Don't let this happen to you.  The days of running multiple logs and dropping trips are gone.  You will be caught, fined and sentenced.  It is just not worth the risk.  Both the driver and the company looses.  Let the DOT Doctor ensure you are running legal with all the authorities, permits, endorsements and training that you need.  Learn how to get the most out of your log hours.  Visit us today (http://thedotdoctor.com/hazmat) and don't let this be you.....

 
By CCJ Staff

An Alabama truck driver recently was sentenced after pleading guilty to transporting undeclared hazardous waste, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's Office. Wayne Parker was sentenced Dec. 2 in U.S. District Court in Cullman, Ala., to five months home detention, followed by 43 months probation, and a $3,000 fine, DOT-OIG said.

The investigation was initiated as a result of a port check conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to DOT-OIG; Parker was inspected at a weight station and was found to be in possession of three separate driver logs, which showed that he omitted recording a trip when he was transporting hazardous waste.

The new ERG2008 is now available.

Visit: http://thedotdoctor.com/hazmat for more information.

 Video - ERG 2008 Training Video http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/library/

  The most expensive road in the US now costs more.  Lucky us!  I see even more trucks taking the mountains of I-80s to fight off the increase.  Pa and Oh almost make it impossible to afford to do business in these days. 

Anyone recall the driver from many years back that made headlines who hauled the Christmas tree for the Nation's Capital and run across the PATP?  His oversized vehicle was outrageously priced and he made the news for his ordeal.  What a way to be remembered! 

My state of birth, again costs us all more.  High taxes.  Extra taxes than most states.  You have to pay to work in this state and now toll road raise.  Yes, the highways need repair but at what cost?  This is really going to hit the pocketbook of the O/O hard who has to cover his own tolls and runs through PA on the most expensive road in the USA.

Happy Weekend!  Run safe.   Happy Holidays!
By CCJ Staff

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials announced Thursday, Dec. 4, that the Turnpike will supply $1.3 billion in new funding in the next year and a half for statewide road and bridge projects and mass-transit agencies with the upcoming 2009 toll increase resulting from Act 44 of 2007.

"The mission of America's First Superhighway has changed, and that change is evident in every Pennsylvania county today because of the $1.2 billion we've already provided to PennDOT during the previous 16 months," says Joseph Brimmeier, Turnpike chief executive officer. "No state has provided anywhere near this level of new funding."

Under Act 44, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell in July 2007, the Turnpike will provide a total of $2.5 billion in supplemental transportation funding from August 2007 to May 2010. In order to meet this obligation, most Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls will increase by 25 percent effective Jan. 4 -- a year earlier than anticipated before the enactment of Act 44.

With the new fares, the most-common rates for commercial vehicles will increase from $2 to $2.50, from $2.25 to $2.85, from $3.50 to $4.40, from $6.25 to $7.85, and from $15.25 to $19.10. A full toll schedule is available online at www.paturnpike.com. The new rates will become effective at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4.

Tolls will increase across the entire system with two exceptions: Tolls on the newest sections (Findlay Connector/PA-576 and Mon-Fayette Expressway/Turnpike 43 Uniontown to Brownsville section) will remain at their current rates that were set in anticipation of the increase.

The Turnpike originally planned to implement a toll increase in January 2010, but the Commonwealth's transportation funding crisis sparked the passage of Act 44 last year and the new toll-rate structure. "Back in 2004, we projected a need to increase tolls again by 25 percent in 2010," Brimmeier says. "Now, our new Act 44 responsibilities dictate that the increase is needed one year earlier." As a result of the toll increase, projected annual gross toll revenue will increase from $619.2 million (2008 fiscal year end) to about $738.4 million (projected 2010 fiscal year end).

Brimmeier also announced that the Turnpike is taking a new approach to how and when future increases are handled. Starting in January 2010, tolls will go up incrementally by about three percent each year. "In 2004, customers told us they prefer regularly scheduled increases so they can anticipate the change as opposed to levying a substantial increase every dozen years or so," Brimmeier says. "And since more than half of our revenues are collected electronically with E-ZPass, it's much simpler now to implement a recurrent rate change."

