Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for input on how it can leverage technologies such as wireless communications, sensors and onboard diagnostics to improve commercial vehicle and driver safety inspections. Comments are due Oct. 17. For information, visit this site and search Docket No. 22097.
Diesel prices ended August at a record $2.59 a gallon retail nationwide, according to the Energy Information Administration. Earlier in the month, diesel prices experienced their largest one-week gain since EIA began tracking them in 1994. For the week ended Aug. 15, the national average price surged 16 cents to $2.567. The next highest one-week increase occurred in February 2003 when the price jumped 12 cents to $1.662.
Freight Transportation Services Index for May was 113.1, an increase of 0.5 percent from April’s 112.6, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The May 2005 level was the index’s third consecutive monthly increase and was 2.4 percent higher than the May level of 110.5. The base year for the index is 2000.
For the second consecutive month, the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased. The index contracted 0.6 percent in July from June to 114.3. The index is up 0.5 percent over July 2004, however. The index dropped 0.2 percent in June from May. For 2005 to date, the index is up 2.4 percent over the same 2004 period.
SCS Transportation named David Gorman president and CEO of its Delanco, N.J.-based Jevic Transportation, replacing Paul Karvois, who has left the company. Gorman joined Jevic in 1992 and most recently was senior vice president of operations.
National Automobile Transporters Association has become Automobile Carriers Conference of the American Trucking Associations. Current NATA President Robert Farrell will serve as executive director of the new conference, which will continue to operate out of ATA’s headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
After a federal appeals court ordered a new look at the hours-of-service regulations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued new regulations last month that make just three changes to the regulations currently in place.
Effective Oct. 1, drivers – both solo and team – will not be able to split their mandatory 10 hours off-duty time unless they spend at least eight consecutive hours in the sleeper berth and take another two consecutive hours or more of off-duty time during the work day. And that two-hour break, which doesn’t have to be in the sleeper, does not stop the clock on a driver’s 14-hour “window” for driving.
Another major change was to carve out additional flexibility for short-haul operations that use equipment not requiring a commercial driver’s license. The original short-haul exception, which allows a 16-hour day once a week for certain operations conducted within a radius of 100 air miles of the reporting location, remains in place. The new rules include an additional short-haul exception that provide for a second 16-hour work day each week for drivers who:
· Work within a radius of 150 air miles of their reporting location;
· Return to their reporting location each day; and
· Operate equipment not requiring a CDL. Generally speaking, that means equipment rated at less than 26,001 pounds. The major exception is placarded hazardous materials loads, which require CDLs.
In addition to a second 16-hour day each week, these drivers do not have to keep logbooks. Payroll time sheets may be used instead, although they are subject to the same document retention requirements as logbooks.
The third change, which is relatively minor, allows a driver to use the 34-hour restart of their 60-/70-cumulative-hour periods even if he already has exceeded those limits. The current regulations require drivers exceeding cumulative-hour limits before using a restart to remain off duty until the end of that 7-/8-day period.
