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Trucker News

Trucking company owner charged with paying off Texas trooper for inspection stickers

A second man has been charged in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving state troopers and a Dallas trucking company, according to federal court documents. 16 for allegedly bribing a former Texas Department of Public Safety sergeant, Kevin Gerard Cauley, to sidestep truck inspections, court records show.

Cauley, 51, of Royse City, was a commercial vehicle enforcement officer for DPS who conducted safety inspections of large trucks, court records show. He pleaded guilty to the charge in June, court records show.

Cauley took the money from Cruz, owner of Cruz and Sons Transportation, in exchange for inspection decals he issued for more than three dozen freight trucks, according to court documents.

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Source:https://www.dallasnews.com/

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Owner Operators Trucker News

Let’s Be Thankful for Truck Drivers on Thanksgiving

With so much commotion going on for most people this time of year and as we roll into the holiday season, there’s one thing we’ve got to stop to give thanks for-truck drivers, of course! They spend time away from their families so we can spend time with ours. What many take for granted in many professions is having holidays off work that we can enjoy with our loved ones.

For many drivers, this time of year is the craziest and it’s definitely not a time for getting off work. We aren’t the only ones stuck in bumper-to-bumper lines of traffic stretching down the road on our way to grandmother’s house during holiday travel commutes.

Plus, truck drivers are the ones who deliver that fuel for all those holiday travelers to guzzle up to visit their families with.Truck drivers rarely get those home-cooked meals while on the road. While most of us will be stuffing our pie holes with our family’s favorite recipes, drivers have to resort to whatever they can get their hands on that day. Turkeys don’t just “Fly” to our tables. If you’re eating Thanksgiving dinner, I’m willing to bet most of it has traveled by truck to wind up on your plate. 88% of Americans eat turkeys on Thanksgiving which means a “Mind-gobbling” 50 million turkeys were delivered to markets around the nation to prepare for our epic meal times. Essentially, truck drivers are the whole reason you’re able to celebrate with your family and friends each holiday.

Not only would we be starving without drivers who delivered our turkeys, sides and desserts to our nation’s stores-but our favorite tradition wouldn’t happen either. Without the use of helium tankers to fill the approximately 12,000 cubic feet of helium it requires for just one Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Other supplies for the parade are also brought by truck. Even if you’re more of a “Cyber Monday” shopper, those goods always still have to be taken from the manufacturer to your house by truck. For all those truck drivers out there reading this, just know that you truly are appreciated.

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Source:https://www.alltruckjobs.com/

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Owner Operators Trucker News

FMCSA: Ag haulers get 90-day delay on ELD use

Truckers hauling livestock and other agriculture products will have 90 extra days to comply with the DOT’s electronic logging device mandate, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Monday.

FMCSA will soon publish a public notice in the Federal Register announcing the compliance extension, as well as a notice with fresh guidance for livestock haulers relative to both the ELD mandate and hours of service, said Joe Delorenzo, FMCSA’s director of compliance and enforcement, in a media briefing held Monday afternoon.

Delorenzo said the definition of a livestock hauler will lean on a definition established in the 1980s by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which defines livestock as ” cattle, elk, reindeer, bison, horses, deer, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, fish used for food and other animals designated that are part of a foundation herd or offspring. The waiver’s scope will be broader than that and extend to ag haulers who don’t haul livestock.

A coalition of groups representing livestock haulers petitioned the agency in late October to request a compliance extension. 30 request that livestock haulers will not be prepared to meet the Dec. Its concerns stem from “An incompatibility” between federal hours regs and livestock’ operations – a concern noted by Delorenzo in Monday’s briefing.

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Trucker News

Heavy Traffic expected for Thanksgiving

Expect traffic to be heavier than normal for starting Wednesday as a record-number of Americans travel for Thanksgiving. AAA projects 50.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 3.3 percent increase over last year. Some 89 percent of all travelers – 45.5 million – are planning a Thanksgiving road trip, an increase of 3.2 percent over last year. AAA and INRIX, a transportation analytics company, predict travel times in the most congested cities in the U.S.

