Of the 43 states that have passed laws or rules regulating rideshare driver background checks and eligibility, none require fingerprint-based checks, CNN found. In 31 states, the laws largely mirror Uber’s recommended screening policies, in some cases nearly word-for-word.
Legislative sources from 25 states told CNN Uber directly influenced the writing of their laws.
"Uber has essentially regulated itself," said a former Uber employee and in-house lobbyist, who requested anonymity citing concern over possible backlash from a current employer. The former employee added that in most states, lawmakers just inserted Uber’s language.
An email between an Uber lobbyist and a lawmaker underscores the point.
As Wyoming State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer prepared to introduce a bill to regulate rideshare companies in his state in December 2016, an Uber lobbyist emailed him, pushing for a change in the proposed legislation.
"The draft includes a government-run background check. We need to change it back to the model language," wrote the lobbyist, Erin Taylor, protesting a proposal in the bill that would require fingerprint checks.
She also asked "Do you have any idea why they keep straying from the model bill language?" according to the email Zwonitzer shared with CNN.
The bill became Wyoming law in 2017 and left background checks up to Uber, as the lobbyist had requested. Zwonitzer said the final bill was the result of back-and-forth discussions with Uber and other stakeholders, but he said Uber "drew a line in the sand" about background-check requirements.
Taylor did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
A CNN investigation in April revealed more than 100 Uber drivers had been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the past four years. After questions from CNN for that report, Uber announced a policy change to rerun background checks annually and said the company would invest in technology to identify new criminal offenses.
But some state regulators and attorneys suing Uber say those updates do not go far enough. Critics of the rideshare companies’ background checks say drivers should submit to additional scrutiny, such as in-person interviews, government screening or fingerprint checks, which use biometric information to search for criminal records in an FBI database. Most US taxi and limousine drivers are required to obtain special licenses and undergo fingerprint checks.
Uber and Lyft’s background checks are mostly conducted by a third-party startup company called Checkr, which uses individuals’ names and Social Security numbers to find applicable information. It checks a national sex offender database, federal and local court records and databases used to flag suspected terrorists.
Three former Uber employees who worked on policy told CNN Uber seeks to approve new drivers as quickly as possible to maintain a large workforce and therefore opposes requirements to fingerprint applicants, which can add weeks to the onboarding process.
Uber and Lyft say fingerprint-checks reference historical arrest records, which can have discriminatory effects on some minority communities that face disproportionately high arrest rates. An Uber spokesperson told CNN arrest records are incomplete and often lack information about whether a person has been convicted of a crime.
Some states, according to Checkr, limit the records background check companies can report, which can create discrepancies between private background checks and those run by governments. For example, Massachusetts prohibits the reporting of convictions that are older than seven years.
Lobbying on steroids
In city after city across the United States, Uber has used the same overarching strategy to expand its business.
After launching in 2010, Uber began entering cities without coordinating with city governments or local taxi and limousine regulators. The Uber app then would become so popular with riders and drivers that any attempts by city officials to create regulations were met with fierce resistance, both by users of the app and by Uber’s lobbyists, multiple city and state officials told CNN.
Uber, along with its competitor Lyft, would then turn to state capitals to lobby for broader legislation that benefited the rideshare industry, undercutting local regulations or proposals.
Uber has hired at least 415 lobbyists throughout the country since 2012, lobbying disclosures show. Lyft has hired at least 147 lobbyists in 34 states. This count does not include lobbyists hired for work at the city and federal level.
When the city of Boise, Idaho, advocated for fingerprinting all Uber drivers in 2015, records show Uber retained a lobbyist who worked on getting a bill passed at the state level. The lobbyist said he personally drafted Idaho’s legislation, according to a recording of his presentation to state lawmakers. That bill became state law, overriding Boise’s proposal.
"Lobbying is nothing new but this is lobbying on steroids," said Miya Saika Chen, an attorney who has studied rideshare laws at the nonprofit Partnership for Working Families. "The speed with which Uber and Lyft got these bills passed is unique," she added, noting that most became law between 2014 and 2017.
In Ohio, State Rep. Mike Duffey used language shared by an Uber lobbyist in his testimony introducing a bill to regulate rideshare companies, according to emails obtained by the National Employment Law Project shared with CNN. When another legislator’s aide emailed Duffey reports that questioned Uber and Lyft’s screening processes, Duffey emailed an Uber lobbyist and said, "Let’s discuss."
Duffey’s bill became law and went into effect in 2016, overturning Columbus’ ordinance that mandated rideshare drivers be fingerprinted. In a statement to CNN, Duffey said it "is exceedingly normal" for stakeholders to suggest language for bills and added that his bill received unanimous support in the Ohio House of Representatives.
In Texas, Austin and Houston also previously required rideshare drivers to undergo fingerprint background checks, but in 2017 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law legislation that specifically voided all local rideshare regulations. That same year, Uber and Lyft together spent up to $2.3 million on 40 lobbyists in the state, records show.
A Texas legislative aide told CNN Uber and Lyft "contributed" to the formation of the bill. The aide, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record, said, "Uber had one of the bigger lobby teams we’ve seen … but there was no pressure," he said.
Out of 43 states with laws or rules on screening requirements, all except one give rideshare companies (or third-party companies they choose to hire) the sole responsibility of conducting criminal background checks on potential drivers. Massachusetts has a two-tiered system, where the company runs a background check and then the state’s public utilities department runs another.
The city of New York is the only jurisdiction in the United States where rideshare drivers must undergo fingerprint checks.
Seven other states have not passed laws regulating rideshare companies’ background checks.
Some laws give authority to state agencies to impose additional regulations on rideshare companies’ screening processes or audit their records, and some of those reviews have found drivers who should have been disqualified because of criminal convictions.
For example, Maryland’s Public Service Commission reviews the applications of drivers approved by rideshare companies. The commission has rejected about 1,653 rideshare driver applications with disqualifying criminal records since December 2015, even though those drivers passed the rideshare companies’ background checks.
Massachusetts began running its own background checks on Uber and Lyft drivers through a deal reached with the companies in 2017. Out of 170,000 rideshare applications that had been approved by the companies, the state rejected about 20,000 under its regulations, the bulk of which related to licensing, driving or non-felony issues. However, the state denied 3,471 prospective drivers for violent crimes and 109 for sex offenses. About 1,500 drivers have successfully appealed denials, but most of those involved driver’s license issues.
The taxi industry, which fiercely competes with rideshare companies, has also lobbied at the state level to have rideshare drivers undergo similar screening processes as taxi and limousine drivers, which mostly comply with fingerprint background checks.
"Expediency is overriding safety," said Matthew Daus, a former commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. "Taxis and limos are still required to abide by the old, more stringent rules, but Uber and Lyft have a free for all. It’s become the Wild West."
But others point out that fingerprinting and accessing the FBI’s data has limitations as well.
"The FBI background-check system was designed for investigations, not employment vetting, and many of its records are incomplete," said Arthur Rizer, who has studied the rideshare industry and justice at the R Street Institute, a free-market research organization.
Uber says the rideshare industry, like others, has relied on business and legislative experts to work with government officials to develop regulations that protect consumers while enabling technological growth.
While some city officials argue transportation should be regulated at the local level and that passenger safety concerns should matter more than ease of travel, Uber says it advocates for state regulations as opposed to local ordinances because rides often cross between jurisdictions.
A Lyft spokesperson said in a statement that Lyft has worked with policymakers in nearly every state to standardize and strengthen background checks.
The sufficiency of Uber and Lyft’s background checks have been challenged by dozens of civil lawsuits.
A proposed federal class-action containing allegations of sexual assault by Uber drivers says the company should pay damages for "failing to warn passengers about the inadequacy of its background screening."
In a lawsuit filed in 2015, the woman sexually assaulted by Talal Chammout accused Uber of overlooking his criminal convictions for assault and possessing firearms as a felon as well as other allegations. Authorities had also investigated Chammout for alleged offenses that he was never convicted of, including shooting a 15-year-old, assaulting and threatening to kill his wife, negotiating to purchase anti-aircraft missiles, and discussions with an undercover FBI agent who posed as a hit man.
According to the lawsuit, Chammout used a fake commercial driving permit to apply to Uber.
The civil lawsuit was dismissed in 2015, though the parties declined to say how the case was resolved. CNN reported in April that Uber, like many large companies, requires all parties to sign confidentially agreements when cases are settled.
Uber sent a letter to the city of Dallas stating that when Chammout first signed up with Uber in 2014, his account was marked “Will Not Be Driving.” But in 2015, an Uber representative mistakenly allowed him to drive even though he never underwent a background check.
In May, a jury found Chammout guilty of sexually assaulting the woman.
Some authorities have fined rideshare companies for issues related to driver vetting.
Uber agreed to pay up to $25 million in 2016 to settle a lawsuit brought by the district attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles, who accused the company of misleading customers about the quality of their background checks, which they argued suffered “systemic failures.” Lyft settled a lawsuit with similar claims brought by the same district attorneys for $500,000 in 2014.
Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission is seeking to fine Uber more than $4 million for approving dozens of drivers with disqualifying records based on state law. Uber has challenged the fine, which remains pending before an administrative judge.
As part of its investigation, the commission did not find any disqualifying records that warranted a fine against Lyft, according to the commission’s director, Doug Dean.
Dean said he and other state officials have pressed for additional screening of rideshare drivers that includes fingerprinting, which he said would enable his commission to receive notification in-real time if a rideshare driver is arrested.
Dean said Uber’s lobbyists swayed state lawmakers to not include that mandate in legislation that passed in 2014.
"They sold it to the legislature as this is innovation and its jobs and it works everywhere else so let’s just do it," Dean said. "They didn’t stop to really think long and hard about public safety I’m afraid."
June 2018 Articles
Fuel prices jump for ninth consecutive week
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/fuel-prices-jump-for-ninth-consecutive-week/; by Matt Cole, May 22, 2018
Diesel prices across the U.S. have now increased for nine consecutive weeks, dating back to the end of March.
During the most recent week ending May 21, the U.S.’ average price for a gallon of on-highway diesel jumped 3.8 cents to $3.277, according to the Department of Energy’s latest numbers. During this run of price increases, the national average diesel price has jumped 26.7 cents.
Prices increased in all regions across the U.S. in the week, with the most significant increase coming in California, where prices jumped 4.4 cents.
California is also still home to the highest average fuel prices across the country at $3.973 per gallon, followed by the West Coast less California at $3.503 per gallon.
The cheapest diesel can be found in the Gulf Coast region, $3.055 per gallon, followed by the Lower Atlantic, $3.163 per gallon.
Prices in other regions, according to the DOE, are:
- New England – $3.282
- Central Atlantic – $3.42
- Midwest – $3.218
- Rocky Mountain – $3.348
ProMiles’ numbers during the week saw fuel prices during the week jump 9.2 cents to $3.29 per gallon nationwide.
According to ProMiles’ Fuel Surcharge Index, the most expensive diesel can be found in California at $4.016 per gallon, and the cheapest can be found in the Gulf Coast region at $3.14 per gallon.
What's Behind the Tight Freight Market, and How Long Will It Last?
Source: https://www.truckinginfo.com/301547/whats-behind-the-tight-freight-market-and-how-long-will-it-last; by Deborah Lockridge, May 11, 2018
Although the April 1 start to "hard enforcement" of the electronic logging device mandate does not seem to have had a huge effect on trucking capacity (except perhaps in flatbeds), there are a number of other factors that are working to keep capacity tight and rates high, likely at least until late this year, according to FTR.
Avery Vise, FTR vice president of trucking research, shared the latest data with callers during a May 10 State of Freight webinar.
The key economic indicators affecting trucking are all positive, or at least neutral, he said. One possible concern is business inventories, which have ticked up higher recently. Potential reasons for that could be related to the need to keep product closer to customers for online sales, or even a reaction to the trucking capacity shortage itself, he said, as companies hold back some slower-moving inventory.
Of course, there are a number of external factors that could affect that rosy picture, including trade tensions and rising oil and fuel prices. But overall, Vise said, we can expect continued growth in the near term.
The flatbed sector is especially hot, and FTR expects loadings to be up 7% to 9% year-over-year through the year, perhaps even higher. Growth in van and reefer will not be as spectacular, but both will be solid through 2018.
The ELD Mandate and Capacity
But what everyone really wants to know is, how has hard enforcement of the ELD mandate affected capacity?
The best indicator for this, Vise said, is the spot market. Data from Truckstop.com, he said, suggests that capacity was tightening well before the initial December 18 ELD deadline, as many fleets went ahead and phased in the use of electronic logs before that date. "We did see a pretty substantial jump" during the first week of the ELD mandate, he said.
However, when you look at the April 1 deadline, at which point drivers were to be put out of service and points assessed on a carrier’s CSA record, something interesting happened, Vise said. "While the [Truckstop.com] MDI did rise the first week of April, it dropped the following week. That could reflect some typical softness after Easter, but the numbers do suggest there’s not any kind of catastrophe related to hard enforcement. In fact, the period between Dec. 18 and April 1 might have represented the worst of the impact."
Even more curious, he said, is what happened with weekly ELD violations, which actually dropped during the first week of full enforcement.
One possible reason for that is that carriers simply waited to install or activate their ELDs until the hard deadline, knowing that until then the violations would not mean an out of service violation or CSA points.
Another possible reason would be that anti-ELD owner-operators and small carriers simply parked their trucks. However, he said, if that were the case, "we would expect a huge imbalance in the spot market, which we did not see."
However, the data also shows, unsurprisingly, that non-compliance with the ELD mandate "has been almost totally on the lower end of the market… nearly 80% of violations are carriers with fewer than 20 trucks." Carriers with 101 to 999 trucks made up only 3% of the violations.
Why Is the Flatbed Sector so Hot?
Truckstop.com’s Market Data Index tracking the spot market is overall in record territory, but that is principally due to “unprecedented tightness” in the flatbed sector, Vise said. Flatbed rates are up 45 cents per mile since the end of 2017, while van and refrigerated freight rates are down from their year-end highs.
Several possible reasons are combining to create this situation, he said, both on the demand side and the supply side of the equation. There’s more demand for flatbeds coming from recent strength in manufacturing and construction, as well as recent increases in petroleum prices pushing more domestic production.
On the supply side, Vise said, many people think the ELD mandate is hitting flatbed the hardest. This sector includes a lot of owner-operators and small carriers and is typically not the first to adopt new technology, he noted.
"There could also be equipment constraints. We saw a sharp increase in flatbed trailer orders starting in September, and that continued until very recently."
The Driver Shortage and Tight Trucking Capacity
For over a year now, fleets have been saying that they could haul more freight if only they had the capacity to do it – chiefly limited by the driver shortage. And that’s certainly still continuing.
In the first three months of the year, the for-hire trucking industry was busy adding jobs, but that fell in April. "And this is not in a period where you would anticipate freight demand to soften to any kind of degree that would account for job losses," Vise said. "We think carriers have largely exhausted the supply of potential drivers who already had CDLs and were employable."
In addition to the low level of unemployment nationwide, Vise said, "you have competition [for labor] from sectors like manufacturing and construction, and even local delivery, which has grown sharply over the last year."
One of the problems, he said, is that despite the number of carriers raising driver pay overall, "there isn’t much difference between wages in trucking and those in home building and manufacturing."
What’s the Outlook for Trucking Capacity?
When you take all these factors, and add in the fact that railroads do not seem to be in a position to provide much additional capacity, either, "you end up with essentially full utilization of seated trucks, and this is where we’ve been essentially since the hurricanes. We don’t see any meaningful change until the fall."
By that point, he said, fleets will have taken delivery of new trucks and trailers that are currently in the production pipeline, and aggressive driver recruiting efforts may have borne fruit by then. Also acting to help ease the capacity crunch will be things like schedule changes, more drop-and-hook operations, and other ways to eke out more efficiencies and take out lost time.
As a result, he said, FTR expects elevated year-over-year growth in rates to continue through the second quarter, but to come down somewhat from "fairly inflated levels" later in the year.
Don’t expect that change to come from any reprieve from the ELD regulations, Vise said – although he sees it as "quite possible" that a current temporary exemption for livestock haulers will be made permanent.
More likely, Vise said, would be relief from the underlying hours of service rules themselves, although that’s a longer-term prospect. He pointed out that there’s a pilot program under way to test moving back to a split-sleeper berth option, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has petitioned for the ability to pause the 14-hour on-duty clock once during a shift for up to three hours.
"If these things come together during a business-friendly administration, I would anticipate a good chance that one of these has a chance of happening in the next few years," he said.
10 Daily Rituals That Set You up for Success
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Paige Brettingen, March 8, 2018
The secret to having a good day as often as possible? It starts with your rituals. From exercise to meditation to quality time with family, they’re the ordinary, everyday tasks that have a big impact on your physical and emotional health. "No matter how big or small, our rituals add meaning to our lives," says Laurie Gerber, life coach and co-president of Handel Group Life Coaching.
"Rituals can keep us grounded and connected, no matter how hectic life is or how much things change." Far too often, though, we view our rituals as another to-do on our list instead of treating them as sacred tasks that help us feel like our most authentic selves. Read on to see if any of these rituals speak to you in bringing about your best days.
1. Engage in Playtime
Playtime is essential for all of us — grown-ups included. It just looks different as an adult. For life coach Laurie Gerber, there’s "playtime" for herself, which involves 10 minutes of meditating each day. There’s Saturday-morning breakfast with her toddler, which usually involves more conventional play. And then there’s grown-up playtime spent talking and cuddling with her husband at night.
Fitting fun into your day will be the foundation of happiness and productivity. Start by making a list of all of the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled, and then map out how to incorporate them more into your week. Maybe it’s going for more hikes, joining an intramural sports team, enjoying a dinner out each week with your spouse or meeting up with friends more often after work.
2. Design Your Day
One of life coach Laurie Gerber's favorite rituals is to write a “daily design” of how she wants her day to play out. She even emails it to her co-workers and friends so they can hold her accountable for what she hopes to accomplish. “Not only does this practice keep me connected to my friends, it has me at the source of my day’s creation and not simply acting in response to it,” she says. Gerber also has an “imprinting” ritual she does before bed each night. Before she falls asleep, she shuts her eyes and visualizes anything she wants to happen the next day as having already happened. This allows her to go into the next day with full confidence that it already is a good one.
