CVSA Guardian 4th Quarter 2014 by CVSA

GUARDIAN A Publication of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Volume 21, Issue 4 4th Quarter 2014

Changes in Washington, DC Plus... CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2015 CVSA Launches New Award Program for Exceptional CMV Drivers & More!

GUARDIAN Fourth Quarter Volume 21, Issue 4 www.cvsa.org

GUARDIAN A Publication of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

IN THIS ISSUE n Insight President’s Message ..............................................................................................1 Executive Director’s Message ............................................................................2 Letters to the Editor CSA and the Technician ....................................................................................3 Federal, State and Carrier Safety Partnership: An Idea Whose Time Has Come ................................................................4 Training: Safety’s Critical Component ..........................................................5 Knowledge Matters Predicting Your Next Collision ........................................................................6 n Government News The Legislative & Regulatory Rundown ..................................................................7 Ask the FMCSA Acting Administrator ..............................................................8 New Offsite Safety Audit Process Improves FMCSA’s Efficiency at Auditing New Entrants, Promptly Removes High-Risk Carriers from the Road......................................................................................9 Continuous Improvement Work Group Advises FMCSA before Rollout of Final Phase of CSA ...........................................................9 Distracted Truck Driver Caused Train Derailment and Explosion ...........10 Enhanced Hazardous Materials Curriculum Provides New Inspectors Real-World Experience in Confines of Classroom ................11 National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Raises Safety Bar, Ensuring Qualified Health Professionals Are Assessing Commercial Driver Fitness ............................................................................12 CDLIS Status Reports Convert Canadian License to U.S. Equivalent ......13 n Inspector’s Corner Professionalism: A Necessity for Effective Enforcement ..........................14 n CVSA Committee & Program News Do you know someone who goes above and beyond the performance of his or her duties as a commercial vehicle driver? ........15 Could Your Graduating High School Senior Use a Scholarship Toward their College Education? ..................................................................15 CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2014-2015 ..................................16 Promoting Safe Driving During Operation Safe Driver Week ..................18 Remembering Col. Anna Amos ........................................................................19 n Regional News New Jersey Hosts Two-Part Teens and Trucks Safety Awareness Event for Operation Safe Driver Week ......................................................20 PGT Trucking Team Building Day ....................................................................22 Captain Norman W. Dofflemyer Awarded Governor’s Commendation............................................................................22 Grand Prairie Police Department Educates Teens About Driving Safely Around Large Trucks and Buses for Operation Safe Driver Week ..............................................................................................23 Nebraska State Patrol Post-Crash Inspection Course ................................24 The Benefits of Change......................................................................................26

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Mexico: Revision of Standard for Mechanical and Physical Conditions (NoM-068-SCT-2-2014) ............................................................26 Level VI Cobalt Inspection ................................................................................26 The California Highway Patrol’s Commercial Industry Education Program ..........................................................................................27 Pat Crahan Winds Down His U-Haul Career ................................................28 Local Agencies Work Together to Improve Skills, Safety and Data Uniformity ..........................................................................29 Region V Photos ..................................................................................................30 n Safety Innovators T-Force Toolkit: Increasing Truck and Bus Traﬃc Enforcement ................31 n From the Driver's Seat Cognitive Distractions, Blind Spots and Road Rage....................................32 n RAD Inspection News Level VI Certiﬁcation Class 147 Held in New Mexico..................................33 Attend an Eight-Hour Level VI Refresher Class at the 2015 CoHMED Conference ............................................................................33 Level VI 2015 Class Schedule............................................................................34 CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Program Stops in Michigan and Florida ..34 DOE Issues Final Request for Proposal for Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center Services ......................................34

GUARDIAN 6303 Ivy Lane • Suite 310 • Greenbelt, MD 20770-6319 Phone: 301-830-6143 • Website: www.cvsa.org Guardian is published quarterly by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance with support from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. CVSA and FMCSA are dedicated to government and industry working together to promote commercial vehicle safety on North American highways. CVSA Staff: Stephen A. Keppler, Executive Director • Collin B. Mooney, CAE, Deputy Executive Director • Carlisle Smith, Director, Hazardous Materials Programs • Adrienne Gildea, Director, Policy & Government Affairs • William P. Schaefer, Director, Vehicle Programs • Iris R. Leonard, Manager, Member & Program Services • Nicole Leandro, Manager, Communications • Claudia V. McNatt, Manager, Conferences & Exhibits • J. Craig Defibaugh, Controller • Wanica L. Foreman, Administrative Assistant Copyright 2014, CVSA. All rights reserved. No part of this issue may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. For comments, suggestions or information, email communications@cvsa.org. Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

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CVSA Communications

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Good Communication Builds Strong Relationships By Captain William "Bill" Reese, Idaho State Police

I encourage each of you to communicate with each other. When we open our lines of communication, we build stronger relationships and greater trust.

ore than 20 years ago, I learned a valuable lesson early in my career. This lesson has served me well since. When we effectively communicate with our customers, it builds stronger relationships and trust. In 1991, I moved into our department’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Division. I was one of five Hazardous Materials Specialists assigned to this division. Part of our duties included responding to hazardous materials (hazmat) emergencies and helping mitigate the hazard. This required us to work with our regional response hazardous materials teams, local fire departments, local law enforcement and emergency medical services. One of the first things I discovered troubled me. Many of the agencies, including my own, did not always get along with each other. It bothered me because we all had the same goal in the end – to serve and protect the public, regardless of which agency we represented. When we did not get along, the public suffered. So I set out to mend fences and build bridges.

Many years later, I took a new Sergeant with me to a tabletop exercise in a rural area of our state. I shook hands with many of the people in attendance and introduced him. They were from many different city, county and state agencies. On the way home, he said, “Everybody knows you.” I told him I knew many people because I discovered the value of building relationships many years before and made it part of my life’s work to build and foster good working relationships. I plan to continue this work as CVSA President. While I know many of you, there are far more of you that I do not know. My goal is to meet and get to know more of you and find out what your individual concerns are and what ideas you may have. I encourage each of you to communicate with each other. When we open our lines of communication, we build stronger relationships and greater trust. In the end, we will all be stronger and the Alliance will be stronger. With that strength, we can work together to find common ground and have a positive influence on highway safety in North America. n

I started by visiting agency heads and talking about our responsibilities at hazmat incidents. I volunteered to teach classes and did not charge for my time. This opened many doors, especially at our volunteer and smaller-paid departments. Slowly, over time, our relationships improved. It all started with open communication. In fact, we discovered lack of or poor communication caused many of the problems in the past.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE A Message from the Elections By Stephen A. Keppler, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

The key message I got out of these elections is that the public wants something done in Washington.

o matter what your political leaning is, there was a message from the congressional and gubernatorial midterm elections this year in the United States. In my view, one of the unfortunate messages from this election cycle was the lack of voter turnout across the board. When a majority of the electorate, for whatever reason, does not feel the desire to vote that is saying something about how the public views the state of affairs in the country. Guardian is not a political publication; however, it is a publication intended to inform and educate. One of the unwritten messages underpinning the lack of voter turnout is that the electorate, by and large, feels its vote does not count and won’t make a difference. People read the papers and watch the news and see all the political pundits prognosticating about what the outcomes will be and that voter turnout will be the critical factor, and yet there still is a lackluster showing. The key message I got out of these elections is that the public wants something done in Washington. They are tired of the bickering and the blame game. They want their elected leaders to lead and help improve their lives, regardless of political affiliation. They want to feel their vote counts. What does this mean with respect to transportation? Well, we have a Transportation Bill that is up for action. Transportation, by and large, at the national level is an apolitical issue, and I believe this message from the public provides Congress and the Administration with an opportunity to get a win by working together to get a long-term transportation bill enacted that is also well funded. Just like our phones and emails “connect” us to each other via communication, our highways, bridges, railroads, transit systems and ports connect us in ways that help to enhance our quality of life. The nation’s interstate system, as signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, has been called the greatest public works project in history. From that day forward, it has become an integral part of the American way of life, connecting us to each other and to the world. One of the memories President Eisenhower cited when he persuaded Congress to enact the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was a truck convoy. In 1919, just after the end of World War I, a truck convoy of 81 army vehicles set out across the country from Washington, DC, to San Francisco, CA. The purpose of the convoy was to

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road-test various vehicles to see how easy or diﬃcult it would be to move the army across the North American continent. In its trip, the convoy assumed it was wartime conditions, which included damage or destruction to railroads, bridges, tunnels, etc. Over the course of its journey, the convoy averaged about 6 miles an hour, or 58 miles a day, arriving in San Francisco 62 days and 3,251 miles after its departure from Washington, DC. I bet many of you feel like you are reliving that road test every day as you travel our North American roadways. Can you imagine what life would be like today if it took 62 days to travel the country and we were only able to move at 6 miles per hour? Unfortunately, not everyone votes who has the privilege of doing so; however, everyone certainly does use our transportation system and expects that it will be safe and eﬃcient. We have a golden opportunity with the message from the elections to advance the social and economic well-being of our citizens as well as their safety, and we can start down the right path by passing a long-term and well-funded transportation bill. n

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CSA and the Technician By Tommy Davis, CDM/E, Manager, GTD+, LLC

Technicians need to know the regulations, not just how to pass a roadside inspection.

Having just graduated from trade school, along with youthful exuberance, all I could think about was how many engines I was going to overhaul. I never could understand having to start in the lube bay and work my way up the ladder doing simple tasks that were far below my level of ability. I knew how to do anything and everything. Don’t believe it? Just ask me. After proving I knew less than I thought I did, I redoubled my educational efforts through my employer to hone my technical skills. Fast forward 10 years to 1988. I got to overhaul engines till I was sick of overhauling engines. I was able to build on my success, becoming a service manager with a main shop location and two satellite locations with around 15 technicians. My manager let me know of this new inspection for the “feds.” No big deal, I figured, as all our preventive inspections exceeded the standard. What we have to do is qualify all our technicians, which is no problem. Here is a form; they all have more than one year of experience. I signed everybody up with a qualification form that afternoon and filed them away – one more crazy thing off my list. The mid 90s found me leaving fleet maintenance and going into the third-party service provider arena. Terms like 49 CFR Part 393 or Part 396 along with Appendix G starting coming into my conversations with some customers but made no sense to me. Having been on the cutting edge of trucking technology, it took more than 20 years for me to know there were certain safety regulations that had to be met, i.e., Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). In 2005, I was granted the necessary resources to educate myself on the FMCSR, then train technicians though a network of third-party service providers. I had the privilege of instructing more than 450 technicians, service writers and owners during that time. This training became invaluable to our customer base as CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) 2010 was rolling out. My technicians and I found that, in most cases, we knew more about the regulations than our fleet customers that were required to adhere to them.

Today, I continue to educate technicians, service writers, drivers and, yes, owners about the FMCSR. Conversations can very quickly show people that they are not up to speed on regulations. Sadly, technicians and maintenance departments continue to believe they know all they need to know when it comes to safety regulations. With CSA points, down time and driver and customer dissatisfaction, coupled with the expense of fines to go with the repairs, you have to question why employers accept the maintenance departments/providers not having more knowledge of the safety regulations for maintenance. No fleet or maintenance provider allows new mechanics/technicians to perform major work without training and experience. Yet, all parties allow anyone to inspect vehicles having no training or experience with required safety regulations. How little do most technicians know about the safety regulations? Of the 450 students coming through training classes I have done, none have met the inspector qualifications for doing the periodic inspection. How many CSA points and fines have you gotten lately for a failed engine verses the more than 1,000,000 total brake violations written in 2013? If maintenance departments, fleets or service providers know so much, how did more than 100,000 violations get written for simply having the wrong brake part on a vehicle by regulation? Providing your technicians with training on safety regulations is the only way to ensure compliance. Companies that offer maintenance training on safety regulations are few, very few. Some companies/fleets utilize former or current roadside officers to show technicians what they look for at roadside to pass their inspection. No offense to roadside officers but technicians need to know the regulations, not just how to pass a roadside inspection. Training is not cheap but the value certainly can be quantified through lower CSA scores and fewer out-of-service (OOS) violations; not to mention lowering your fleet cost by having repairs meet regulations the first time they are done, not the second time. Drivers are the face of any company, and have resources allocated to them on regulations, but what have you done for your technicians? n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Federal, State and Carrier Safety Partnership: An Idea Whose Time Has Come By Kevin Mullen, Director of Safety, Ashley Distribution Services, LTD Motor carrier safety has long been touted as a federal, state and carrier partnership. I’ve long scoﬀed at that notion. It’s disingenuous to make that statement. The feds abandoned the Driver Safety Management System (DSMS) before CSA 2010 ever saw the light of day and it’s still not part of the current incarnation of CSA in any meaningful way. Investigators who conduct compliance reviews are the only ones who have access to the DSMS, I’m told. Every state has its own commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement agenda and too often it doesn't align with long-standing, proven techniques for modifying unsafe behaviors. Today, for the most part, it’s the good, safe, conscientious motor carriers who shoulder the lion’s share of the motor carrier safety burden. It’s not much of a partnership.