Based on historical and recent travel trends, INRIX and AAA predict drivers will experience the greatest amount of congestion during the early evening – as early as Tuesday of Thanksgiving week – as commuters mix with holiday travelers. The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. “A strong economy and labor market are generating rising incomes and higher consumer confidence, fueling a strong year for the travel industry, which will continue into the holiday season,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, Travel, and Publishing.

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Trucker News

An Ex-trucker has some questions about the Tesla Semi

We don’t know what the production truck will achieve when it hits the road, but the Semi has a lot going for it. The Semi seems most impressive to those who don’t know what it’s like to be a truck driver. First, let’s clear up what this truck is for, as it was presented. This truck suits line-haul – routes that run between a company’s terminals, like from one regional Wal-Mart distribution center to another.When Musk made the case for a 20-percent savings over a diesel truck, he based the numbers on a 100-mile trip – fifty miles out, fifty miles back.

This first version of the Semi will not replace the dozens of thousands of trucks on huge regional or coast-to-coast runs, clocking 2,000 to 5,000 miles per week. I already get “a commanding view of the road” in a traditional truck because I sit six feet above traffic. What I need is a commanding view of my own truck, which the central seating position compromises. I can’t see around trucks in front of me without pulling halfway into another lane.

The silver, condo-sleeper truck at the presentation only had cameras mounted at the rear of the tractor. The black, mid-roof truck supplemented physical mirrors on lengthy stalks on both sides of the cab. Most new trucks come with mirrors mounted on the front fenders that provide views of the front corners – my Kenworth had seven mirrors in total, I’ve seen plenty of trucks with more. You’d be amazed at the number of tiny concrete and reinforced steel impediments lurking at truck stops and customer terminals. Doing an 11-hour stint in a dark cockpit in the glow of large digital screens only works in anime and “Battlestar Galactica.” I had one computer in both trucks I drove, and unless I was using it, I turned the screen off. The trucks I drove had one necessary third-party device in the cab, a Qualcomm computer to communicate with HQ, and I put a portable GPS unit on the windshield.

The truck cabin photo Musk used during the presentation had a Qualcomm-type unit, plus a traditional GPS, plus an iPad with a GPS display, plus another small display I couldn’t identify. I’ve been in plenty of truck stops and walked by a ton of trucks, and only the most frightened novice or the most chronically indecisive driver would mount that much junk. Truckers don’t “Sit there” while filling up at a truck stop. Truckers clean all the windows, mirrors, and headlights, check the tires and axle seals, make sure every tractor and trailer light works, and look for damage. This walkaround can take longer than the actual fill-up, and it must be done no matter what energy powers the truck.

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Carriers

Driving Safety Tips

Car accidents have killed more people in the United States than all the nation’s wars, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Improvements in vehicle design, road design and seat belt use have reduced accident fatalities, but motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for people aged four to 34. Educating people on driving safety topics helps reduce the risk of dangerous car accidents.

Distracted Driving
Distracted driving means you are visually, manually or cognitively distracted from driving. Examples of distractions include reading maps, using a cell phone, daydreaming, eating and drinking, changing the radio station, using a GPS or performing personal grooming. Driver distraction contributed to almost 20 percent of accidents in 2008.

Seat Belts
Wearing a seat belt is the most effective way to protect yourself in a motor vehicle accident. Seat belts saved more than 13,000 lives in 2008. Children and pregnant women should also wear seat belts. Don’t count on air bags to save you–seat belts are designed to work with air bags.

Impaired Driving
Impaired drivers are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Alcohol was involved in nearly a third of traffic-related deaths in 2008, while other drugs were present in about 18 percent of deaths. Young people, motorcyclists and people who have previously received convictions for driving while impaired are most likely to drive while intoxicated or on drugs.