3. Track Your Time
It’s a common assumption that we don’t have the time to do more of what makes us happy, especially during the week. Between work and family commitments, being perpetually busy has become a standard part of life. That said, it’s helpful to see if you’re underestimating how long certain tasks are taking. For example, are you scrolling through Facebook longer than you realize in the mornings? Could that time be replaced with a 15-minute meditation or a quick workout?
"I see again and again that people get up at 5:30, but don’t leave the house until 8, which is a long time to not use consciously," says Laura Vanderkam, author of "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast." Devote the morning to your personal priorities and chances are that your day will go a lot smoother because you’ve put your happiness at the top of the to-do list.
4. Make Breakfast the New Dinner
We’re wired to think that dinner is the meal where everything important is supposed to happen — where families strengthen their bond and where couples reconnect. In reality, a harried week packed with differing schedules makes family dinners a novelty these days. And what couple doesn’t want to collapse on the couch with takeout and Netflix at the end of a stressful day?
For all of these reasons, author Laura Vanderkam recommends trying out family breakfasts and date mornings. Typically, breakfast is the one meal where everyone can actually sit down together without extracurricular activities or late meetings getting in the way. Likewise, going out to breakfast with your partner is often easier to schedule and bound to get your day off to a positive start.
5. Tackle the Hardest Task First
If you have a task hanging over your head that requires more willpower than you can muster, the trick is to focus on it at or just before 8 a.m., says author Laura Vanderkam. She notes how research suggests our willpower peaks at 8 a.m., usually following breakfast, and that the worst time to accomplish a difficult task is around 4 p.m. for the majority of us. "Your willpower is like a muscle that gets fatigued throughout the day," she says. "If you can, try not to set your first meeting until after you’ve been at work for an hour or an hour-and-a-half so you can focus that time on getting those tasks done."
6. Get Creative in the Morning
Mornings are also the perfect time for any creative endeavors you’re pursuing. Author Laura Vanderkam suggests setting aside time in the morning for that novel you’re writing or the piano skills you’re set on improving. Finding the motivation to practice your craft is usually rare after a long workday when all you want to do is relax. When you’re tempted to hold off until you get home in the evening, repeat Vanderkam’s mantra: If it has to happen, it has to happen first. "If you keep saying you’ll get to it when you have the time or the energy, it will never happen," she says.
7. Unwind Just Before Bedtime
There’s no way around it: The key to a good day, a good mood and good health is a good night’s sleep. Just as you set an alarm to wake up in the morning, author Laura Vanderkam believes it’s imperative to set a bedtime alarm as well. Program it on your smartphone so that it goes off at the same time each night. And then leave the phone outside your bedroom or put it on silent or in airplane mode to ensure an undisturbed night of sleep. If you know it takes you some extra time to fall asleep, set that alarm for a good 30 minutes to an hour earlier than your bedtime to ensure you’re giving yourself plenty of time to unwind with a bath or a book.
8. Sleep Away the Unproductiveness
Think about the most unproductive hours of your day. Do they usually involve catching up on a show (or two or three) that inevitably keeps you up later than you intended? If so, it may be time to crack down on your screen time and start gravitating toward bed even sooner (thanks to your new bedtime alarm). Author Laura Vanderkam has observed that the most successful people she interviewed for her book tend to take unproductive hours and put them toward sleep.
While 8:30 p.m. might seem like a ridiculously early bedtime for some, the upside is that it leads to a more fulfilling morning, which starts at 5 a.m. with you feeling completely rested and having three whole hours to meditate, exercise and enjoy a good book over coffee. "Find a way to do that and you’ll discover more time in your day," she says.
9. Pay Attention to Your Relationships
If an important relationship in your life is suffering, an otherwise good day instantly becomes diminished. Life coach Laurie Gerber’s favorite ritual in this department involves having at least one deep, loving conversation with her husband daily without interrupting him. She also makes it a point to French-kiss her husband each day.
Platonic and professional relationships are equally important to cultivate. Start by giving a compliment to a co-worker or a friend each day, and hold yourself accountable to make sure you follow through. "Put in a self-imposed consequence should you not keep your ritual. If you do not French-kiss your husband or compliment a co-worker daily, you lose your favorite nightly libation or TV show — whichever just made you cringe more," says Gerber.
10. Make the Time
It's easy to retreat to the excuse of "I don’t have time." The truth is that you do. You just have to make the time. And one glaring area of your life that probably needs it most is time for just yourself. Again, morning is the ideal time to fit this in, says author Laura Vanderkam — even if it just means getting up 10 minutes before everyone else in the house to sip your coffee in peace. "Time in the morning is for yourself before the rest of the world invades. And, just like your bills, you need to pay yourself first before you pay others," she says.
Cargo theft firms report declining theft numbers in 2018
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by Matt Cole, May 16, 2018
Cargo theft recording firms SensiGuard and CargoNet released this week their first quarter reports on cargo theft in the United States, with both firms reporting a decline in the number of thefts and the average value of thefts. CargoNet reported a total of 159 cargo theft events in the U.S. and Canada during 2018’s first quarter, while SensiGuard reported 115 cargo thefts.
According to CargoNet, the combined number of cargo theft reports in the U.S. and Canada dropped 23 percent year-over-year. The firm also notes a “marked decrease” in the average value per theft, which dropped from $164,185 in 2017’s first quarter to $90,883 in 2018’s first quarter.
The firm adds that 98 trucks and 119 trailers were reported stolen during the quarter, down from 138 tractors and 149 trailers a year ago.
CargoNet’s report states that food and beverage loads ranked as the most-stolen, but thefts of food and beverage items decreased 39 percent year-over-year. Household good and electronics were the second- and third-most stolen items.
Additionally, the firm reports that most states recorded decreases in cargo theft during the quarter, including a 60 percent decrease in New Jersey.
SensiGuard’s figures show a 22 percent decrease in cargo theft volume year-over-year, and a 15 percent decrease in value. According to the firm, there were no thefts valued at $1 million or higher in the first quarter of this year.
In contrast to CargoNet’s numbers, SensiGuard reports that electronics were the most-stolen items in the quarter, accounting for 24 percent of total thefts. Food and drinks accounted for 19 percent of the nation’s total thefts, SensiGuard’s numbers show.
California ranked as the top state for cargo theft, according to SensiGuard, with 37 percent of total thefts, followed by Illinois and Florida with 13 percent and 11 percent of the total, respectively.
Unsecured parking areas were the most prevalent location for thefts, accounting for 92 percent of all thefts that a location was noted. Thefts from secured parking and warehouse/distribution center locations each accounted for 4 percent of the total.
Positive drug tests in the driver workforce hit 10-year high
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by Aaron Huff, May 8, 2018
Newly released data show that trucking and other safety-sensitive workforces have the highest drug-positive test rates in a decade. The positivity increases are driven primarily by cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
The data also show the four common opioids that the U.S. DOT added last year in urine testing — hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone — have a higher positivity rate than the two opioids that were previously being tested — codeine and morphine.
The following data is a summary of a recent report compiled from 10 million U.S. drug tests conducted by Quest Diagnostics, a large medical lab. Many of Quest Diagnostics’ clients have safety-sensitive workforces that have federally required drug testing, including pilots, bus and truck drivers.
Cocaine
In the federally-mandated, safety-sensitive workforce, for which only urine testing is permitted, cocaine positivity increased by eleven percent (0.28 percent in 2016 versus 0.31 percent in 2017). This is the third consecutive year of increases in this workforce segment.
A new pattern emerged in this year’s analysis, with cocaine positivity in urine testing increasing significantly in certain states among the general U.S. workforce. Double-digit year-over-year increases in at least four of the five past years were seen in the states of Nebraska (91 percent), Idaho (88 percent), Washington (31 percent), Nevada (25 percent), Maryland (22 percent), and Wisconsin (13 percent).
Methamphetamine
In the general U.S. Workforce between 2013 and 2017, methamphetamine positivity rates increased 167 percent in the East North Central division of the Midwest; 160 percent in the East South Central division of the South; 150 percent in the Middle Atlantic division of the Northeast; and 140 percent in the South Atlantic division of the South.
The percentage increase in these four U.S. Census divisions ranged between nine percent and 25 percent between 2016 and 2017.
Quest Diagnostics has created this map that shows positivity by state and compared to the national average.
Marijuana
Overall, marijuana positivity continued its five-year upward trajectory in urine testing for both the general U.S. workforce and the federally-mandated, safety-sensitive workforce. Marijuana positivity increased four percent in the general U.S. workforce (2.5 percent in 2016 versus 2.6 percent in 2017) and nearly eight percent in the safety-sensitive workforce (0.78 percent versus 0.84 percent).
Increases in positivity rates for marijuana were most striking in states that have enacted recreational use statues since 2016. The increases in marijuana positivity for safety-sensitive workers increased by 39 percent in Nevada, 20 percent in California, and 11 percent in Massachusetts.
"These increases are similar to the increases we observed after recreational marijuana use statues were passed in Washington and Colorado," said Barry Sample, PhD, senior director, science and technology, Quest Diagnostics.
Prescription opiates
Nationally, the prescription opiate positivity rate dropped by double digits on a national basis for the general U.S. workforce in urine drug testing. The rate declined 17 percent between 2016 and 2017 (0.47 percent versus 0.39 percent).
Prescription opiate testing for safety-sensitive transportation workers covered under U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules went into effect in January 2018. Based on four months of data in 2018, Sample says the positivity rate for hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone are "certainly higher by large multiple" compared to the positivity rate for codeine and morphine.
The additional four prescription opiates being tested are not more impairing nor more addicting than morphine, he says. Quest Diagnostics and other laboratories refer positive test results to a medical review officer (MRO). The MRO will then determine if the driver has a valid prescription for the drugs and has the ability to issue a safety concern letter to the employer.
Combined testing
Many trucking companies are conducting hair follicle testing in addition to the DOT-mandated urine test. Based on Quest Diagnostics data, Sample says hair testing gives higher positivity rates.
Hair tests detect patterns of repetitive drug use, he says. It is the most effective test for detecting cocaine use, says Sample, who has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and is a board-certified toxicologist.
In other industries, oral fluid tests are also commonly used. Sample says the drug positivity rate for marijuana use is higher in oral fluid testing compared to hair or urine tests.
"There is value in having more than one testing specimen at your disposal," he says. A primary advantage that hair and oral fluid testing have over urine tests is they are observed collections, which makes them impossible to subvert in private, Sample says.
May 2018 Articles
The Driver Deficit: Seeking Solutions
Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com; by Linda Longton, April 23, 2018
Strong freight, tight capacity and surging rates mean conditions for carriers "are approaching their most favorable situation in 14 years," according to FTR's Trucking Conditions Index.
Except, that is, when it comes to drivers.
Long a major headache for carriers, in today’s environment, the search for drivers is "getting really, really competitive," says Gordon Klemp, president of the National Transportation Institute, whose company tracks driver pay and benefits. "In the first two months of this year, the numbers of pay changes — we’ve never had a first quarter that’s even close," he says. "And the size of some of the changes is pretty impressive."
Desperate to take advantage of the booming freight market, carriers are offering drivers incentives ranging from higher pay and jumbo-sized bonuses to improved creature comforts and generous benefit packages. While experts say such approaches only encourage turnover, other tactics could provide long-term solutions to some of trucking’s systemic problems. At the same time, increasingly sophisticated technologies are giving fleets more tools to help recruit and retain this scarce resource.
Ask drivers why recruiting and retaining them is so challenging, and three out of four say carriers "don’t pay enough," according to a recent survey by CCJ sister brands Truckers News and Overdrive. That’s a criticism many fleets are taking to heart: Truckers News has reported more than 25 pay changes since October, and Klemp notes that many took effect immediately. Historically, fleets might announce a pay bump in January but make it effective in late March, he says.
Klemp also expects some fleets that made announcements early in the year to raise pay again, possibly in the third quarter, based on competitive pressures and continuing strength in freight rates. "Pay won’t move unless rates are going up,” he says. Klemp predicts that if GDP is above 3 percent in the last three quarters, pay will be 15 percent higher on Dec. 31, 2018, than it was the prior year.
Alongside pay increases, many fleets are offering attention-grabbing sign-on bonuses. Klemp’s company reports median sign-on bonus amounts in February were three or four times as high as those a year earlier, depending on the segment. While such bonuses are common, many experts suggest any sign-on pay beyond what’s needed to cushion the transition to a new job only encourages turnover.
And sign-on bonuses may not be all that effective — at least for attracting the best candidates. Most veteran drivers "don’t trust them," says Michael Fisk, director of hiring, marketing and driver development for Roadmaster Group, based in Glendale, Ariz. That’s perhaps why only 2 percent of respondents to a recent Truckers News survey said they would change jobs for a large sign-on bonus.
Fleets in the Southeast that typically lag other regions in terms of pay have announced the largest cost-per-mile raises, Klemp says. "The aggressiveness of pay changes down there might indicate they are hurrying to catch up to their counterparts in the Midwest and Northeast where they bump up against them." The Northeast is historically the highest-paying region, and pay changes there have been fewer, he says.
Increasingly, fleets are tailoring pay packages to not only attract new talent but also reward existing drivers. K&B Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 124), based in South Sioux City, Neb., recently announced graduated pay increases tied to company longevity and starting at zero to six months on up to more than five years. Similarly, Joplin, Mo.-based CFI announced its Experienced Driver pay package in November when "we realized it took too long for our own experienced drivers to reach the top of our pay scale," says Michael Hinz, senior vice president of sales and operations.
Bringing consistency to driver pay is key, says Phil Byrd, chief executive officer of Bulldog Hiway Express, based in North Charleston, S.C. "Drivers and potential drivers are looking for reliable income — not $1,000 this week, $500 next week,” Byrd says. “They want a predictable weekly income like most people do." Drivers paid on Bulldog’s "salary plus" receive a salary and then incentives to help them earn above their base.
The growth of Amazon and consumer expectations for next-day deliveries have enabled teams to command large pay premiums, Klemp says, with experienced teams getting "into pretty rarified air" compensation-wise. Some carriers such as Tennessee-based Covenant Transport (No. 39) and U.S. Xpress (No. 16) are offering teams substantial bonuses. Covenant’s program pays $2,000 every time a team passes 60,000 paid miles together, up to a total of $40,000. U.S. Xpress has a similar plan but is offering a $50,000 bonus paid in $2,000 increments and in vacation time over a four-year period to current and future team drivers.
Beyond pay and bonuses, many carriers are looking for creative ways to cut through the recruiting noise and get drivers’ attention. Inwood, N.Y.-based Express Trucking & Courier, which provides expedited high-value shipping, offers free health insurance for drivers and their families with a $15 co-pay through United Health Care — a benefit that Ken Deocharran, Express president, values at $2,000 per month. If drivers already have medical coverage through a spouse, they can use the money to pay for their mortgage, rent or car payment, up to the $2,000, he says. The concept has been well-received, Deocharran says. "We put out an ad, and within 24 hours, 60 drivers responded. … It gave us a competitive edge in the market."
However, it does little good to raise pay, boost bonuses and sweeten benefits if fleets don’t communicate these changes effectively to potential candidates and their own drivers. That’s where technology plays an increasingly important role. Whether through social media, email or a customized fleet portal, successful fleets use any means available to cultivate relationships with drivers. "It used to be ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ ” says Roadmaster’s Fisk. “Now, if it’s a ‘no’ now, we’re going to stay in touch with you. It has to be relational, where they’re interacting with you as well."
As carriers deal with the realities of today’s more severe driver shortage, many are looking for ways to be more flexible in their hiring standards while maintaining safe operations, FTR notes in its Trucking Update. Fisk suggests fleets take a more sophisticated approach to hiring. "We constantly assess and reassess how we hire," he says, evaluating each candidate from an individual perspective.
If a driver had a traffic accident at 19 and now is 35, Fisk considers the current level of maturity and possible change in habits "instead of just having a list of nonqualifiers," he says. Such flexibility may require implementing additional programs or other requirements for the new hire to be successful.
Meanwhile, despite fleets’ best efforts to recruit each other’s drivers, many are content to stay put. Amid the flurry of carrier pay announcements, last month Truckers News and Overdrive asked drivers and owner-operators how likely they were to change jobs. Forty-seven percent said they have no plans to jump carriers because they are happy with their current employer. Another 17 percent said changing jobs was "just too much hassle."
Fleet Survey Shows Driver Shortage Continues to Impact Equipment Buying Plans
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Deborah Lockridge, May 2, 2018
A quarterly survey of a varied panel of trucking fleets finds continued strong plans to buy more trucks, especially among larger fleets, and among private fleets looking to address capacity and rate issues – but those truck orders are in many cases about other things than adding capacity, because drivers continue to be in short supply.
The second quarter Fleet Sentiment Report by CK Commercial Vehicle Research reports that its buying index, tracked since 2008, while not at peak, is "rolling along at a nice solid clip with a 117.8 reading." The index tracks both how many fleets are planning purchases of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and trailers, as well as the volume of those planned orders.
In addition, CKCVR’s "How’s Business" rating reflects the positive outlook for carriers. The survey asks, "Considering all the factors that impact your company, on a scale of 1-5 (with being poor and 5 being excellent) in your opinion, what is the overall outlook for your fleet in the next three months?" After setting a record during the January survey, the reading fell a bit in Q2, but still remains at a high 4.29 on a scale of 1-5.
Basically, the same percentage of survey participants that planned to purchase trucks during the first quarter plan to place orders during Q2. So far in 2018, larger fleets are tending to place orders more than the smaller fleets.
Private fleets are definitely active in purchasing new equipment. While they made up 32% of the reporting group, they represented 37% of the fleets that are planning to place orders. Comments from the private fleets mentioned the increasing rates from common carriers as a strong incentive for them to increase their own fleet. The capacity problem plays into that as well, as company brands are impacted (negatively) by any delivery problems.
Some of the other reasons fleets cited for their equipment-buying plans included:
- Newer trucks are more reliable, and more uptime means more productivity and essentially more capacity
- New trucks help recruit and retain drivers
- The new tax law has freed up some capital
- Booming economy and good business environment for fleets
- Locking in build slots in a "hot" order climate
- Concern about getting ahead of rising equipment prices
- Better fuel economy
However, for most of the fleets planning to buy in the survey, those equipment purchase plans for Q2 do not include many units for ‘straight-up’ capacity additions – that is, adding equipment to their population of vehicles. That doesn’t take into account how many fleets are using newer, more productive equipment to add hauling capacity.
