New federal rules affecting driver hiring took effect in late October that require employers to review the safety records of prospective bus and truck drivers and outline the minimum driver safety performance history data that former employers must make available to prospective employers. To read the rule, visit http://dms.dot.gov/search and search Docket 2277.
National Transportation Safety Board’s revised Most Wanted Safety Improvements list calls for changes in motor carrier fitness rating procedures to prevent motor carriers from operating if they put vehicles with mechanical problems on the road or unqualified drivers behind the wheel. NTSB also recommends eliminating flaws in the process of medically certifying drivers. Further details can be found at www.ntsb.gov.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich successfully lobbied to keep the interstate speed limit for trucks at 55 mph, in defeating a House initiative to raise the limit to 65 mph.
The SAFER website has been redesigned to be more user-friendly and more consistent with other Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration websites. The old address, www.
safersys.org, has been replaced with https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
Delphi Corp. has introduced its new line of Forewarn Collision Warning Systems to alert drivers of pedestrians and obstacles in their blind spots to the front, sides and rear of the vehicle by providing a 360-degree electronic sensor cocoon around the vehicle.
John Doe never enjoyed making runs to Chicago – traffic always was horrible in the Windy City, and the onset of winter in early December only added to the misery. But Doe’s dispatch supervisor guaranteed the downtown drop-and-hook wouldn’t take long, and that after the trip, he would make sure that Doe would be able to enjoy a long weekend at home.
Doe said he’d make the run, though he wasn’t thrilled about it. However, a few days off with his wife and two sons were worth a few hours of hassle, even if he spent most of that time stuck on the Dan Ryan Expressway. But he knew he always could kill some time with some good old-fashioned country music on his satellite radio.
