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Author Archives: Drew Anderson
Cha Cha Changes
“I still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet”
Well, it’s time yet again for changes to the CSA Methodology. This time, it’s in “preview” form. The FMCSA has published the revised methodology for the new HAZMAT BASIC and is giving carriers a sneak peak into what it might look like when it becomes official in a few months. (FYI, that’s David Bowie on the left…..he wrote the song “Changes”. He foresaw CSA way back in the ’70′s!)
New Hazmat BASIC Preview due next week
Starting sometime next week, carriers will get a chance to preview their data under the proposed changes to the SMS system. In a story published by TruckingInfo.com Administrator Ferro said these enhancements come from discussions with enforcement, industry, FMCSA investigators and the agency’s own in-depth analysis.
Read More……………
There’s Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
One sure fire way to lower your CSA scores in a particular BASIC would be to avoid inspections, thus avoiding violations. Seems like a sound operating premise to me…….
Well, let me tell you a little tale about midwest carrier who adopted that approach, executed on that approach, and was rewarded with a nice yellow triangle on their public-facing SMS site.
This story illustrates, perhaps to the extreme, that gremlins are still lurking within the CSA Methodology and they’re nasty little buggers.
The issue in this case occurred in the Fatigued Driving BASIC. The carrier was over threshold in September and October of 2011. In December of 2011 they fell under threshold and appeared to be headed in right direction. But not so fast……..
Managing driver performance drives bottom-line gains
This blog post is actually a re-blog (is that a real term?…..I’ve heard of re-tweeting …whatever….. I digress). Wendy Leavitt of FleetOwner.com wrote this excellent article about a recent webinar conducted by Don Osterberg of Schneider National and Al LaCombe of Dupre Logistics which I thought was worth posting.
—By Wendy Leavitt, FleetOwner.com
Drivers are key to the success of any trucking operation, so it only makes sense to invest in how they are hired, retained and managed to be successful on the job. Implement a good driver-performance management program based on solid data and you could start to see results “almost immediately,” speakers Don Osterberg, senior vice president of safety, security & driver training for Schneider National, Inc. and Al LaCombe, director of safety, training & security for Dupre’ Logistics, LLC told representatives of 240 companies who recently attended a live webcast sponsored by GreenRoad and presented jointly by Fleet Owner and the Truckload Carriers’ Assn. (TCA).
Triangle Blues Society
At Vigillo, when we speak about the Triangle Blues Society we’re not talking about the non-profit agency in North Carolina that promotes blues music in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. No, the Triangle Blues Society we speak of are all those carriers who are burdened with the dreaded yellow triangle on SMS. It’s the Safety Director who has a case of the “yellow blues” because senior management and customers don’t understand why that yellow stain won’t go away! If only they knew how to wash away the stain……
Here at Vigillo we have the Knowing. The knowing of things so powerful, so important, so life-changing that lives of Safety Directors everywhere will be forever altered. Read more if you dare……….
Evaluation of the CSA 2010 Operational Model Test – A Series
Flummox:
verb (used with object) Informal.
to bewilder; confound; confuse.
In August of 2011 the FMCSA published their Evaluation of the CSA 2010 Operational Model Test. Actually, although the cover page of the Evaluation uses the FMCSA logo, the report was actually published by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). In fact, page 2 of the Evaluation states the following:
“The contents of this Report reflect the views of the contractor, who is responsible for the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation.”
After that reading that rousing endorsement of this 168 page page-turner I couldn’t help but dive in and see what the folks at UMTRI had to say. This is part one of a multi-part commentary on the Evaluation.
S&P Downgrades Hazardous Materials??
The stock market is down like, a gazillion points – no news there. But, have you checked your intervention threshold porfolio today?
S&P has been busy downgrading everything else over the last few days but Hazardous Materials wasn’t one of them. It’s the FMCSA who’s apparantly stepped in to take a closer look at carriers who should or should not be classified as a HM carrier.
While the investigation is ongoing, it would appear from initial reports that your MCS-150 is no longer the final determination of your carriers HM status. Rather, the Agency is now designating you as a HM carrier if there are “Inspections in the past 24 months where Placardable Quantities of HM were found”
Here’s a recent screen shot of the revamped SMS information:
HazMat?
The impact of this modification can be significant, as you might imagine. If you’ve been freshly labled as a HM carrier (and you weren’t previously) your CSA “Alert” threshold has just been lowered. We’ve seen multiple instances of a carrier now at “Alert” in one or more BASIC categories since their “Alert” thresholds have fallen by 5%.
It should be noted that this latest change appears to cut both ways. We’ve also seen carriers move from a HM designation to non-HM based upon the same rule. No inspections in the last 24 months with placardabe quantities of HM equals a non-HM designation, resulting in higher “Alert” thresholds.
It’s assumed this change is in advance of the Agency’s stated move towards a HM BASIC under CSA. Within Vigillo’s customer base we’ve seen almost 300 carriers shift “Alert” thresholds (up & down) as a result of this surprising modification.
Stay tuned for further updates as they become available. In the meantime, check your HM status and thresholds!
Those Mercurial Medical Certificates
“There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter.”
I’m beginning to wonder if the subject of driver medical certificates is akin to a journey down the rabbit hole. I read yesterday in Truckinginfo.com that the FMCSA wants to extend the requirement for drivers to carry paper medical certificates to January 30, 2014.
Truckinginfo.com reports that the requirement was supposed to end in 2012 when a new reporting system is scheduled to be in place, but in a proposed rule published yesterday, the agency said it wants the requirement to stay in place until January 30, 2014. The extension would include the requirement that trucking companies keep copies of drivers’ certificates on file. Read more
Consistent CSA Enforcement Across State Lines: Putting a Goat on Neptune
The phrase “putting a goat on Neptune” originated in IBM’s research and development department during its glory days. It was used to describe what was perceived to be an impossible task – something that just was not going to happen.
One of the biggest concerns in the industry when it comes to CSA is the consistent, or lack thereof, enforcement across state lines. Every time I hear this issue at industry events the representative of the FMCSA responds that the Agency takes this issue seriously and is working to fix it. I believe the Agency does take this issue seriously. Unfortunately, I also believe that their ability to impose their will upon the state enforcement agencies is akin to putting a goat on Neptune. Read more
Predicting the Future
There’s been a lot of noise lately regarding predictive analytics and the ability to forecast a drivers future unsafe behavior. Behavior that, if left unchecked, will almost certainly lead to an accident. This is exciting stuff indeed. Imagine having the ability to see into the future…..seems almost too good to be true. In fact there is only one documented instance (that I am aware of) of an individual possessing the supernatural ability to see into the future. Yes, that person was the one and only Carnac the Magnificent!
Sage and Seer. Divine and Borderline Mystic!
How can we harness this divine power of mysticism to predict and prevent commercial motor vehicle accidents? Hmmmm……. Read more