Fleets had, up to a point, been adding trailers to increase their capacity (more drop and hook, etc.), CKCVR notes, but "based on what our fleets are reporting – now the majority of fleets are designating most, if not all, of their equipment purchases to replacement."
That's because there aren't enough drivers to put behind the wheel. Fleets in the survey continue to say they would add more capacity if they had more drivers; there’s plenty of freight to haul. The percentage of fleets in the survey who indicate they have a driver shortage has now gone over 70% for the first time. In addition, the fleets that say they have a driver shortage – almost 75% – now need them to fill current seats. Three quarters also indicate they can’t grow because drivers are not available.
10 Daily Habits to Increase Your Productivity
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Sarah Stevenson, March 9, 2018
A typical chaotic day may have you ping-ponging from meeting to meeting, from your phone to your computer and back again, leaving you feeling like you accomplished very little. How to manage? It’s all in the routine. For Benjamin Spall, co-founder of My Morning Routine (MyMorningRoutine.com), which publishes inspiring routines from people like best-selling authors and successful entrepreneurs, these daily rituals enable us to nurture many habits at once. "We all have something we want to start doing, and it’s through creating a routine (whether it takes place in the morning, afternoon or evening) that we can more easily make this habit, and many more, a part of our life." Shelby Castile, a licensed therapist, is a firm believer that routines are necessary for a productive, balanced life. "When we put routines in place for ourselves and our families, it brings a sense of security that we all really need," she says. "When we know what to expect -- and know what’s expected of us -- our decisions get better and our behaviors improve." Here are 10 daily habits that will keep you focused and productive.
1. Have a Consistent Bedtime
While tough to schedule, going to bed and waking up at the same time each day has many benefits. You begin to set your internal clock to get tired at a certain time and also become energized at a certain time. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the current recommended sleep durations should be seven to nine hours for adults 18 to 64 years and seven to eight hours for adults 65 and over. Set up a bedtime and waking time that will sync with your work schedule or life in general. If you go to bed at 10 p.m. each night, you can wake up around 6 a.m., giving you two hours to get ready and get to work if you are an 8-to-5er.
Tweak it according to your own personal schedule so it can work for you.
2. Review Your Goals First Thing in the Morning
If you’re reading this article, you are probably the type of person who already makes to-do lists. You’ve realized that a full agenda is more manageable when it’s recorded instead of swimming around in your head. You might also enjoy the sense of accountability a to-do list gives you, including the feeling of accomplishment when you are able to check off each task. For Sam Thomas Davies, author of "Unhooked: How to Break Bad Habits and Form Good Ones That Stick," a powerful, morning ritual is the best way to get what you want because it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Just as important, he says, "I’ve found reading your goals first thing in the morning helps you distinguish the vital few from the trivial many, and makes your highest contribution toward what matters most."
3. Make Being Active a Given
According to researchers in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia, exercising just 20 minutes each day increases the amount of oxygen that rushes to the brain. This boosts brain functions related to memory and processing. It also greatly increases your brain’s ability to create new neural pathways, speeding up your capacity to get things done. Make it a habit to be active each and every day in order to integrate it into your life -- like showering and brushing your teeth. "Habits in motion tend to stay in motion," says Davies. "If we start a habit but don’t complete it, we tend to experience intrusive thoughts until we do." Most people become more productive when certain other activities can go on autopilot; for example, if we thought about breathing all of the time, we’d never get anything done.
4. Do an Efficiency Check-In
Castile says, "When it comes to daily routines, consistently checking in with yourself and reassessing what’s working and what’s not working is essential." If you want to up your productivity, evaluate your most basic daily routines and figure out how to tweak them. Reflect on or journal about the efficacy of each day’s routines until you have a good feel for what you need to streamline. For example: If you prepared your clothes the night before, were you able to accomplish more the next day? If you took a one-hour break at noon, were you able to get more work done in the morning or afternoon? Or do you need to take a later break so you have more morning time to be productive? There is no point in keeping routines that don’t actually help you throughout your day, so decide what is and isn’t working for you.
5. Know If You’re an Early Bird or Night Owl
While night owls are not as productive early in the day, they may be able to accomplish a ton later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, early birds can burn through paperwork bright and early, but tend to slow down as the day draws on. "Doing what works for you doesn’t mean doing what you want, when you want," says Spall (http://benjaminspall.com). "When we figure out when we’re most productive, we’re on the road to improving the quality (and quantity) of our output." Be aware of when you have the most energy and take advantage of that time. If you’re a morning person, you may want to frontload more of your to-do list early in the day so you don’t have as much to do when you’re losing energy.
6. Designate No-Technology Times
New technological advances have offered us an incredible jump when it comes to productivity. However, at times the daily digital revolution can be a huge impediment. Try setting aside specific times throughout the day when you turn your phone on silent and don’t check it. Another strategy to combat tech "time sucks": Decide on periods throughout the day during which you’ll check your emails and respond to them. That way you won’t let them float in throughout the day to pull your attention away from the time-sensitive work in front of you. And rethink your shutdown time at night. Shelby says, "I consistently advise my clients to remove technology from their evening routine altogether. My motto is: ‘Anything after 8 can wait!’ Most people are surprised at how much more fulfilled they feel and how much more they actually get done!"
7. Do NOT Multitask
It turns out we’re all not the champion multitaskers that we thought we were. Research that Stanford University professor Clifford Nass performed found that even high multitaskers who are consuming information and using various types of technology aren’t great at ignoring irrelevancy, which should be an important component in multitasking. "It turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking," he told PBS in a 2009 interview. More evidence has emerged in recent years pointing to the fact that our brains can’t handle the overload of multitasking, especially when it comes to learning something new. To be more efficient, take time to focus on a specific task that you know will require a vast amount of attention. And while you’re at it, don’t put off the big tasks to get the small ones done and "out of the way." That’s not strategy, it’s procrastination.
8. Prepare the Night Before
Ever get up five minutes late and spend the rest of your day catching up? On those days you hit every red light, your clothes are still wet because the dryer went off too early and the coffeemaker breaks. Try preparing for the next day the night before and you may suddenly feel like you are 20 minutes ahead instead. The night before, pack your lunch, chose your clothes, set the coffeemaker on a timer and have all your supplies waiting for you by the door. You will then have time to sit at every red light (even though when you’re on time it seems like you hit green lights all the way)!
9. Start Off Calm
Starting off your day on the wrong foot can wreck the whole day! But starting each day in a calm, peaceful way can even mend waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Castile states, "I often suggest my clients begin their day with a morning meditation or self-affirming exercise." Spend a couple of minutes setting a positive intention for your day, and create a mantra like, "I see the value of each person I come into contact with" or "I choose happiness." Furthermore, Spall suggest that you use "waking up as your cue to get out of bed and start doing some light stretching, followed by some push-ups, before transitioning into your favorite yoga pose. Or you can use waking up as your cue to grab a book from your bedside table and read 10 pages before popping on the kettle and starting breakfast." Start off calm and you can’t go wrong!
10. Take Regular Breaks
In a study published in the Journal of Cognition, subjects were asked to remember numbers in their mind for periods of time. As the clock ticked on, subjects significantly declined in their ability to remember the numbers. However, when the researchers asked the subjects to recall the numbers in shorter increments of time, they were easily able to recall them. Researchers suggest that doing work in smaller bouts of time while integrating rest between tasks will increase a person’s productivity level. There are very large bodies of research that also support taking actual lunch breaks that consist of relaxing, walking in nature and quiet solitary time away from your desk. When you "go go go" without stopping to relax, you deplete your mind’s and body’s ability to be at their best. So do yourself a favor and make it a habit to take little breaks throughout your day, even if it’s just taking a 20-minute walk around your building at work.
Crime report: Another CDL fraud scheme, former trooper sentenced in bribery scheme, more
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, April 19, 2018
Action in three trucking-related crimes has recently been reported by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and The Dallas Morning News, including a CDL testing fraud scheme, a reincarnated carrier and a former state trooper sentenced to prison time for accepting bribes.
Mississippi CDL examiners indicted for issuing fraudulent CDL skills test scores
Two third-party CDL examiners in Mississippi, Benjamin McGriggs and Robert Davis, were indicted on March 6 for making and using false writings and documents.
According to OIG, the pair accepted cash payments from CDL skills test applicants in lieu of administering the test. In exchange for cash, McGriggs and Davis allegedly provided approximately 65 CDL applicants with CDL test score sheets that falsely certified that the drivers successfully completed the skills test when they had actually never taken the test.
S.C. man indicted in reincarnated carrier scheme
On March 27, Cameron Banks was indicted on three counts of falsification of records in federal investigations with intent to impede, obstruct and influence FMCSA’s process of investigation and proper administration.
According to OIG, the indictment alleged that on three separate occasions between 2015 and 2018, Banks accessed FMCSA’s database and completed a Motor Carrier Authority application to avoid out-of-service orders FMCSA had placed on DOT numbers he operated. OIG says on each occasion, Banks didn’t disclose any relationship with other entities licensed by FMCSA within the previous three years.
The indictment also charged him with healthcare fraud and money laundering.
Former Texas trooper gets prison time for accepting bribes for clean inspections
Kevin Gerard Cauley, a former Texas Department of Public Safety sergeant, has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for accepting bribes from a trucking company in exchange for clean inspection reports, according to a report from the Dallas Morning News.
Cauley reportedly pleaded guilty last June to one count of honest services wire fraud.According to the report, Orlinte Cruz, the owner of Dallas-based trucking companies Cruz and Sons Transportation and UGMA Logistics, approached Cauley in July 2014 about conducting safety inspections for the company.
From that point through September 2015, Cauley reported conducting 39 Level 1 inspections on Cruz and Sons trucks, all of which were given a Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection decal.
Cruz reportedly paid Cauley at least $4,000 for the clean inspections. Cruz pleaded guilty earlier this year and has yet to be sentenced.
Safety Groups Seek End to Roadway Fatalities
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Trucking Info Staff, April 19, 2018
A coalition of safety groups has released an ambitious plan to eliminate roadway deaths by 2050 in response to rising fatalities in recent years that have reversed the progress of earlier decades.
About 5,000 more people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016 as compared with 2011, according to the National Safety Council.
The report — A Road to Zero: A Vision for Achieving Zero Roadway Deaths by 2050 — spotlights three key initiatives to reduce fatalities. It was released on April 19 by the Road to Zero Coalition. It was authored by the Rand Corporation, a nonpartisan research institution.
The three-prong strategy calls for being more tenacious with tactics that work through proven, evidenced-based strategies; advancing life-saving technologies in vehicles and infrastructure; and, prioritizing safety by adopting a safe systems approach and creating a positive safety culture.
The report is the result of the collaboration of some 650 organizations and the council, which manages the coalition.
In 2010, it was estimated that crashes cost the U.S economy roughly $835 billion, and there were 15,000 crashes per day, notes the report. Moreover, in 2016, nearly 38,000 lives were lost on U.S. roadways, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Tactics for turning the tide as noted in the report, include enforcing and strengthening current traffic safety laws, providing new resources for traffic safety researchers and practitioners, and supporting those who design and build roads and vehicles.
In addition, progress will require continued vehicle safety improvements, specifically using technology. While widespread use of fully automated vehicles is still decades away, the coalition proposes accelerating the benefits of new technologies by creating partnerships between public safety and health groups and industry professionals.
Finally, fostering a safety culture and adopting a safe systems approach is imperative. Many businesses have made great improvements in fatality and injury rates through adopting a safety culture, and a number of cities have adopted a Vision Zero strategy incorporating the safe systems approach that accommodates human error. These ideas need to be shared and spread across the nation, according to the coalition.
April 2018 Articles
Driver who saved crash victim named 2018 Goodyear Highway Hero
Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com; by Matt Cole, March 23, 2018
Ancaster, Ontario-based Frank Vieira has never been one to shy away from helping people on the road, and Thursday night at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., he was honored as the 35th annual Goodyear Highway Hero for his willingness to stop and help those in need.
Vieira, a driver for Connell Transport out of Hamilton, Ontario, says he was "put in the right place at the right time" last year when he was driving on a different route from his normal daily routine on a detour and heard a loud crash from the other side of the two-lane country road. He says the accident was too close for him to see in his mirror immediately, so he pulled over to the shoulder and approached the scene where an SUV had run into the back of a parked roll-off truck.
"I immediately pulled over and jumped out of the truck, found clean gloves in my truck in case there was any metal shroud or anything," Vieira says. "I put my left hand on this unfortunate person’s neck because he had been pierced by a broken steering wheel through the right side of his neck. There was a lot of blood, so I put as much pressure on that as I could, and I used my right hand to use my phone…and called 911."
Vieira went on to say around that same time, the driver of the roll-off truck walked back to see what was going on to see if he could offer any assistance but fainted when he saw what was going on.
"When he fainted, now I have my right hand on my phone, my left hand holding onto someone, and I also notice that this fellow’s left leg was now in the oncoming traffic, so I used my right leg to pull his leg closer to me," he adds. "It all seems like it was a half hour, but it all happened in three minutes."
While Vieira says he did not want to have future contact with the accident victim because "I don’t want anybody to feel like they owe me anything," he says he heard from the fire department after the crash that the driver survived the incident.
Vieira says he has no formal training in assisting trauma victims, but in his 31 years on the road, the 48-year-old driver says he has seen it all happen before.
"The only training that I would associate to this is just experience," he says. "I’ve seen a lot, so it’s probably made it easier to jump in without having to hesitate. I gave it no thought. I immediately looked for where is this blood coming from, and I applied as much pressure as I could."
Through his career, Vieira has hauled throughout Canada and the U.S., amassing more than 8 million miles over the years. He now drives a tanker locally around Toronto.
Vieira says he hopes his story "inspires all drivers, especially new drivers, to have more willpower to perform these extraordinary acts."
For receiving the honor, Vieira received a $5,000 prize, a ring and a trophy from Goodyear. The two other finalists, Brian Bucenell and Ryan Moody, also received cash prizes.
ELD Mandate: 10 Things You Need to Know as Full Enforcement Hits
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Jack Roberts, March 29, 2018
The long, divisive slog is over. As of April 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device mandate goes into full effect, requiring most commercial vehicles to have a compliant electronic logging device in the cab to track the driver’s hours of service.
There has been resistance to the regulation, especially among drivers and owner-operators, and the ramp up to full implementation has been slow and fractured. There also was some confusion among drivers, fleets, and even enforcement officials about some points of the rule.
So, since the rule went into effect in December, violators have not been subject to being placed out of service or having the violation affect their CSA scores. But starting April 1, any driver operating a commercial vehicle without a compliant ELD or Automatic Onboard Recording Device will be subject to the full weight of the law if caught.
To help make sure you’re ready, we pulled together some of the top things you need to know before Sunday...
1. Most motor carriers and drivers who use logbooks are now required to use ELDs
The ELD rule applies to most motor carriers and drivers currently required to maintain records of duty status (RODS) per Part 395, 49 CFR 395.8(a).
The rule allows limited exceptions, however, including:
- Drivers who operate under the short-haul exceptions may continue using timecards; they are not required to keep RODs and will not be required to use ELDs
- Drivers who use paper logs for not more than eight days out of every 30-day period
- Drivers operating a power unit that is part of a driveaway/towaway shipment
- Drivers who are driving or towing a recreational vehicle that is part of a driveaway/towaway shipment
- Drivers who are operating vehicles with an engine model year older than 2000.
In addition, there are some temporary exemptions that have been added since the rule originally went into effect, among them one for livestock haulers through the end of September, as well as one for short-term rental trucks until April 19, 2018. There's also an eight-day exemption from the ELD mandate for rental trucks which runs for five years.
If you're operating under any of these exemptions, make sure the driver understands and that there's documentation in the truck related to the exemption, such as a copy of the exemption, proof that an engine is an older model not subject to the rule, etc.
2. The grace period is over
In late August, FMCSA and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced a phased-in approach to the ELD mandate and said they would delay implementing out-of-service criteria related to ELDs until April 1, 2018 – although individual jurisdictions could still choose to issue citations. And just a month before last December's deadline, FMCSA announced violations would not affect CSA scores during this transition period.
3. The hours of service rules have not changed
Some drivers believe that the hours of service rules have changed. They have not. But ELDs are pointing out non-compliance issues that drivers may not have been aware of.
For instance, once a driver comes back on duty after 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time, that driver cannot drive beyond 14 consecutive hours, even if he or she had to spend several hours detained at a shipper or receiver's facility. Under paper logs, many drivers reported shorter detention than they actually experienced.
The sleeper berth rule requires drivers to spend at least eight consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus a separate two consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two. Some drivers mistakenly believe that they can take that eight hours in the sleeper berth and the other two hours separately, but they must be taken in one 10-hour block in order for the 14-hour on-duty clock and the 11-hour driving clock to reset.
"The 60- or 70-hour limit will reset after a driver has taken 34 hours of consecutive off-duty status," said James McCarthy, Business Development/Marketing Manager for VDO RoadLog. "This has always been the case and the implementation of the ELD mandate hasn’t affected this rule in any way."
4. If a driver does not have a legal and functional ELD in their cab after April 1, they can be placed out of service
A driver who is required to have an ELD under the above rules can be placed out of service if he or she:
- Is using an unauthorized logging device not registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Is unable to produce and transfer data electronically from an ELD to an authorized law enforcement officer, or to produce the data via the display or print it out. A driver with an AOBRD can be placed out of service if unable to display or produce records of duty status
- Indicates a special driving category when not involved in that category (considered a false log)
- Is required to have an ELD and the vehicle is not equipped with one (or an Automatic On-Board Recording Device/AOBRD until Dec. 17, 2019)
5. Penalties for non-compliance with the ELD mandate
Once full enforcement begins on April 1, drivers required to operate with an ELD but found to be lacking a device will be placed out of service. That OOS order will be in effect for 10 hours for truck drivers. At the end of the OOS period, the driver will be allowed to continue to his or her next scheduled stop using paper logs. But the driver should not be dispatched again without an ELD. If he or she heads out again without an ELD, the driver may be placed OOS yet again and the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action.
