News Archives:
Aug 13, 2010
Jun 29, 2010
May 21, 2010
Apr 09, 2010
New Mexico
Trucking Association
4809 Jefferson St. N.E.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
505 884-5575
505 884-3661 (fax)
J.J. Keller Offers
Program to Help
CSA 2010 Education
The new FMCSA carrier analysis system will change the way carrier's do business because it changes they way they are ranked and targeted for safety review.
This J. J. Keller program explains the new system and the key fundamentals that drivers need to know, including their obligations as to unsafe driving, fatigue, HOS, controlled substances and alcohol, truck and trailer maintenance, and load securement. It also covers the driver's role in improving, maintaining, or degrading their company's -- and their own -- safety fitness evaluation, explaining what they can do to prevent violations and have "good" inspections go into the Safety Measurement System (SMS).
The program includes several ready-to-use training tools: a closed-captioned video on DVD; a 24-page discussion guide; driver handbooks; and a CSA 2010 overview poster to hang in a training room or drivers' lounge. It will be available in February but can be reserved now. Keller says that if a rulemaking regarding CSA 2010 is published prior to July 1, 2011 and requires changes to this product, your copy will be updated at no charge. Talk to NMTA for details.
April 9, 2010
HIRE Act Could Help Carriers
The newly enacted federal HIRE (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment) Act, signed into law March 18, 2010, and effective immediately, holds a couple of potentially large tax benefits for at least some motor carriers that are hiring employee drivers. First, the Act allows the employer of a “qualified employee” to skip paying the 6.2% employer’s Social Security employment tax (FICA) contribution for the employee for wages paid to the employee between March 19, 2010, and the end of this calendar year.
A qualified employee must (1) be hired between February 3, 2010, and January 1, 2011, (2) not have been employed for more than 40 hours during the 60 days before hiring, (3) not be hired to replace another worker, except one who left voluntarily or was fired for cause (and this includes one let go in downsizing), and (4) not be related to the employer. The employee must also sign an affidavit that he meets these criteria. Click here for the IRS affidavit form; it is here:
This benefit does not affect either the employer’s other withholding obligations with respect to the employee or the employee’s eventual Social Security benefits. The second tax benefit may be claimed by employers on their 2011 income tax returns. This is a tax credit of 6.2% of the wages paid to a qualified employee, or $1,000, whichever is less, for each qualified employee that the employer has retained for at least 52 weeks. The criteria for a qualified employee are the same as for the first benefit. For more information, click here.
FMCSA Publishes Final Rule on Electronic Logging Devices
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published in the Federal Register the Final Rule on the use of electronic logging devices for tracking hours-of-service compliance by the trucking industry. Please note that while FMCSA refers to such devices as electronic on-board recording devices, or EOBRs. However, this term is commonly used to describe comprehensive fleet management systems that do far more than simply monitor hours of service compliance. To distinguish these more comprehensive systems from the ones that FMCSA addresses in this final rule, ATA uses the term electronic logging devices to describe devices that merely track hours of service compliance.
FMCSA’s final rule differs from the 2007 proposed rule in that it includes broader criteria for identifying non-compliant carriers that will be required to install such devices. With the use of broader criteria, more carriers will be required to install electronic logging devices. The Final Rule has three major components which are summarized below:
- Regulatory Incentives to Encourage Greater Voluntary Adoption of Electronic Logging Devices
The rule does not mandate the use of devices by safe and compliant motor carriers, but instead attempts to encourage voluntary adoption. FMCSA has offered two primary incentives for motor carriers to voluntarily adopt electronic logging devices for HOS compliance.
a) Compliance Review Record Sampling – When conducting a Compliance Review on carriers that have voluntarily adopted electronic logging devices, FMCSA will permit its investigators to review a random sample of hours of service records after reviewing an initial, selective, sample of drivers’ records. Under the current process, investigators deliberately choose a selective sample for review in an attempt to find violations. If 10 percent or more of the records examined show a pattern of violations of the same regulation (the 11 hours of driving rule, for instance) the carrier is found to have violated a ”critical” regulation. Under the new rule, a motor carrier voluntarily using electronic logging devices could request that FMCSA examine a random sample of records that provides a representative picture of its entire operation, not just selected terminals, locations, or drivers.
b) Partial Relief from HOS Supporting Documents Requirements – Since electronic logging devices will capture sufficient data on vehicle movement required for verification of HOS compliance, some of the currently required, voluminous, supporting documents will be rendered redundant and unnecessary. Hence, FMCSA will relieve motor carriers voluntarily adopting the use of the devices from having to retain supporting documents that are retained to verify driving time. These carriers would still be required to retain supporting documents to verify non-driving time.
- Mandatory Adoption of Electronic Logging Devices for Motor Carriers with a Documented History of Severe Non-Compliance with Hours of Service Rules
While the new rule does not mandate electronic logging devices for all motor carriers, those who are found by FMCSA to have a pattern of non-compliance with a critical HOS regulation (10 percent or more of records checked reflect the same violation) during a single compliance review would be required by FMCSA to install and use electronic logging devices for two years. This requirement would also extend to owner-operators under lease to the non-compliant motor carrier. FMCSA’s intent is to focus on carriers with severe problems, while at the same time encouraging others to adopt and use this new technology.