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"The Realities of Trucking Driving" How many miles you can REALLY expect to drive per week? What will I really make my first year? Know if you should be paid by % or Cent Per Mile (CPM). Dealing with recruiters; separating the facts from fiction. What is guaranteed hometime? Which pays better, Owner Operator or a Company Driver? What type of freight should I haul? Where do I find a good company? Does my car driving record affect my ability to be hired? Do the tickets I get as a commercial driver cost me on my car insurance? What is DAC and why do I care? How do I protect my DAC score?  “I Want to be an Owner-Operator; now what?” Can I afford to become an O/O? What money does it really take to be independent? Where do I find work as an O/O? How do I find insurance for my family now that I am independent?    "Truths Driving Schools Hide From Their Students" Why new drivers have a difficult time finding and maintaining employment? Time to make big dollars now; not! Difference between running team and working for the teamsters. To sleep or not? Trucking driving is not freedom.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This news was just shared with me regarding medical certs for CDL holders.  I know CA and some states currently have this requirement but now anyone renewing their CDL will have to have a current medical card.  Bad news for those of us how retain our CDL for training and other purposes but not for active usage.

~The DOT Doctor (http://thedotdoctor.com)

New medical certification requirements for CDL holders in January

New medical certification requirements for CDL holders in January

This rule is effective Jan. 30, 2009. State compliance is required by Jan. 30, 2012. All CDL holders must comply with the requirement to submit to the SDLA their self-certification on whether they are subject to the physical qualification rules by Jan. 30, 2014.

Beginning Jan. 30, 2009, new regulations take effect regarding medical certificates and Commercial Driver’s Licenses.

In a Final Rule published Dec. 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration amended the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to require interstate CDL holders subject to the physical qualification requirements of the FMCSRs to provide a current original or copy of their medical examiner's certificates to their State Driver Licensing Agency (SDLA).

The Agency also requires the SDLA to record on the Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS) driver record the self-certification the driver made regarding the applicability of the federal driver qualification rules and, for drivers subject to those requirements, the medical certification status information specified in the Final Rule.

This rule is effective Jan. 30, 2009. State compliance is required by Jan. 30, 2012. All CDL holders must comply with the requirement to submit to the SDLA their self-certification on whether they are subject to the physical qualification rules by Jan. 30, 2014.

- The Trucker; Monday, December 1, 2008

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Shop online and have everything shipping to you or directly to the recipient.

Cameras, books, online movies, DVDs, music, MP3 downloads, sport equipment, tools, industry books and supplies, jewelry and more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we gather around the table this year with our family and friends may we remember all the things we have to be thankful for.  Even in the current economic times, we are still much more fortunate than many of those around the world.

A contact sent me this idea and I wish to share it with you all.

This Christmas let's all buy a Treesmas Tree, an original and affordable gift! Besides being a great help for the planet, the holder of the Treesmas Tree will obtain economic benefits. I suggest the quick and easy reading of the page www.merrytreesmas.com.

Why not check out the site for yourself?

Have a happy, safe and green Thanksgiving.  Warm wishes to you and your families.

~Andrea Sitler

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News Updates from Landline -

New Jersey bill would change how state's hazmat haulers are compensated

View article...

Yes, (West) Virginia, there is a ticket quota

View article...

SPECIAL REPORT: OOIDA says 2010 engine standard needs hard look

View article...

Instant traffic updates to be available in I-95 corridor

View article...

Friday deadline for early registration rates at CVSA conference on EOBRs

View article...

Now here is an article with a nice and truly unexpected twist.  Happy Holidays!

E-ZPass and truck discounts coming to Ohio Turnpike

At least they kept the reset ability. I think the entire system is wrong. We need HOS that fit each driver type (regional, local, OTR, oversize, etc...) not a one size fits all deal like this. -The DOT Doctor

Trucking news: It’s final—HOS regulations to stay

FMCSA elects to maintain current HOS regulations allowing drivers to drive 11 hours in 15-hour work day

John D. Schulz, Contributing Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/18/2008

WASHINGTON—The good news for shippers is basically no news: there is going to be no change in the current hours-of-service (HOS) regulations governing approximately 3 million long-haul truck drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in a move welcomed by both shippers and carriers, has decided to maintain the current HOS regulations. Thus ends an eight-year legal and procedural battle on the HOS regs, which went largely unchanged from 1935 until FMCSA first offered its first revision back in 2000.

FMCSA said it was adopting as final its interim final rule adopted 11 months ago. That allows drivers to drive 11 hours within a 15-hour work day with a 34-hour restart provision. Both provisions had been challenged in court by Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway Safety and other groups on procedural grounds. The final rule was scheduled to be published in Wednesday’s Federal Register and will become effective Jan. 19, the final day of the lame-duck Bush administration.