The fine or fines for not having an ELD will likely be the same as a driver could expect if being cited for not possessing a paper log pre-ELDs, including monetary penalties and points under CSA’s Fatigue BASIC. Fines and citations for violations of the HOS rules remain the same, and drivers with ELDs or AOBRDs will be fined and cited for violations of the HOS rules revealed by such devices.
For fleets and drivers using AOBRDs, the compliance regime has not changed. Those devices have been in service for several years and all the requirements and obligations of 49 CFR 395.15 will continue to apply.
6. Understand the AOBRD grandfather provision
The grandfather clause in the electronic logging device rule excuses carriers and drivers from complying with the ELD rule so long as they were already using previously compliant automatic onboard recorder devices to track driver hours of service before the ELD rule’s actual Dec. 18, 2017, compliance date.
In just the past few weeks, the FMCSA put out new guidance on AOBRDs widening the exemption. A motor carrier that had installed and required its drivers to use an AOBRD before Dec. 18, 2017, may now install and use a new “ELD-capable device that runs compliant AOBRD software” until Dec. 15, 2019, which is when the AOBRD grandfather clause expires.
FMCSA’s new position does not negate the requirement that any new AOBRD installed must be able to be updated for mandate compliance by Dec. 16, 2019.
There are some key differences between an ELD and an AOBRD. From law enforcement’s viewpoint, it’s the software in the device that matters, not the device itself. Among these differences, a roadside inspector should be able to check a driver’s HOS record on the screen of the device. With some AOBRDs, that might require a file upload. That’s a provision the inspector may not understand. So it is in the driver's best interest to provide as much help as possible to the inspector.
7. How to make sure your ELD is compliant
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration maintains a registry of devices that have been self-certified to meet the ELD specifications. The motor carrier is responsible for checking that their device is registered. This includes checking both the registration and revocation list periodically. The list of registered and revoked ELDs can be found at: https://3pdp.fmcsa.dot.gov/ELD/ELDList.aspx.
If an ELD is removed from the registration list, FMCSA will make efforts to notify the public and affected users. Motor carriers and drivers are encouraged to sign up for ELD Updates to receive notifications when an ELD has been listed on the Revocation List.
Because this is essentially a "buyer beware" situation, motor carriers should also familiarize themselves with the ELD rule and use the FMCSA’s ELD checklist at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/ elds/choosing-electronic-logging-device-checklist.
Note that ELD vendors/manufacturers are not required to notify motor carriers if a device has been removed from the ELD registration list.
8. Drivers need to have the right ELD-related documents in their vehicle
To help assist the DOT officer during an inspection, all drivers should have these ELD materials on hand:
- An ELD user manual
- An instruction sheet for transferring HOS data
- An instruction sheet for reporting possible ELD malfunctions
- A supply of paper log sheets as backup
9. If your ELD malfunctions...
If an ELD malfunctions, a motor carrier must correct, repair, replace, or service the malfunctioning ELD within eight days of discovering the condition or a driver’s notification to the motor carrier, whichever occurs first; and require the driver to maintain paper record of duty status (RODS) until the ELD is back in service.
10. Annotate, annotate, annotate
It's vital that drivers and back-office staff understand and make use of annotating the ELD hours of service record to indicate problems or extenuating circumstances.
When something goes wrong on a paper log, the driver makes a note on the paper log. The ELD has the same capability.
If you have to make an edit, make sure to include an annotation so it's clear what happened. Those notes will be there for you and your company and for enforcement as well.
Why won't women drive your trucks?
Source: http://www.fleetowner.com/; by Aaron Marsh, March 20, 2018
Achieving more equal representation of men and women in trucking—as well as attracting younger generations, minorities, and more diversity in the industry—may come down to a single word: support. But there's more going on here.
Women driving heavy trucks in the United States is by no means unprecedented, nor is it new. Yet in a society where women make up about 51% of the population and an industry that's been crying "driver shortage, driver shortage" for years, only about one out of every 15 over-the-road truck drivers is a woman.
What's the problem?
There are certainly clues. Here's an exercise you can listen for in conversations lately: someone starts talking about their personal experiences or something they like to do, then someone else approvingly hits them back with, "Same," indicating their own similarity in a word.
It's about inclusion and sharing things in common. In Fleet Owner's conversations, that's something fleets have found has been lacking when it comes to women in trucking's ranks. And no one wants to be the oddball out, feeling isolated in their job or at the workplace.
Breaking the mold
A. Duie Pyle, a carrier providing truckload, less-than-truckload and logistics services in the Northeast, has made some strides in this regard. The company didn't set out by trying to bring in more women or diversity to its workforce, per se; the idea was to set up better succession planning and having the right person in each job, and Pyle started taking a different approach about seven years ago.
"Before, it was more of an 'ordained' person. They simply moved up a notch," said Randy Swart, chief operating officer at Pyle, describing the old system's rigidity. To change that, the company would identify and help prepare maybe three employees who could take over if another employee, perhaps a manager they reported to, left—whether it was a planned or unplanned transition.
"This allowed women to compete for jobs that they might not have competed for within our organization before, and be very successful at it," Swart noted. And as the organization indeed started seeing more women and diversity in its workforce, it became easier to add more.
"When it comes time to interview other women or show them that there are career paths within the organization—whether it be drivers or front-line supervisors, managers, directors and so on—that's really our theory as this has progressed," he explained. "If your organization reflects diversity from the top down, you'll be much more successful in attaining and securing different people in your front-line jobs, your driving jobs, your dock worker jobs, your fleet technicians, all those things.
"Because then they can see a career path and promotability," Swart continued. If Pyle were to hire a woman as a new customer service rep, for example, she might see male and female leaders in her department. Or the next level up might be a woman in marketing or a director of quality.
"There is nothing that would trigger in their mind, 'I've been hired into this organization and all it is is a male-dominated company," Swart pointed out.
Pyle has also taken the diversity message to heart in promotional materials used in the company's recruiting and outreach efforts. Women and minorities appear in those, "and it's really an inclusive package," according to Swart.
Along those lines, Garner Trucking, a truckload carrier and warehousing/ logistics provider based in Findlay, OH, is also sure to include women in its messaging. Sherri Garner-Brumbaugh, the company's president and CEO, noted in a roundtable discussion this month hosted by fleet management technology provider Omnitracs that she'd heard feedback from Garner's female truck drivers that women don't appear as truck drivers on billboards.
"Guess what we did?" she said. "We did a billboard of all my women in front of a truck along with myself, and we had that out there for a while and we've used that on our social media. It's just simple things like that—'I don't see myself out there, so it must not be a friendly industry for me.'"
That image issue—combating the thought that trucking and the businesses surrounding it are "a man's world," which has traditionally been the case and presumption—are also a major focus at Women in Trucking (WIT). During Omnitracs' roundtable discussion, WIT President and CEO Ellen Voie talked about the group's efforts to help update that image.
Those begin by reaching out to the next generation of youth. WIT has created a transportation patch for the Girl Scouts, an activity book for kids on the supply chain and trucks' role in that, and a truck driver doll called "Claire" that will be available at TA Petro truck stops and on Amazon.com, for instance.
"We want young girls to look at trucks and have a personal relationship with them," Voie said. The group also has an "image team" that helps spotlight women's role in trucking at media events and with legislators.
Yes, but...
For all these kinds of efforts to address trucking's image and make it more inclusive to women, it's still an uphill battle to attract women to the truck driver role specifically. WIT tracks the number of women working as over-the-road truck drivers, and the current figure is about 6-7% of the total.
Again, look at A. Duie Pyle, where women represent more than 50% of director-level management and the company seeks to foster a diverse workforce. Swart said the number of women driving the company's trucks remains stubbornly below that 6-7% mark, even as the company continues trying to bring on more.
And there's Garner, which is led by a woman and also promotes women as drivers and in other roles. Women work as the company's recruiter and retention manager. There, Garner-Brumbaugh noted in the roundtable discussion, "I have a little over 100 drivers, and I have four female drivers right now"—so that's a simple 4%.
Here's some further insight:
- Women may not want the truck driver job, as it stands. After all, it's hard enough getting men to fill available seats, and the driver shortage is nothing new. Both Swart and Garner-Brumbaugh alluded to the driver position's need for better work-life balance, since drivers can still be away from home for extended periods or keep difficult hours. In 2018, that may be putting off both genders somewhat, and younger workers in general.
- Anti-harassment policies can help, but drivers don't only work at your terminal. There's a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment at Garner Trucking: "This will provide an exit from our employment," Garner-Brumbaugh said. It's also part of the culture at Pyle, where "taking an aggressive stance many years ago on workplace diligence, making sure we had empathy within the workplace, and making sure that we had a harassment-free workplace has been very valuable to us," noted Swart.
"It doesn't matter what gender you are," he added. "That just lets you flourish."
Even if that's the culture at the office or the terminal, guess what—that's not the only environment in which the driver must work. "Sadly, sometimes [sexual harassment] could potentially come from the customer base, too," Garner-Brumbaugh said during the roundtable. "Our drivers face challenges when they're maybe coming into a shipping location or wherever they find themselves on the road."
Maybe that's a shipper or receiver that has one poorly kept restroom women won't want to use. Maybe it's a dimly lit truck stop that would make women feel uncomfortable, perhaps putting them at greater risk of sexual assault. Don't overlook the fact that truck drivers often have to take what they can get for parking—be they male or female—and if you're begging for a decent spot to stop, bit tough to be very choosy.
- Along those lines, women truck drivers don't feel particularly safe. Not surprisingly given the above, WIT interviewed women truck drivers and found they rated their safety an average of 4.4 on a scale of one to 10. "That means we have a lot of work to do to make sure that they feel safe at the loading dock or at the truck stops," Voie said.
- Technology can improve things in many ways. Women may be able to shift a manual transmission just as well as men, but adding automated manual or automatic transmissions to trucks has been cited over and over as a way to help bring women and younger drivers into the fold.
Whether you can drive a stick or not, driving a truck safely requires focus, and having a transmission that does the complicated shifting can allow the driver to focus more of his or her attention on the road. Voie pointed out that that potentially increased safety factor in trucks may help get women to drive your vehicles.
Also in the safety category, both Garner and Pyle noted their addition of collision-avoidance technology in trucks. In addition to its Class 8 power units, Pyle has added smaller Class 5 trucks to its fleet in part to help new drivers test out the role and transition to getting a commercial driver's license. WIT's Voie referenced trucking companies that use personal safety devices—press a button and the device can track your position, and someone contacts the driver to check if things are okay.
- Give some thought to your driver training options. One way to drive women off is to force them into an uncomfortable situation in driver training. Do they have the option to go out on the road with another female?
"We have an industry that wants to pretend that there's no difference in gender when you train," Voie contended. "I find it very difficult when you have a young female who has to go out with a male trainer in the cab of a truck for weeks at a time." Garner Trucking's female driver trainers help women coming on learn the ropes, so to speak, in terms of staying safe on the job and can help ease the new driver transition, Garner-Brumbaugh said.
- In an environment that often sees high rates of driver turnover, hiring women might help. Lauren Domnick, senior director of analytics and modeling at Omnitracs, said the company's data shows that women drivers tend to stick with a company more than men do, and they also typically have fewer preventable accidents.
"If we're looking at recruiting and safety and retention, women seem to be better candidates in that regard, so we'd encourage folks to reach out and bring more women into the organization," Domnick said.
That matches up with Pyle's experience with retention. "Once we've had women come to work and drive for us, we've been quite successful in retaining them," he told Fleet Owner. "That has not been our issue with women drivers; it's finding them."
- Women may respond to an "in" in trucking. WIT's Voie said that in the group's experience, many women truck drivers had some connection to the industry; they didn't necessarily come to it themselves.
"83% of the women in the industry came into trucking because of a family member or a friend," she said. "Typically, that means that a husband, a boyfriend, a dad, a brother has said, 'Hey, why don't you get your CDL and come out on the road with me?'"
- Forget 18 wheels for a minute; consider two. It's just an informal tip from WIT, but if you want to recruit women as truck drivers, try a biker rally.
Polling female drivers on the group's Facebook page, WIT found that nearly 80% of the respondents had a motorcycle license and owned a motorcycle or rode motorcycles. Consider that motorcycles not only are the most dangerous form of transportation, they also place the rider right over the engine or motor, creating a very different motor-machine-driver connection than passenger cars do.
"Those are the women who aren't afraid of engines, and they're not afraid of being in a male-dominated environment," Voie noted.
- Old perceptions die hard. Going back to the image of trucking needing some updating, Voie pointed out that women have been getting a message that either overlooks or excludes them from trucking for many years. That's going to take some time and effort to change.
"Women look at the industry as a very male-dominated industry, and they think that you need strength to drive a truck or mechanical skills or that it's dirty or they have to do a lot of lifting, unloading and things like that," she said. "They often feel they aren't qualified for this job."
Meanwhile, it's not just a perception that women would be getting such a message. Only about 4% of trucking companies are using women in their recruiting ads, Voie noted from a best practices study WIT conducted.
"That's just wrong," she said. "They're not even putting women in the ads or they're using terms that maybe will exclude women."
15 Secrets to a Better Work-Life Balance
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Sara Schapmann, March 27, 2018
With every gadget available to keep employees plugged in 24/7, work-life balance can seem like the stuff of fairy tales. Though they may have a hard time achieving it, Americans value a rewarding life outside of the daily grind and are happier in jobs that allow them some freedom. A March 2013 study by management consulting firm Accenture found that work-life balance contributed more to happiness and job satisfaction than factors such as money or titles. You may not be able to make drastic changes in the amount of time you’re on the clock, but small changes may help you feel better about your situation.
1. Detach From Technology
Turn off your smartphone and power down your laptop or tablet. Unplugging from the constant barrage of messages, distractions and updates can be freeing. An October 2009 study from Harvard University found that when individuals refrained from checking work email and voicemail just one night a week, they felt more positively about their job situation. Participants also reported feeling more effective at work. Determine what part of the day or evening is “safest” to power down and commit to just 30 minutes a day of technology-free time -- job-related or other. Work your way up to an hour or more per day if you like the results.
2. Schedule Downtime
Work can leave you depleted when you constantly feel like you’re giving of yourself all day long and into the evening to meet expectations. Make an effort to give back to yourself to create balance. You may be more likely to stick to some "me time" if you actually put it on your schedule. Whether you use an electronic calendar or do it the old-fashioned way with pen and paper, block out time to decompress every week and stick to it. Even if you can only devote 15 or 20 minutes a day to stepping back from the demands of work, family and social obligations, carving out this time can be refreshing and gratifying.
3. Just Say No
You may not always be able to say no to new projects at work, but you do have control over many of your after-work commitments. Free time is a precious commodity, so take stock of your leisure-time activities and determine what's actually enriching your life -- and what isn't. Perhaps you have a habit of saying yes to social outings that give you little to no pleasure. Or maybe you find yourself volunteering for time-consuming tasks like leading your kids soccer team fundraiser or serving on the condo-association board. When deciding to participate in a non-work-related activity, ask yourself if it's a "must do," a "can wait" or a "can live without" experience.
4. Spread Out Weekend Chores
If you're working long hours during the week, you may find yourself stockpiling chores and errands to tackle on the weekend. Cramming a list of tasks into days off can feel similar to work. If possible, try to squeeze a few chores into the nooks and crannies of your weekdays so that you're able to relax a little on the weekend without feeling like you're punching the clock. An October 2013 study by Stanford researchers found that Americans' emotional well-being increases notably on the weekends. Take advantage of that re-energizing weekend boost by minimizing chores and things that feel like work.
5. Explore Flex Time Options
Flextime gives employees the option to vary starting and departure times as long as they work an agreed-upon number of hours per week. Some companies also allow employees to vary the length of their workday -- putting in longer hours some days and shorter hours on others. “More companies are offering flextime,” says Paige Hall Smith, an associate professor of public-health education and director of the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness at the University of North Carolina. “Flexibility with work hours is especially important for parents who need options in order to balance demands with children.” Ask about your company’s policy on flextime. If it doesn’t have one, ask your supervisor if it’s a possibility.
6. Meditate
You can’t add hours to the day, but you can help make the existing hours count more and feel less stressful. Meditation can be good for the soul and the schedule. A 2012 study from the University of Washington found that meditation helped participants concentrate for longer periods of time, work more productively and experience less job-related stress. Give office meditation a try. If you are more effective during the day, you will get more done, and that will allow you to leave the office sooner and prevent mistakes that cause you to have to redo work.
7. Negotiate Smarter
Instead of just negotiating compensation after you’ve landed a new job or during annual reviews, negotiate for more vacation time, the option to work remotely, flextime and other work-life balance assets. “Also, consider very carefully where you work if you have the choice,” says public health educator Paige Hall Smith. “When interviewing for a job, investigate the company’s policies about working remotely, pregnancy leave and more to see if the company is really family-friendly and committed to work-life balance.” Look at reviews online and do some digging to gather clues about the work culture. You can find out a lot on your own without actually asking these questions in an interview.
8. Outsource Your Chores
Sometimes throwing money at a problem is worth the benefit to your state of mind. Pay for a little help and you’ll knock a few items off your to-do list and open up your schedule to participate in enjoyable activities during downtime. These days you can get just about anything delivered to your door -- including groceries. Housecleaning and landscaping services are abundant and often reasonably priced. There are even organizations that allow you to pay individuals to run your errands. You can set a price for professional errand runners to do everything from picking up dog food and filing your papers to doing your laundry and raking your yard.
9. Make Yourself Invaluable
Make yourself indispensable before you start setting boundaries at your work. “Do such a good job that they can’t imagine living without you,” says Leni Miller, author of “Finding Right Work: Five Steps to a Life You Love.” “Then have really clear, calm, direct lines of communication about what you need to stay healthy and productive.” Offer rational reasons for cutting back on overtime or unplugging from work email after a certain hour. If the culture is such that you feel your job will be in jeopardy for having these types of conversations, it might be time to start searching the job boards for positions that better align with your values.
10. Develop Creative Solutions
Depending on your work culture and particular situation, schedule a meeting with your supervisor to discuss ways to alleviate burnout and obtain a better work schedule. “It’s best to come up with a solution before you ask your manager to fix the problem,” says author and consultant Leni Miller. For example, team up with a co-worker on a pressing project and swap out which days you stay late. Ask if you can leave a couple of hours early a few days a week to pick up your kids from school or take care of other matters, but agree to be available via phone for emergencies and to work from home two hours in the evening in exchange.
