Topics
Authors
Guest Authors
Links
Archives
Author Archives: Steve Bryan
Red Flags, States and GAO focus on drivers
Heading into 2012, CSA is set to bring new levels of focus directly on commercial truck drivers. Today on RoadDog Radio, I’ll be discussing the specifics with Evan Lockridge. Tune in at 2:00 EST.
Red Flag Violations http://blog.vigillo.com/2011/11/see-drew-anderson-in-a-tie/ & http://blog.vigillo.com/2011/05/red-flags/
Disparate Treatment of CSA between States
General Accounting Office Report GAO CSA Findings
Example of Disparate Enforcement – Seatbelts
New ATRI Survey on CSA Perspectives
New research Reveals Motor Carrier csa perspectives
Arlington, VA – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released its report detailing the extent to which CSA has impacted the daily operations of trucking companies. ATRI’s report also describes and analyzes motor carrier attitudes toward and comprehension of FMCSA’s new regulatory program, based on survey data collected from 695 motor carriers.
While first year CSA impacts have not been dramatic, carriers who self-reported having one or more BASICs above threshold were markedly more likely to experience negative changes to their shipper and broker utilization. Overall, however, most carriers believed CSA represents an improvement over SafeStat, and that it will remove unsafe carriers and drivers from the industry and improve safety. Carriers also displayed a high level of knowledge on ATRI’s 14-item CSA knowledge test, although knowledge varied with certain carrier traits and attitudes.
This is the second release by ATRI examining CSA impacts; earlier this year ATRI released the results of its commercial driver CSA survey. “Our plan is to conduct both of these CSA surveys annually,” commented Rebecca Brewster, ATRI President and COO, “and believe that both surveys will become key annual indicators of CSA impacts and progress over time.” Later this year ATRI will release its full CSA study, juxtaposing carrier and driver CSA impacts, along with additional CSA statistical analyses.
A copy of the motor carrier and driver survey results are available from ATRI at www.atri-online.org.
ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Murray
(651) 641-6162
November 17, 2011
Breaking news from Transcomp, Atlanta
Breaking news from Transcomp, Atlanta: Jack Van Steenberg, assistant administrator FMCSA, shared some snippets in a presentation on CSA he made this morning at the Transcomp exhibition in Atlanta, GA.
FMCSA reports that the new crash accountability panel, consisting of staff “currently being hired” will operate for two years, then Crash BASIC will be made public.
120,000 crashes per year potentially reviewed by crash panel, current belief is tha 40% are fault of the truck driver
Crash panel challenges will be handled through DataQs
FMCSA will release guidelines for shippers for selecting carriers within the next 2 months
FMCSA reports that 83% of carriers who received warning letters had CSA scores drop in subsequent months.
FMCSA received data from over 3.5 M roadside inspections last year, one third of which were clean inspections.
LATEST ON HAZMAT CHANGE
Mr. Van Steenberg also reported that the agency is looking at removing non-Hazmat violations from the Cargo BASIC, rolling them into Maintenance, and leaving a new HAZMAT BASIC “that would be made public immediately” I asked during Q&A what the agency’s timing is on the release of this new BASIC. A: “We will do two major updates in 2012. one early in the year, one later in the year…it will not be in the first one”
Stubborn Vehicle Maintenance Scores
Contributed by David Mitchell, Director of Risk Control & Safety at Aon
Are stubborn CSA scores giving you nightmares? Shippers are using the scores as a trucking company selection tool, and underwriters are reconsidering pricing for fleets with poor scores. Vehicle maintenance scores are especially stubborn; many fleets have not been able to earn an acceptable score. If your maintenance scores are above the 60th percentile, it’s time to change old habits…..
There are 2 myths that keep maintenance scores high. The first myth is often expressed as “If my drivers would do the pre-trip inspection they should do, our scores would be much better.”
The second myth is “My maintenance department is all over this”.
