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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

DOT compliance have you blue?  The DOT Doctor has the cure! (http://thedotdoctor.com)

Free loadboard and freightbrokerage.   http://thedotdoctor.com/freightbrokerage

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.

Seeking logbook, HOS or IFTA compliance assistance?   Check out: http://thedotdoctor.com/auditing___logbooks

The holidays are coming upon us quickly.  Loads are often dropped due to capacity issues and drivers are stuck trying to get home.  The DOT Doctor has the solution! (http://thedotdoctor.com/freight_brokerage)

This is HOT!!!!  Fantastic new way to move your loads or fill your trucks.  Fr8manager is here and the DOT Doctor is offering it's services.

This is NOT your daddy's loadboard !!!  No monthly fees.  Obtain quotes or move your load on the spot.  Guaranteed delivery service or your load is free.  Over 25,000 verified carriers ready to handle your freight.

Save money!   Save time!  Check out this automated loadboard system today. 

Good health and HOS compliance are important.  So are consideration of "reality" and ROI.   

Well that is a way to put the O/O and more drivers out of business.  Last thing any of us need is big brother on board.  Come on we all “sneak” that last 15-30 minutes to get to the customer or find parking from overcrowded lots.  This will get us all in lots of trouble.  Plus it just is not right!  It is an invasion not to mention the cost behind it all especially for the O/O.  As to the health, most drivers are overweight and as we age, we suffer with blood pressure issues.  Most of the drivers I know are reduced to 1 year cards and then limited on our employment options.  Neither of these items are good for industry. 

The recent reports on how the government is hurting small business people definatly rings true here. Does the government want to put all the O/Os out of business?

NTSB wants truck recorders

Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:28 pm (PST)

Trucking Headlines
NTSB wants truck recorders
By Jill Dunn

The National Transportation Safety Board’s 2009 Federal Most Wanted List of
safety improvements includes mandating electronic on-board data recorders.

On Oct. 28, the board released its 18th annual list, which is meant to raise
public awareness and support for transportation safety.

For more than 30 years, the NTSB has advocated EOBR to increase
hours-of-service compliance and collect more accurate data on accident
collisions. It says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recorder
proposal is not applicable to all operators regulated by HOS rules, does not
establish the proper incentives or create a level playing field for
compliance.

Also high on the highway safety category list was improving motor carrier
safety operations in the area of vehicle safety and qualified drivers,
although the NTSB said the FMCSA was making slow but acceptable progress on
this.

The agency should do more to stop medically unqualified drivers from
operating commercial vehicles; this was also the subject of a heated U.S.
House transportation committee meeting earlier this year. The board said the
agency has made unacceptable progress on driver medical condition and
requiring EOBR.

Specifically, on driver fitness, the FMCSA should:
• Establish a comprehensive medical oversight program for interstate
commercial drivers
• Ensure medical examiners are qualified
• Track all medical certificate applications
• Enhance oversight and enforcement of invalid certificates
• Provide mechanisms for reporting medical conditions

Also, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should help prevent collisions by using enhanced vehicle safety technology for all new trucks and passenger vehicles. It considered the agency’s progress on this slow but acceptable.

+++++++++++++++++++++

See my earlier blog on HOS and EBORs in my Oct archive.

Congratulation to all the winners!   Always great to see Safety in motion.  Remember safety is a lifestyle not a commodity.

Trucking Headlines
ATA names award winners
By eTrucker Staff

ATA's Safety & Loss Prevention Management Council recently named Roehl
Transport, Central Freight Lines and CLI Transport as 2008 President's
Trophy award winners at its Safety and Human Resources National Conference
and Exhibition in Nashville, Tenn.

The companies are chosen based on their safety accomplishments and safety
records compared to others within their operation category (25 million miles
25-100 million miles and more than 100 million miles annually).

2008 ATA President's Trophy Winners:

Large Fleet (more than 100 million miles)
Roehl Transport Inc., Marshfield, Wis.

Mid-size Fleet (25-100 million miles)
Central Freight Lines Inc., Waco, Texas

Small Fleet (up to 25 million miles)
CLI Transport, LP, Claysburg, Pa.

ATA also recognized David May of Con-way Freight as Driver of the Year;
Leslie Lundberg of Con-way Inc. as Human Resources Professional of the year;
and Douglas Cook of Covenant Transport Inc. as Safety Director of the Year.
Cook also received the ATA S&LPMC Leadership Award.

The North Carolina Trucking Association received the Excellence in Safety Award, and Roehl Transport Inc. received the Excellence in Human Resource Management Award.

*** BREAKING NEWS ***

DHL to discontinue domestic-only air, ground services, will cut 9,500 U.S. jobs

Read the full story - https://o.b5z.net/i/u/10035243/i/DHL_to_discontinue_domestic_only_shipments_Nov_10_2008.pdf

Nuclear waste  

Posted by: "Marcel" newpapyrus@yahoo.com   newpapyrus

Fri Nov 7, 2008 3:02 am (PST)

DOE would expand nuclear dump in Nevada

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer H. Josef Hebert,
Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 6, 11:55 pm ET

WASHINGTON â€" The Energy Department will tell Congress in the coming
weeks it should begin looking for a second permanent site to bury
nuclear waste, or approve a large expansion of the proposed waste
repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Edward Sproat, head of the department's civilian nuclear waste
program, said Thursday the 77,000-ton limit Congress put on the
capacity of the proposed Yucca waste dump will fall far short of what
will be needed and has to be expanded, or another dump built elsewhere
in the country.