FMCSA There are millions of good, safe, professional truck drivers in the U.S. Yet, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) did not feature them in their lobby. Nor did they feature the contributions of an industry that literally drives the U.S. economy, an industry that made signiﬁcant investments and gains in safety over the past decades. No, FMCSA, our federal “partner,” instead made their lobby a shrine to motorists killed in truck crashes. This, without acknowleging that, depending on the study, 50-75 percent of those crashes and resulting fatalities were the result of the passenger-car driver. This is our primary regulatory agency and federal “partner.” Some partnership, eh?

States The states do a yeoman’s job conducting roadside inspections. Some states require probable cause to stop CMVs, however, so those states’ inspections and CSA data are skewed toward “bad” drivers and carriers. Some agencies derive no direct beneﬁt from citations and thus have no motivation to write them. Some fund their CMV enforcement units solely with federal MCSAP monies and tell their troopers not to write citations. Their priority is writing inspections. If they write citations and the drivers’ challenge them, the troopers are called into court and lose valuable time they could be using to write more inspections. The unintended result: the carrier alone, not the driver, gets punished because there is no DSMS. The carrier acquires CSA points; the driver,

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nothing. It’s long been known that enforcement citations are the most eﬀective way to curb unsafe behavior, but these states aren’t citing drivers except for the most egregious violations. This is counter-intuitive and contrary to good public policy on motor carrier safety, heck, on highway safety. The results of the annual Roadcheck have long been long touted as a “snapshot of the state of the industry” safety record. But, did you catch the recent admission by CVSA that this is no longer the case? CVSA, in a press release, said that trucks are no longer selected randomly for inspection. And, despite the focus on unsafe equipment and unsafe behaviors, our record as an industry continues to improve. Which of our “partners” is heralding this accomplishment? Inspections do not equate enforcement. Violations are no substitute for citations. So, where is the states’ contribution to highway safety?

Carriers So, what’s left? It is an incontrovertible fact that driver behavior is the number-one contributing factor to vehicle crashes, including CMV crashes. Speed is the number-one cause of all crashes and it's also the number-one contributing factor to the severity of all crashes. The feds have all but abandoned the DSMS and many states aren’t citing drivers for violations that are the number-one cause of crashes. There is precious little enforcement. This is our highway safety partnership? Much too often, it is left to the carrier to enforce the regulations; to discipline the driver. We must have a disciplinary policy that addresses violations on roadside inspections. Don’t have one? Run that by our “partners” when they come in to do a compliance review. CSA data is public record. So, if for no other reason than the chance of having it used against us in court in the event of a crash, motor carriers must act on inspection violations. And for our trouble we get what? Points deducted from our CSA scores for jettisoning unsafe drivers? No, we get empty trucks, lost revenue, increased unemployment rates, the increased risk of possible intervention from our enforcement “partners” and we get pilloried in the lobby of the FMCSA. And the carrier who hires that unsafe driver? No consequences whatsoever! They ﬁll a truck; they get the revenue. What if carriers acquired at least some of the DSMS points when they hired drivers? Why are we paying $10 to run a PSP report if

there are no consequences for hiring drivers with poor safety records? And why are we paying for PSP data that the FMCSA isn’t even using in any meaningful way? It’s a wonderful thing this “partnership,” isn’t it? It’s time for some serious discussion about real motor carrier safety initiatives. If troopers are stopping 80,000 lb. trucks for violations, they should be citing the drivers. They owe this much to motor carriers and they owe this much to the motoring public with whom we share the roads. Nothing less will curb the unsafe behaviors and nothing less should be allowed to qualify as bona ﬁde enforcement. If the violations are trumpedup reasons to stop the vehicle (bogus probable cause), then that practice has to stop. It hurts motor carriers and does nothing for highway safety. Numbers of inspections mean nothing. It gives a false sense that motor carrier safety is being addressed. I ask FMCSA, I ask CVSA, what percentage of inspections result in citations? That is the true measure of highway safety – enforcement, not merely inspections. This needs to be a national initiative, driven by FMCSA and endorsed by CVSA. No longer can states be allowed to place funding their CMV activities before real highway safety. The incentives to do so must be removed from MCSAP funding rules. Enforcement must come before simply writing inspections. FMCSA has the ability to make this happen. They write the MCSAP rules. They control the purse strings. They can mandate that citations be issued for certain violations or they won’t pay for the inspection. It’s time for a real partnership among FMCSA, states and the trucking industry. If we’re serious about highway safety, we owe this to the motoring public. If we’re serious about getting to the next level, we need the focus to be on enforcement. Former FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro testiﬁed that the most recent changes to the hours-of-service regulations were believed to potentially save 19 lives per year. We turned the industry on its head to save 19 hypothetical lives per year! While I agree that every life is important, how many of the nearly 5,000 people who will die in truck-involved crashes each year can be saved with real motor carrier enforcement? If we’re serious about highway safety, let’s cite drivers for unsafe behaviors. Let’s have a real federal, state and carrier safety partnership. n

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Training: Safety’s Critical Component By Norman Anger, Director of Operations & Training, North American Transportation Consultants In any situation, knowing what to do and when to do it is important to all of us in performing our daily responsibilities. When those responsibilities include decisions that involve the safety and protection of life and prevention of fatalities, the decisions we make become critical. The training we receive dictates our response. Motor carrier enforcement and fleet personnel make critical choices daily that involve others who potentially would be victims of human error or ignorance. An enforcement officer strives to prevent the loss of human life in various ways, from citing potential safety issues to mitigating catastrophic events. Although fleet safety/compliance managers’ responsibilities are not as obvious, their safety failures or practices could have the same catastrophic results. Both law enforcement managers and safety/compliance managers share the same safety-related goals with very different approaches. There is a stark contrast in the training available for them to have success in their programs. Having been on both sides of this equation, I can identify with the frustrations of federal, state and local enforcement as well as private and for-hire motor carriers as they attempt to accomplish the shared goal of reducing fatal crashes. Training opportunities for MCSAP inspectors is readily available and excellent. For industry, not so much. Having spent more than 30 years as a state trooper/supervisor in motor carrier enforcement, I understand the importance of an accurate roadside inspection or detailed crash investigation. Intense initial training occurs for federal, state and local enforcement through the NASI and hazmat courses from certified instructors/associate staff members from the National Training Center (NTC). The training received from NTC is not only the best training available but it is reinforced within the field through follow-up mentoring from experienced roadside inspectors before a new inspector is certified in any of the inspection levels. The successful completion of these courses assures enforcement managers that they will have a competently trained unit of inspectors. The intent of those roadside inspections, both hazmat and non-hazmat, is to gather information on carriers, identify violations and remove unsafe drivers/vehicles from our public roadways. We all recognize CVSA as an important catalyst in

implementation and oversight of that comprehensive training program. The motor carrier industry has fewer opportunities for similar intensive training. There are a limited number of venues that offer safety and hazardous materials training and even fewer include hands-on training. Many of those courses are packaged and presented through DVDs and manuals. I have met some safety/compliance managers that I would put up against any of the best NTC-trained people, but they are the exception. Many of these safety professionals are selftaught and would welcome the opportunity to receive the same intense, dedicated training that enforcement has developed. They are the audience the enforcement training efforts are ignoring. Safety compliance training should not be directed to only one side of the safety equation. Wouldn’t it be better to demonstrate brake adjustment problems, load securement techniques, lighting issues, hazmat securement and other safety-related topics to motor carriers by highly trained and respected enforcement instructors? Shouldn’t quality industry instructors explain potential failures in braking systems, suspensions, securement devices or cargo tank limitations? How about training in HOS on board recorders, shipping techniques or new nonconventional truck configurations? Everyone should be working from the same standards as required by the regulations. Is there a better way to achieve our safety goals, to get the right message out, to get all working together? COHMED has already demonstrated a training model that works. Yearly at the annual COHMED Conference, both industry and enforcement personnel conduct classes and seminars in many areas of interest to both. This training began with the resources and expertise of industry teaching enforcement. Over the years, that has now morphed into a mixture of training on important topics from both sides.

accomplishing the mutual goal of safer roadways. Maybe it’s time for CVSA to build on those relationships and the formula that COHMED has found and fostered. Associate members, sponsors and industry participation increases every year. This makes CVSA a prime venue for mutually important training opportunities. For the most part, the spring and fall gatherings handle problematic issues and procedures for correction or proposed legislation and its future impact. CVSA should consider adding training during those spring and fall sessions or scheduling more intense seminars throughout the year. Collaboration in training to reduce cost and increase eﬀectiveness seems like a common sense move. We all recognize that the industry is drastically changing as innovations in transportation vehicles, computers, packages and electronic communications evolve. The pay phone is a thing of the past, as is home delivery and the typewriter. The cell phone and tablet may also be outdated within 10 years. Robotic delivery vehicles and electronic readers are already being used in some applications and that is expected to signiﬁcantly increase. Is it possible for regulations to keep up with those innovations and can enforcement adapt to the rapid change approaching? Will CVSA be the venue that brings all of these cutting-edge innovations into a practical training environment? The ball is in your court. n

The measure of success for enforcement and industry in their eﬀorts is the reduction in fatal accidents. The common denominator for both to achieve that success is the partnership developed over the years within CVSA. This unique relationship of enforcement and industry is a tremendous asset in FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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KNOWLEDGE MATTERS Predicting Your Next Collision By Del Lisk, CTP, Vice President Safety Services, Lytx, Inc.

Motor vehicle crashes are often predictable and preventable. Yet, many drivers behave in ways that put themselves and others at risk for a vehicle crash and/or serious injuries.

here’s a traﬃc collision in the U.S. every ﬁve seconds – and the total cost of collisions exceeds $300 million annually in the U.S. alone. But this doesn’t need to continue.

Motor vehicle crashes are often predictable and preventable. Yet, many drivers behave in ways that put themselves and others at risk for a vehicle crash and/or serious injuries. The most eﬃcacious onboard safety monitoring systems use in-vehicle video technology to gather driving behaviors that can be addressed and corrected, thereby reducing future crash risk. This last statement is based upon a new study from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s (VTTI) Large Truck and Bus Traﬃc Fatality and Injury Study (released May 2014). Following on an earlier study (FMCSA, 2009, Hickman & Hanowski, 2011), this new report found the following results from using video-based safety technology: • Saves an average of 801 lives annually – representing 20 percent of the total number of fatalities each year. • Prevents an average of 25,007 truck and bus injury collisions annually – representing over 35 percent of the total number of injury crashes each year.