11. Stay Active
Carving out time in your already-busy schedule for exercise may sound like a tall order, but the benefits extend beyond just physical health and are worth the time commitment. A 2013 study by Russell Clayton, an assistant professor of management at Saint Leo University in Florida, found that exercise not only lowers stress, but also helps individuals feel more confident and more equipped to deal with family and work issues. Exercise created an overall feeling of better work-life balance in participants. Hit the gym, run the stairs, ride your bike to work -- the key is to get moving.
12. Rank Your Priorities
Decide what's most important to you outside of work. Rank your outside-of-work activities and values in order of importance. If family makes the top of your list, commit to family dinner every night. If exercise is a de-stressor that you don’t want to live without, put the gym at the top of your non-negotiable list. Determine how you would most like to fill your downtime and commit to these priorities first before you engage in others. If you’re working long hours, you’ll likely need to drop some of your leisure activities and chores from time to time, but if you have a couple of important pursuits that you always fit in, you may feel less cheated of your time.
13. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Ask yourself if you’re putting unnecessary expectations on yourself. If you’re working long hours and still trying to fit in family, friends and “me time,” letting some of the small stuff slide may improve your state of mind. Maybe dusting or the dishes can be postponed for a few days. Perhaps getting the car washed or going through your mail can wait until the weekend. Your job puts enough demands on your energy and time, so try not to compound the problem by putting pressure on yourself at home. Be good to yourself and take a break now and then.
14. Tune Into Yourself
Pay attention to when you feel most productive during the day and when you feel tired or irritated. You can track this by jotting down brief descriptions of how you feel hour by hour for a few days. Knowing when you are at your prime and ready to tackle the most pressing tasks can help you plan your day effectively. Though this approach won’t give you more hours in the day, it will curb some of the stressed-out feelings that come with trying to accomplish a hard task when you have limited energy and concentration. You’ll feel more balanced and make the most of your time.
15. Strive for Work-Life Integration
Ask yourself if your current position is aligned with your core values, skills and talents. The reality is that many jobs place demands on time beyond the standard nine to five. If you're in a career that fulfills you, these demands might not feel so intrusive. Author and consultant Leni Miller likes to use the term "work-life integration" rather than work-life balance. "When people are clear about the parameters of their right work, they are able to integrate the demands of work into their daily lives happily and without resentment," she says. "If their work is right for them, they want to be in it."
Driver shortage: It’s a good time to be an owner-operator
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by Linda Longton, March 23, 2018
Owner-operators are reaping the benefits of a hot freight market, where spot rates jumped more than 20 percent at the end of last year. Owner-operators paid on a percentage of load “can make six figures in this market,” says Todd Amen, president and chief executive officer of ATBS, which provides business consulting services for independent and leased contractors.
"We think it’s going to be a terrific year for owner-operators," says Gordon Klemp, president and CEO of the National Transportation Institute, which tracks driver pay. "Top drivers are going to realize that a lot of owner-operators are making a lot of money," which could lead some of them to consider buying their own truck, likely through lease-purchase but also potentially outright.
The recent tax overhaul – with its 100 percent depreciation in the first year on new and used trucks and trailers – smooths the way for drivers who can get financing to make the leap into truck ownership without going through a lease-purchase program. Add to that the bargains available on three- to five-year-old used trucks, and it "really changes the complexion of being an owner-operator," Klemp says.
Despite challenges in recent years, the owner-operator population has held steady, Amen says, with at most a 5 percent drop during the last couple of years. Owner-operator revenues have crept back up slowly after dropping more than 20 percent since 2005 because of the Great Recession and downward trends in length of haul and other operational factors. In 2017, ATBS clients averaged $60,182.
Owner-operator income could take a hit when the electronic logging device mandate reaches full implementation on April 1. "It could be a pretty rugged period when people start going out of service," Klemp says. An informal poll by CCJ sister brand Overdrive in January found nearly 26 percent of respondents still had not gotten an ELD.
Owner-operators who used to make money driving 130,000 miles per year can’t do it anymore because of ELDs, Amen says. He sees them responding in one of two ways: They lease on with a fleet and run under its ELD system, or they try to make enough money on the spot market to account for their lost productivity. "Smart fleets are out recruiting some of that ‘hired gun’ (true independent) capacity,” Amen says.
Whenever freight levels are strong and fleets have a hard time finding drivers, they turn to owner-operators to fill the capacity gap. Most large carriers that lease on drivers have maintained the size of their owner-operator fleet, Amen says, but some with "aggressive programs are on a trajectory to grow 10 to 15 percent."
In some cases, carriers have successfully recruited owner-operators who have paid off their lease-purchase truck by offering the chance to make more money on a percentage pay program. "We’ve heard of a few places that have record recruiting classes," Amen says.
FMCSA: A Driver Found Lacking Required ELD May Finish Trip
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by TruckingInfo Staff, March 16, 2018
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has advised how the electronic logging device mandate will be enforced beginning April 1, 2018, when the period of "soft enforcement" ends, according to a post by Daren Hansen, senior editor of Transportation Safety for J.J. Keller & Associates.
Once full enforcement begins on April 1, drivers required to operate with an ELD but found to be lacking a device will be placed out of service (OOS). That OOS order will be in effect for 10 hours for truck drivers.
At the end of the OOS period, the driver will be allowed to continue to his or her next scheduled stop using paper logs. But the driver should not be dispatched again without an ELD.
And if the driver is dispatched again without an ELD, he or she may be placed OOS yet again and "the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action," FMCSA said.
Also starting on April 1, any ELD violations recorded on roadside inspection reports will count against the driver’s and the carrier’s scores in FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) system.
March 2018 Articles
Uber: Trucking to become more localized, driver jobs should be safe
Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com; by CCJ Staff, February 14, 2018
Silicon Valley giant Uber, whose ridesharing platform upended the taxi business a half-decade ago and who more recently has set its sights on self-driving technology and freight-matching systems, said in a recent report that it doesn’t expect truck driving jobs to dissipate should autonomous trucks become prevalent.
Rather, the company says, it sees a shift in the types of truck driving jobs available. While long haul driving jobs could succumb to the market pressures of self-driving rigs, the company concludes there will be a spike in the number of drivers needed for localized driving jobs. “We would expect to see close to 1 million jobs shift from long haul to local haul,” the company wrote in a blog post published this month. “Plus about 400,000 new truck driving jobs will be needed to keep up with the higher demand” of local freight movement, the company says.
Uber researchers also project that the industry will move away from per-mile pay structures in favor of hourly pay. And don’t expect the bottom to suddenly fall out with any of the changes, Uber says, saying "any of these impacts would happen gradually over time."
Uber’s Feb. 1 report comes amid growing concerns among drivers and regulators about the impact that a sudden uptake of autonomous truck tech would have on the millions of workers employed as truck drivers.
While long-haul operations are better suited for autonomous tech, says Uber, local driving applications such as urban delivery and transfers to and from so-called transfer hubs “will be hard for self-driving trucks to match for a long time.” Such local routes are projected to become more prevalent due to economic trends like e-commerce and urbanization.
These factors will make driving jobs more appealing, says Uber, as they promise more home time and more consistent pay.
In sum, Uber ran nine scenarios of how autonomous tech adoption could change the trucking industry. In all nine, the industry shifted toward more localized hauls and away from long haul operations. "This research doesn’t give us a definitive answer on the future of trucking, but it helps us understand what could happen, using real economic data and insights about the actual products we’re working to build."
"As the trucking landscape evolves with the introduction of self-driving technology, we hope to help drivers gain more control over their daily lives," the company writes. "We don’t know exactly how fast self-driving trucks will become part of the industry, or how much impact they will have in the coming years, but we believe that they will help the industry, and the people who keep it running."
Truck Parts Coming to a 3D Printer Near You
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Denise Rondini, February 2018
Daimler Trucks North America recently announced a pilot program to produce plastic parts using 3D printing. “The mission of this program is to embrace new technologies as a way to deliver service to our customers through better parts availability,” said Angela Timmen, aftersales purchasing manager for interior/exterior cab and major components for DTNA.
The pilot program is aimed at older trucks with hard-to-source parts and parts with long lead times, she explained, offering this scenario: "One hypothetical example might be an older aftermarket part that required significant investments to develop and tool when it was in production, but now only sells a few a year in the aftermarket. If the tool were to break, it might make sense to 3D print the replacement parts instead of repeating the original investments."
Not only is this an economic decision, she said, but it also helps avoid making a fleet wait days or weeks for a replacement part.
The program is focusing on a variety of parts with different characteristics to allow the company to learn as much as possible during the pilot.
There are many who see more far-reaching consequences of 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing. "I see [3D printed parts] as being transformative," said Eric Starks, chairman and CEO of FTR. "I think this will be one of the biggest trends we see in 2018 and into 2019. I believe every supplier in some capacity will have an additive manufacturing program before long."
Both Starks and David Gerrard, managing partner at Cornerstone Growth Advisors, see 3D printing introducing more customization to the trucking industry. Timmen agreed: "In the future, technologies like 3D printing could give us new ways to mass-customize our trucks and provide better service to our customers."
As with any new technology, 3D printing has its challenges. Gerrard enumerated some of them: "How big will the printers be? How fast will they be? How expensive? How versatile on the raw materials one can use to print parts? And maybe the biggest ones are, where will the printer be based and who will own it?"
Additive manufacturing has the potential to change the current supply chain. Gerrard wondered whether contract-manufacturing companies with locations scattered across the country could even take the place of parts distribution centers. "I think the mindset of this technology is thinking about moving from weeks to days to hours [to get parts]," he said. "As long as it takes cost and time out of the supply chain, then it is incredibly beneficial to fleets."
Starks sees ramifications beyond just replacement parts. Depending on the size and scope of additive manufacturing, the way freight gets moved could change. "Let’s say there is a plastic piece of a component that is inexpensive and has traditionally come from offshore and moved through the ports to distribution centers. If parts are produced through additive manufacturing, you will be moving more commodities like plastics and resins and even metal and wood rather than finished goods."
DTNA’s initial foray into 3D printed parts is a good way to test the waters and find out about fleet acceptance. "The industry is probably going to be less accepting of a critical part being made via additive manufacturing at first," Starks said. However, he believes that once these non-critical parts prove their worth and have low failure rates, "then we will move fairly swiftly to using additive manufacturing for other, more critical parts."
While DTNA has only launched a pilot program, Starks believes, "it actually will become a very robust system fairly quickly for the industry."
Cross-Border Freight Value Increases for 14th Straight Month
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Truckinginfo Staff, February 27, 2018
The value of freight moving between the U.S. and next door neighbors Canada and Mexico posted its 14th straight year-over-year gain in December, according to new Transportation Department figures.
The value totaled $93.5 billion as all five major transportation modes carried more freight by value with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners as it posted an overall 7.4% rise.
The value of commodities moving by vessel increased 37.8%, pipeline by 14.2%, truck by 5.4%, air by 4.1%, and rail by 2.8%.
The large percentage increase in the value of goods moving by vessel was due in part to a 11.4% year-over-year crude oil price increase, according to the report, and a 22.2% increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels transported by vessel.
Trucks carried 60.7% of U.S.-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $29 billion of the $50.5 billion of imports, or 57.4%, and $27.8 billion of the $43 billion of exports, or 64.6%.
Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 14.5% of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 8.4%; pipeline, 6.5%; and air, 4.1%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 81.7% of the total value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows.
U.S.-Canada Freight Value Jumps Nearly 10%
Comparing December 2016 to December 2017, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows increased by 9.5% to $48.7 billion as the value of freight on all five major modes increased from a year earlier.
The value of freight carried by vessel increased by 61.1% due in part to an increase in the unit value and an 42.8% increase in the tonnage of mineral fuels traded. Pipeline increased by 15.3%, rail by 10.1%, air by 7.2%, and truck by 6.4%.
Trucks carried 55.1% of the value of the freight to and from Canada. Rail carried 15.3% followed by pipeline, 11.6%; vessel, 5.3%; and air, 4.9%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82% of the value of total U.S.-Canada freight flows.
The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada was mineral fuels, of which $5.6 billion, or 61.7%, moved by pipeline and $2.1 billion, or 23% by vessel.
U.S.-Mexico Freight Value Rises More Than 5%
The value of U.S.-Mexico freight flows increased by 5.2% to $44.8 billion in December 2017 compared to a year earlier as the value of freight on three major modes increased.
The value of commodities moved by vessel increased by 28.7%, truck by 4.5%, and pipeline by 0.7%. Rail decreased by 4.9% and air by 0.8%.
Rail declined largely because the value of vehicles and parts it carried in December 2017 dropped 9.8% from December 2016, the department said. Total vehicles and parts freight with Mexico grew however, contributing to increases in truck, vessel and air in December 2017 over the previous year.
Trucks carried 66.8% of the value of freight to and from Mexico. Rail carried 13.7% followed by vessel, 11.7%; air, 3.2%; and pipeline, 0.9%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 81.4% of the value of total U.S.-Mexico freight flows.
The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Mexico in December 2017 was vehicles and parts, of which $3.7 billion, or 45%, moved by truck, and $3.4 billion, or 41.4%, moved by rail.
FMCSA issues guidance to carriers seeking to challenge crashes in DataQs system
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by Matt Cole, February 8, 2018
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued further guidance to clarify how carriers can dispute certain crashes initially ruled preventable and have them removed from their Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores.
The agency’s Crash Preventability Demonstration Program, a pilot program that launched in August that allows carriers to send crash review requests through the DataQs system, hasn’t had the smoothest launch, says FMCSA.
In a Federal Register notice published Wednesday, Feb. 7, the agency says some submitters have entered crashes under the standard review program in DataQs rather than the crash preventability program. The notice states carriers who submit crashes with the selection of "Not an FMCSA-reportable crash" will have the request closed without a preventability determination. For the crash preventability program, carriers need to select "Crash could not be prevented," ensure that the crash occurred after June 1, 2017, and select an eligible crash type.
When the program was announced in July, FMCSA said the following crash types are eligible for review during the pilot program:
- When a truck was struck by a driver under the influence or a related offense
- When a truck was struck by a motorist driving in the wrong direction
- When a truck was hit in the rear
- When a truck was hit while legally stopped or parked
- When a pedestrian or car drives in front of a truck in an attempt to commit suicide by truck
- When a truck sustains disabling damage after hitting an animal in the road
- When a crash is caused by an infrastructure failure or falling trees, rocks or other debris
- When a truck is hit by cargo or equipment from another vehicle
In order for a preventability determination to be reversed, carriers are required to submit "compelling evidence that the crash was not preventable," FMCSA says in its Feb. 7 notice. The agency doesn’t require any specific documentation, so it is up to the carrier to submit any evidence relevant to the crash. FMCSA says it can also request additional information on a crash submission, including proof of a valid CDL and medical certificate.
If a crash is determined after review to still have been preventable, carriers can choose to re-open the request if they have additional documentation that could prove non-preventability.
When reviewing requests, FMCSA can make three determinations: "Preventable," "Not preventable" or "Undecided." In the case of an "Undecided" ruling, the agency says the documentation submitted wouldn’t allow for a conclusive decision. A carrier’s SMS rating would include a note that reads, "FMCSA reviewed this crash and could not make a preventability determination based on the evidence provided."
If a preventable crash ruling is overturned to "Not Preventable," law enforcement will be able to see a carriers’ Crash Indicator BASIC percentile both with and without the crash, along with a note indicating FMCSA reviewed the crash and determined it was non-preventable. Crashes deemed to be non-preventable during the pilot program will still appear in the CSA SMS, but won’t count against the carrier. FMCSA says it believes it’s important to display all crashes, regardless of the preventability determination, to provide "the most complete information regarding a motor carrier’s safety performance record."
FMCSA says more than 2,500 requests have been submitted since the pilot program opened on Aug. 1.
Map: A state by state look at ELD mandate enforcement
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, February 5, 2018
Courtesy of CCJ sister site Overdrive, the graphic above shows how truck enforcers in each state are handling enforcement of the electronic logging device until April 1. Though the U.S. DOT required nearly all truckers who keep records of duty status to switch to an ELD by December 18, there’s somewhat of a soft enforcement period ongoing until April 1, the date established by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance for when out-of-service orders for non-compliance will begin being issued.
Some states, as the graphic shows, have told enforcers outright to not issue citations or tickets for non-compliance until April 1, while others have left the decision up to the officers themselves.
30-Day Get Lean in 2018 Challenge Day 25: Top Tips for Keeping Stress at Bay
Source: https://www.livestrong.com; by Rachel Grice, January 22, 2018
Stress. We all have it, and we all manage it differently. There's good stress and bad stress. In fact, a little bit of stress can actually be a good thing! Some people thrive with a consistent amount of stress in their lives. It can push you to meet a deadline or inspire some in-the-moment creativity.
However, when stress starts taking over your life, that's never a good thing. So it's important to know what's triggering your stress and what you can do about it. Here's your guide for dealing with stress so that it doesn't derail your healthy lifestyle.
Common Negative Side Effects of Stress
How do you know when stress is a bad thing? (Besides that feeling in your gut that tells you something is wrong.) Here's what to look for:
- Unintended weight gain
- Impaired ability to sleep
- Weakened immune system (getting sick all the time)
- Increased allergy attacks
- Memory loss or increased forgetfulness
- Hair loss
- Slow workout recovery
- Depression and/or anxiety
- creased sexual performance, erectile dysfunction and/or loss of libido
Top 10 Tips for Managing Your Stress
So now that you know you're facing down a wall of stress, what can you do? Here are a few tips to get it under control.
1. Know thyself. Be aware of your stress triggers and be proactive in how you handle them. Try various stress-relieving techniques and take note of which one(s) work best for you. Maybe yoga is too much but deep breathing does the trick.
2. Go work out. Exercise reduces stress hormones, boosts energy and releases endorphins. Even if it's just a walk around the block, you'll get outside, breathe fresh air, clear your head and get your heart rate up.
3. Relax. Consciously controlling the way you react to stress can help minimize it. This could be as simple as stepping away from your computer to look out the window or you can take a meditation break. Or schedule yourself a spa day for a whole lotta zen.
4. Stretch it out. When stress hits, your muscles tense up, so perform some basic stretches to stay loose. You don't have to be a yogi to get the benefits, and dynamic stretches or mobility drills help get your joints and muscles moving.