- Device Performance Specifications
The final rule includes technical specifications/performance standards setting forth what data the electronic logging devices need to capture, how frequently, with what degree of accuracy, and how the data will be available for law enforcement review. Under these standards, the devices must include Global Positioning System technology or other location tracking system technology to automatically identify the location of each truck and must be “integrally synchronized with the” CMVs in which they are installed in order to record engine use, road speed, and miles driven. As with the requirements for systems in use today, the new rules require that electronic logging devices record the basic information needed to document a driver and his or her workday, such as: the identity of the driver, duty status time data, location of the truck, distance traveled during operation, etc.
Current FMCSA regulations already allow the use of certain recording devices for HOS compliance. Under the new rule, existing devices can continue to be used for the life of the vehicles in which they are installed. However, new devices must meet updated technical specifications consistent with into today’s electronic engine and digital/wireless communication systems.
The rule includes a few other matters that will be of particular interest to motor carriers:
- While this rule only mandates electronic logging devices for a relatively small number of motor carriers, FMCSA intends to initiate a rulemaking later this year that will consider a mandate for a broader population of motor carriers. In particular, FMCSA will likely propose a mandate for carriers it feels have “higher potential risks,” such as passenger carriers, hazardous materials carriers, and new motor carriers initiating operations.
- Supporting Documents – In addition to including violations of the 11, 14, and 60/70 hour rule, the list of violations that could trigger a mandate also includes “failing to preserve driver’s records of duty status supporting documents for six months.” As a result, a carrier not found to have violated the driving and on-duty time regulations (e.g., 11 hour driving rule) could still be required to install electronic logging devices in its vehicles, merely for improper recordkeeping.
- Existing Fleet Management Devices – It is important to note that the final rule addresses the use of devices that can capture the data necessary for verification of HOS compliance. It does not speak to more comprehensive fleet management systems that also capture engine and driver performance data. However, motor carriers can use such devices to meet the requirements and conditions of the Final Rule if their devices also include a component that meets the specifications for capturing required HOS compliance information.
Compliance is mandated beginning on June 4th, 2012. The two-year phase-in period will allow motor carriers, manufacturers, and law enforcement groups time to make adjustments and conduct training before the final rule is enforced.
Arizona Lane Restriction Bill Dumped
The Arizona Senate has decided to rethink a bill that would have kept large trucks to the right lane on certain highways. The bill would have limited lane use for trucks weighing at least 26,000 pounds or trucks pulling trailers weighing 6,000 pounds or more. It would have applied to roadways of 3-lanes or more in each direction.
Concern over the idea's unstudied impact on highway safety spurred the senate to revise the bill and make it into a study.
The study will focus on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.
Both the Arizona Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposed the bill and pointed out that the bill could cause traffic snarls because the right lane is heavily used for exit and entry. They said that everyone is better off if through-trucks are in the left lane near ramps.
Supporters of the bill, however, vow to reintroduce it next year after the study is completed.
Pennsylvania To Consider
I-95 Tolls
In the wake of a decision by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to reject Pennsylvania's application to toll I-80, a key state lawmaker announced April 7 that he will soon introduce legislation authorizing the state to apply to FHWA for the right to toll I-95.
Rep. Rick Geist (R-Altoona), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, issued a statement outlining his plans for funding Pennsylvania's transportation needs and said he would introduce legislation in time for a special legislative session called for by Governor Ed Rendell following the FHWA decision.
In addition to tolling I-95, Geist supports, among other proposals, more public-private partnerships, dedicating revenue from the Motor License Fund to highway projects, increasing payments to the Pennsylvania DOT from Pennsylvania Turnpike toll revenue, raising the Oil Company Franchise Tax, and studying the viability of a fee on vehicle miles traveled.
JCT SUMMARIZES TAX SYSTEM
For purposes of a Congressional hearing held March 23, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation released a 60-page summary of the federal tax system, including personal and corporate income tax provisions, and all the excise taxes. Considering the length of the federal tax code, let alone the regulations, this is a remarkable job of distillation. JCT’s work may be particularly useful since it includes not only the current system, but the changes scheduled to occur next year. JCT, Present Law and Background Data Related to the Federal Tax System in Effect for 2010 and 2011, released March 22, 2010, and available here.
U.S. DOT Proposes Regulations Banning Texting By CMV Drivers
On April 1, FMCSA issued a proposed rule to prohibit commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers from texting while driving. Earlier this year, FMCSA issued regulatory guidance stating that the existing general restriction on the “use of devices that decrease safety” will now be interpreted to include texting - and enforced accordingly. Today’s announcement goes a step further by proposing to implement a new regulation that specifically bans texting by CMV drivers and applies disqualification penalties against drivers who do so. Of particular interest to motor carriers is that the proposed rule does not prohibit communication via an in-cab fleet management system.