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• Saves an average of 39,066 injuries annually – representing over 36 percent of the total injuries. To help put 801 lives saved into context, after airbags and motorcycle helmets, in-vehicle technology is estimated to save more lives per year than child restraints for kids 4 years old and under. Using data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) and the General Estimates System (GES), Jeff Hickman, Group Leader for the Behavioral Analysis and Applications Group under the Center for Truck and Bus Safety at VTTI, carefully studied this growing problem and the use of video-based driver safety technology to combat it. One of the most significant studies on the factors that contribute to motor vehicle crashes was the Indiana Tri-Level Study (Treat et al., 1979). The study determined that 90.3 percent of the crashes involved some type of human error, such as atrisk driving behavior, inadvertent errors and impaired states. While the vehicles in the study were predominantly passenger vehicles, the same relationship can be found in heavy vehicles.

The recently completed Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) assessed the causes of, and contributing factors to, crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). The LTCCS found that 87.3 percent of the critical reasons assigned to the large-truck driver were driver errors. In the latest study, VTTI took these earlier results and overlaid them on data from a national crash database of 10,648 fatal collisions and 213,000 injury crashes involving large trucks and buses that occurred in 2010-2012. “If driver behavior is the primary reason for traffic crashes, then approaches that pinpoint and focus on reducing risky driving behavior are likely to be the most effective in reducing crashes,” states Jeff Hickman. “If you want to get the most bang for your buck, you focus on driver behavior.” Until recently, the primary problem has been getting quality behavioral data on driving behaviors, but technologies are currently available that provide objective measures of driver behavior. These in-vehicle technologies are able to provide measures on a wide variety of driving behaviors previously unavailable to fleet safety managers. These video recordings can be used by fleet safety managers to provide feedback on safe and risky driving behaviors and coach drivers to correct risky driving behaviors, thereby reducing future crash risk. n

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THE LEGISLATIVE & REGULATORY RUNDOWN By Adrienne Gildea, Director, Policy & Government Aﬀairs, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Looking Ahead to 2015 As 2014 comes to a close, most in Washington, DC, are preparing for the changes that are coming in 2015, as the 114th Congress takes over. The mid-term elections brought quite a lot of change with them to Capitol Hill. Probably most significant will be the change in Senate leadership next year. Republicans will take control of the upper chamber, meaning they will control both the House and the Senate for the next two years. This will certainly result in a new dynamic between the White House and Congress in 2015. There will also be a number of changes within the House and Senate Committees that craft transportation policy. A new Congress will bring changes to the Committee rosters, with Members moving between Committees, leadership changes, and adjustments to the party balance on the Committees based on election results. While the final picture for the Committee structure in the 114th Congress is not yet finalized, a number of changes are known. One of the most significant changes from a transportation perspective is the loss of Congressman Rahall (D-WV), a longtime Member and current Ranking Member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Rahall’s defeat means that Congressman DeFazio (D-OR) will take over as lead Democrat on the Committee. The Senate side will see some shuffling of leadership as well. Senator Rockefeller (D-WV), the current Chairman of the Commerce Committee, is retiring. So, in addition to the switch in party leadership, an elaborate round of ‘musical chairs’ will ensue, with Senators shifting between Committees and Subcommittees. In addition, it appears that Senator Inhofe (R-OK) will exert his seniority to take the helm of the Environment & Public Works Committee, which will have a ripple effect down the roster. When all the dust settles from the Committee shuffle, the big question is whether a Republican-led Congress will mean an end to the gridlock on Capitol Hill or another two years of stalling and partisan fighting. Republican leaders argue that, with them at the helm in both chambers, Congress will pass more legislation. However, while it’s possible that a Republican-led Congress could pass more legislation than the current Congress, there’s no guarantee that the President would

sign that legislation. Further, Democrats in the Senate would still be able to filibuster legislation and create hurdles, much like the Republican minority does now. One of the items on the agenda for 2015 will be the next transportation bill. Both the House and Senate Committees are working on draft legislation, in order to be prepared to move a bill next year. However, there are a number of hurdles to moving a big piece of legislation next year. As mentioned above, with each new Congress there is a large amount of turnover and the first few months for most Members are spent hiring staff and setting up their offices. This leaves just a few months mid-year for Congress to take up and complete a transportation bill before the August recess, before the 2016 Presidential election cycle begins to take off, and the likelihood of passing meaningful legislation begins to decrease. However, Congress has proven time and again that they can move significant legislation very quickly, if they want to. The major impediment to moving a transportation bill in 2015 is the issue of funding. If Congress cannot come to agreement on how to provide long-term stability to the Highway Trust Fund, they will not be able to complete a true multiyear transportation authorization. While the odds are long, many agree that transportation is one area where Republicans and Democrats can agree, and there will be a desire on both sides of the aisle to get something accomplished after the elections.

FY2015 Appropriations Congress returned from the mid-term elections for a quick session in December. The ﬁrst and most pressing order of business was the FY2015 Appropriations. Government programs were funded through Dec. 11, 2014, thanks to the continuing resolution Congress passed in September. The negotiated omnibus spending package was unveiled on Dec. 9. Given schedules and procedure in both the House and Senate, a two-day continuing resolution was passed late on Dec. 11, allowing both chambers enough time to vote on the full funding measure. The House also approved the Appropriations bill on Dec. 11. The Senate was expected to follow the House and pass the Appropriations measure some time before the two-day extension expired. The bill provides funding for the MCSAP grants at the same level as FY2014. In addition, the bill contains a number of policy items, including a temporary suspension of a portion of the hours-of-service regulations while a study is conducted, and several weight exemptions for certain roadways in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Mississippi. n

The coming year will be significant on the regulatory side as well. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is slated to publish several very high-profile rulemakings in the coming year. The agency is expected to publish Final Rules on Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) and the CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse next year. In addition, both the Safety Fitness Determination Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and the modifications to the Unified Registration System are expected next year. Also, FMCSA is partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a joint rulemaking that would require speed limiters on heavy vehicles. NHTSA is also scheduled to publish its Final Rule on Electronic Stability Control Systems in 2015.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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ASK THE FMCSA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR A Message from FMCSA Acting Administrator By T.F. Scott Darling III, Acting Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

t is an honor and a privilege to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its 1,100 employees nationwide, and to work with organizations as dedicated to preventing large truck and bus crashes and saving lives as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. I can assure you FMCSA remains as safety-focused as ever with you as our partners. In 2015, we will continue to seek out ways to deepen our cooperation with state and local law enforcement, industry and others, and to leverage your roadside enforcement efforts in support of our life-saving mission. As you may know, I took the helm as FMCSA’s Acting Administrator in August 2014 after two years serving as the Agency’s Chief Counsel. Like you, I have a deep understanding of the challenges in trying to effect change. With only 1,100 employees dispersed across the nation to regulate and oversee the safety operations of more than 1.5 million interstate motor carriers, as well as 4 million active CDL holders, we depend on law enforcement’s full cooperation and buy-in to carry out our mission and strive to meet our ultimate goal of zero fatalities. Indeed, it is a challenge to realize FMCSA’s lofty safety goals. It requires us to continuously sharpen our focus, hone our data and research, ensure our programs are effective and push for continued improvement. At the heart, we will continue to be a safety-focused, data/researchdriven, employee-empowered and stakeholder-engaged agency. With that in mind, I would like to share our top five safety opportunities for the upcoming year that will help take us from where we are to where we want to be. These may ring a bell if you heard FMCSA’s Deputy Administrator Bill Bronrott outline what I like to call our “Five for FY15” at CVSA’s Annual Conference this past September in Buffalo, NY.

Five for FY 2015 1. We will implement the next generation of Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Phase 3 that features the full use of interventions in all states, including off-site interventions and cooperative safety plans. Phase 3 includes national implementation of off-site reviews. We are also in the process of finalizing changes to the Sentri software to allow for off-site reviews and implementation of the remaining interventions that were always designed as part of the CSA program. We believe this will help maximize our resources. 2. We are also on-track to complete the implementation of the Unified Registration System, or URS, which will consolidate 16 different registration forms into a single, online “smart form.” This will be a critical step to ensure we will have more accurate and timely data from carriers by simplifying how they register and submit information to our Agency. As part of this improvement, carriers that fail to update their MCS-150 form every two years as a part of the biennial update are already being deactivated. Since March, more than 100,000 carriers have been deactivated from our system – many of which have been out of business for years. 3. Another key initiative that we are focused on is inspection modernization. Through this program, we are working to upgrade the inspection software and improve the uniformity of roadside inspections.

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We have two goals in mind: 1) make investments to ensure our state partners’ roadside inspection programs are as effective as possible, and 2) provide technical fixes to the Aspen software database to address the needs of roadside inspectors and develop a long-term strategy for technology used roadside. The performance data you collect on carriers each day during your inspections is critically important. We are using the input we received from you to guide us in designing software changes to implement a more effective tool. 4. It should come as no surprise that electronic logging devices (ELDs) also make our priority list. We recognize this is a game-changer for the industry which will, among other things, make it more difficult to violate hours-of-service (HOS) rules and falsify logs. ELDs will also make inspections more efficient. We appreciate your comments and input on the enforcement impact, such as the transmission of data during roadside inspections, and we are committed to addressing your concerns as we move toward a final rule next year. 5. Last but not least, we are committed to publishing a proposed Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) rule to change the way we determine whether a carrier is unfit. It will be a significant change from how safety ratings are currently done. The work you do and the data you generate every day through inspections and crash reporting is critical to our mission and is only growing in importance through the proposed SFD changes. I encourage everyone to read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking when it is published and weigh in with comments on our proposal. We need your input. Internationally, we are also committed to harmonizing our regulations as far as possible and sharing performance and licensing data with Mexico and Canada. We all know that carriers behaving unsafely in one country are likely to do so in another. That is why we must continue to maximize cooperation and minimize duplication. It takes many individuals working toward a common goal to be successful. While each individual effort is laudable, I am reminded of something Boston Celtics great Bill Russell said, “To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a group of people coordinating their efforts toward a common goal, alternately subordinating and asserting themselves to achieve real teamwork in action.” FMCSA and CVSA are a team with the shared goal of saving lives. We will continue to look to you for input and expertise to help us find new and better ways to prevent crashes involving large trucks and buses, and to save lives on the highways of North America. In closing, I thank you for the work you do every day to save lives and reduce crashes. n Darling holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clark University, a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor’s degree from Suffolk University. He was appointed to serve as FMCSA’s Chief Counsel by President Obama in September 2012 and as Acting Administrator in August 2014.

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New Oﬀsite Safety Audit Process Improves FMCSA’s Eﬃciency at Auditing New Entrants, Promptly Removes High-Risk Carriers from the Road By Dee Williams, Chief, Compliance Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

esources to conduct safety audits have always been limited, but this problem has been compounded by the continued increase in the number of new entrant carriers and a reduction in the time frame allotted to conduct new entrant safety audits under Section 32102 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). And while 70 percent of carriers pass the audit, the same amount of resources are currently devoted to each audit regardless of the attention a carrier may need. To address the MAP-21 deadlines for new entrant audits (12 months for most carriers, 120 days for motorcoach operators), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its state partners are testing a new offsite safety audit process. The test started in July 2013 and is expected to better identify high-risk new entrants and their safety problems while more efficiently auditing carriers that do not demonstrate high-risk behaviors. No regulations have been changed for this test, only the audit procedures. The offsite audit process allows eligible carriers to document electronically (or by fax

or in person) the quality of their basic safety management controls in five areas (driver qualifications, driver duty status, vehicle maintenance, accident register, and controlled substances and alcohol use and testing). Auditors review the documents submitted to determine the carrier’s safety compliance. New entrants with data and/or performance information that indicate the need for a more intensive review will still be subject to an onsite safety audit. The process was developed, and will be modified as needed, by a federal/state working group made up of federal auditors and managers, along with representatives from the six participating test states: California, Florida, Illinois, Montana, New York and Alaska (since December 2013). Throughout the test, FMCSA will be gathering information to compare to program metrics to ensure that program goals are being met and modifications are made as necessary.

audit and enter the Corrective Action Process (CAP). Before this change, FMCSA followed up on auto-fail offsite audits with in-person audits. During the test, FMCSA found carriers that had an auto-failure violation during the offsite audit continued to fail during subsequent onsite audits. This modification gets carriers with egregious safety violations off the road more quickly, and saves time and resources by moving these carriers directly into the CAP. As indicated in the September Federal Register notice, FMCSA will continue the offsite audit test through December 2014. n

Recently, as announced in a Sept. 9, 2014, Federal Register notice, FMCSA changed the test process so that if an automatic failure violation is discovered during an oﬀsite audit – e.g., the carrier is not using physically qualiﬁed drivers (391.11(b)(4)) – the carrier will fail the

Continuous Improvement Work Group Advises FMCSA before Rollout of Final Phase of CSA By Dee Williams, Chief, Compliance Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

he Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program is the cornerstone of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) efforts to ensure commercial motor vehicle safety. National rollout of CSA’s third phase is a top priority because it enables the Agency and the states to target their enforcement resources more effectively. In preparing for CSA’s third and final phase, FMCSA formed the Continuous Improvement Work Group (CIWG) to look back at the program since its launch with the Safety Measurement System (SMS) in December of 2010; identify lessons learned; and provide recommendations on how to improve federal and state compliance and enforcement programs. The CIWG consists of 20 representatives from the states and FMCSA and is currently conducting analysis and

generating recommendations. Work Group members are focused on the prioritization and intervention processes and policies to best complete the national rollout. For example, based on the success of the warning letter, the group is considering expanded use of these letters. Changes to the Agency’s definition of “high risk” are also under consideration. To date, the Work Group has surveyed a wider audience to gather feedback since CSA’s initial rollout, specifically identifying opportunities to improve the program prior to its national debut. FMCSA surveyed division administrators, federal program specialists, division program specialists, field office supervisors and safety investigators. The Agency also conducted interviews with FMCSA and state partner staff in eight states for additional details.