5. Hydrate. Drinking plenty of water will help your body better handle the effects of stress. And limiting coffee, sodas and other sources of caffeine can help, too.
6. LOL. A good laugh can counteract the effects of stress, so fire up your favorite comedy clips or visit your favorite funny websites for some quick comic relief.
7. Find a friend. Studies have found that people who are more socially connected live longer, happier lives. So call up a buddy and grab lunch or go for a walk on the beach. (Bonus points for hugging! Physical contact is a huge stress reliever.)
8. Journal. When life's stressors seem like too much to take, write it all out. There's catharsis in venting all of your frustrations onto the page. Plus, it might even help you come up with a creative solution.
9. Breathe. You might be holding your breath or breathing irregularly without even realizing it. By focusing on your breath for a few minutes, you take your mind off your stress and flush your body with much-needed oxygen.
10. Eat better. Nosh on foods like red grapefruit, steel-cut oatmeal, avocado and oysters, which all have proven stress-fighting benefits.
Manage your stress — don't let it manage you!
February 2018 Articles
Drug testing and trucking
Source: http://www.fleetowner.com/; by Sean Kilcarr, January 24, 2018
The industry is racing towards a crossroads that could potentially sideline more workers as a number of factors begin to converge.
There is no doubt we’re well past a crisis point when it comes to drug use in this country – especially due to the abuse of prescription opioids (which is having direct highway safety repercussions) and efforts to "decriminalize" marijuana.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), unintentional opioid overdose deaths alone totaled 37,814 in 2016 due to drugs that include prescription opioid pain relievers such as oxycodone, heroin, and illicitly-made fentanyl. That’s out of total U.S. overdose deaths of 64,000 in 2016, which is expected to rise 21% once 2017’s figures are tallied and is even higher than deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
That’s truly a frightening statistical marker.
And though there’s been a long and largely successful push to lessen the stigma of recreational marijuana use, it’s still a drug – like alcohol – that significantly impairs a person’s ability to operate motor vehicles, commercial trucks, and other equipment in a safe manner.
Thus truck drivers – like airline pilots and other transportation workers – can be fired for using it, even though it may be now legal for them to use it where they live.
The real issue, though, is how drug use impacts safety and the bottom line costs of running a business, especially in the freight sector.
Dr. Todd Simo, chief medical officer at HireRight, conducted an interesting webinar this week to look at some of those issues – especially when it comes to the type of drug tests trucking companies can use to screen their workforce.
First, he noted that the "self-reported" use of drugs is rising pretty sharply, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), climbing from 7.3% in 2013 to just under 9% by 2016.
"There’s been a creep up in the percentage in people self-reporting that in the last 30 days they took an illicit drug," he said. "That’s primarily being driven by use of marijuana – and it’s not all that surprising as there seems to be an acceptance of that in today’s society."
He said there are now 28 states with medical marijuana statutes in place, with 11 of them requiring that "some accommodation" needs to be made when possible for workers who claim to need it for medical reasons, though transportation companies don’t need to do that for safety reasons.
Only four states – Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado – have "decriminalized" marijuana, with four others waiting in the wings.
Simo said the issue and that use of marijuana, even under for "medicinal" purposes, is widening and that brings with it safety and costs risks for businesses.
"The original intent of medical marijuana laws was to help terminally ill people at the end stage of life: people with AIDS and terminal cancer," he explained.
"But today over 90% of the diagnoses for medical marijuana prescriptions is for ‘chronic pain,’ not cancer or AIDS. And when the laws first came out, the average age of those users was 50 and above. Now the average age is in the upper 20s," Simo said. "Don’t get me wrong; I am pro-medical marijuana compassionate care. But I have problem when people are using it in their prime working years."
He noted that there are three reasons for that: 1) Chronic marijuana users are five times to likely to file claims for workman’s compensation injuries; 2) They have three times higher medical costs, and; 3) They only work at 67% predicted efficiency – a number driven by absenteeism, which runs "north of 20 times per year" on average.
Thus detecting drug use via a screening process and disqualifying and applicant before they start work saves a company an average of $14,000 per occurrence, Simo said – largely due to avoiding the costs noted in the three factors above.
He added that the Department of Transportation (DOT) began including opioids as part of the drug screening tests required for transportation workers as of January 1 this year and Simo thinks that inclusion will bump up the "hit rate" for drug detection.
"More analysis equals more laboratory "positives" and we think we’ll see a 0.9% increase in positive DOT drug tests," he said. "Right now the positive rate is about 2% of all tests and so that should increase to 2.9%; that’s an over 30% jump. That means more medical reviews and more delays than we are used to seeing from a laboratory testing perspective."
Simo also noted that new forms of drug testing – such as using hair or oral fluids as opposed to just urine tests – are running into some headwinds.
"HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] has wanted to write a rule for oral fluid testing since 2015 – but’s it is still not able to get it out the door," he explained.
"And hair testing is something HHS does not like. From my discussions with them, the issue is that hair is not a ‘homogenous’ substance: it is different in color, texture, and length. People ‘do something’ to it as well: they wash, curl, and straighten it. So it is not as uniform as oral fluid or urine testing. On top of that, the three laboratories that conduct hair testing all do it a different way."
It doesn’t help that darker hair can actually attract and "hold" more chemicals. For example, Simo noted that higher levels of codeine – which is used in cold medicine – can be deposited in darker hair, which can trigger a lab positive and medical review.
All of this serves as backdrop for a much bigger effort taking place in the trucking industry – the creation of a national "clearinghouse" for drug and alcohol tests.
The final rule – passed in December 2016 – requires motor carriers, medical review officers, third-party administrators, and substance abuse professionals to report information about drivers who:
- Test positive for drugs or alcohol;
- Refuse drug and alcohol testing; and
- Undergo the return-to-duty drug and alcohol rehabilitation process.
Additionally, motor carriers will be required to annually search the clearinghouse for current employees, and during the pre-employment process for prospective employees, to determine whether a driver violated drug or alcohol testing requirements with a different employer that would prohibit them from operating a commercial vehicle.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations require employers to conduct pre-employment drug testing and random drug and alcohol testing and motor carriers are prohibited from allowing employees to perform safety-sensitive functions, which include operating a commercial truck, if the employee tests positive on a DOT drug or alcohol test.
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a), a driver must grant consent before an employer can request access to that driver’s clearinghouse record and before FMCSA can release the driver’s clearinghouse record to an employer. But after registering with the clearinghouse, a driver can review his or her information at no cost, the agency noted.
But while it is supposed to go "live" in the 2019-2020 timeframe, Simo said the work to build the "clearinghouse" or database hasn’t started yet.
"A third party is to build it but the RFP [request for proposal] has not been released," he said. "FMCSA has also said third parties will be able to tap into database on behalf of motor carriers and present their findings to them. But what that [process] will ultimately look like is still to be determined."
That delay is also putting off what many believe will be an inflection point of change in trucking that could prove bigger than that of the recent imposition of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
John Larkin – director and head of transportation capital markets research for Stifel Capital Markets – noted late last year that an "emerging theory" is that the trucking drug and alcohol clearinghouse could ultimately have a bigger impact than ELDs, though he expects it to be at least two or more years before it will have an impact.
"We believe that even at fleets known for safe driving operations there will be instances of drivers no longer being able to drive because of past
DUI [driving under the influence] or DWI [driving while intoxicated] infractions; those issues are too widespread to not touch every large fleet, in our estimation," he said in a research brief.
"The drug and alcohol clearinghouse is expected to be implemented starting in early January 2020. But, according to Annette Sandberg, the founder of TransSafe Consulting, very little progress has been made on building a database of offenders," Larkin added. "Therefore, we wonder whether that deadline is ultimately pushed back even though it appears that there is very little appetite to repeal it entirely."
It’s just one more item fleet executives need to keep their eyes upon in the weeks and months ahead.
Pirates pitcher suspended 80 games for positive drug test
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com; by Associated Press, January 27, 2018
Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Nik Turley has been suspended for 80 games without pay after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
The commissioner's office said Saturday that Turley tested positive for Ipamorelin. The suspension will start at the beginning of the regular season.
The 28-year-old Turley made his major league debut last year for Minnesota, going 0-2 with an 11.21 earned-run average in 10 appearances. Pittsburgh claimed him off waivers in November.
10 Daily Habits to Increase Your Productivity
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Sarah Stevenson, October 11, 2017
A typical chaotic day may have you ping-ponging from meeting to meeting, from your phone to your computer and back again, leaving you feeling like you accomplished very little. How to manage? It’s all in the routine. For Benjamin Spall, co-founder of My Morning Routine (MyMorningRoutine.com), which publishes inspiring routines from people like best-selling authors and successful entrepreneurs, these daily rituals enable us to nurture many habits at once. "We all have something we want to start doing, and it’s through creating a routine (whether it takes place in the morning, afternoon or evening) that we can more easily make this habit, and many more, a part of our life." Shelby Castile, a licensed therapist, is a firm believer that routines are necessary for a productive, balanced life. "When we put routines in place for ourselves and our families, it brings a sense of security that we all really need," she says. "When we know what to expect -- and know what’s expected of us -- our decisions get better and our behaviors improve." Here are 10 daily habits that will keep you focused and productive.
1. HAVE A CONSISTENT BEDTIME
While tough to schedule, going to bed and waking up at the same time each day has many benefits. You begin to set your internal clock to get tired at a certain time and also become energized at a certain time. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the current recommended sleep durations should be seven to nine hours for adults 18 to 64 years and seven to eight hours for adults 65 and over. Set up a bedtime and waking time that will sync with your work schedule or life in general. If you go to bed at 10 p.m. each night, you can wake up around 6 a.m., giving you two hours to get ready and get to work if you are an 8-to-5er. Tweak it according to your own personal schedule so it can work for you.
2. REVIEW YOUR GOALS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING
If you’re reading this article, you are probably the type of person who already makes to-do lists. You’ve realized that a full agenda is more manageable when it’s recorded instead of swimming around in your head. You might also enjoy the sense of accountability a to-do list gives you, including the feeling of accomplishment when you are able to check off each task. For Sam Thomas Davies, author of "Unhooked: How to Break Bad Habits and Form Good Ones That Stick," a powerful, morning ritual is the best way to get what you want because it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Just as important, he says, "I’ve found reading your goals first thing in the morning helps you distinguish the vital few from the trivial many, and makes your highest contribution toward what matters most."
3. MAKE BEING ACTIVE A GIVEN
According to researchers in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia, exercising just 20 minutes each day increases the amount of oxygen that rushes to the brain. This boosts brain functions related to memory and processing. It also greatly increases your brain’s ability to create new neural pathways, speeding up your capacity to get things done. Make it a habit to be active each and every day in order to integrate it into your life -- like showering and brushing your teeth. "Habits in motion tend to stay in motion," says Davies. "If we start a habit but don’t complete it, we tend to experience intrusive thoughts until we do." Most people become more productive when certain other activities can go on autopilot; for example, if we thought about breathing all of the time, we’d never get anything done.
4. DO AN EFFICIENCY CHECK-IN
Castile says, "When it comes to daily routines, consistently checking in with yourself and reassessing what’s working and what’s not working is essential." If you want to up your productivity, evaluate your most basic daily routines and figure out how to tweak them. Reflect on or journal about the efficacy of each day’s routines until you have a good feel for what you need to streamline. For example: If you prepared your clothes the night before, were you able to accomplish more the next day? If you took a one-hour break at noon, were you able to get more work done in the morning or afternoon? Or do you need to take a later break so you have more morning time to be productive? There is no point in keeping routines that don’t actually help you throughout your day, so decide what is and isn’t working for you.
5. KNOW IF YOU’RE AN EARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWL
While night owls are not as productive early in the day, they may be able to accomplish a ton later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, early birds can burn through paperwork bright and early, but tend to slow down as the day draws on. "Doing what works for you doesn’t mean doing what you want, when you want," says Spall (http://benjaminspall.com). "When we figure out when we’re most productive, we’re on the road to improving the quality (and quantity) of our output." Be aware of when you have the most energy and take advantage of that time. If you’re a morning person, you may want to frontload more of your to-do list early in the day so you don’t have as much to do when you’re losing energy.
6. DESIGNATE NO-TECHNOLOGY TIMES
New technological advances have offered us an incredible jump when it comes to productivity. However, at times the daily digital revolution can be a huge impediment. Try setting aside specific times throughout the day when you turn your phone on silent and don’t check it. Another strategy to combat tech "time sucks": Decide on periods throughout the day during which you’ll check your emails and respond to them. That way you won’t let them float in throughout the day to pull your attention away from the time-sensitive work in front of you. And rethink your shutdown time at night. Shelby says, "I consistently advise my clients to remove technology from their evening routine altogether. My motto is: 'Anything after 8 can wait!' Most people are surprised at how much more fulfilled they feel and how much more they actually get done!"
7. DO NOT MULTITASK
It turns out we’re all not the champion multitaskers that we thought we were. Research that Stanford University professor Clifford Nass performed found that even high multitaskers who are consuming information and using various types of technology aren’t great at ignoring irrelevancy, which should be an important component in multitasking. "It turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking," he told PBS in a 2009 interview. More evidence has emerged in recent years pointing to the fact that our brains can’t handle the overload of multitasking, especially when it comes to learning something new. To be more efficient, take time to focus on a specific task that you know will require a vast amount of attention. And while you’re at it, don’t put off the big tasks to get the small ones done and "out of the way." That’s not strategy, it’s procrastination.
8. PREPARE THE NIGHT BEFORE
Ever get up five minutes late and spend the rest of your day catching up? On those days you hit every red light, your clothes are still wet because the dryer went off too early and the coffeemaker breaks. Try preparing for the next day the night before and you may suddenly feel like you are 20 minutes ahead instead. The night before, pack your lunch, chose your clothes, set the coffeemaker on a timer and have all your supplies waiting for you by the door. You will then have time to sit at every red light (even though when you’re on time it seems like you hit green lights all the way)!
9. START OFF CALM
Starting off your day on the wrong foot can wreck the whole day! But starting each day in a calm, peaceful way can even mend waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Castile states, "I often suggest my clients begin their day with a morning meditation or self-affirming exercise." Spend a couple of minutes setting a positive intention for your day, and create a mantra like, “I see the value of each person I come into contact with” or “I choose happiness.” Furthermore, Spall suggest that you use "waking up as your cue to get out of bed and start doing some light stretching, followed by some push-ups, before transitioning into your favorite yoga pose. Or you can use waking up as your cue to grab a book from your bedside table and read 10 pages before popping on the kettle and starting breakfast." Start off calm and you can’t go wrong!
10. TAKE REGULAR BREAKS
In a study published in the Journal of Cognition, subjects were asked to remember numbers in their mind for periods of time. As the clock ticked on, subjects significantly declined in their ability to remember the numbers. However, when the researchers asked the subjects to recall the numbers in shorter increments of time, they were easily able to recall them. Researchers suggest that doing work in smaller bouts of time while integrating rest between tasks will increase a person’s productivity level. There are very large bodies of research that also support taking actual lunch breaks that consist of relaxing, walking in nature and quiet solitary time away from your desk. When you "go go go" without stopping to relax, you deplete your mind’s and body’s ability to be at their best. So do yourself a favor and make it a habit to take little breaks throughout your day, even if it’s just taking a 20-minute walk around your building at work.
Crime report: CDL testing schemes, inspection bribes, reincarnated carrier, more
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, January 18, 2018
Action in five trucking-related crimes has recently been reported by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, including drug testing fraud, CDL testing schemes, a carrier operating without authority and DOT inspection bribes.
An Ohio-based trucking company was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $525,000, forfeit $215,012.55 and serve three years of probation after not reporting large cash transactions to the IRS and conspiring with at least five other carriers to reincarnate operations to avoid out-of-service orders issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Enson Trading LLC, doing business as Eternal Food Service (EFS) allegedly received $12,173.54 in cash from a customer without filing with the IRS, according to the OIG. Additionally, between June 2010 and July 2014, OIG says EFS conspired to get new carrier registrations and reincarnate.
A Texas fleet owner pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 for paying Texas Department of Public Safety officers for clean inspections. Cruz has yet to be sentenced after his plea.
Orlinte Cruz, owner of 30-truck fleet Cruz and Sons Transportation, allegedly paid a DPS trooper $4,000 in exchange for favorable Level I safety inspections between July 2014 and September 2015. According to OIG, the trooper submitted 39 false truck inspections to the FMCSA database.
A Washington state-based drug tester pleaded guilty to defrauding companies that hired her to administer DOT drug testing programs.
Christine Clark, owner of Premium Drug Screening in Shelton, Wash., was supposed to collet urine specimens from employees and send them to certified labs for testing, according to OIG. Instead, she allegedly fabricated DOT drug test reports to make it look like the urine specimens had been tested.
Between 2009 and 2015, only 94 of the 592 samples collected by Clark were tested by labs. Fleets that contracted with Clark used her fabricated results to meet DOT drug testing requirements.
Donald Freeman, a California DMV employee, and Juan Arroyo Gomez pleaded guilty Dec. 14 to charges related to their roles in a CDL testing scheme.
According to OIG, between July 2016 and May 2017, Freeman allegedly was paid to access and alter DMV database records to fraudulently indicate applicants had passed written CDL exams when they had not. Gomez allegedly paid Freeman for the fraudulent CDLs.
A former Mississippi CDL trainer recently pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for his role in providing fraudulent paperwork to CDL applicants in exchange for money.
Derrious Emadrick Dillon, of McComb, Miss., was fired from a company that provided CDL training and certification, but continued providing paperwork to CDL applicants after his termination. According to a report from the District Attorney’s office, Dillon obtained a list of authorized CDL instructors and ID numbers in Mississippi. He used these names and ID numbers to create false paperwork stating CDL applicants had passed the written test, when they had never taken the tests.
The report states Dillon received $200-$400 for each set of fraudulent paperwork. Dillon faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
It's Not Your Imagination — the Flu Is REALLY Bad This Year
Source: https://www.livestrong.com; by Shannan Rouss, January 22, 2018
Mom’s chicken soup is no match for this year’s flu. Sadly, so far this season, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data say the flu has led to the death of 20 children, a number that’s likely to increase in the coming months. By contrast, there were only three flu-related deaths in children at this same time last year. Although the CDC doesn’t track adult deaths from the flu, they say that the number of hospitalizations from this year’s epidemic is also on the rise. During the first week of January, the cumulative rate of flu-related hospitalizations was 22.7 out of 100,000, twice the amount it was the week before. Compare that to last year, when the hospitalization rate was only 7 per 100,000 for the same time frame.
