Freight Carriers and Owner Operators May Experience Environmental and Emmission Standard Regulations in the Near Future (if the EPA and DOT have their way)

By: Brad Hollister | Freight Access, Inc. (http://www.freightaccess.com) CLICKING HERE. or CLICKING HERE

Later this week, the FMCSA together with dept . of transportation will undoubtedly be meeting to continue a rule making session trying to get medium and also heavy duty vehicles and tractors environmental standards being placed into law. This issue of gasoline proficiency has unquestionably been controversial. A number of proceedings occurred in attempts to push regulation regulating freight truck fuel performance for tractor makers; to take effect for tractor versions built between 2014-2018. On-lookers and the ones near to the situation believe that final regulation may be in position prior to the end of 2011.

The fuel consumption along with emissions quantities currently being taken into consideration are based on President Obama's dedicated initiatives to change the transportation industry's specifications. Even while much disagreement has taken place, the agencies writing the legislation assure trucking executives that they are implementing prevailing technologies in legislation and also believe medium level trucks as well as heavy duty tractors can certainly Increase their gas mileage by ten to twenty percent. Regulators from the Us Epa along with the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are the organizations assigned in order to manage this reform.

The earliest open public hearing occurred on November 15 following a notice of 600 plus page draft of recommended regulation which had been published on October 25th. The upcoming hearing will be slated for November 18th in Cambridge, Massachusetts in which the board may administer oral arguments around the 600 page legislation as well as the investigation of National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's ecological impact study which can be the foundation of the breakthrough for the suggested guidelines.

Once notice of the planned regulation is technically written and published to the Federal government Register, the environmental Protection Agency along with National Highway Transportation Safety Administration must begin a 60 day time period where the public can make remarks, as part of the public process. Currently, the new legislation is targeted at implementation of existing technologies such as focusing on speed limiters, anti-idling technology, aerodynamics, and use of lighter materials. The legislation being discussed is targeted to affect heavy duty pickups, vans, vocational vehicles, as well as combination tractors... in model years starting as early as 2014.

Needless to say, many in the industry are concerned the implementation of further restriction can devastate an already fragile transportation business. The domestic United states Transportation business has been under extreme stress due to new legislation. Industry leaders believe that these added technologies will significantly increase not only the costs of operation but the expenses of purchasing new equipment in the future. Numerous small carriers and Owner Operators will no longer be able to afford new trucks and thus will be forced to keep older equipment as well as fleets on the highways much longer under the new legislation; while law makers argue the increased expenses of these technologies far outweigh the benefits as well as operational savings throughout the life of the truck.

The federal Administration officials point out that the benefits of technology could deliver savings of up to $74,000 per truck; far out-pacing the increase in costs. The regulatory authorities think environmental programs will improve the truck driver's earnings along with improvement in environmental impact. Numerous producers such as Ford, Navistar and others joined the truck Manufacturers Association and Engine Manufacturers Associations are in favor of implementation of the new standards. These groups providing comments strongly urged the Epa and FHTSA to be practical regarding implementation of new standards.

Kyle Treadway, chairman of the American Truck Dealers Division of the National Automobile Dealers Association strongly encouraged these agencies to be realistic while considering the implementation of suggested requirements. Mr. Treadway focused his remarks on practical implantation, suggesting the new legislation be realistic, affordable, and technologically feasible. He went on to say that if any of the three criteria is not met, Mr. Treadway believes that truckers will not purchase new vehicles which may considerably damage truck lots. Low-rolling-resistance tires were also under attack, as it was suggested that the Epa and NHTSA investigate these technologies completely to ensure that the added effectiveness are not endangering the traction each tire can achieve.

View Full Article Here: http://blog.freightaccess.com/2010/11/transportation-market-to-face-further-restrictions/

QUESTION: A question for the shipping community...What are your plans for qualifying carriers under CSA?

Good question. The wording of your question is interesting because it covers a broad spectrum I'd like to break down & clarify. CSA 2010 will have larger impact on the Transportation Professionals than the Supply Chain Professionals. LET ME EXPLAIN:

I have several friends (Long Term Clients) managing Fortune 100 Supply Chains (and smaller of course) who have not even heard of the CSA 2010 initiative. I have been asking all of them what they are doing to prepare for carrier enforcement. What I believe is happening in terms of preparation for Supply Chain Professionals (Manufacturers / Distribution Companies), is quite the opposite of what professionals on the Logistics/Transportation side are experiencing. Supply Chain professionals are looking at the new regulations from the perspective that the Federal Government is now accepting a role in their quality control procedures by monitoring carriers and intervening non-compliant carriers.

I see there are two folks who posted excellent comments (from Transcore) related to this question. The tools Transcore is offering however, are targeted primarily to Logistics/Transportation professionals who make up the majority of Transcore's client base as Transcore has very little penetration in the direct Shipper market. The solutions introduced by Transcore are directed more at Logistics / Transportation Professionals who would certainly open themselves up to liability by hiring companies outside of compliance guidelines.