In September, during the CVSA Annual Conference, FMCSA and its state partners discussed these continuous improvement efforts and strategies for national rollout. The lively two-hour discussion focused largely on two questions: what are the most beneficial aspects of the CSA program and what are its greatest challenges? The Agency is grateful to all participants for joining us in this compliance dialogue. FMCSA will use the data collected and analysis performed, along with the recommendations from the Work Group, to improve the CSA program and refine plans for the national rollout. n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

Distracted Truck Driver Caused Train Derailment and Explosion By Eric Weiss, Public Aﬀairs Oﬃcer, National Transportation Safety Board

n the afternoon of May 28, 2013, a 2003 Mack Granite threeaxle roll-oﬀ straight truck was traveling northwest on a private road in Rosedale, MD, toward a private highwayrailroad grade crossing. About the same time, a CSX Transportation Company (CSXT) freight train was traveling southwest, sounding its horn three times as it approached the same crossing. The truck did not stop before it proceeded into the crossing. The train struck the truck on the right side, causing the truck to rotate and overturn before coming to rest on an earthen embankment. The ﬁrst 15 cars of the 45-car train derailed.

As a result of this investigation, the NTSB issued 12 new safety recommendations, reiterated three previously issued recommendations, and reclassiﬁed two recommendations. The full report, including a complete list of ﬁndings and safety recommendations, is available at www.ntsb.gov. n

Three of the 15 derailed cars contained hazardous materials. The other derailed cars contained non-U.S. Department of Transportation-regulated commodities, or were empty. The seventh car (loaded with sodium chlorate crystal) and the ninth through 12th cars (loaded with terephthalic acid) released their products. Following the derailment, a post-crash fire resulted in an explosion. The overpressure blast from the explosion shattered windows and damaged property as far as approximately half a mile from the crash site. The fire remained confined to the derailed train cars. During an Oct. 22, 2014, press conference in Rosedale, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart announced the release of the final report of the investigation, which determined that the probable cause of the collision, derailment and subsequent explosion was the truck driver’s failure to ensure the tracks were clear before traversing the highway-railroad grade crossing. Contributing to the crash was the truck driver’s distraction due to a phone conversation on a hands-free device. The 2004 Mack roll-off truck and trailer at final rest adjacent to railroad.

As a result of this ﬁnding, the NTSB issued a recommendation to extend the limitations on the use of portable electronic devices to prohibit the use of hands-free cell phones by all commercial driver’s license holders while operating a commercial vehicle. “Current laws may mislead people to believe that hands-free is as safe as not using a phone at all,’’ said Hart. “Our investigations have found over and over that distraction in any form can be dangerous behind the wheel.” The NTSB also found that Alban Waste, the owner of the vehicle, demonstrated “a consistent and serious pattern of noncompliance” with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations from the time that the company registered as a carrier until the crash. It also found that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was aware of problems with Alban Waste but did not take adequate steps to ensure that the carrier complied with federal regulations, or, failing that, to prevent Alban Waste from operating.

NTSB investigators in hazmat suits investigate the accident.

“We continue to be concerned with the FMCSA’s new entrant program,” Hart said. “Problem operators keep falling through the cracks.” The NTSB issued recommendations to address this deficiency. Finally, the NTSB found that a lack of oversight of private highway-railroad grade crossings poses a risk to the safety and health of motorists, train crews and train passengers, as well as to surrounding communities. After a second collision at the Rosedale grade crossing in August 2014, CSXT took steps to remove foliage surrounding the crossing and install traffic control signs. “Efforts to improve safety at private grade crossings have been inadequate,” Hart said. “We need states, railroads and landowners to address problems before serious collisions occur.” The NTSB issued recommendations to further address these deficiencies. NTSB investigators recreate the accident for a sight-distance test.

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Enhanced Hazardous Materials Curriculum Provides New Inspectors Real-World Experience in Conﬁnes of Classroom

nspecting hazardous materials (hazmat) carriers is a daunting but critical public safety function – one with which those new to the field may have no first-hand experience. Rookie hazardous materials inspectors are trained to expect certain things and to take appropriate actions, but they lack real-world know-how. This is why the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) National Training Center (NTC) has updated its Hazardous Materials Curriculum to give these inspectors hands-on experience in the classroom; where instructors can guide, reassure and correct students in a controlled and risk-free environment. In addition to the revised focus on classroom performance, there are task walkthroughs and exercises that mimic real-world inspections. The courses also provide students with job aids, such as cards, brochures or visual aids that inspectors can quickly consult for roadside guidance. The Hazardous Materials Curriculum is a set of four related courses: General Hazardous Materials, Cargo Tank Inspection, Other Bulk Packages and Cargo Tank Facility Review. The General Hazardous Materials course certifies students to conduct roadside inspections of hazardous materials carriers (certification in North American Standard Parts A and B is a prerequisite for this course). Cargo Tank Inspection and Other Bulk Packages build upon the information taught in General Hazardous Materials, while Cargo Tank Facility Review teaches students how to review facilities that perform tests and inspections on cargo tanks. The curriculum redesign began with the establishment of a team of subject matter experts. Each subject matter expert is either a volunteer from CVSA’s Hazardous Materials and Training Committees, or directly recommended by them. The team met with NTC contractor instructional systems designers to review the present curriculum and to revise objectives and content to better match what students would be expected to do in the field. An example can be found in the Cargo Tank Inspection course, which included the very broad objective to “inspect piping.” The team made this objective more specific and measurable: “Establish that piping is leak-proof and demonstrates minimum road clearance.”

To measure student mastery of these objectives, the instructional systems designers and subject matter expert team designed and developed a number of classroom exercises. Students must be able to identify violations and cite the applicable regulations in each exercise. This focuses the course on application, making sure that students comprehend the process of conducting a hazardous materials inspection before they ever set foot on the road. Because of the frequency of shipping-paperrelated violations – five of the top 10 most common violations found during a roadside inspection in fiscal year 2013 involved shipping papers1 – student materials in the new curriculum use a variety of shipping papers in conjunction with exercises. This hands-on approach helps students learn to examine the whole document and apply the information found in it to the remainder of the inspection. It also allows instructors to identify problem areas and address them right away. The redesign also makes job aids an important component of the training process. Information learned in the classroom may not be immediately or regularly applied in the field; therefore, relevant information must be readily accessible. Job aids bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world. They provide a light, portable reference that inspectors can glance over and apply to a given situation. The job aids also serve as performance aids in the classroom. NTC’s goal is to produce expert inspectors as quickly as possible. If they are comfortable performing hazardous materials inspections right out of the gate, there will be less need to conduct later on-the-job training. And if the inspectors have helpful, easy-to-use reference materials, they will be able to switch between different types of inspections with greater ease. n 1

FMCSA (2014) “Roadside Inspections, HazMat Violations.” Analysis and information online. Retrieved from http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/Safety Program/spViolation.aspx?rpt=RDHV

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

National Registry of Certiﬁed Medical Examiners Raises Safety Bar, Ensuring Qualiﬁed Health Professionals Are Assessing Commercial Driver Fitness By Pamela Perry, RN, Nurse Consultant, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

esigned to improve safety by achieving high-quality medical exams that are consistent with Federal regulations and guidelines, the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry) helps commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and carrier employees find trained and qualified health care professionals to perform physical qualification examinations. All drivers who need a new medical card to operate a CMV in interstate commerce must be examined by a certified professional on the National Registry. Since FMCSA began enforcing its National Registry rule on May 21, 2014, more than 36,000 medical examiners have been certified on the National Registry and more than 2 million medical certificates have been issued. To perform medical exams and be listed on the National Registry, health care providers must complete a training course and pass an exam that makes them uniquely qualified to assess a CMV driver’s ability to meet the rigorous demands of life on the road, such as abrupt schedule changes; rotating work schedules; exposure to vehicle noise; vibration; extremes in temperature; and adverse road, weather and traffic conditions.

To validate a medical examiner and ensure he or she is certified, enter the examiner’s National Registry number into the search box. It will provide the medical examiner’s office information and certification date.

Since the May 21, 2014 compliance date, the Agency has identified 25 cases of medical examiners who have conducted examinations but weren't certified on the National Registry. Some of these cases result from a medical examiner either being unaware of the National Registry regulation, or having registered and obtained a National Registry number but failing to complete the training and certification process. Others show more malicious intent and are committing fraud. Whether fraudulent or just ill-informed, in these cases, the Agency invalidates all medical cards issued to drivers by uncertified examiners and notifies the drivers that they will need to be reexamined by someone on the National Registry. To minimize this problem, the Agency has conducted a robust nationwide campaign to educate medical providers about the National Registry through targeted advertisements and articles published in medical journals. For those with fraudulent intentions, the Agency is flushing out the abusers and reporting them to state and federal authorities for legal action, which, in some cases, could include prosecution and jail time. Ultimately, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure the medical examiner he or she chooses is certified and listed on the National Registry. We always caution drivers not to look for the “cheapest deal.” Otherwise, the driver may have to pay more than once for a valid examination. Similarly, carriers are responsible for ensuring the medical examiners they use are listed on the Registry. We make this easy with the dedicated website: https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov. The site allows drivers and carriers to use interactive maps and enter postal ZIP codes to locate a certified medical examiner convenient to them.

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If you do not have the provider’s number, enter the name and click on the search button.

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CDLIS Status Reports Convert Canadian License to U.S. Equivalent By Carla J. Vagnini, Transportation Specialist, North American Borders Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

he Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) status reports for all Canadian drivers reflect the equivalent U.S. license classes. As a result, all state and FMCSA personnel only need to ensure that CDLIS reflects the appropriate class of license for the vehicle configuration being operated. This issue arose recently when an inspector noticed that a Quebec driver’s CDLIS-reported license class was different than the class listed on the face of the license. The vehicle combination being operated at the time of the stop required a Class A license, but the driver’s Canadian license reflected a Class 1 qualification. The CDLIS system accurately converted the Canadian class into the U.S. class. If the driver does not possess the proper license class for the vehicle he or she is operating, the driver should be placed out of service for operating with an invalid license. A violation of “Does not possess a valid CDL” includes, but is not limited to: improper class, expired, cancelled, revoked, disqualified, suspended or withdrawn.