What’s more, in the 13 years the CDC has been tracking the flu, the epidemic is the most widespread it’s ever been, Time reported. 'This is the first year we had the entire continental U.S. be the same color on the graph, meaning there’s widespread activity in all of the continental U.S. at this point," said CDC Influenza Division Director Dr. Dan Jernigan.
So why is the flu so rampant? Each year, different strains of the flu circulate. This year, it’s H3N2 that’s making the rounds. As Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told National Geographic, "H3N2 is historically the bad actor among influenzas." He also explained that people tend to have less exposure to H3N2 than other strains, which means they’re less likely to have built up an immunity.
There’s also the issue of the flu vaccine, which experts say is only about 30 percent effective. The reason? The vaccine is grown in chicken eggs, and "when this year’s vaccine was being incubated, the virus mutated while it was growing and became less effective," according to National Geographic.
That said, the CDC still recommends getting vaccinated if you haven’t already, especially considering that flu season can continue until as late as May. Once you get your flu shot, it will take another two weeks for the protective antibodies to kick in. In the meantime, check out these tips for fending off the flu.
And if you do come down with flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, body aches, etc.), see your doctor right away about getting a prescription for antiviral medicine. "Studies show that flu antiviral drugs work best for treatment when they are started within two days of getting sick," the CDC notes on its website.
And if you are already sick, stay away from work! Your co-workers will thank you.
January 2018 Articles
Safety Tips for Winter Driving Conditions
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Trucking Info Staff, December 21, 2017
American Trucking Associations (ATA) and America’s Road Team Captains are spreading holiday cheer —along with critical safety tips for traveling through adverse weather conditions.
"Inclement weather conditions on the road create driving hazards that require extra attention during the winter months," said America’s Road Team Captain Rhonda Hartman, of Old Dominion Freight Lines. "When traffic volumes increase around some of the major travel holidays, it makes driving safely even more difficult. So, as professional truck drivers, we have some tips for you and your family."
ATA’s Our Roads, Our Safety coalition partners at AAA, project more than 107 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles this holiday season, making this year a 3% increase from 2016. High traffic volume can contribute to increased risk of congestion and accidents. Winter weather amplifies the danger of being stranded, broken down or involved in an accident, and not being properly prepared with basic travel needs such as food, blankets, and water can lead to life-threatening scenarios.
"As a truck driver, I am one of the last people out on the road helping Santa with his presents during the holiday season," said America’s Road Team Captain Tim Melody, of ABF Freight Systems Inc. "Having an informed motoring public that understands and adjusts to the hazards of winter driving makes my job easier."
Snow and ice pose unique challenges for drivers. Being acutely aware of the weather conditions and forecast can prevent unexpected circumstances and make for a safer trip. Practicing caution at all times, even when traveling at low speeds on city streets, can prevent property damage and injury.
Impaired driving also puts the general motoring public at risk, including the professionals tasked with delivering holiday gifts, decorations and foods. Arranging safe methods of transportation this holiday season is very important.
"As a truck driver from the chilly state of Minnesota, I have to be prepared to make quick decisions when confronted with snow, ice and other forms of wintery weather, and I count on the people around me to make quick, safe decisions as well," said America’s Road Team Captain Bill Krouse, of YRC Freight. "It’s important to be constantly aware of your surroundings, the weather and the flow of traffic. We all share the road with families, neighbors, friends, and colleagues who are trying to celebrate 2017 and the coming new year, and it is irresponsible to put other people in danger by being neglectful of your duties as a driver."
- Remove ice and snow from your vehicle: Clear your windows and roof of snow to ensure you have maximum visibility and avoid creating a hazard for the vehicle behind you. Do not allow ice and snow to create additional blind spots on your vehicle.
- Slow Down: Chances of a crash nearly triple when driving faster than surrounding traffic. Skidding becomes more likely at increased speeds, especially on icy roads, or if you are driving a sleigh like Santa.
- Buckle Up: A safety belt will not prevent a collision, but it will save a life.
- Do not drive impaired: Driving is a great responsibility and your fellow travelers are relying on safe, attentive drivers to respectfully share the road and make good decisions. Lay off the eggnog if you plan to drive.
- Avoid impaired drivers: Report drunk drivers to 911 – after safely pulling over – and stay on the line to help locate the suspected vehicle. A call can save lives. Erratic breaking, weaving between lanes, straddling the center line or taking excessively wide turns can all be signs of impaired driving.
- Be aware of truck blind spots: Trucks deliver all of your favorite holiday traditions. Pass on the left where the truck’s blind spot is much smaller.
- Keep your eyes on the road: Distracted driving is a major cause of traffic accidents and one of the leading causes of death amongst teenagers. Even just two seconds of distraction time doubles the chances of an accident. Use your cell phone when stopped and never text while driving. Technology gifts are popular during the holiday season, but should not be operated while driving.
- Do not cut in front of large trucks: Remember trucks are heavier and take longer to make a complete stop, so avoid cutting quickly in front of them. Consider this while watching the bowl games: fully loaded tractor-trailers can take the length of a football field plus both end zones to make a complete stop. ATA partnered with AAA, the American Bus Association and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on this recently released video about stopping distances.
- Prepare your vehicle for long distance travel: Before you head out to see your aunts, uncles, and cousins, check your wipers and fluids and have your radiator and cooling system serviced. Simple maintenance before you leave your home can prevent many of the problems that strand motorists on the side of the road.
- Prepare yourself for long distance travel: The vehicle needs maintenance and the driver needs plenty of rest and hydration to function at his or her best. If you feel drowsy, pull over and wait until you are more alert.
- Leave early and avoid risks: Leave early to reduce anxiety about arriving late. Road conditions may change due to inclement weather or traffic congestion.
- Be aware of the vehicle in front of you: Leave extra room between you and the vehicle ahead.
14 New Year's Resolutions That Are Bad Ideas
Source: https://www.livestrong.com; by Sara Schapmann, January 2, 2018
Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? Right around the end of the year (or the beginning of a new year), people create their lists of vows to stop bad habits and start positive ones. Individuals have long embarked on the quest for self-improvement at the beginning of each new year to varying degrees of success. You may have even set some for yourself in years past. From dieting and fitness to relationships and finances, before you pen this year's list of New Year's resolutions, keep reading to learn how to avoid setting yourself up for potential failure and instead set realistic, attainable goals.
1. FIXATING ON A NUMBER ON THE SCALE
Don’t get caught up in the numbers game. Setting your sights on a do-or-die weight can create problems. Not only do you risk feeling discouraged if you don’t hit your ideal weight as quickly as you’d like, but if you've also started an exercise program, you're likely losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. "As you are building lean muscle and reducing your overall body fat, you may notice the number on the scale staying static or actually increasing," says Ashley Yandle, fitness expert and owner of Ashley Lane Fitness. Instead of focusing on reaching that magic number, create resolutions that center around inches lost or fitting into a certain (realistic) size of jeans or dress.
2. VAGUE RESOLUTIONS TO "BE BETTER"
Becoming "better" is a resolution that sounds great in theory but can set you up for failure. Betsy Sobiech, personal growth and development expert and founding partner of Tiara International, LLC, warns goal makers to be careful of the "er" trap. "Get healthier. Be better. Work harder. These are potential traps because they can never be accomplished," she says. "You won't know when you have accomplished enough or have reached your milestone." Instead, craft a goal that will clearly demonstrate that this area of life is important. For example, you could replace a resolution like "be a better friend" with "send handmade birthday cards" or "plan a girls' weekend away."
3. RESOLUTIONS TO GET MARRIED
If your partner has been dragging his or her feet about getting married, resolving to give them an ultimatum to ensure that your year includes a walk down the aisle could backfire. Personal growth expert Betsy Sobiech warns that while you might think you're just being clear and strong about your goals when you give an ultimatum, it could do more harm than good. "Ultimatums generally put people on the defensive," she says. "The choices people make under this kind of pressure are typically not in line with the overall best decision." A more productive resolution could be to work with your partner this year to determine if your values and goals are ultimately in line with each other's.
4. RESOLVING TO ELIMINATE CARBS OR FATS
Some of today's popular diet trends instruct you to eliminate carbohydrates or fats from your diet. Fitness expert Ashley Yandle doesn't recommend taking it to this extreme. “We need carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats to build a lean and healthy body,” she says. “By eliminating carbohydrates, you can starve your body of energy it needs to function.” Instead of cutting carbs out altogether, incorporate healthy ones like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice and low-sodium rice cakes to fuel your body and build muscle. The same goes with fats. Don't cut fats out of your diet; instead, choose foods with healthy fats like olive oil, avocados and nuts to help you feel satisfied and full.
5. RESOLVING TO GET EVERYTHING ORGANIZED
Sure, this one sounds good on the surface. Organization is a positive attribute, after all. But this goal is vague and vast. Committing to organizing your entire life is pretty ambitious. "Consider the continuum of your life," says Jean Costa-McCutcheon, psychotherapist, life coach and owner of Potentia Counseling and Coaching. "Think about how you might make smaller, more ‘chunked down' changes." Instead of a blanket commitment to organizing all aspects of your life, decide that you'll clean one cabinet at home or one desk drawer at work a week. The trick is to make the goal specific and achievable enough that you don’t get discouraged and give up altogether.
6. RESOLUTIONS TO JOIN A GYM (IF YOU HATE THE GYM)
Some New Year’s goal-setters may think that just belonging to a gym will inspire them to work out constantly, even if they hate the gym. However, Michelle Babb, nutritionist and owner of Eat.Play.Be. warns that a consistent exercise schedule can be difficult enough without trying to drag yourself to the gym if you just don't like being there. "Find some type of physical activity that helps you feel strong and confident in your body," says Babb. "You'll be much more likely to exercise regularly." Recall activities you've enjoyed in the past and focus on those. Go ice skating, bicycling, roller blading, hiking or take a dance or swim class.
7. SETTING AN UNREALISTIC DEADLINE FOR WEIGHT-LOSS GOALS
Date-specific resolutions may seem less vague, but focusing on an unrealistic end date for reaching a perfect weight could put stress and pressure on you and backfire if you don't meet your goal by that day. Instead, consider revising your goal to focus on sustainable behaviors that will help you lose weight and get healthy. Examples of these types of goals are aiming to work out at least three times a week or increasing the number of servings of fruits and vegetables in your diet by three each day. Look at the big picture and cut it down into smaller resolutions that support the end goal. To keep you accountable and to track your progress, start logging your food and exercise using a tool, like LIVESTRONG.COM’s MyPlate app.
8. COMMITTING TO TRAINING GOALS BEYOND YOUR CURRENT ABILITIES
When it comes to setting training goals for yourself, consider your current physical condition, says personal trainer, nutrition coach and owner of MissFIT, Kayla Pevehouse. For example, if you can barely walk a mile, don't resolve to run a marathon. Start small and work your way up to more lofty goals. For the non-runner who wants to start running, Pevehouse recommends a “couch to 5k” program, and then progressing from there. "If you jump right into an intense training program without the proper conditioning beforehand, you are not only setting yourself up for failure on your resolution but also potentially for a major injury," she says.
9. RECYCLING OLD RESOLUTIONS
Perhaps you have a list of unchecked goals from last year. Be cautious about recycling those for this year. Personal growth expert Betsy Sobiech encourages people to ask themselves if it's really going to happen or if you're setting yourself up for failure again. This is even more significant if the goal has made the list for several years in a row. Sobiech says you might want to consider giving yourself a break and focusing on something else instead. "If you really want this to be the year, make sure you have done the internal work on your motivation and mindset to truly go for it," she says.
10. OUTLAWING SPLURGES
It's hard to make the "nice" list all the time. Allow yourself to be "naughty" every so often. Deprivation could set you up for a binge later. Fitness expert Ashley Yandle suggests following an 80/20 rule when it comes to eating healthy. Eat clean 80 percent of the time and permit yourself to have two or three cheat meals a week. Allow yourself to have that glass of wine or cheeseburger here and there, and then get right back on your diet-friendly meal plan. "You need your healthy lifestyle to work with your life," says Yandle. "It doesn't matter how amazing a meal plan and workout regime may be -- if you can't stick with it -- it doesn't do you any good."
11. VOWING TO MEDITATE FOR AN HOUR EVERY DAY
Meditating can be seriously life changing, but it's new to you, committing to it for a generous amount of time every day might not be the best approach. When you commit to a daily goal, it often doesn't take long before the business of life knocks you off track. You miss one day, and you're already behind and may feel that you've failed yourself. "This type of goal often subconsciously reinforces a feeling of disappointment in ourselves and failure to make progress," says personal growth expert Betsy Sobiech. Start by committing to meditate just five minutes a day, a few days a week. Once you've made that a habit, increase the time and frequency.
12. GOING ON A TRENDY CRASH DIET
The grapefruit diet, the raw food diet and any other one-ingredient diets are all unhealthy trends that involve eating an abundance of the same type of food. Not only do you run the risk of getting bored with this approach, but you'll also miss out on a number of nutrients you get from a well-rounded diet. Personal trainer Kayla Pevehouse recommends thinking of food as fuel. Learn to understand the foods and portions that will help you reach your specific health goals. "Resolve to eat a well-balanced, whole-foods-based diet and add color to your meals," says Pevehouse. "Mix it up instead of eating the same things all the time. Avoid processed foods and sugars but don’t avoid specific macronutrients."
13. NEGATIVE RESOLUTIONS
Stop drinking coffee. Don't watch television. Avoid eating desserts. Sometimes it's all in the wording. Positioning your resolution negatively can make it harder to achieve. "It's ineffective to word a resolution negatively," says personal growth expert Betsy Sobiech. "It's a self-punishing way to word our goals." When you word your goals negatively, you're focusing all of your attention and energy on the activity you are trying to avoid, which doesn't provide direction or motivation. Instead, Sobiech recommends crafting positive goals such as, "Be healthy enough to run a 5K," or "Start each day with a glass of water." This focuses your attention on moving forward.
14. RESOLVING TO GET A NEW JOB
Resolutions that are absolute and lack focus won't set you up for success. Obtaining a new job is a great goal, but this goal is out of your hands to some degree. Sure, you can apply and interview all that you want, but it doesn't guarantee you'll be hired. The job market fluctuates as does the timing of hiring surges. Putting pressure on yourself to get a new job -- or else -- with no milestones or plan can be overwhelming. Set more manageable, realistic goals. Jean Costa-McCutcheon, professional psychotherapist and life coach, suggests setting a more attainable goal such as networking with one new person or exploring one new career path each week.
With ELD mandate here, FMCSA looks to clarify personal use of trucks
Source: https://www.ccjdigital.com/; by James Jaillet, December 15, 2017
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a proposal to slightly alter the guidance issued to carriers and drivers involving the use of their truck as a personal vehicle to travel to their home or to restaurants and motels along their route. The guidance, though related to hours of service regs in general and not specifically the use of electronic logging devices, stems from questions surrounding the use of trucks as personal conveyance vehicles that have arisen as the ELD mandate put more focus on the special driving category.
The agency in the coming days will publish a notice in the Federal Register to announce the proposed changes and field comments for 30 days from industry stakeholders.
The key change to the personal conveyance guidance is the removal of the requirement that trucks be unladen to be used for personal conveyance. FMCSA says the change is mostly meant to allow straight truck drivers the opportunity to use their truck, even if it is laden with work- or load-related materials or tools, for personal use.
The agency appears to envision drivers of tractor-trailer combination vehicles dropping their trailer before using the truck as a personal conveyance vehicle. The proposed update to the guidance does nothing to change that interpretation, only removing the requirement that the vehicle be unladen.
As proposed, the guidance would allow drivers to use their truck for personal conveyance when off duty in "time spent traveling from a driver’s en route lodging," like a motel or truck stop, "to restaurants and entertainment facilities and back to the lodging," according to the agency’s notice. Also included is "commuting from the last location where on-duty activity occurred to the driver’s permanent residence and back to the last on-duty location," as well as driving from trailer-drop lots to a driver’s residence and between work sites and residences.
Personal conveyance under the changed guidance would not cover "movement of a [truck] to enhance operational readiness," such as moving closer to a pick-up or drop-off point, the agency says. Also forbidden from personal conveyance use are (1) driving bobtail or with an empty trailer to a location to pick up another load, (2) driving an unloaded truck to a designated parking area after being unloaded and (3) "repositioning a CMV and or trailer at the direction of the motor carrier."
Overdrive will publish a link to the full notice once published and the corresponding comment portal. FMCSA says it is seeking feedback from industry stakeholders regarding other scenarios in which personal conveyance would be appropriate.
When ELDs are placed into personal conveyance mode, their location functionality changes, tracking the truck only within a 10-mile radius via GPS, rather than the one-mile radius required for on-duty recording.
Calif. Utility Equipment Investigated for Connection to Fires
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Trucking Info Staff, December 13, 2017
Southern California Edison (SCE) equipment is under investigation for its connection to recent fires in the state. Six fires began earlier this month as seasonal Santa Ana winds picked up, affecting nearly 264,000 acres across five counties in the region. Although investigations into the fires may last for months, power lines downed by high winds have caused similar brush fires in the past, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Southern California Edison isn’t the only utility under investigation. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)was investigated earlier this year to determine whether power lines owned by the utility caused the wildfires in Northern California, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. PG&E was asked to preserve any equipment damaged by the flames, including power poles, to determine whether equipment was properly maintained.
It is unknown whether SCE was asked to do the same, but a representative from the Public Utilities Commission told the LA Times that all utilities are required to save some evidence under existing regulations.
According to a press release from the utility, restoration of SCE equipment damaged by one fire is complete, with restoration for two more fires to be completed soon. More than 600 SCE workers have been deployed in the wildfires to repair equipment, set poles, install electrical equipment, and string wire. As of December 11, crews replaced 300 of the more than 500 destroyed power poles.
Uber’s criminal background checks aren’t cutting it
Source: http://www.denverpost.com; by The Denver Post Editorial Board, December 8, 2017
Oh, Uber. What have you done?
Turns out the free-spirited disruptive business model fueling Uber’s success in Colorado and elsewhere comes with a major flaw. Last month state regulators slapped a nearly $9 million fine on the ride-share company after finding that its system for checking drivers for criminal backgrounds leaves a lot to be desired.
