The ATA, TCA, NPTC, CVSA, and other industry groups are all endorsing EOBR's - electronic onboard recorders. It's not because their member businesses like to spend money and invite additional government oversight. It's because they know that the other functions of most (not all) EOBR's provide measurable time and money benefits.
When considering technology for your fleet, remember this quote by John Ruskin, the 19th century critic: " "There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."
I am not defending high prices, but I am advocating high value and quality. How is the system you're considering going to serve you 5 years from now?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Finding a Good EOBR
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
LoadTrek U Class 101, Lesson 2: April 14 at 1300 CDT
LoadTrek U 101 is open to all LoadTrek.net customers.
Monday, April 11, 2011
LoadTrek U Announces 101 Class Schedule
Date Time Topic
4/12/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 1 – System Overview, Installation, Terminology, Setup
4/14/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 2 – Types, Customers, Drivers, Equipment, Locations
4/19/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 3 – Load Plane, Tree Options, Load Creation and Edit
4/21/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 4 – Route Plane: Route Creation and Edit
4/26/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 5 – Route Plane: Tracking, Messaging, Monitoring
4/28/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 6 – DOT Information, View, Edit
5/3/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 7 – Billing Plane, Rates
5/5/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 8 – Timesheet / Payroll
5/10/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 9 – Static Load Plane, Static Load Creation
5/12/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 10 – Driver Rotations
5/17/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 11 – Fuel Tickets, IFTA Report
5/24/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 12 – Reports, Dataviews
5/26/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 13 – Analysis Plane
5/31/2011 13:00 Central Lesson 14 – Maintenance Plane
LoadTrek 101 Webinar Tomorrow
LoadTrek.net Customers, Sign up Today for LoadTrek 101, Lesson 1:
4/12/2011 13:00 Central
Lesson 1 – System Overview, Installation, Terminology, Setup
ATA Endorses Electronic Logs to Check Driver Hours of Service
Transport Topics; week of April 11, 2011, issue
HEADLINE: ATA Endorses Electronic Logs to Check Driver Hours of Service
Eric Miller, Staff Reporter
American Trucking Associations last week endorsed a federal proposal that trucking companies use electronic logging devices to monitor driver compliance with the hours-of-service rule.
In an April 7 statement, ATA said it supported both legislation requiring the electronic logging equipment and a rule proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
“ATA has always been in favor of strong enforcement of safety rules and regulations. This new policy just underlines that support,” Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer, said April 7.
ATA thus joins the Truckload Carriers Association and the Alliance for Driver Safety and Security in supporting the new federal initiative.
TCA’s board of directors voted to endorse electronic logging devices (ELDs) at its convention March 13, and in a March 31 statement, the Alliance for Driver Safety and Security said it supported the Senate bill.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has opposed the federal electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) mandate.
“What makes me feel good is that the trucking associations — TCA and ATA — are gravitating to positions of support for ELDs,” said Steve Williams, CEO of Maverick USA Inc., North Little Rock, Ark.
Williams, who chairs the Alliance, said April 7, “I think we must be doing something that makes sense to a broad swath of interests.” Alliance members include Schneider National, Maverick USA, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Knight Transportation and U.S. Xpress Enterprises, carriers that already have installed EOBRs on many of their trucks.
“Electronic onboard records are the logical step in the pursuit of safe highways,” Williams said in a March 31 statement.
ATA said it backed requiring the devices, provided they are “cost-effective,” protect the privacy of fleet and driver data and relieve fleets of the obligation to retain paperwork supporting driver HOS reports.
The Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act, introduced March 31 by Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), would require all interstate trucks to use EOBRs for HOS compliance within 18 months after passage.
The Senate bill, a new version of legislation introduced last year, would create consistent standards for the devices, including requirements that they be tamper-resistant and capable of communicating with the truck engine’s control module.
“The Alliance is certainly pleased that Sens. Pryor and Alexander have reintroduced the legislation,” Williams said.
“The bill includes some important provisions relating to device design and performance specifications,” said Rob Abbott, ATA’s vice president of safety policy. “However, ATA will advocate for some needed improvements in the legislation.”
“Specifically, the bill does not offer any provisions for data protection, nor does it address supporting documentation requirements for carriers that install or use the devices,” Abbott said.
While ELD is a term often used interchangeably in the industry with EOBRs, an ELD is technically a device that is capable of recording HOS compliance data and does not necessarily include all of the additional functionality often found in EOBRs, Abbott said.
The Pryor-Alexander bill broadly follows a more detailed proposed rule that FMCSA issued Jan. 31 that would require EOBRs for an estimated 500,000 U.S. interstate carriers.
Abbott said ATA also “generally supports” the proposed FMCSA rule, but “has concerns with certain elements of it.”
Dave Osiecki, ATA’s senior vice president of policy and regulatory affairs, said, “Many fleets already use these devices, and they report not only compliance and safety gains, but also improved efficiency.”
The FMCSA proposal calls for interstate carriers that currently use record of duty status logbooks to document drivers’ HOS to install EOBRs to “systematically and effectively” monitor their drivers’ compliance with HOS requirements. Shorthaul interstate carriers that use timecards to document drivers’ hours would be exempt from the requirement.