Speeding
Speeding contributes to nearly a third of all fatal crashes. Most speed-related crashes involve a single vehicle, and 60 percent occur at night. Driving too fast also uses more fuel.

Child Safety Seats
Children should use child safety seats placed in the backseat until they are tall enough to properly use seat belts, which usually occurs around age eight. Children under 13 should always ride in the backseat, since deployed air bags can endanger young children.

Teen Driving
Car accidents cause more than one of three teen deaths. Males, teens who have recently gotten their licenses and teens driving with teenage passengers are at highest risk for motor vehicle crashes. Teenage drivers are less likely to recognize hazardous situations, less likely to wear seatbelts and more likely to speed than other groups of drivers.

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CDL

What is a CDL?

What is a CDL license and do you need one? For people who drive personal vehicles the answer to that question has no effect on their ability to drive. If you are a person who is interested in a career driving a commercial vehicle, it is important that you not only ask “what is a CDL license” but that you also take the necessary steps to obtain one. CDL is the acronym for Commercial Driver’s License. This is a license that you must have in order to operate a commercial motor vehicle. With a few exceptions, this type of vehicle is defined in several ways. It is defined as any combination of vehicles weighing 26,001 pounds or higher with the vehicle being towed weighing more than 10,000 pounds. It is also defined as a single vehicle that has a weight rating that is greater than 26,001 pounds. The final definition states that it is any vehicle that carries sixteen or more passengers, a school bus, or transports hazardous materials and requires placarding. A CDL is a license that is issued by the state in which the applicant lives. The basic requirements for application are set-forth by the Federal government. Each state, however, may have different testing laws in place. When pursuing truck driving jobs you’ll need to know how to get a CDL. Without a CDL license, a truck driver will be unable to get commercial truck insurance and, more importantly, will be unable to obtain employment as a truck driver.

The Federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 includes certain requirements that all states must follow in terms of the testing and licensing involved in getting a CDL. Drivers who get a CDL can only legally possess one license. You must complete CDL training and the required state testing to illustrate a certain level of competency and to show that you meet the qualifications to drive heavy vehicles. Each state is required to set up its own minimum licensing standards and tests for issuing its CDLs. In general, when getting a CDL you must pass both a basic knowledge and skills test. To get an idea of what to expect in your state, consider looking on our trucking forum. The TruckersReport forums are the place to go for up to date trucking information.

There are various classifications of CDLs that are outlined by the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act. These classifications are – Class A, Class B, and Class C. Class A CDLs are for driving vehicles that meet the definition of a combination commercial vehicle. The Class B CDL is for vehicles that meet the definition of single commercial vehicles. Class C CDL is for drivers of commercial vehicles that carry over sixteen people, school buses or vehicles that carry chemicals that are hazardous and require placarding.

There are also endorsements that may be placed on the CDL. These endorsements are “T” for double or triple trailers, “P” for passenger vehicles, “N” for tank vehicles, “H” for vehicles that carry hazardous cargo and materials, “X” for vehicles that are a combination of endorsements N and H, and “S” which is for driving school buses. These are only a few of the basic endorsements. Depending on where you live, there may be more endorsements that are specific to the state. This letter system also applies to restrictions.

Now that you’ve found out what a CDL is and how to get a CDL, you’ll need to know what information should be on it. According to Federal regulations every CDL should include the driver’s birth date, height, sex, full name, mailing address, and signature. A CDL license should also state clearly what it is, either with the words “Commercial Driver’s License” or with the acronym. In addition, it must also include a color photo, the issuing state, the state license number of the driver, the expiration and issuance dates, the class of vehicle, any endorsements, and notation if there is an issued restriction of air brakes.

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Business Freight Brokers

35% of brokers have authority revoked in bond increase measure, broker group says

The number of freight brokers disappearing from the federal rolls has been increasing by the hundreds every day since Dec. 1, following the new requirement to carry a $75,000 bond, boosted from $10,000 by the MAP-21 highway funding act passed last year.