To fix items discovered during a pre-trip inspection, your driver will need tools, training, time, and pay. Do you have trained mechanics as drivers; provide hand tools, lights, hoses, air compressor; allow 30 minutes to make repairs; and pay your driver for those 30 minutes? If you do all this, your drivers’ pre-trip inspection and repairs can make a nice improvement in your vehicle scores. More typical fleets can expect that better pre-trip inspections may only result in vehicle maintenance scores of 79 instead of 81.
Your maintenance department has a 20-year history of managing according to CVSA Out of Service criteria and a department budget based on that criteria. CSA measures all perceived vehicle violations— the Out of Service standards never anticipated this tough level of compliance. In general, fleets are finding that their CSA scores have nine violations for every single Out of Service Violation. Your fleet cannot solve nine violations for the same cost as solving the previous one violation.
Fleets with improved maintenance scores are inspecting and servicing all tractors and trailers more frequently. I recently met with a fleet where service intervals were changed from 10,000 miles to 8,000 miles. As a result, their maintenance scores are better, but maintenance costs are higher.
Have you released your maintenance director from old budget constraints? Have you retrained all mechanics on the new inspection and service procedures that are now required? Are you spending 30% more on hoses and lights? Is your Maintenance VP accountable for vehicle scores?
If so, “Your maintenance department is all over this.”
Small Carrier Solution Bundle
Vigillo to Bundle CSA Solutions for Small Carriers
360 Degree CSA Solution for $99 per Month
Portland, Oregon– October 13, 2011— Vigillo LLC, creators of Daylight™, the CSA Platform for Transportation, today announced it has created a bundle of all of its CSA products at a steep discount for carriers under 100 drivers. The bundling includes solutions for the carrier, its drivers and brokerage.
“We look at this bundling as a way for smaller fleets, those with the least available resources to dedicate to the tasks of managing CSA, to have the best-in-class tools that enable them to easily handle all aspects of CSA from pre-hire screenings, to managing violations to brokering due diligence” said Steven G. Bryan, CEO of Vigillo.
The $99 CSA Solution will include:
CSA Scorecard Subscription – Vigillo’s flagship CSA product that includes over 100 interactive reports to gain invaluable insight into a fleet’s CSA performance in an easy-to-read scorecard format.
Inspection Management System – a state-of-the-art technology that works alongside the Scorecards and compares, corrects, and tracks inspection data. Missing and erroneous data on inspections, violations, drivers and vehicles is highlighted and available for immediate correction in all Vigillo Scorecard Reports and for optional submission to FMCSA’s DataQ’s system.
PSP Converter – A downloadable application that converts FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program reports into meaningful and valuable analysis of driver candidates. A Scorecard is generated for each driver candidate that includes CSA points by BASIC and Average CSA Points by Inspection, as well as a safety event timeline that graphically displays an applicant’s roadside performance history.
Carrier Select™ - A powerful analysis and monitoring tool providing shippers, brokers and insurers with real-time visibility on a carrier’s insurance status, operating authority and safety performance.
Roadside Resume™ – The only service in the trucking industry that makes CSA scores available directly to individual drivers. Roadside Resume can only be offered to drivers of Vigillo Customers and Affiliates.
Join the Wiser Fleet Movement Today, contact Vigillo Sales at sales@vigillo.com
Roadside Resume available to 300,000 Drivers
This summer, Vigillo partnered with Dan Baker, driver advocate extraordinaire, to bring awareness of Roadside Resume to commercial truck drivers. I am very pleased to give an update on progress and announce that almost 850 motor carriers have joined Vigillo and Dan in agreeing to make their roadside inspection data available to Roadside Resume so their combined 300,000 drivers can have direct access to their CSA Scores.
CSA is designed to improve highway safety, yet has no provisions for making driver data available to drivers. Its as if the teachers know the grades, but we don’t tell the students; a very odd way to improve outcomes.
Carriers only need to agree to share their FMCSA data with Roadside Resume, there is no cost to carrier or driver, and it remains totally confidential. Drivers can only access the information attached to them individually. So a big nod to the 850 carriers who have opted in since the program launched in February. You are the leaders in the industry who understand the importance of educating drivers on CSA and in giving them access to the information collected by the FMCSA on them.
