
After scouring through our website analytics of news items of the past 12 months, HDT came up with the top 19 stories of 2019, giving you a look back on some of the important moments from this past year.
After scouring through our website analytics of news items of the past 12 months, HDT came up with the top 19 stories of 2019, giving you a look back on some of the important moments from this past year.
In a six-month analysis, the FMCSA reported hours of service (HOS) violations have steadily decreased, which is good news and a testament to the efficacy of ELD technology. However, there continue to be negative unintended consequences caused by the constraints and inflexibility with HOS rules that hinder compliance.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued recommendations on loading and inspecting propane truck tankers after its investigation of a 2016 crash.
A lawsuit brought by two high-profile public advocacy groups and a prominent labor union seeks to block the executive order signed by President Trump on Jan. 30 that directs federal agencies to repeal two federal regulations for every new rule they issue.
The FMCSA has proposed eliminating the requirement that pre- and post-trip driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs) be filed with the FMCSA when no defects are identified. There are concerns voiced by some fleet managers about the unintended consequences of this proposal, especially from a safety and operational perspective.
A growing number of fleets contend that Compliance, Safety & Accountability (CSA) program is in need of substantial improvement. Currently, a fleet’s score in the CSA safety monitoring system is based on all fleet-involved crashes, including those that the company’s driver did not cause and could not reasonably have prevented. This scoring criteria is contrary to accepted industry standards and, in the long run, will undermine the validity of the CSA program in the eyes of covered fleets.
The paper-based logbook system used to track hours of service (HOS) by commercial truck fleets is prone to driver manipulation and falsification. Even the FMCSA has stated that falsification of logbooks is widespread. By all accounts, the current system of manually recorded logbooks is a joke. Yet, despite this “elephant in the room,” the federal government remains unable to mandate onboard devices to improve HOS enforcement. Why can it work in Europe, but not here?
Expungement is a legal procedure to remove driving infractions from an individual's motor vehicle record. Fleet managers report MVR expungements are occurring with greater frequency -- more so in some jurisdictions than others. The most notorious is Puerto Rico, but there has also been an increase in expungements of DUIs and speeding tickets in other jurisdictions, such as Illinois and Pennsylvania. Fleet managers need to be aware of the negligent entrustment ramifications.
Concern about vicarious liability lawsuits resulting from the public release of Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 data prompted a legal motion to be filed on Nov. 29 with the U.S. Court of Appeals by three trucking associations, representing 3,000 privately owned fleets. The motion seeks a permanent injuction to the public release of CSA 2010 data with percentile ranking by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
SafeStat has been replaced by Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010, which applies to all truck fleets that operate interstate and require a US DOT number. All vehicles that operate interstate with a 10,001-lb. combined GVWR or greater are covered by CSA 2010. This regulatory enforcement change will create a monumental sea change in how truck fleets manage drivers, their fleet operations, and remain DOT compliant.
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