Today, 35 percent of brokers in business at the beginning of the month no longer have active authority, says James Lamb, president of the Association of Independent Property Brokers & Agents.

As of noon, Dec. 10, 7,561 fewer authorized brokers were active than on Dec. 1, Lamb said, and that number will likely continue to rise until around Dec. 15 — 30 days after the last of the notices of investigation were sent to brokers by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Overdrive reported last week on the decrease in brokers and AIPBA’s court fight against the bond increase. Click here to see it.

That number, however, could also include brokers who had their licenses revoked for reasons other than not complying with the bond increase, said Norita Taylor, spokesperson for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. She also said OOIDA hasn’t heard from any of its members about losing brokers.

FMCSA published a notice in September 2012 saying it would revoke operating authority from brokers who did not comply with the bond increase by Dec. 1, even though the MAP-21 bill required brokers to comply with the increase by Oct. 1.

Brokers are now required to carry a surety bond of $75,000 — up from the previously required $10,000. OOIDA supported the increase, saying it would better protect owner-operators who otherwise would not have been paid by over-extended brokers.

Taylor said the increase helps protect owner-operators from fraudulent brokers. “While most brokers provide a valuable service, the previous system left too much room for fraud where funds were collected from shippers but not paid to owner-operators.”

The American Trucking Associations and the Transportation Intermediaries Association also support the increase.

Because of the 60-day grace period and the time that brokers had to comply with the bond increase, Lamb says it’s “highly unlikely a significant amount” of the non-compliant brokers will be reinstated.

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Freight Brokers Owner Operators Trucker News

Thousands of brokers lose Authority

The number of brokers registered with FMCSA may be dropping — coming on the heels of the enforcement date of the increase in the minimum surety bond required for brokers to carry — but some of the numbers being tossed out don’t represent what’s actually happening, said Chris Burroughs, who’s with the government affairs staff of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, a broker trade group.

Rather than a non-compliance issue, Burroughs said, the number of brokers losing their authority (more than 7,500 by noon Dec. 10) is also dropping because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration database was out of date, he said. “We feel like there were a lot of people out there who had active authority but weren’t actively doing business and hadn’t been for some time,” he said. “The database had a lot of scrubbing to do.”

A,TI along with the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, supported the increase, which was included in the MAP-21 highway funding act passed last year.

The increase to $75,000, Burroughs said, was something TIA, OOIDA and ATA sat down to work out, finding a compromise that worked for all three groups.

Even though the broker numbers are falling, he said, TIA “absolutely still support(s)” the increase, and the impact to the brokerage industry and the trucking industry will be “minimal, if nothing at all.”

Another broker trade group, the Association of Independent Property Brokers & Agents, is fighting the increase in court, and its president, James Lamb, has said up to 75 percent of current brokers could be forced out of the business by the bond increase. The increase will have a particularly harsh impact on small brokers, Lamb said.

Burroughs said 70 percent of TIA’s membership is made up of brokers with less than $2 million in annual revenue, and the effect on TIA’s membership has been minimal, he said.

Categories
Business Carriers Owner Operators

Highway Truck Fatalities Rose 8.9% Last Year

A new report from the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that the number of large truck occupant fatalities increased by 8.9% between 2011 and 2012 up to 697. In 2011, the number of deaths was 20% higher than in 2010.

Despite the increase in the past few years, deaths among occupants of large trucks are the lowest they’ve been since 1950.

These numbers are also reflected in the total number of highway fatalities. In 2012, there were 33,561 highway fatalities. The NHTSA says that the number of highway deaths are at “historic lows.”

The ATA commented on the report saying that the NHTSA is not using specific enough categories to accurately portray the data. They note that the NHTSA counts non-freight-hauling vehicles as “large trucks” which is causing people to incorrectly believe that freight-hauling trucks are more prone to fatal accidents than they actually are. According to the ATA, the report “paints an incomplete and misleading picture of the nation’s trucking industry.”