Direct Shippers & Distributors however (anecdotally of course) have far less interest in their degree of additional liability directly from tendering their own (or customers) freight. Many of these Supply Chain professionals already have quality & performance guidelines in place to restrict their carrier network to a finite number and do not feel as though further monitoring or program creation offers a palatable ROI due to current anemic resources staffing levels at this point in the economic cycle.

I just wanted to clarify the question and identify the stakeholders we are referring to in the 'Shipping Community' because the impact of the new regulation varies greatly from Stakeholder Type to Stakeholder Type. Shippers certainly will pay more for tightened capacity, while one could make the argument 3PL's actually will make MORE (since they often operate on margin and freight pricing will be higher) so long as these 3PL's have proper procedures in place to reduce liability from hiring non-compliance carriers.

Good topic and great responses. It is entertaining to see that this Industry has continued to live up to its Opportunistic Nature. There seems to be THE REPORT or THE SOFTWARE that you need to 'survive CSA 2010' in every other email. The truth of the matter is that the direct impact of CSA 2010 varies from company to company, while the indirect impact increases prices for all across the board (and potential profits also as identified above for 3PL).

Thank you;

Brad Hollister
http://www.freightaccess.com

Less Than 20% of Carriers Have Taken Steps to Comply with CSA 2010 Requirements

http://blog.freightaccess.com/?p=221

Important change is on the horizon for the Transportation Industry and it would seem as though news of the impact is falling on deaf ears. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has documented a modest number of the 500,000 active trucking companies have logged onto the CSA 2010 web page to find their own profiles. The FMCSA has strongly encouraged helping drivers and firms fully understand the consequences of the latest legislation as well as the significance of overseeing their overall performance. FMCSA administrators have been stunned that just over 2% of all motor carriers have actually logged in to find out their own rating and also make sure that they are in compliance with the rapidly nearing policies.

Lots of people in the community from Owner Operators, Consultants, and Carriers, to Freight Brokers, 3PL's and Shippers have considered CSA 2010 Regulation as a "GAME CHANGER" pertaining to the trucking industry. The news coverage of the brand new regulation continues to be wide-spread and has been the issue of numerous heated discussions. There has been numerous charged discussions the industry and the FMCSA and Congress. Regardless of the pleas of several in the industry, Federal Officials have concluded that the large number of companies whom have not logged on is a direct outcome of many carrier's focus on daily operations which will do not enable them to concentrate on the rapidly nearing regulation.

The new Safety effort may begin in December and may continue to be implemented throughout most of 2011. Federal, State, and Local Officials may continue to prepare and improve the new system. December will be a very busy month for the staff members of the FMCSA. The Agency's objective for December 2010 is to make the CSA information readily available to truckers and also open to the general public. In addition to making material obtainable, the FMCSA will certainly commence giving notification to trucking companies whose data does not match current compliance requirements and finding trucking comapies which will probably be given field inspections.

Maybe the greatest problem of the project is that the FMCSA however does not have published specifications regarding precisely how the agency will certainly determine safety fitness. The FMCSA will issue a proposal for exactly how it decides to determine safety strength during the first half of the year. The Physical fitness standards is a essential component of the CSA Regulation which in turn serves to separate the Compliance Review from a carrier's safety rating and attach the standards to the monthly performance data from the new Safety Management System.

The FMCSA understands that a good deal of concern exists in the driver and carrier communities. The FMCSA is not thinking about a public driver scorecard or rating/ranking of any sort. The Agency went on to further explain it is not planning to issue mass driver suspensions and the Agency will not be looking at plans to stop or reduce trucker's potential to drive based on actual attributes such as weight, body mass index or neck size.

Even though the FMCSA is definitely not restricting drivers based on actual physical fitness, there are significant reasons why companies need to pay attention to their standing in the new system. Presently there are generally numerous risks carriers encounter when and if their own fleets slip outside of government guidelines, while the FMCSA is being rolled out:

In addition to Federal Regulations, the actual risks of having inadequate CSA scores according to their rankings.

Risk # 1) Shipper's Carrier selection. If a Carrier's ratings are jeopardized a Shipper, Manufacturer, Freight Broker or 3PL could possibly route their business to another carrier with more suitable compliance scores. It is important to understand the importance of properly serving their Customers with superb service and compliance with federal regulation.

Risk #2) Accessibility of Reasonable Insurance Premiums. Insurance companies routinely evaluate safety and compliance rankings as a foundation for determining carrier insurance premiums. After December's availability of the new CSA legislation, it seems insurance companies will make use of these ratings as the benchmark for selecting rates. Non-compliance with these standards may eventually result in increased premiums or shortage of available premiums all together.

Risk #3) Claims payouts. Carriers with inadequate compliance scores normally pay greater Claims settlement values largely because the additional care and safety taken with much more successful operations produces reduced claims rates.

Risk # 4) Poor Driver Environment. Good truckers will continue to seek companies with increased CSA Scores since those companies with higher emphasis paid on better ratings will certainly be more sought out by Shippers.