If the provider’s name does not appear after attempting either option, he or she is most likely not a certified medical examiner. If you discover that a provider is giving commercial driver exams that claim to meet the Agency’s regulatory requirements but is not a certified medical examiner, please contact FMCSAmedical@dot.gov. The National Registry regulation requires all carriers and employers to verify their driver’s medical certification cards after the exams are completed. To do this, they must go to the National Registry homepage and enter either the National Registry number of the medical examiner or the provider’s name. Should the employer find that the medical provider is not certified, the employer must remove the driver from the road until another exam can be conducted and verified by a certified medical examiner.

In addition, enforcement personnel should note that Canadian provinces and territories have added a Code “W” restriction on their drivers’ licenses to indicate if drivers have a medical condition that would prohibit them from operating in the United States. If you discover a Canadian driver operating in the United States with a “W” restriction on his/her license, the driver should be placed out of service for operating in violation of a restriction (i.e., invalid license). n

FMCSA’s National Registry is not solely comprised of primary care doctors. The Agency receives applications for certification from podiatrists, physical therapists, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and registered nurses (RNs). Depending on the rules of each state, some of these providers are able to conduct commercial driver exams. Other states limit this type of exam to more traditional providers, like medical doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doctors of osteopathy. Whatever the case, only those individuals who are licensed by their state to practice medicine and who complete the training and testing requirements to be listed on the National Registry will be able to conduct physical exams that are acceptable under FMCSA rules as evidence that CMV drivers are medically qualified. To learn more about the National Registry and for a complete guide to the certification process, visit https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov. n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

I N S P E C T O R ’ S CO R N E R

INSPECTOR’S CORNER Professionalism: A Necessity for Eﬀective Enforcement By JW Watlington, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Arizona Department of Public Safety

ow do you know a logbook is false? The driver gave it to you. How do you know a driver is lying? His lips are moving. Jimmy Gear Jammer; Billy Big Rig; the Loose Lugnut behind the wheel; Diesel Dummy, etc. How many of these have you heard? How many times in the past month? When these phrases are being spoken, who is listening? Who is taking in the information we, as trained inspectors, are saying or joking about with others? In my case, it is usually younger, less seasoned and sometimes wetbehind-the-ears rookies. What kind of message are we sending them about the industry we regulate? I have a friend who is the manager of a fleet of 200 to 300 trucks. When he and I were speaking last, he told me, “JW, if I get an inspection from an officer, I won’t challenge any violation I see, no matter what.” I told him he was crazy as I have seen some of the “violations” that are written. He insisted though, because he does not want an officer to feel he is questioning their knowledge and then having said officer single out his vehicles for inspection. This made a profound impact on me, because I know if he is worried about such selective enforcement occurring, then it already is. This past year, we were conducting a static checkpoint/inspection area along I-40. We had multiple agencies and members of industry who were watching as we conducted Level I Inspections. I was taking a group around explaining the 37-step process and talking about various inspection points and what we are looking for at different locations of commercial vehicles. Next to us was a pair of inspectors also conducting a Level I. One inspector on the catwalk told the driver to “brake and hold,” observed the pushrod travel along axle two, then called out “1 1/8th left, 1 ½ right.” I waited for a third inspector who did not have a good view of the pushrod to crawl out from under the vehicle, but it never happened. One of the mechanics in my group asked, “Do they calibrate everyone’s eyes when you go through training?”

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At one port of entry, it has been common practice to hold on to a driver’s license and bill of lading when placing drivers out of service. Inspectors would issue the out-of-service order and direct the drivers to go to the truck stop and following the required time they could return and show the copy of the inspection and receive their documentation. This has been done to ensure when a driver is placed out for 10 hours, they get the full 10 hours and don’t leave early. Well, one inspector forgot to hold the license one day, so he promptly contacted the driver again after he had issued the inspection, citations and out-of-service order. He demanded the driver hand over his license. When the driver said no, the inspector demanded his license……at gunpoint! The inspector has since been fired and the use of force litigation is heading through the courts as I write. I am certain the monetary settlement will be significant. We have an enormous responsibility. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, when we stop a commercial vehicle, we have made a seizure of the driver, vehicle(s) and any goods, which may be in transit that usually belongs to a second or third party as it relates to the Fourth Amendment. Most commercial vehicle stops represent a significant monetary value for drivers, carriers, shippers and receivers and we wield a great amount of power. When we are dealing with drivers and/or carriers in the capacity of our positions, what do they see? I know there are carriers that have earned our undivided attention through a history of repeated violations of the regulations. By no means am I speaking of the cross-dressing meth heads, kidnappers, human traffickers, drug smugglers, sexual predators and other nefarious felons who must understand while you screw the muzzle into their ear they are going into custody or to the boneyard. But these are few and far between and represent an infinitesimal percentage of the commercial vehicle industry. The trucking industry has between 5 and 8 million vehicles traveling from 380 to 410 billion miles a year. This industry allows me to enjoy a standard of living and quality of life here in America which is unequaled by any

society in the history of civilization. I comprehend the magnitude of my job in enforcing the rules of arguably the most heavily regulated industry next to commercial air travel. Unfortunately, there are many who do not. I realize I am preaching to the choir. If you are reading Guardian, involved in CVSA, COHMED, NAIC, NTC, etc. you probably are right in line with my way of thinking. But it needs to be a message we reinforce at each moment an opportunity presents itself. I think about those Randy West videos from NTC where he has caught the driver falsifying his record-of-duty status. He doesn’t belittle or demean the driver, doesn’t threaten to dress him in silver bracelets, doesn’t let him know he will probably lose his job; he just advises him of his ﬁndings and tells him what will be the outcome. We should be pushing and promoting professionalism; we should be the standard bearers. We have to promote a professional process of inspection from Level III to compliance review audits amongst our peers and throughout our varying agencies, because if we do not, then who will? We’re still going to ﬁnd knuckleheads, we’re still putting drivers, vehicles and, at times, carriers out of service. It’s a statistical fact these events are going to happen, not anomalies. Sometimes we’re going to issue CVSA decals; other times, tickets. Sometimes the inspections result in positive interaction between inspectors and industry; other times, someone ends up in jail. No matter what occurs, it’s just business. After this inspection, there’s going to be another. It’s the circle of life. Be about the business, be the professional, and always remember the driver you tune up today, may be the driver I’m dealing with tomorrow. Be safe everyone. n

C V S A CO M M I T T E E & P R O G R A M N E W S

Do you know someone who goes above and beyond the performance of his or her duties as a commercial vehicle driver?

Could Your Graduating High School Senior Use a Scholarship Toward their College Education?

As the leading organization overseeing the coordination of uniformity of commercial motor vehicle safety enforcement and regulatory compliance across North America, CVSA is launching a new annual award program to recognize the exceptional careers of professional commercial motor vehicle drivers and their commitment to public safety.

As North America's leading commercial vehicle safety organization, the CVSA Academic Scholarship Award Program is a key component of the Alliance's educational outreach initiative.

He or she may be eligible to apply for Nominate him or her for CVSA’s International CVSA’s 2015 Academic Scholarship Award Driver Excellence Award Program

The International Driver Excellence Award will recognize individuals who go above and beyond the performance of their duties as a commercial vehicle driver, distinguishing themselves conspicuously and beyond the call of duty through the achievement of safe operation and compliance carried out with evident distinction for an extended period of time, beyond the normal service of duty. CVSA is accepting nominations from Jan. 5 to Feb. 27, 2015. Visit www.cvsa.org/programs/driver_excellence_award to learn more and download the nomination form. n

CVSA provides academic scholarships annually to graduating high school seniors whose parent or legal guardian is a member of the Alliance in good standing. Two $1,000 scholarships or four $500 scholarships will be awarded at the discretion of the CVSA Scholarship Committee. Academic scholarship recipients are selected by weighing academic performance and extracurricular activities. Students who meet the following criteria are eligible for the scholarship. The candidate must: • Be a legal dependent of a Class I Member, Class II Local Member, or a Class III Associate Member • Be a graduating high school senior • Have a minimum high school GPA (or equivalent) of 3.0 • Be a citizen and/or permanent legal resident of the United States, Canada or Mexico

CVSA is currently accepting applications for its 2015 Academic Scholarship Award. All application documents must be received by April 30, 2015.

The CVSA Academic Scholarship Award Program is based on academic achievement. Recipients will be selected by the Scholarship Committee based on application documentation provided. All recipients will be notiﬁed of the Committee’s decision by May 31, 2015. Payment will be made to the recipient’s school of choice upon notiﬁcation and in accordance with the schools’ scholarship guidelines. To learn more and apply, visit www.cvsa.org/programs/academic_scholarship_2015.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

C V S A CO M M I T T E E & P R O G R A M N E W S

CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2014-2015 President’s Award Recipients Announced at CVSA's 2014 Annual Conference & Exhibition

CVSA transitioned to its new leadership for the 2014-2015 term at the Alliance’s 2014 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Buﬀalo, NY. Capt. William “Bill” Reese from the Idaho State Police is the new President of the Alliance. Maj. Jay Thompson of the Arkansas Highway Police is CVSA’s Vice President. Julius Debuschewitz of Yukon Highways and Public Works was elected by the membership to the position of CVSA Secretary. Sgt. Thomas Fuller of the New York State Police is now the Alliance’s immediate Past-President.

CVSA's 2014-2015 Leadership: Vice President Maj. Jay Thompson (left), CVSA Secretary Julius Debuschewitz (middle) and CVSA President Capt. Bill Reese (right).

Kendra Hems, President and CEO of the New York State Motor Truck Association, surprises Sgt. Thomas Fuller at the General Session by presenting him with an award.

“I am honored to represent CVSA as the President. I will work diligently to continue the Alliance’s mission of improving commercial vehicle safety and security across North America,” said Capt. Reese. “My goals for the next year are to build stronger relationships so we can have a synergistic affect in the legislative and rulemaking arenas, and use our influence and credibility to have a positive impact on new legislation that affects highway safety and interstate commerce. I also plan to continue the work started by prior CVSA Presidents.” Capt. Reese has been with the Idaho State Police since 1986. After serving as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Sergeant and Lieutenant, he was promoted to Captain in 2010. As Division Commander, Capt. Reese is responsible for Idaho’s commercial vehicle safety and hazardous materials inspection and response programs. From 1995-2003, he also served as an associate staff member of the FMCSA National Training Center. He previously served as Chair of CVSA’s COHMED and Level VI programs. Capt. Reese served as CVSA’s Vice President in 2013-2014. CVSA Vice President Maj. Jay Thompson has been a law enforcement officer in Arkansas for 23 years. His first CVSA experience was in 2003, when he competed in the North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC) and was awarded the John Youngblood Award of Excellence in Columbus, OH. He has also served as Region II Chair for COHMED, CVSA Region II President and CVSA Size and Weight Committee Chair.

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CVSA Secretary Julius Debuschewitz is Manager of National Safety Code, Transport Services, Highways and Public Works, Government of Yukon, Canada. Debuschewitz has been in the transportation ﬁeld for 36 years and has worked in commercial vehicle compliance for the Transport Services Branch of Yukon Highways and Public Works for the past 20 years. He is a CVSA NAS Level I Part A and B instructor and a passenger vehicle instructor and serves on the Canadian Education Quality Assurance Team (EQAT), of which he is a founding member. Debuschewitz was also the Vice Chair of NAIC.

Other Leadership Changes Region II elected Chief Inspector Scott Carnegie of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to the position of Vice President. Sgt. Scott Hanson of the Idaho State Police now holds the position of Vice President for Region IV. For Local Members, Ofc. Wes Bement of the Grand Prairie Police Department in Texas is the President. Sgt. Kenneth Hopkins of the Mansﬁeld Police Department in Texas is Vice President. The President of Associate Members is Jason Wing, Manager of Safety Compliance and Training for ABF Freight. The Vice President is David Guess of Usher Transport, Inc. The Chair of the Hazardous Materials Committee is Sgt. Bradley Wagner of the Nebraska State Patrol. The Vice Chairs are Ofc. Rion Stann of the Pennsylvania State Police and Sgt. Joshua Clements of the California Highway Patrol. The Size and Weight Committee selected 1st Sgt. Kenneth R. Snead of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to the position of Secretary.

