Safety and Compliance News & Information
ATA offers the latest information on safety, DOT and OSHA training and compliance issues. Generally, we attempt to list information alphabetically by topic or issue, but when critical issues are pending, you will find the most current items at the top.
New UCR Fee Enforcement Begins This Week
Unified Carrier Registration fees go up this week for 2010 and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is encouraging all North American jurisdictions and paying carriers to be prepared. Starting July 15, all motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies operating in interstate or international commerce are subject to the UCR . Forty-one states are participating in UCR for the 2010 registration year and will serve as UCR base states. In April, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced the new fees will be almost double. For large carriers (over 1,000 straight trucks or tractors) the annual levy jumps from $37,500 to $73,346. Brokers and leasing companies will pay $76. Trailers, however, are no longer part of the fleet calculation.
ADOT to Open Five Highway Rest Areas This Summer
When ADOT announced plans to temporarily close some rest areas in October 2009, the agency pledged to reevaluate its financial situation before the July 1 start of the 2011 fiscal year. Closed as the result of the state's budget crisis, declines in transportation revenues and a need to focus on critical wintertime safety, some rest areas can be reopened now because of a stabilizing - but not yet improving - financial situation.
In addition to the rest areas that have not been previously shut down and remained open, the following rest areas will reopen by the end of July: Ehrenberg (I-10), Canoa Ranch (I-19), Meteor Crater (I-40), Sacaton (I-10), and San Simon (I-10).
ATA continues to work with both ADOT and the Arizona Department of Public Safety to identify safe, alternative parking areas where truck drivers may get their mandated rest. In the case of truckers pulling off the road or onto off-ramps to rest, AzDPS has said it will approach the issue with flexibility and will ask drivers to move only if they are creating a safety hazard. Watch this space for updates.
Launch of Pre-employment Screening Program
FMCSA announced the official launch of the Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP). For more information, click on the following links.
Visit the PSP Web site, www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov
View the PSP Frequently Asked Questions, www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov/Pages/FAQ.aspx
Contact the contractor’s customer service center by emailing PSPenrollment@nicusa.com
or toll free at 1-877-684-6832.
Or contact FMCSA’s PSP operations manager, Arlene Thompson, Arlene.thompson@dot.gov
NPRM for Text Message Ban
Click here to read the Federal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking banning texting by operators of commercial vehicles over 10,001 lbs. GVWR while the vehicle is in motion.
The Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) is a major Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve the effectiveness of the agency's compliance and enforcement programs. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a greater reduction in large truck and bus crashes, injuries, and fatalities in the context of increasingly limited state and federal resources. The program will rely heavily on new information technology.
The expected new CSA2010 implementation date for Arizona is sometime in the first quarter of 2011.
Our next CSA2010 overview seminar will be held on September 15, 2011. The presenter for this seminar will be Patti Olsgard-Gillette of the Colorado Motor Transport Association. Patti served on the national committee for developing CSA2010.
For more information on CSA2010 go to http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/FAQs.aspx.
Pilot Escort Traffic Control & Certification Training
For information on Pilot Car Escort Vehicle Operator Certification see Certified Escort Driver page under this tab.
ATA 2010 Driver of the Quarter Award Applications
Give your drivers the recognition they deserve. Nominate your qualified drivers in the Arizona Trucking Association's Driver of the Quarter Award Program by completing and submitting Driver of the Quarter applications.
At the end of the year, the Driver of the Year will be selected from the four recipients of this year's Driver of the Quarter(s). More information regarding the program is listed below:
Basis for Nomination:
It is the intent of the Arizona Trucking Association and the Safety and Maintenance Council to select a Driver who will, by past record, exemplify the type of career driver whose high standards of conduct and ability are both an asset to themselves and a credit to the Transportation Industry in the State of Arizona.
The Company will nominate driver(s) who meet the minimum nomination criteria, with no limit to the number of drivers who can be nominated from the same company.
Nomination Criteria:
- No DOT-reportable accidents or moving violations within the past three years
- Driver must be engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce moving goods, products and/or services for the past three years
- Written statement from company citing outstanding performance – mentoring, scene of accident support, examples of professional driving habits
- Attach motor vehicle record (MVR) for the past 3 years (run within past 30 days)
- Download the 2nd quarter application PDF here
- 2010 2nd Quarter Driver of the Quarter Applications will be accepted from July 12th through close of business on August 20, 2010..
To check out infomation on other safety and compliance issues please go to the FAQs page under this tab.
If you are not a member of the Arizona Trucking Association and need help with safety and compliance issues, please call 602.850.6000 for referral to reputable safety consultants.