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Author Archives: Marissa Hirt
Challenges Still Ahead in 2012
Now that CSA has been around for a year, we’ve had time to gather stories about how CSA has affected fleets. Read more
Well this is frustrating.
This has happened to either your fleet or a fleet down the road. A driver gets pulled over in some random state (helloooo Oregon) and they’re told that their CDL has been suspended. Now why was their license suspended? Well, they didn’t pay a parking ticket in that state. Or perhaps they’re not up to date on their child support, owe on taxes, etc.
Most Popular Blog Posts of 2011
It’s the Tuesday after New Year’s.
So, in the grand tradition of David Letterman and all the other people who have problems coming up with topical discussions, your top 5 blog posts of 2011.
5. Consistent CSA Enforcement Across State Lines: Putting a Goat on Neptune
4. TAFKAP
3. Top 5 Ways Your MCS-150 May Be Hurting Your CSA Score
Happy Birthday to CSA!
CSA launched on December 13th 2010. So, in the manner of my Grandma Doris, we’ll wish CSA a belated Happy Birthday with a card and a check for $20 just a “little late.”
Has CSA lived up to your expectations at a 1 year old?
The Poor, Neglected, Safety Fitness Determinations…
*Tear*
Though I am still in denial, the hard truth of the matter is that 2011 is coming to a close. With December in full swing, preparing for holiday absences, I’ve had time to look back on 2011 and realize that we have been a little remiss in our blogging duties at Vigillo. Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) has been more or less ignored in our blogging. Though we have alluded to the SFD here and there, the most recent post about them was a guest blog by Dave Osiecki: Public “Ratings” of Safety must be Accurate from the Outset.
Which was written in July.
Of 2010.
Red Flag Violations
Drew Anderson discusses Red Flag Violations with Big Truck TV!
Go Big or Go Home
We’re number crunchers over here at Vigillo. We eat them for breakfast… lunch… and a late afternoon snack… (dinner is non-numbers because beer goes better with real food).
Okay, so 3 square meals aside, we look at the digits all day long. For the most part, the numbers are expected and align themselves with what we know about the world around us. Sometimes, the numbers are hidden, and sneak up on us like the Chili we had the night before. You’re just humming along and then all of a sudden, “hmm… maybe I better take a minute…”
That’s what these numbers did to me. We’ve got a far more extensive data set at home with the kiddos, but I thought I’d bring out the fancy presents that got my attention. Nationally there are currently about 1.2 million fleets registered with the FMCSA. Of those fleets, only 4.4% have a public BASIC with an alert: about 56,000 fleets. Not a big deal right? Read more
Unified Registration System: Comments open
The goal of the Unified Registration System is to streamline the registration process and make it harder for “chameleon” carriers and brokers to come back to life. The system would be online, using DOT’s to identify carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, etc. Additional goals include assurances to the public that carriers have appropriate insurance on file, increase accessibility, and enable the FMCSA to more easily track insurance cancelations. The new entrant registration and those registration updates would shift to an online process with the option of doing a paper registration. All would be required to update their information every two years.
The regulations and fees have been posted and comments have been opened. Comments must be made before December 27th.
Make comments here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-1997-2349-0178
Check it out here: http://www.safersys.org/UCRQueryForm.aspx
Why spend money when you don’t have to?
As your HR director will tell you, recruiting is expensive. The costs of reviewing, screening, and starting someone will almost always cost you more than keeping a current employee. Thus, your HR director will also tell you, spending wisely to keep employees is a far better use of your money. (Which is not what a recruiter will tell you – job security and all…)
Safety Event Groups: And why you should care!
Safety Event Groups seems to be a huge part of CSA that appears simple, but really just add to the confusion. In August, 2010, the FMCSA shifted the methodology from Peer Groups to Safety Event Group when they stopped using Average Power Units (APU) to group fleets. This lead to a lot of concern as suddenly many fleets saw drastic shifts in their percentile rank. Why the sudden shift in rank if there wasn’t a sudden shift in performance?
Read more