C V S A CO M M I T T E E & P R O G R A M N E W S

CVSA’s 2014 Annual Conference & Exhibition On Sept. 14-18, 2014, CVSA held its Annual Conference and Exhibition in Buffalo, NY. Approximately 600 government officials, enforcement and industry members attended the Annual Conference in an effort to affect meaningful changes in transportation safety. “CVSA provides opportunities for our members to work together all year long,” said CVSA Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “However, these in-person meetings provide an effective and efficient way for key stakeholders to discuss, examine and make strides in furthering CVSA’s mission. That’s exactly why the CVSA Annual Conference & Exhibition is so important.” The general session, which kicked off the Annual Conference, included regulatory updates from the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), and the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The general session also included a roundtable discussion featuring Bill Bronrott, Deputy Administrator, FMCSA; Darren E. Christle, Executive Director, Manitoba Infastructure & Transportation, CCMTA, and Chairman of the CCMTA Standing Committee on Compliance and Regulatory Affairs; and Federico Dominguez Zuloaga, Federal Motor Carrier Administrator, SCT. The roundtable discussion included a series of membergenerated topics that were discussed amongst the members of the panel, as well as a Q&A session with the audience. As one of his last duties as CVSA president, Sgt. Thomas Fuller of the New York State Police gave the coveted CVSA President’s Award to two worthy recipients: Steve Niswander, Vice President of Safety Policy and Regulatory Relations for Groendyke Transport of Enid, OK, and Francis “Buzzy” France, Administrative Officer III, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section of the Maryland State Police. Next year’s CVSA Annual Conference & Exhibition will take place on Sept. 13-17, 2015, at the Boise Center in Boise, ID. n

Sgt. Thomas Fuller (middle) presented Steve Niswander (left) and Francis (Buzzy) France (right) with the prestigious President's Award.

A special thank you to the members of the New York State Police for their hospitality, generosity and assistance during CVSA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition.

CALL FOR GUARDIAN SUBMISSIONS CVSA is always looking for interesting, relevant content for its quarterly magazine. We would be happy to consider your news, ideas, insights and articles on the issues facing the commercial vehicle safety community for upcoming editions of Guardian. Deadline for the ﬁrst quarter 2015 issue: Jan. 5, 2015

To submit your article, send your content, along with any corresponding photos, to communications@cvsa.org.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

C V S A CO M M I T T E E & P R O G R A M N E W S

Promoting Safe Driving During Operation Safe Driver Week

The campaign aims to combat the number of deaths and injuries from crashes involving large trucks, buses and cars.

n Oct. 19-25, 2014, law enforcement agencies across North America engaged in heightened traﬃc safety enforcement and education aimed at unsafe driving behaviors by both commercial motor vehicle and passenger-vehicle drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week. In 2012, more than 4,100 people were killed and 126,000 were injured in large truck and bus crashes on our roadways. Many of those accidents are the direct result of the drivers – both truck and bus drivers, as well as the passenger-vehicle drivers operating unsafely around them. CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver program was created to help to combat the number of deaths resulting from crashes involving large trucks, buses and cars. “This coordinated and far-reaching enforcement eﬀort, coupled with the program’s education and awareness components for drivers of all vehicles, focuses on unsafe driving behaviors, which translates to fewer accidents and fatalities,” said CVSA President Capt. Bill Reese with the Idaho

State Police. “We commend our member jurisdictions and industry partners for their support of and participation in this important life-saving campaign. Together, we are making a diﬀerence.” During Operation Safe Driver Week, activities were held across the United States, Canada and Mexico with the goal of increasing commercial vehicle and passenger-vehicle traﬃc enforcement, safety belt enforcement, driver roadside inspections and driver regulatory compliance. In addition to enforcement, educational and awareness safety programs were provided to the motor carrier population and the motoring public. “We know most of these roadway tragedies are preventable. We can save lives, prevent injuries and improve public safety by reinforcing the importance of sharing the road safely,” said CVSA Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “CVSA is committed to saving lives and the Operation Safe Driver program helps us do that.”

A press conference and safety demonstrations were held in Denver, CO, to oﬃcially launch the 2014 North American-wide Operation Safe Driver mobilization week.

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C V S A CO M M I T T E E & P R O G R A M N E W S

Remembering Col. Anna Amos

Last year, law enforcement officers stopped 74,765 commercial and passenger-vehicle drivers during the 2013 Operation Safe Driver mobilization week; nearly triple the 26,487 stopped during the 2012 event. The top three warnings and citations issued to both commercial and non-commercial vehicle drivers were: (1) speeding, (2) failing to use a safety belt and (3) failure to obey traffic control devices. “Whether you are a professional truck or bus driver, a parent shuttling your kids to school, or a newly licensed teenager, we want you to arrive at your destination safely," said FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling. “Operation Safe Driver emphasizes the importance of everyone sharing the road safely; always give large vehicles plenty of room maneuver, never linger in 'No Zones' (the blind spots where your vehicle cannot be seen by another driver), be courteous, and never text or allow yourself to become distracted while behind the wheel.” “Operation Safe Driver is a critical and invaluable tool to help teen drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers prepare the most important safety tools they have available – their mind, driving attitude and driving aptitude,” said Brian W. Neal, Senior Manager, Corporate Safety, FedEx Ground Corporate Headquarters. “This program makes our roadways safer for everyone.” On Oct. 20, 2014, a press conference and safety demonstrations were held in Denver, CO, to officially launch the 2014 North American-wide Operation Safe Driver mobilization week. In addition, New Jersey held a two-part Teens and Trucks safety awareness event on Oct. 20 for Operation Safe Driver Week. See pages 20-21 for more information on New Jersey’s event. And closing out the week, Texas held a Teens and Trucks education and safety awareness event on Oct. 24. See page 23 for more information on their Operation Safe Driver event.

ol. Anna J. Amos passed away on Oct. 30, 2014. Amos was a CVSA member with the South Carolina State Transport Police before joining the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). “Anna was one of a kind and a trailblazer,” said CVSA Executive Director Stephen A. Keppler. “She accomplished so much over the years to help promote and advance safer transportation on the roads in South Carolina and across North America. Anna was a tremendous person, both personally and professionally, and was a genuine pleasure to be around. She will be greatly missed.” Amos began her law enforcement career in 1983 as the first woman to serve as an inspector for the South Carolina Public Service Commission. In 1993, Amos transferred to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety as the department’s Deputy Director leading the State Transport Police Division. She completed her career in South Carolina at the rank of Colonel. Amos then joined FMCSA as the Director of the Office of Safety Programs in the Office of Enforcement in 2008. Amos was critically involved in FMCSA’s efforts to complete the United States’ commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Through the previous demonstration project and recent pilot program, Amos worked with the Government of Mexico to identify and implement opportunities for long-haul trucking. Amos also provided senior leadership in the Agency’s management of its grant programs, resulting in improved oversight and delivery of those programs. Additionally, Amos provided key direction for the completion of the CDL Information System modernization and the establishment of programs to facilitate the transition of veterans into the trucking industry.

Col. Anna Amos

Our thoughts and condolences are with her family. n

Operation Safe Driver was launched in 2007 by CVSA, in partnership with FMCSA, to help improve the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner either by or around commercial vehicles. For more information, visit www.operationsafedriver.org. n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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REGION I

New Jersey Hosts Two-Part Teens and Trucks Safety Awareness Event for Operation Safe Driver Week By Shari Leichter, Administrative Analyst II, Bureau of Trucking/Freight Services, New Jersey Department of Transportation

New Jersey held a two-part Teens and Trucks safety education and awareness event at Hammonton High School for Operation Safe Driver Week. The event was sponsored by Atlantic Investigations and CVSA.

REGIONAL MAP Region I Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, US Virgin Islands and Vermont Region II Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia Region III Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin Region IV Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Mexico, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming Region V Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, NewBrunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Yukon

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n Oct. 16, 2014, the classroom training portion of the educational program took place. There were eight classes; each lasted about 43 minutes. The four classroom instructors were Sgt. Scott Dorrler from New Jersey State Police (NJSP), Transportation Safety Bureau; Detective Sgt. Matt Razukas, Fatal Unit, NJSP; and Robert (Bobbie) Clarke, Retired Atlantic City Sergeant, and Wayne Shelton, Retired NJSP Lieutenant, who now both work for the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization. Instructors taught teens how to be aware of the blind spots (also called “No Zones”), the threesecond rule and to always keep a safe distance around large trucks and buses. The students were taught to avoid all types of distractions, including talking to passengers, adjusting the radio or GPS, eating, drinking, reading, using a cell phone, reaching for something you dropped on the floor or any other activity that removes your attention from the road. Instructors showed videos of distracted driving and we witnessed some teens jump in their seats when they saw the car crash into a truck and flip over due to distracted driving. We also handed out flyers on how to share the road safely with large trucks and buses to all of the teens. On Oct. 20, 2014, we had the second part of this event, which was outside. There were seven stations set up in front of Hammonton High School. Approximately 1,471 teens went through each station and were taught about the limitations and characteristics of large trucks and buses compared to passenger vehicles and motorcycles. New Jersey State Police, safety experts and other officers invited teens into commercial motor vehicles to demonstrate the “No Zones” and to experience what it is like to be a commercial vehicle driver. The teens also sat in a passenger vehicle strategically placed within the truck’s “No Zones” to further illustrate the dangers of driving in those areas. Teens learned about distracted driving and tips to avoid distractions while behind the wheel. A “No

Texting Promise” poster board was signed by the teens, pledging not to text while behind the wheel. In fact, the students filled both sides of the board with their signatures. The goal of these safety demonstrations is to prevent accidents involving teens and large trucks and buses by showing young drivers how different the world looks from the driver’s seat of a large truck or bus. The speakers were: Dan Blachford, Superindentant from Hammonton High School; Chris Rotondo, Division Administrator, New Jersey, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation; Sgt. Thomas Fuller, Past CVSA President, New York State Police; Greg Crescenzo, Licensed Private Investigator and Co-Owner of Atlantic Investigations LLC (Retired Hammonton Police Officer); Freeholder James A. Bertino, Fifth District, New Jersey; and Shari Leichter, MCSAP Coordinator, New Jersey Department of Transportation, and CVSA Liaison for the state of New Jersey. Other attendees, participants and instructors who helped out were: Lonnie Reeves, Safety Director, Safeway Group; Sam Tedesco, Vice President, Safeway Group; John Mavilla, Safety Director, Santelli Trucking (Retired Hammonton Lieutenant); Scott Marks, Owner, Marksmen Transport; Fred Terpolilli, Director of Operations, Lee Transport; Todd Stine, Road Team Driver, American Trucking Associations; Joseph Brown, Co-Owner, Atlantic Investigations (Retired Sergeant First Class from NJSP); John Panepinto, Retired Hammonton Sergeant; Michele Mclaughlin, Retired NJSP Sergeant First Class; Lori Fritsch, Retired NJSP Lieutenant; Kirk McLaughlin, Retired NJSP Major; Peter Staats, CPS Investigations; Karen Kaufman, NJSP Transportation Safety Bureau; Tina Arcaro, Retired NJSP Captain from South Transportation Planning Organization; Joseph Girelo, Hammonton School Board President; Leo Petetti, Hammonton High School Board Member and Event Liaison; and eight Hammonton High School gym teachers.