Risk #5) Possible FMCSA Intervention. Skirting the line of conformity will continuously place your company at risk of intervention or shut down by the FMCSA. This will certainly cause employees and clients a like to feel less assured about your ability to produce solutions for their needs and in your company's service overall.

Preliminary data suggest that virtually 20% of all truckers on the road tend to be in danger of a FMCSA Intervention directly into their operations. The new formula for evaluating safety compliance under the new regulation has discovered that more than 1/5 of the carriers analyzed are very likely to get 'unsatisfactory' results; especially in the Fatigued Driver Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories. This sample of 60,000 carriers pointed out that the smallest fleets with less than five trucks saw risk of intervention grow from 10 to 15 percent, while the largest fleets with greater than 500 power units saw their risks decrease to 42 percent.

Driver stress and fatigue continued to be the greatest cause for concern, even though vehicle maintenance, as well as unsafe Driving were also seriously problematic categories. The crash indicator and unsafe driving BASICS diminished across the board particularly among large fleets. Looking at of preliminary Safety Improvement Categories started August 16, 2010. The CSA 2010 Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICS) are:

1. Driving Unsafely.
2. Driving Outside of Driving
3. Driver Health & Fitness
4. Driver Chemical Abuse
5. Maintenance of Vehicle
6. Cargo Regulation Violations
7. Crash Statistics

Carriers due date to examine their safety performance data and also deal with any inappropriate conduct that can lead to accidents and fatalities on our roadways is on Dec 5, the national roll out of CSA2010.

View Full Article Here: http://blog.freightaccess.com/2010/11/carriers-slow-to-respond-to-csa-2010-requirements-as-deadline-rapidly-approaches-says-brad-hollister-of-freight-access-inc/

3PL Warehouse Operator Denies Truckers Access to Safe Shelter During Tornado

Execs at Smucker’s, Exel promise to do much better by drivers

Quite a few Truck Drivers countrywide have grown to be outraged over the treatment of fellow truck drivers who had been not allowed in to a Cincinnati, OH warehouse overseen by Excel Transportation. On October 26, 2010, storm sirens sounded as wind gusts topped eighty miles per hour, leaving truck drivers lacking cover from the 100-year weather event. Company spokes people from Excel Transportation and J.M. Smucker Company have assured drivers and freight corporations they will equally do much more in order to give protection to truckers as well as personnel whenever severe weather threatens the well-being of professionals at or around a facility.

A Wisconsin-based driver named Duane Soderstrom ended up being not granted safe entry into the J.M. Smucker Company owned storage facility during the tornado sirens. A security guard declined Mr. Soderstrom entry and also demanded he go back to his tractor until the storm was over and that Mr. Soderstrom would be advised as soon as he was allowed to get into the facility once once more.

Maribeth Baderstcher, Executive for the J.M. Smucker Company conveyed her overwhelming disappointment with regard to the way that truckers had been treated at the premises and also assured the public that future procedures would increase basic safety of all personnel for future instances. Ms. Baderstcher went on to point out that the safety expectations for individuals while on the J.M. Smucker premises was not really attained and acknowledged the significance of promoting a safe climate for all, in the course of not only extreme conditions but all occasions in which a person's safety is jeopardized.

All individuals involved in this potentially dangerous circumstance in Cincinnati appear to acknowledge partial responsibility. The Lease-Operator of the facility (Excel Transportation) has discovered mis-communication as a important cause of the situation stating that the contracted security workforce appeared to be plainly performing responsibilities to the written requirements of the agreement rather than taking good judgment into consideration while making important safety judgements. Lynn Andersen, Executive of Communications apologized to the driver operators for the procedures implemented, and the danger these procedures may have prompted to the basic safety and wellness of all involved.

Both firms have made plans to extend their apologies directly to the drivers. The tactical problem as identified by Ms. Andersen was that safety procedures for personnel during emergency situations were not extended to all individuals on-site at the moment, but instead merely staff and personnel of Excel and or J.M. Smucker Corporation. Ms. Andersen reassured truck drivers that all security personnel and facilities management would extend emergency procedures to take care of all personnel, individuals, and truck driver on property during emergencies and disasters.

Regardless of the action taken by management, the Fruit company left drivers with a bad taste in their mouths. Mr. Soderstrom mentioned this event topped any adverse treatment he has experienced in more than 25 years on the road. He had been extremely thankful a tornado did not indeed touch down close to the facility and that no one was injured in the course of adverse conditions. Mr. Soderstrom feared what could have transpired to the stranded drivers had conditions worsened and even now stays bitter at the lack of regard for the stranded drivers.

The events of October 26, 2010 must serve as a excellent reminder to all of us in the industry that we as fellow inhabitants of earth need to reach out a hand to those in need. This event reminds us that we must apply common sense whenever interpreting procedures as well as continue to keep in mind the basic safety of others throughout all emergency situations.

By Brad Hollister
Freight Access, Inc.

Full Article Here: http://blog.freightaccess.com/2010/11/truck-drivers-safety-engangered-during-tornado-by-corporate-supply-chain-red-tape/