Join the Wiser Fleet Movement and do what is right for the drivers, contact Vigillo and ask how you can provide this critical benefit to your drivers.
Vigillo brings Daylight™ to Transportation
In the early years of the 20th century, the age of the automobile exploded upon America. Early roads were ill equipped to handle the traffic load, resulting in far too many accidents and injuries. William Dennison Stephens, railroad engineer, salesman and Governor of California directed the re-engineering of many heavily trafficked roads in southern California. The removal of hillsides and blind hair-pin curves to improve visibility dramatically improved road safety in a process that came to be known as Daylighting.
This Week, Vigillo released the first of its Broker/Shipper Suite of products called Carrier Select™, completing a two year product roadmap. With the cornerstones in place: CSA Scorecards and Inspection Management System for Carriers; Roadside Resume for Drivers; and Carrier Select for Brokers, Shippers and Insurers, the hair-pin curves and blind corners have been removed from CSA, Daylighting Transportation Safety.
Vigillo is pleased to now offer a complete 360 degree solution.
Daylight™, The CSA Platform for Transportation™
New IMS Application from Vigillo
Just about exactly 2 years ago, Vigillo released the industries first CSA Scorecard. Vigillo pioneered the CSA Carrier and Driver Scorecard and gave a preview to thousands of carriers of what was coming from the FMCSA when CSA (2010) became the new safety measurement system late in 2010. We are quite proud of the continuous improvements we have made adding dozens of new reports and analysis, including daily updates, trends, benchmarks, usage, red flags, and others.
Today, we are announcing that Vigillo has once again pioneered new territory with the release of an new application called an Inspection Management System (IMS). Every year, motor carriers operating in the United States are subjected to hundreds of thousands of roadside inspections that contain millions of violations attributed to almost five million drivers. High turnover, poor data quality, and CSA just add to the management challenge. The Vigillo IMS is the solution.
Key benefits of the Vigillo IMS include:
- Enhanced monitoring and tracking of inspections throughout all departments
- Timely response to all inspection related issues
- Ensures all inspections are certified and returned to the states in a timely manner
- Status tracking of all inspections and violations
- Reporting and analytics on missing inspections, inspections by state, and inspections by status give a 360 degree view of all inspection/violation activity
If you are an existing Customer or Affiliate, all you have to do is contact us to switch it on. The IMS is available to you through the same account you already have. Watch this blog for webinar information, or contact sales@vigillo.com to schedule a demo or get pricing information.
Example IMS Report – Missing Inspections by State
ATRI Survey’s Industry Top Concerns
Industry Asked to Rank Top Concerns
Arlington, VA – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, today launched the 2011 Top Industry Issues Survey. The annual survey, commissioned by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), asks trucking industry stakeholders to rank the top issues of concern for the industry along with appropriate strategies for addressing each issue.
The results of the 2011 survey will be released at the ATA Annual Management Conference and Exhibition, to be held October 15-18, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas.
Industry stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey online. Alternately a paper copy is available on ATRI’s website at www.atri-online.org.
ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.
ATRI Seeking Motor Carrier Feedback on CSA
Good Morning everybody. Saw this message this morning, ATRI does very good work, suggest you take a few moments to respond to their survey – sb.
Arlington, VA – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today launched a survey to identify CSA impacts on trucking operations, as well as carrier perceptions and attitudes toward FMCSA’s new regulatory program. This survey, targeted to motor carriers, follows ATRI’s successful survey initiative at this year’s Mid-America Trucking Show, which assessed CSA impacts on nearly 5,000 commercial drivers.
The brief on-line survey asks carriers for information on how operations have changed or been affected since the full deployment of CSA in December of last year. The survey also seeks to capture attitudes toward the program and general understanding of its key components.
Motor carriers are encouraged to provide confidential input on CSA through ATRI’s survey, available online at www.atri-online.org. The results of the carrier and driver surveys will be available later this year.
ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.