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A special thank you to: Rob Abbott from ATA and Elisabeth Barna from FedEx for sending two additional trucks from FedEx and Carbon Express; the FedEx Driver; Brian Neal, Chairman of Operation Safe Driver and Senior Manager of Corporate Safety for FedEx Ground; CVSA Executive Director Steve Keppler and Nicole Leandro, CVSA Communications Manager. A special thank you to Greg Crescenzo, Co-Owner, Atlantic Investigations, for getting this program started in New Jersey. Also, thank you to Superintendent Dan Blachford of Hammonton High School and his

Administration for having this program at their school and to CVSA for help sponsoring this. We look forward to helping out again next year and continuing this program in the State of New Jersey. We want to promote safety, reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes and save lives. Remember, driving is a privilege, and our goal is to have zero fatalities. If the instructors saved one life by teaching this program, then they made a diﬀerence. n

The goal of these safety demonstrations is to prevent accidents involving teens.

During the classroom portion of New Jersey’s twopart Teens and Trucks Safety Awareness Event, teens learned about the dangers of distracted driving.

Approximately 1,471 teens participated in the Teens and Trucks program at Hammonton High School in New Jersey as part of Operation Safe Driver Week 2014.

Teens were given the opportunity to experience what it’s like in the driver’s seat of a large truck.

Passenger vehicles and motorcycles were placed in blind spots to demonstrate the locations of the truck’s “No Zones.”

Teens signed a poster board pledging not to text while behind the wheel. In fact, the students ﬁlled both sides of the board with their signatures.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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REGION I

PGT Trucking Team Building Day By Cindi Janicki, PGT Trucking

n Aug. 20, 2014, PGT Trucking held a Team Building Day focused on safe and compliant operations. The all-day event, held in Ambridge, PA, featured drivers as instructors and trainers. The entire day was interactive as opposed to the “lecture" type of safety meetings most carriers have. PGT has held those lecture events in the past as well. By any measure, the Team Building Day was a complete success. It accomplished the training, education and interactive involvement with all PGT team members, which is beneﬁcial to our objectives. This included

PGT Trucking held a Team Building Day focused on safe and compliant operations.

vendors, mechanics, and non-driving and executive staff. Law enforcement officials also spent time with drivers and maintenance staff helping us understand their job and how we can do ours better. PGT’s Team Building Day was held to convey to all in attendance a better understanding of our company and its very strong commitment to the safety and well-being of all we touch. This safety-orientated event has unquestionably set the standard for future PGT safety events. n

PGT Trucking Director of Maintenance Services, Mike Pruss, instructs drivers on safe tractor operation.

REGION I

Captain Norman W. Doﬄemyer Awarded Governor’s Commendation

apt. Norman W. Doﬄemyer (pictured left), Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Maryland State Police, was awarded the Governor’s Commendation from the Governor of the State of Maryland in recognition of his service to the people of Maryland and the Maryland State Police. He received the commendation for helping propel the state to the forefront concerning its focus on commercial vehicle safety, education, enforcement and commercial vehicle carrier safety achievements. As Commander of the CVED, Capt. Doﬄemyer led the division into the national spotlight. As a member of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, he has helped develop national safety programs and regulations for large trucks and commercial buses, establishing higher safety standards and the removal of high-risk drivers and carriers from Maryland’s highways. n

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REGION II

Grand Prairie Police Department Educates Teens About Driving Safely Around Large Trucks and Buses for Operation Safe Driver Week By Wes Bement, Investigator, Traﬃc Section/CMV Enforcement, Grand Prairie Police Department

he Grand Prairie Police Department, in partnership with the Fort Worth Police Department, the Grand Prairie Independent School District, the Texas Trucking Association (TXTA) and the Texas Department of Transportation, held an Operation Safe Driver Rally at Dubiski Career High School on Oct. 24. This is the third year these organizations have worked together to educate students on how to stay safe on the roadways. This year’s event, organized by Oﬃcer Greg Parker with the Grand Prairie Police Department, was the largest event to date in the city. During the two-hour event, the 400 students in attendance were greeted by several guest speakers that included: Mayor of Grand Prairie, Ron Jenson; Chief of Police for Grand Prairie, Steve Dye; Operation Safe Driver National Chairman, Brian Neal, Senior Manager, Corporate Safety, FedEx Ground; and Vice President of Shippers Express, Kevin West. Each speaker was able to impart upon the students a need to be safer and increasingly aware of their surroundings while driving. In addition to the speakers, students were able to get a hands-on look at several active and static displays to help them understand “No Zones” and commercial vehicles. However, the one static display that stole the show was when the Fort Worth Police Department ﬂew in and landed their Air 1 Helicopter Unit at the event.

Closing out Operation Safe Driver Week, a "Teens and Trucks" educational event and safety demonstration was held at Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie, TX.

Thanks to TXTA and other industry sponsors, the students walked away with several handouts to help remind them to stay safe and not be distracted while driving. An addition to this year’s event was the presence of a DWI/Distracted Driving Simulator at the school all week, thanks to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Educators at Dubiski Career High School devised a contest to award students the opportunity to sit and drive the simulator during lunch periods and before/after school each day throughout the week. Everyone involved felt the simulator brought in a realistic concept of how dangerous texting while driving can be. The event was covered by NBC’s local aﬃliate KXAS-TV. We want to thank them for coming and helping get the word out to everyone regarding the dangers to texting and distracted driving. In addition to the outreach program at the school, the Fort Worth Police Department rented billboards throughout the city to help bring awareness to all drivers. Grand Prairie Police also conducted concentrated enforcement in school zones during the week just for Operation Safe Driver. During those enforcement periods, oﬃcers contacted 228 drivers and issued 218 citations for hazardous violations. Of those violations, 61 were for unrestrained drivers or children, seven were for texting/using cell phone in a school zone and one for passing a school bus that was loading students.

The Fort Worth Police Department landed their Air 1 Helicopter at the event.

The Grand Prairie Police Department would like to thank all our partners for making this year’s events such a great success. We are already planning next year’s event and look forward to seeing everyone there again. n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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REGION III

Nebraska State Patrol Post-Crash Inspection Course By Doug Donscheski, MCSAP Manager, Nebraska State Patrol

One of our goals is to move our supervisors in the direction of true data-driven decision making.

he Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) Carrier Enforcement Division initiated and developed a Post-Crash Inspection Course in 2009. Five years later, the feedback from the attending students continues to affirm the importance and high quality of the education received. Inspectors from Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Puerto Rico, Reno PD, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington DC Metro PD, Harris County Texas Sheriff, Walworth County Wisconsin Sheriff, and Wyoming have attended. Feedback from students is used to improve each year’s curriculum. Comments from this year’s students: “I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I would recommend it to all our motor carrier officers. The whole class was excellent, the learning environment was great, and I cannot thank the staff enough for all they did for us.” Anne Collins, Associate Administrator for Field Operations with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said during her visit to the class on Sept. 24, 2014, “It was extremely impressive to see the hands-on experience and team work that inspectors from various states were gaining during the training. The Nebraska Team has really put together a thoughtful, comprehensive learning experience. I wish all inspectors and more law enforcement partners could have exposure to this training. It would certainly help us better preserve evidence and better understand the root cause of crashes so we can improve our safety efforts.” When a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is involved in a serious crash, multiple entities with different interests become involved. Regardless of their particular point of view, they all seek the truth in order to facilitate a just and fair outcome which can only be accomplished with a thorough investigation. The purpose of the post-crash inspection (PCI) is to determine any and all contributing factors from the CMV components, CMV driver and possibly the CMV carrier. Due to the additional size and momentum of CMVs, such crashes can be more devastating than those involving only passenger vehicles, both physically and emotionally, to all parties involved. Evidence and contributing factors should be documented professionally, accurately and completely. To do so, investigators need the proper tools and knowledge base. Being a NAS Level I certified inspector gives students the basic foundation needed to conduct a

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Level I Inspection. The NSP Post-Crash Inspection Course builds on that foundation and gives them the specific expertise needed for a methodical and thorough forensic examination. The end results, through either criminal or civil processes, are therefore based on all and not just some of the facts. Data gathered from PCIs will not only result in a more thorough investigation of the crash, the collected data may be used to identify and focus enforcement actions to reduce the occurrence and severity of CMV crashes. Additionally, the data can be used to identify manufacturing/design defects or possible carrier practices which may lead to contributing factors. The Post-Crash Inspection Course was designed to replicate real-life scenarios and expose students to as many scenarios as possible during the week. This year’s course provided staged wrecked vehicles including three tractors and semi-trailers, one pickup and trailer, and one bus. The vehicles were positioned as they may have been found at the scene; some were even tipped over on their side, thus replicating the challenges students will face in actual post-crash inspections. Students practice critical thinking skills and learn how to determine the correct course of action in collecting data. Examples of this are how to supply air pressure to brake chambers when the vehicle(s) are not operational and how to determine if a defect was present before the crash or caused by it. Students also practice evidence preservation by learning how to properly document their actions and observations. The teaching philosophy of the course was modeled after successful forensic programs. Forensic science depends on the expertise of various professions and is defined as the application of any scientific area of study to legal matters. Because of this definition, whenever possible, each class was instructed by an available expert in the associated topic and experienced post-crash inspectors were used for each practical scenario. This teaching method provided students with up-to-date information from qualified instructors. In our society, the quest for knowledge often depends on funding. People’s time and resources tend to be measured with dollars and cents. Development of the NSP Post-Crash Inspection Course proved that those who seek the truth know its value. The course is a testament to industry and government working cooperatively, devoting their time and resources.

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Mark your calendars for the 2015 Post-Crash Inspection Course which is scheduled for the last full week in September 2015 at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island, NE. The only expense to your agency will be transportation, meals and lodging, since there is no tuition for attending

the class. Students must be a NAS Level I certiﬁed inspector and the class will be limited to the ﬁrst 20 students (two from each jurisdiction). If you are interested in attending, please email doug.donscheski@nebraska.gov. n

The classroom instruction portion of the course consisted of the following: Evidence Considerations This prepares students with the correct mindset that a crash is a crime scene and the CMV is their evidence. Crime scene procedures, evidence recognition, preservation, documentation and collection were some of the highlights of this class. Photography Outlines how a digital camera “sees the world,” basic camera operations and night-time photography techniques.

Rear Row, Left to Right: Richard Lennox (TX), Tony Kasella (MN), Philip Carpenter (TX), Thomas Torok (SD), Terrance Hendricks (NJ), Nick Plate (NE), Matthew Adams (NE), Jason McAlister (OK), Jay Petersen (NE), Richard Moore (VT), Rob Jackson (NE), Derek Fenby (VT), Cassandra Dinehart (MN), Jason Burns (NJ), Neil Trombley (WI) Front Row, Left to Right: Joshua Gebauer (WY), John Page (WY), Daniel Wyrick (WY), Rich Scovel (WY), Howard Parkin (WY)

Vehicle Mechanics Focusing particularly on brake components and ABS functions. This block of instruction was presented by a representative of Bendix, a manufacturer of brake components, who exposed the students to the minute details of brake systems, from the manufacturer’s perspective. It was the block of instruction that sets the course above and beyond any other similar class. Engine Control Medules Includes instruction on preventing data loss from engine control modules. EOBR/AOBRD – How to obtain, handle and interpret electronic log data. FMCSA The capabilities and resources of the FMCSA and how they can assist the postcrash inspector. Driver Impairment Awareness DUI and DUID, driver fatigue and sleep apnea, and driver focus and interviewing. Special Problems Outlines how to design and conduct a research project as it relates to CMVs and post-crash inspections. Depositions/Expert Witness Testimony Provided by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Oﬃce.