While motor carriers subject to the proposed EOBR requirements would still need to retain some supporting documents, they would be relieved of the requirements to retain documents to verify driving time, the agency said.
Carriers that violate the EOBR requirement would face civil penalties of up to $11,000 for each offense. Noncompliance also would have a negative effect on a carrier’s safety fitness rating and Department of Transportation operating authority, FMCSA officials said.
The agency said it expected to have a final rule in place by June 2012, but that motor carriers would be given three years after the effective date of the final rule to comply.
FMCSA said the cost of purchasing and installing EOBRs would range from $1,500 to $2,000 per truck and would cost several hundred dollars annually for service fees. Carriers still would be required to retain HOS records for six months.
In a March 31 statement opposing the Senate EOBR bill, Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president, said, “EOBRs are nothing more than overpriced record keepers lobbied by big business trucking companies to wipe out small-business competition.”
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Hiring and Safety Practices Very Important
With several pending pieces of regulation pending, events such as these hurt the industry. We need to help ourselves. The trucking industry has never been safer since the new HOS regulations have been in place. The bus industry, on the other hand, still operates under the old rules.
Having spent a few hours in a courtroom working for the defense, I've a few suggestions. Consider every hire. If you are forced to defend yourself in a suit, you'll need to answer some basic questions about all of your drivers. Did you contact references? How hard did you try? Defend your drug and alcohol program. Are you consistent?
How is your dispatch? Have you ever knowingly dispatched someone over hours? How do your dispatchers treat your drivers?
What is your company policy concerning speed? Do you have a speed policy in writing? Does your speed policy have a company speed limit, and do you tell drivers to observe the posted speed limit or the company limit - whichever is less?
Review your vehicle maintenance program, as if every vehicle in your fleet has the potential to be involved in an accident.
Carefully consider your exposure, limit the use of your vehicles if they're not producing revenue.
It's not just about limiting tragedies. Sometimes you're the innocent victim of someone else's negligence. Even in these cases, you need to have your business in order.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Free Webinar: Misconceptions About Large Truck Crashes
Dr. Ralph Craft of the ART Analysis Division will dispel some of the most popular misconceptions about large truck crashes. This webinar is open to all.
Date and Time: Tuesday, April 5, 2011, 1-2 p.m. Eastern Time
Friday, March 25, 2011
CVSA criticizes proposed HOS changes as being too complex
CVSA’s Executive Director Stephen A Keppler:
“Each year, CVSA-certified inspectors conduct nearly four million inspections all across North America, which provides CVSA with an unmatched level of real-world experience in commercial driver and vehicle safety. The consensus from our state and jurisdictional enforcement members regarding these proposed rules is that they are confusing and not easily understood. The proposed rules, in our view, will be more difficult to enforce roadside than the rules in place today.”
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
LoadTrek to Present at the Texas Meeting of the NSRMCA
Important developments in GPS tracking initiatives, EOBR mandates, and HOS changes are creating uncertainty. We will analyze each of these areas, as well as provide ideas that fleets can implement to take advantage of these changes.
Monday, March 14, 2011
LoadTrek.net Educatinal Webinar March 15 2011 at 1000 CDT
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
FMCSA extends EOBR comment period to May 23 2011
The FMCSA has extended by 45 days the comment period for the proposed rulemaking on Electronic On-Board Recorders and Hours of Service Supporting Documents.
To comment online, go to www.regulations.gov, type FMCSA-2010-0167 in the keyword box and then click on any “submit a comment” link.LoadTrek will not be commenting, but we will answer questions from our clients who wish to comment.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Efficiency in the Early Years
The quest for fuel efficiency started long ago. We've come a long ways. My 1980 International CO4070 could barely break 5 MPG if I held the speed down.
Putting the Company in the Cab
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Important Regulatory Changes for the Trucking Industry
The Hours of Service comment period ended Friday. 7000 comments were registered from companies, groups, drivers, and concerned citizens. LoadTrek.net commented, as did the members (our clients) of the NSRMCA. I have browsed all comments and read many. I did not see one comment in favor of the proposed regulation. I am sure there were some, but the overwhelming majority is opposed to these regulations. If the FMCSA publishes the regulation anyway, they will do so in the face of overwhelming opposition.
There is another proposed regulation for EOBR's - paperless HOS logging. This has been in process since 1990, so it took no informed person by surprise. However, for some reason, there are only 100 comments so far - and the deadline is April 4.
We do not support or oppose the EOBR proposed regulation. We'll have a product and service that will respond to whatever they come up with. We currently include EOBR-functionality in our system, and every one of our customers uses it and likes it. We'll do the same in the future.
Truckers, on the other hand, have plenty of reasons to both support and oppose this regulation. We're glad to help our clients respond to this proposed regulation by giving you factual answers from this side of the fence. Contact us with any questions you may need answered to make an educated response.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Deadline for Comments is Tomorrow at 2359 EST
Please consider commenting, if you have not already. We are supplying a template for LoadTrek.net customers to use, contact us for a copy. This template includes instructions, proper formatting, as well as a very powerful case study.
NSRMCA Posts Response to the Federal Register
You may obtain a copy of the response by contacting us.