Officials with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission found that 63 Uber drivers had issues with their driver’s licenses, and 57 of them had violations that represent a threat to public safety. The PUC asked Uber and ride-share competitor Lyft in August to submit records of all drivers accused, arrested or convicted of crimes that would disqualify them from ride-sharing service, according to The Denver Post’s Tamara Chuang.
Regulators did so after Vail police let them know that an Uber driver in March yanked a passenger from the car and kicked him in the face. There have been other instances of trouble. In July an Uber driver in Denver pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace after rolling his car on the leg of parking attendant at Denver International Airport.
Lyft handed over about 20 records, but none proved problematic. Uber turned in more than 100, stating that the drivers no longer worked for the company. When Uber’s records were crossed-checked against state crime and court databases, officials discovered other violations and found that many of the drivers used aliases.
The review found that a dozen drivers had felony convictions, 17 had major moving violations and three had interlock driver’s licenses — among the penalties for drunken driving.
Yes, even the more regulated taxi companies plying our streets sometimes have drivers who turn out to be bad actors. But Colorado’s ride-share law allows the newcomers to avoid the fingerprint background checks run through the FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigation that cabbies must submit to. Instead, ride-share companies are allowed to run private background checks.
The companies lobbied hard for the privilege, but it has led to thousands of their drivers being banned from work in other states, after follow-up screening found the private system allowed in bad apples, including 51 registered sex offenders in Massachusetts.
Uber says that the fingerprint method doesn’t always work, arguing that there are gaps between state and federal records. But PUC officials say fingerprint background checks are better at catching drivers who rely on aliases, a claim supported by the findings that led to the $8.9 million fine.
Uber is contesting the fine, which suggests the company would be unwilling to voluntarily change its system.
We like the convenience and affordability that ride-share companies offer and share in the excitement of those who love the service. In the pioneering early days of the ride-share experiment, we understood the argument that riders understood that they were risking a far less regulated option than taxis.
But now that ride-share services are ubiquitous, our guess is many riders assume the drivers are legit.
In the next legislative session, Colorado lawmakers ought to consider revisions to the law they passed in 2014 enabling the service. Better background checks make good sense.
December 2017 Articles
FMCSA to Study 'Excessive Commuting' by Truck Drivers
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by David Cullen, November 27, 2017
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comment on a proposed survey of "excessive commuting" by truck drivers. The agency is defining as excessive any commuting to work that exceeds 150 minutes.
The survey would focus on the prevalence of such commuting in a commercial motor vehicle; the number and percentage of CMV drivers who commute; the distances they travel and the time zones they cross; the impact of such commuting on safety and fatigue; and existing commuting policies of motor carriers.
In its notice on the survey, published in the Federal Register for Nov. 27, the agency said it is inquiring about trucker commuting practices to fulfill Section 5515 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. That section of the 2015 highway bill requires FMCSA to conduct a study on the safety effects of commutes by motor carrier operators that exceed 150 minutes. The FMCSA administrator is then required to submit a report to Congress on the findings of the study.
Providing some background context, FMCSA also stated that "in the past two decades, as the number of workers has increased and the distance to affordable housing has also increased in most metropolitan areas, commuting times have increased in the United States."
The agency went on to say that long commuting times can adversely affect CMV drivers "in multiple ways," including:
- Compromising off-duty time. "Long commuting times can reduce a driver’s available off-duty time for sleep and personal activities. This can lead to excessive fatigue while on duty, creating safety concerns for both the CMV driver and other drivers on the roads."
- Impacting driver health. "A recent study was conducted that monitored 4,297 adults from 12 metropolitan Texas counties. In this region, 90% of people commute to work. The study found that the drivers who have long commuting times were more likely to have poor cardiovascular health and be less physically fit. This study showed that people who commute long distances to work weigh more, are less physically active, and have higher blood pressure."
Although it is not mentioned in the FMCSA notice on the survey, it is generally understood that the FAST Act provision calling for the survey was written in response to circumstances related to the June 2014 crash of a Walmart truck into a limo van that killed comedian James McNair and seriously injured comedian Tracy Morgan.
A subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the truck driver’s fatigue played a role in the accident. Walmart driver Kevin Roper was on hour 13 of a 14-hour shift, but he had driven for 12 hours from his home in Georgia to Delaware to start his route. Roper was indicted for charges of manslaughter, vehicular homicide and aggravated assault.
DOT adds four prevalent opioids to driver drug screening panel
Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com/; by Matt Cole, November 13, 2017
The U.S. Department of Transportation is amending its drug testing panel to add four commonly abused opioids to meet new Health and Human Services drug testing guidelines.
A Final Rule was published in the Federal Register Monday, Nov. 13, and the new testing standards will go into effect on Jan. 1.
New drugs that drivers will be tested for include hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone. The drugs are usually taken as pills. According to the CDC, opioid abuse has seen a dramatic increase in recent years.
Additionally, the DOT will remove methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) from the existing drug testing panel and add methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA).
The rulemaking also clarifies that only urine testing is allowed for DOT drug tests. Point-of-collection urine testing or instant tests are not allowed, as the tests have to be screened and confirmed at HHS labs.
The DOT states in the rulemaking it is aware that the HHS is looking into allowing oral fluid testing and hair testing under its guidelines, but until those methods of testing are added, DOT cannot recognize them. The agency adds that if HHS does add other testing methods to its guidelines, it will follow with its own rulemaking to conform.
Crime report: CDL drug testing schemes, CDL fraud, more
Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com/; by CCJ Staff, November 15, 2017
Action in six trucking-related crimes has recently been reported by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the Texas Comptroller:
Two California DMV employees plead guilty in CDL fraud
Lisa Terraciano and Kari Scattaglia, employees of the California DMV, pleaded guilty Nov. 3 for their roles in a conspiracy to sell Class A CDLs without the buyer having to take or pass the required tests.
OIG’s investigation revealed the pair accessed the DMV’s database and altered the records of applicants to fraudulently show they had passed the required written tests, when the applicants had not passed, and in some cases not taken, the tests. Scattaglia was also found to have altered records to show applicants had also passed the driving tests.
The investigation determined that Terraciano caused at least 148 fraudulent CDLs, including permits, to be issued, and Scattaglia caused at least 68 fraudulent CDLs, including permits, to be issued.
California woman pleads guilty in CDL drug testing scheme
The former owner and operator of Advanced Substance Abuse Programs in Redding, Calif., pleaded guilty Oct. 20 to mail fraud and false statements to a government agency for failing to follow the law with random and pre-employment drug testing services to motor carrier drivers.
OIG reports Demetri Dearth collected urine specimens from commercial drivers between March 2009 and February 2010, but did not forward the specimens to certified labs as the law required. Instead, she created false Custody and Control Forms, stating the specimens had been released to FedEx to be sent to a lab. The urine samples never left Dearth’s lab, according to OIG.
She also reportedly falsified reports indicating a medical review officer (MRO) had reviewed the results of urine tests when the tests had never occurred. The false reports named legitimate MROs, provided their addresses and presented forged signatures.
Suspended PA chiropractor pleads guilty to medical exam fraud
Joann Wingate, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to wire fraud and false statements for violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration medical exam and drug and alcohol testing programs.
OIG’s investigation found that Wingate falsified FMCSA-regulated medical examiner’s certificates and drug-testing chain of custody forms, forged documents by using the identity of an unsuspecting licensed physician and falsified other documents by claiming to be a medical review officer. She also allegedly continued to perform FMCSA-regulated medical exams for CDL holders, for payment, after her chiropractic license was suspended in 2013.
Wingate allegedly admitted to unlawfully performing DOT medical exams and submitting false medical examiner’s certificates to state DOTs. She also admitted to contracting with a trucking company to handle its DOT drug and alcohol program requirements in exchange for payment, even though she wasn’t qualified as an MRO.
FMCSA suspends Missouri medical clinic, owner and chiropractor
On Nov. 1, FMCSA suspended David L. Biersmith and his business, Industrial Medical Center (IMC) in Independence, Mo., and chiropractor James Lindsey from doing business with the federal government. The agency is also proposing to debar Biersmith, IMC and Lindsey from doing business with the government for five years.
On April 20, Biersmith pleaded guilty to making false statements and to healthcare fraud related to fraudulent medical exams of commercial truck drivers and veterans. OIG states he did not have a medical license or other medical credentials, but he signed the name of a legitimate chiropractor, without permission, on medical reports for at least 65 truckers.
Florida man convicted of fuel tax fraud, credit card abuse in Texas
Daniel Danger, 51, was sentenced Oct. 11 to 10 years in prison for transporting motor fuel without shipping documents, evading motor fuel tax and tampering with physical evidence, and two years in prison for credit card abuse, following an investigation by the Texas Comptroller’s Criminal Investigation Division. Danger was also fined $10,000.
California man pleads guilty to illegal transportation of fireworks
Ernesto Alvarez Jr., of Long Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to illegally transporting hazardous materials. OIG says he transported more than 8,000 pounds of illegal fireworks in a rental truck without hazmat placards.
The case began in June 2016 when federal and local law enforcement conducted a warranted search of a warehouse in which they found large quantities of illegal fireworks in the warehouse and in a rental truck outside. Alvarez reportedly admitted the fireworks were his, and that he was responsible for transporting them into California from Nevada.
Highway Deaths Responsible for Rise in Transportation Fatalities
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Truckinginfo Staff, November 22, 2017
The National Transportation Safety Board has released data showing that 2,030 more people died in transportation accidents in 2016 than in 2015, with highway deaths accounting for 95% of all transportation fatalities.
The data indicate 39,339 people lost their lives in transportation accidents in 2016, compared to the 37,309 who died in 2015. In addition to the increase in highway fatalities, rises were also seen in the marine and railroad sectors, with a slight decrease in aviation fatalities.
U.S. roadway deaths increased from 35,485 in 2015 to 37,461 in 2016. Of that number, fatalities in passenger vehicles increased from 12,761 in 2015 to 13,412 in 2016.
"Unfortunately, we continue to see increases in transportation fatalities," said Robert Sumwalt, NTSB chairman. "We can do more, we must do more, to eliminate the completely preventable accidents that claim so many lives each year. Implementation of the 315 open safety recommendations associated with the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements has the greatest potential to reverse this alarming trend."
Because of the increase in travel around holidays like Thanksgiving, NTSB is reminding drivers to watch out for distracted, drunk, and drowsy drivers, who are often key factors in highway deaths.
There was an increase in deaths from railroad and marine deaths for the year as well, but aviation deaths were down very slightly from 416 in 2015 to 412 in 2016. Most aviation deaths occur in civil aviation accidents. The number of fatal general aviation accidents decreased to 213 in 2016 resulting in the fatal accident rate dropping below 1 fatal accident per 100,000 flight hours for the first time in 50 years. Aviation statistics are tracked and compiled by the NTSB. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides marine statistics, and the U.S. Department of Transportation provides statistics for all other modes.
10 Simple Ways to Be Fully Present in Your Life
Source: https://www.livestrong.com/; by Natasha Burton, November 2, 2017
You’ve heard the advice time and time again: Staying present in each moment of your life allows you to cherish your existence more fully. But often, being in the “now” is much easier said than done. Everyone has obligations, to-do lists, worries and annoyances that transport them from the world around them and into the labyrinths of their minds. However, by learning a few simple techniques, you can shake yourself out of your head and back into your life. Here, experts share easy changes you can make today to fully live in the present.
1. START NOTICING YOUR BREATH.
Structured breathing is a great way to guide yourself back into the current moment, says licensed professional counselor Julianne Schroeder. She suggests adopting what’s called 4 x 4 breathing — a technique used by Navy SEALS — anytime you notice that you're lost in thought, anxious or just feeling emotionally out of sorts.
"Take a deep inhale — as if you were going to blow a balloon — for four seconds followed by a deep exhale through your nose or mouth for four seconds," she says. "Continue this cycle for one minute." Afterward, you should feel a sense of calm, looser muscles and decreased heart rate. With a clearer head, you can more easily focus on what’s right in front of you.
2. INCORPORATE MINI MEDITATIONS INTO YOUR DAY.
While we often associate meditation with quiet rooms, being alone and maybe some chanting, you can actually meditate anywhere and at anytime as a way to feel present. "My favorite presence exercise is simply concentrating on your breath and the rise and fall of your chest," says stress expert Kathy Gruver, author of "Conquer Your Stress."
"On the inhale you think, ‘I am.’ On the exhale you think, ‘at peace.’ If other thoughts intrude, which they often do at first, just dismiss them and return to the mantra." You can use this technique at work, at home, on your commute — anytime you feel yourself floating away from right now.
3. STASH YOUR TECHNOLOGY.
One of the benefits of being present lies in how you can deepen your connections with the people around you. But most of us aren't very good at splitting our attention between people and devices. In fact, we're not actually able to multitask effectively and can only switch our attention from one task to another, says marriage and family therapist Shadeen Francis.
"Every time you check your phone, you are missing moments of connection to those around you," Francis says. "Make a rule for no phones at dinner, or turn off your ringer as you enter a party." The virtual world can wait. Being present requires your full attention.
4. DIFFUSE YOUR THOUGHTS.
The anxiety and stress of what might happen in the future can overcome the present moment, which really gets you trapped in your head. To combat this, Julianne Schroeder, a licensed counselor, suggests trying a technique she calls "thought diffusion," in which you train your mind to stop judging negative thoughts.
"For example, as you are preparing to give an important presentation and find yourself nearly in panic mode, you might say to yourself, ‘Thank you, Anxious Mind. I appreciate you caring about how well I do, but freaking out just isn’t helpful,’" she says. "As you turn your focus back to the present, you may have to repeat this sentiment until your attention is rooted in the now."
5. STRIKE A YOGA POSE.
Yoga is an incredibly mindful practice that helps you get out of your head and into your body. "In addition to cultivating present-moment awareness, continued practice helps to reprogram your body and brain’s physical and emotional response to stress," counselor Julianne Schroeder says.
But you don’t need to commit to an hour-long class to reap the benefits of yoga. Schroeder suggests trying two key grounding poses when you feel the present slipping away: Lie down with your legs positioned up a wall or do a basic sun salutation sequence to instantly change your focus.
6. CALL A SHORT TIME-OUT.
Taking solo time to recharge your batteries is a great way to ground yourself. But not everyone has enough hours in the week to make this happen. However, you can still find peace in the present by pausing before beginning any new task or part of your day, suggests wellness chiropractor Michelle Robin, D.C.
"If you’re rushing to a meeting, pause outside the door and take a breath or two before going in," she says. "Before you start hustling to get dinner on the table after a long day, pause to take a breath and let go of the time before now and be present while you lovingly prepare food for your family." This will bring you back to the present so you can give that activity or person your full attention.
7. SET REMINDERS.
It’s easy to forget to stay present, despite our best efforts. So instead of trying to outsmart your wandering mind, find a way to remind yourself, suggests certified yoga instructor and integrated life coach Madeleine Culbertson.
"Set reminders on your phone. Every hour or so, have a soft chime go off with a personalized reminder to bring you back to the moment," she says. Some questions she uses are: "What is the quality of your breath?" "What makes you smile right now?" "What do you appreciate right now?" Use these or create your own to keep on the path toward living more in the moment.
8. BEGIN TO PRACTICE GRATITUDE.
Setting aside time to give thanks each day helps you remember what’s meaningful and important to you. "Find three things every day that you can be grateful for," says licensed counselor Julianne Schroeder.
"It can be as simple as having a good cup of coffee or having noticed less traffic on the way to work. The act of being grateful not only can shift your awareness to the present, with continued commitment to practicing gratitude it could contribute to improved mental health over time." Soon enough, you’ll be seeking out moments, people and things to be thankful for, encouraging you to soak up every experience.
9. GROUND YOURSELF OUTSIDE.
Being in nature can both invigorate you and make you feel more focused, licensed counselor Julianne Schroeder says. If you don’t already make time to get outside, start incorporating short walking meditations into your day. "Stand solidly on the ground and spend several moments noticing how your body feels. Start with the soles of the feet and work upward, relaxing each body part as you become aware of it," she says.
"Begin to walk slowly, focusing on your surroundings and what you see, hear, smell and feel." As thoughts come up, acknowledge them and then get right back into the present moment. End your walks by sitting on a patch of grass to further ground yourself, Schroeder says. Pay close attention to the sensations of the sun, wind and grass on your feet and skin.
10. WRITE IT DOWN.
The act of writing out your thoughts helps empty your mind, steering you closer toward being in the present. "You can find journals with prompts or free write," licensed counselor Julianne Schroeder says. "Allowing yourself to identify thoughts and feelings as they are in the present can help you clearly see if there are action-based steps you can take to help yourself."
Even if you’re not a writer, giving yourself the freedom to put pen to paper, without judgment, can be a helpful emotional release as well, freeing up your mind to focus on what’s happening in the current moment.
Zonar Lists Top 10 Most Dangerous Roads for Truckers
Source: http://www.truckinginfo.com/; by Trucking Info Staff, November 14, 2017
Fleet management technology provider Zonar has created a graphic of the top 10 most dangerous roads in the U.S. for truck drivers, based on information from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Zonar created the graphic ahead of the holiday season when, on average, there are approximately 36% more vehicles on the road. Higher traffic combined with bad weather conditions and shorter daylight, puts truck drivers at a higher risk of an accident during the holiday season, according to Zonar. The company analyzes data from commercial vehicles to provide drivers and managers with information and analysis to better navigate and safely manage cargo and passengers.
"With more people behind the wheel during the holidays, we want to make sure everyone knows which routes require a bit more caution driving through," says Gary Schmidt, vice president, business solutions at Zonar. "Our top priority when designing any product is to ensure that everyone on the road stays safe – whether you’re a truck driver headed cross country or a family on a road trip to Thanksgiving dinner."
According to the Department of Transportation, the top 10 most dangerous roads for truck drivers based on total accident volume between 2013 -2016 are:
Road | Contact |
---|---|
I-10 | Alabama |
I-95 | Florida |
HWY-75 | Idaho |
I-40 | Arkansas |
US-1 | Florida |
M-20 | Michigan |
I-80 | Border of Nebraska and Colorado |
HWY-5 | Colorado |
I-70 | Maryland |
SC-35 | South Carolina |