“There have been procedural rules that have been identified by the court. We are properly addressing the concerns of the court,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said in a conference call. “I feel confident that moving forward is the best public policy at this time.”

Both shippers and carriers have adapted to the new rules that went into effect 2003, despite court challenges. The biggest change was a push by carriers to urge shippers to become more efficient at their loading docks since drivers’ waiting time was no longer counted as off-duty time, but rather part of the drivers’ work day.

Drivers are limited to 60 hours driving in seven days, or 70 in eight days, while allowing those clocks to be reset by taking 34 straight off-duty hours.

While President-elect Obama seeks Socialism for the US, the final days of the Bush Administration want to put the O/O and small trucking companies out of business.  The government is playing trucker but the real trucking professional is suffering through it all with current fuel pricing, changing regulations and more and more regulations to put the small businesses out of business.  Sure WE all want safety on the highways but where is the line drawn?  EOBRs in ALL trucks is not the answer.  I written on this numerous times and I just do not agree.  Companies who seriously decline to follow HOS rules should be monitored until they gain compliance.  Permanent EOBRs, NO!!!!

HOS is not an across the board item.  One size does not fit all in this forum.  Again, I have said this and written on this issue over and over again.  What works for the OTR driver does not makes sense for the local worker.  The only way HOS is really going to be adhered to is when shippers, receivers and trucking company change their SOPs.  As long the industry remains “business as usual”; HOS compliance will go by the way side.  There will be implied compliance but never real compliance as long as unrealistic delivery schedules continue to be on the table.  Drivers incentivized by mileage cannot afford to be truly compliant.  The entire system needs to change before we can expect 100% HOS compliance.

Currently we can train the driver and dispatcher on the regulations.  The government can monitor for compliance but with realistic expectations.  Revampment of the industry, including the pay structure has to occur along with HOS that works for the driver type before real enforcement can take place.

President Bush is pushing for these changes along with stricter doctor and medical requirements and now the stopping distance issue.  Trucks are not created to stop short.  That in its self causes accidents.  Requiring proper adjustment on the brakes and good maintenance programs (PM) is a definite yes but again we need to insert realism not the fantasy world the lawmakers and special interest groups live within. 

With President-elect Obama’s ideas, how will he once again change all these regulations?  They do not fit into his Socialism lifestyle nor his ideas of full Unionism of the American workforce.  How many conflicting views can we have at once?  Who will ATA and OOIDA support?  More importantly, who will stand up for and support the trucker for they are the ones who will ultimately suffer in this botched dilemma?

-----------------------------------------------------

White House clears hours-of-service rules
By Avery Vise

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could publish the latest version of the hours-of-service rules in a matter of days. On Thursday, Nov. 13, the White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the regulations, which represent FMCSA’s third attempt at a rewrite of the regime that had stood for more than 60 years beginning in the late 1930s.

Details on the final hours rules, which respond to a July 2007 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, won’t be available until FMCSA publishes them in the Federal Register. In late December 2007, FMCSA issued an interim final rule holding the most recent regulations – including the challenged 11 hours of daily driving and 34-hour restart of cumulative work limits – in place pending another round of comments.

In addition, the Department of Transportation on Nov. 10 sent to OMB a draft final rule regarding electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs). Details on that regulation also will not be known until OMB completes its review and FMCSA publishes it in the Federal Register.

In January 2007, FMCSA proposed to require EOBRs on all trucks operated by carriers that had demonstrated a history of serious noncompliance with the hours-of-service rules. The agency also proposed new performance standards for EOBRs manufactured two years after the effective date of a final rule. In addition, FMCSA would encourage industrywide use of EOBRs by offering certain regulatory and enforcement relief.

On Nov. 3, DOT also sent to OMB the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s regulation concerning reduced stopping distance for truck tractors equipped with air brake systems. NHTSA published its proposal in December 2005 after years of deliberation.

The regulations are among dozens of rules the Bush administration is pushing to finalize in the wake of Barack Obama’s election on Nov. 4. Given their economic significance and potentially political nature, the hours-of-service and EOBR regulations are undoubtedly the highest priorities among rules directly related to motor carriers. Other FMCSA documents pending at OMB are final rules regarding intermodal equipment, new entrant fitness and medical certification; and a proposed rule to establish a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.

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