The future of the Yucca Mountain project is anything but certain.

President-elect Obama has said he doesn't believe the desert site 90
miles northwest of Las Vegas is suitable for keeping highly
radioactive used reactor fuel up to a million years and believes other
options should be explored.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to block the project.

Sproat, addressing a conference on nuclear waste, said the Energy
Department will send a report to Congress in the coming weeks
maintaining that the Yucca site will need to be expanded. He said
within two years the amount of waste produced by the country's 104
nuclear power plants plus defense waste will exceed 77,000 tons. Yucca
Mountain is not projected to be opened before 2020 at the earliest.

"We've done enough testing around the site to know that we can make it
bigger," Sproat told reporters. But he said Congress will have to
remove the capacity limit now in place.

If the limit is not removed, said Sproat, the report will urge
Congress to give the department authority to begin looking for and
evaluating a second nuclear waste repository elsewhere in the country.
The law currently prohibits any such search, said Sproat.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must issue a license to build the
underground waste dump at Yucca Mountain, a ridge of volcanic rock in
the Nevada desert not far from where the government exploded numerous
nuclear bombs during the Cold War era. The NRC has four years to make
a decision.

Sproat acknowledged that the next president could withdraw the license
application now before the NRC. But he said that would throw "the
whole process...into a lot of confusion and uncertainty" since
Congress also has prohibited the government from considering any place
other than the Nevada site.

An alternative could be a temporary above-ground repository, possibly
on a federal site.

Sproat said the report, which has been completed, will say either
expand Yucca Mountain, begin the process of finding a second
repository, or "don't do anything and let this whole thing just sit
for another 10 to 20 years and see what happens." He said the
department would prefer the go-ahead for a larger Yucca site.

"We do think there is room for additional storage at Yucca. How much,
we're not clear on," said Sproat.

Allison Macfarlane, a geologist and associate professor for
environmental science and policy at George Mason University who has
studied the Yucca Mountain area, said there are clear limits to Yucca
expansion because of nearby earthquake fault lines and potential
volcanic activity.

"There are geological constraints on Yucca Mountain. It is not an
endless sink for nuclear waste," said Macfarlane at the conference
sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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News > Headline News > 11/05/2008
OOIDA blasts PQ Minister for reneging on speed limiters; promises to sue 11/05/2008   GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. – Quebec's Transport Minister Julie Boulet has backed out of a promise to hold off on mandatory speed limiters until other Canadian jurisdictions jump on board the bandwagon, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is complaining. So far, Ontario is the only other province to pass speed limiter legislation requiring truckers to set engine speed settings to 105 km/h. As todaystrucking.com was the first to report last week, both provinces are aiming for a 'soft enforcement" implementation date of Jan. 1, 2009. In a press release, OOIDA denounced Boulet for the "changé l'esprit." Last December, Quebec trucker and OOIDA member Jean Catudal insists he was given assurances by transport officials that Quebec would hold off on its proposed rule until the rest of Canada enacted similar legislation and Transport Canada released its own studies on the effectiveness and safety issues of speed limiters.   OOIDA hopes Ontario and Quebec's speed limiter plans aren't infectious and spread to south of the border Transport Canada unveiled that series of reports this past summer, and while an initial press release from the minister's office chose to tout the environmental benefits of speed limiters, the completed studies, when read fully, don't exactly paint a rosy picture of mandatory engine governors (as we reported at the time in an exclusive feature, found here). "Our members are furious," said Rick Craig, OOIDA's director of regulatory affairs. "Not only is Minister Boulet going back on her word, she is also disregarding the grim implications this decision will have on trade at a time when Canada and the U.S. can least afford it." The 160,000-trucker strong, Missouri-based group -- backed by its Canadian counterpart, the Owner-Operators Business Association of Canada -- is forging ahead with plans to sue the provinces if they go through with the enforcement of speed limiters. OOIDA says the rules are an affront to NAFTA. "If Minister Boulet follows through with this announcement, thousands of truckers throughout Canada and the U.S. will effectively be barred from operating in Quebec. That is a serious anti-competitive move that cannot go unchallenged.” The large trucking companies who are pushing for a speed limiter mandate "well know it will not increase safety or benefit the environment as they’ve advertised," Craig added, reiterating a common concern of many independent operators. "They’re in it for limiting competition and harming the little guy."
We welcome your feedback! Click here and let us know what you think of this article or share your opinion on the Right Turn blog.

Source: Today's Trucking.com

RESPONSE FROM THE DOT DOCTOR

It is sad that we cannot afford to just boycott these areas of excessive regulations without causing ourselves excessive financial harm. Hitting ones bottom-line is always the best way to make a point. They are hitting ours. It is time to hit back. We all need to be safe, obey the law and work together out there. The trucker has enough limitations and unrealistic time frames on him/her already. Adding more regulations only hurts the economy, the consumer and trade.

Congress wants to make all trucks have electronic onboard recorders to track drivers hours of service.

Read Dr. Sitler's paper addressing this hot issue.

Comments welcomed!

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