Pictured Left to Right: Inspectors P. Carpenter (TX), T. Hendricks (NJ), J. Huhman (NE), J. Burns (NJ) and R. Lennox (TX) are participating in a mock inspection at the Nebraska State Patrol Post-Crash Inspection Course.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

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REGION III

The Beneﬁts of Change By Major Lance Evans, Special Operations Commander, Oﬃce of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Iowa Department of Transportation

y code, we are required to train in certain areas at least once a year to maintain our peace officer certification. In the past, we had the run-of-the-mill training, firearms, CPR/AED, mental health awareness and so on; all of which is good training but there has to be some element of training that captures your audience. In the month of October, we did just that. In the past, we used to bring in 25-30 officers at a time and train for four days until the whole department was finished. The process worked and we accomplished what we needed to. The key words “needed to” had to change. So we built a better mouse trap; grabbed the low-hanging fruit, if you will, and we changed the way we used to do things. In the law enforcement world, we may consider “change” to be a nasty word. But to have an impact, we needed to make a change and our annual inservice was a great opportunity to make that change. Instead of bringing in groups, we brought in the entire department for four days. We catered lunch each day and we broke up certain segments of the training. By the end of the day on Friday, we had trained on the Below 100 program, stop sticks, human trafficking, e-logs, sovereign citizens, did our physical agility testing and held a management panel discussion. All of this in four days for the same cost, if not cheaper, than we had done in the past. We have established ranges in the different areas of the state we can use for firearms, and CPR/AED is every two years so that too can be done in the field at regional offices. The reviews from the staff were excellent. They enjoyed the training, they mingled with staff they don’t get to see on a day-to-day basis, or yearly basis for that matter, and they walked away with knowledge which is the ultimate power. Plans are underway to follow this same format next year.

REGION IV

Mexico: Revision of Standard for Mechanical and Physical Conditions (NOM-068-SCT-2-2014)

n July 14, 2014, at the National Advisory Committee for Standardization of Surface Transport (CCNN-TT, for its acronym in Spanish), it was agreed that there would not be any modiﬁcations to the standard technical speciﬁcations.

movement of motor carriers; procedure of conformity assessment regarding the vehicles’ guarantee, veriﬁcation, verdict approval and physical-mechanical veriﬁcation decals; as well as a penalties section, monitoring, compliance with international standards and their validity. n

Publication of the responses to the comments received through the public consultation occurred in late October 2014. The Mexican Official Standard was published in the Official Gazette in November 2014. This standard establishes the failures or defects of the physical-mechanical vehicle specifications to ensure safe movement on roads and for other users providing passenger, cargo and tourism services, auxiliary services and private transportation on the roadways of federal jurisdiction within the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, this standard provides a list of the physical-mechanical conditions for the

REGION IV

Level VI Cobalt Inspection

I was told long ago, “If life was without rearview mirrors, we would have nowhere to go but forward.” This holds true with training. The status quo works but it can become stale. We saw a need and acted on that need. We are not looking back but moving forward and our staﬀ will be better because of it. Stay safe! n

Pictured: Oﬃcer Rafael Garcia, Inland Division Commercial Services Unit, California Highway Patrol, conducts Level VI Inspection of Colbalt-60. Photo credit: Oﬃcer Amy Souza, California Highway Patrol.

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REGION IV

The California Highway Patrol’s Commercial Industry Education Program

he mission of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is to provide the highest level of safety, service and security to the people of California.

When a crash involves a large commercial vehicle, the results can be catastrophic. Truck safety is a nationwide concern and public safety is an integral part of the CHP’s mission. While enforcement is a critical part of accomplishing the CHP’s mission, public education is equally important. Recognizing the importance of education, the CHP developed and implemented the Commercial Industry Education Program (CIEP). The CIEP is designed to educate California’s commercial trucking industry regarding driver and vehicle safety and to encourage voluntary compliance with state and federal regulations. The program is funded, in part, by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Grant. The CIEP’s educational seminars are presented by CHP staff knowledgeable in commercial vehicle enforcement, general commercial regulations and general rules-of-the-road mandates. CHP officers, motor carrier specialists and commercial vehicle inspection specialists provide presentations focusing on a variety of safety topics, including the requirements for setting up a fleet safety program (management oversight, vehicle safety and driver safety). The CIEP is a multi-tiered program which helps dispel the “us vs. them” culture misconception by providing free information in a nonthreatening environment to the commercial industry at their workplace. The primary goal of the program is to provide industry with a local commercial contact to assist with commercial educational and traffic safety programs. All CIEP presentations include “Be Ready. Be Buckled,” which is a program focusing on safety information regarding the use of seat belts. Other presentations include “No Zone” and “Sharing the Road,” which expands on the information listed below. • Driver safety rules of the road and distracted driving

CHP commercial personnel provide safety training to commercial vehicle drivers.

• Proper procedure for reporting highway emergencies • Farm labor vehicle requirements • Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scoring and how it affects carriers and drivers • Overview of hours-of-service regulations • Size, weight and loading regulations • Controlled substances and alcohol testing • Biennial Inspection of Terminals program • Licensing and registration • Hazardous materials security and transportation for shippers and carriers The CHP recognizes that enforcement, training and education continue to be major components in reducing truck-involved and truck-at-fault collisions. The CIEP has proven that an ongoing, direct exchange of information with commercial drivers and carriers has significant and measurable benefits. The trucking industry, public and professional associations (e.g., California Trucking Association) support and encourage their members to take advantage of the CIEP to obtain pertinent safety information and to strengthen their working relationship with the CHP. Carriers and states interested in obtaining additional information about the CIEP are encouraged to contact the CHP Commercial Vehicle Section at 916-843-3400. n

Did you know you can read

GUARDIAN & SAFETY EXCHANGE online? It’s easy to share the links with your colleagues so they, too, can stay up to date on the latest CVSA and industry news.

GUARDIAN A Publication of the

Safety Alliance Commercial Vehicle

Volume 20, Issue 3 3rd Quarter 2013

Focusing on Driver Performance to Save Lives

Inside… NAIC Awards Roadcheck Results And More!

www.cvsa.org/guardian

• North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria • North American Standard Level I Vehicle Inspections • Pre-trip inspections • Beneﬁts of preventive maintenance

www.cvsa.org/safetyexchange

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

R EGIO N A L NE W S

REGION IV

Pat Crahan Winds Down His U-Haul Career

efore 2000, U-Haul Company spent a lot of time and resources trying to get new license plates attached to thousands of trucks. It was often an exercise in futility, sending new plates in hopes of catching trucks that could be in Oregon one day and Nevada the next. In 2000, U-Haul secured a process known as apportionment, in which all trucks are permanently licensed in Arizona and all states and provinces receive their fair share of licensing fees.

Pat Crahan

Pat Crahan served in the U.S. Air Force. Here, he stands next to a plane in 1952.

Over the years, this move has saved U-Haul millions of dollars and countless hours trying to track down trucks. One of the people primarily responsible for this accomplishment is Pat Crahan, who says it’s perhaps the crowning achievement of his U-Haul career, which is winding down. After 51 years, Crahan is transitioning into retirement, though he calls it a “working retirement.” The Crahan name is a U-Haul institution, and it all started in 1963, when Crahan was hired by U-Haul Co-founder L.S. (Sam) Shoen to be Marketing Company President of what was then UHC of Oklahoma and Arkansas. In 1970, Crahan became Vice President of U-Haul International, a position that put him in charge of all departments and operations in the U-Haul Towers. Eventually, he gravitated toward zoning and government relations, which included working with state and provincial governments, as well as with oil companies. In 2006, Crahan was oﬃcially named Vice President of Government Relations, though he had been carrying out those duties for many years prior to that point. As he transitions into retirement, Crahan hands over the reins to Joe Cook, who has been working alongside Crahan since 2009. Cook will succeed Crahan as Vice President of Government Relations. “I’m extremely fortunate that Joe Cook will be taking over my position,” Crahan proclaimed. “I can’t say enough good things about him, and I think he’s an excellent choice. I’ve been doing everything I can to pass along whatever knowledge I have to him, and I know he’ll do a great job.”

Future plans

Crahan has received many honors and awards, including the Distinguished Service AwardDistinguished Community Member from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) in 2000.

GUARDIAN

Crahan has very deep roots in the U-Haul family tree and can’t just walk away immediately, but he does look forward to spending more quality time with his wife of 58 years, Velva.

“She’s been by my side the entire time,” Crahan declared. “Now, we’ll just have more freedom to do what we want to do and when we want to do it, and a little less stress.” The Crahans don’t have any definite plans, but their itinerary will include trips to Crahan's boyhood hometown of Vinita, OK. “We still own the home I grew up in and we go back there to go catfishing a few times a year,” Crahan noted. “Now, we’ll probably go there more often and stay longer. And I plan to catch more and bigger catfish.” “Pat has initiated and developed innumerous meaningful, essential and productive strategies and innovations aimed at helping both U-Haul and all of our customers,” emphasized JT Taylor, President of UHI Phoenix Operations. “It is impossible to fully capture in a single quote the importance and true value of the contributions Pat has made for the last 51 years at U-Haul. Pat is a true professional, and through his comprehensive understanding of the company and the needs of our customers, he is able to influence legislation and processes that support U-Haul Company’s ability to serve customers and do so effectively and economically. Pat’s passion and advocacy for U-Haul are relentless and his persistence has been a keystone to his success." “Pat Crahan’s impact on the U-Haul business – and the entire do-it-yourself moving and storage industry – is incalculable,” added UHaul Executive Vice President Stuart Shoen. Pat has served as an officer of and/or received major awards from every single major industry group that is associated with the business. He has hundreds of friends in high places all across the continent. He's made orange blazers, white beards, daily walks to the nearby hospital for lunch, colorful Hawaiian shirts and Salty Dogs into his famous signatures.” Shoen added, “He's a prolific fisherman, part Cherokee and on top of all that, he's served our country in the U.S. Air Force. I'm in awe of this man, and I hope that when my career begins to wind down, I will have accomplished half as much as he did. In the meantime, I sure hope he is willing to give Joe Cook and me some advice on how, exactly, to do just that.” n

R EGIO N A L NE W S

REGION V

Local Agencies Work Together to Improve Skills, Safety and Data Uniformity

CVSA Webinars

n September 2014, local agency representatives at the CVSA Annual Conference in Buffalo, NY, got the opportunity to see a presentation on how our partners in Canada work together to sharpen inspector skills, and improve safety and data uniformity. Thirteen agencies within Ontario have banded together and created the Ontario Police Commercial Vehicle Committee. The Committee was formed in June 2010 in Oakville, Ontario, hosted by the Halton Regional Police Service, after several inspectors expressed concerns in regards to training, uniformity enforcement issues, joint service initiatives, CVSA membership and a need to have unified police input in legislative changes. The Committee leadership is comprised of a Chairman, Vice-Chair, Secretary and two Directors. In addition to its enforcement program, the Committee is responsible for outreach and training as well. They organize courses throughout each year for new inspectors, weights and measures, transportation of dangerous goods, and motor coach inspection. The outreach programs organized by the Committee are geared toward community awareness as well as motor carrier awareness. The Committee created a bi-annual newsletter, The Word on the Street, which includes articles on new legislation, trends in violations, safety initiatives and upcoming events. The newsletter is sent out electronically to subscribers as far away as Australia. The Committee also created social media sites to help get information out. The Committee can be followed on Twitter at @OPCVC where you can see discussions among industry, law enforcement and community leaders. Local agencies in the United States have similar programs. In the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas, there are several local agencies that get together on a regular basis and conduct enforcement programs. The groups will move from city to city each month to help increase enforcement in high-traffic or high-

• THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 2015 2:00 pm (EST)

2015 Uniﬁed Carrier Registration Enforcement • WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18, 2015 collision areas to help reduce collisions and improve safety. For the last two years, the city of Mansﬁeld in Texas has sponsored a “Meet & Greet” where they invite industry, enforcement and local city leaders to get together to discuss issues relating to regulations, safety, enforcement and compliance. For more information on OPCVC, contact Dal Gill with the Toronto Police Service at dal.gill@torontopolice.on.ca. For more information on the multi-agency enforcement details in the Dallas Fort Worth area, contact Wes Bement with the Grand Prairie Police Department at wbement@gptx.org. n

2:00 pm (EST)

Operating Authority Out-of-Service Order Enforcement CVSA oﬀers free webinars to anyone interested in those topics. All webinars are recorded and posted in the webinar archive section of the CVSA website for viewing at any time.

Visit

www.cvsa.org/webinars to view a full listing of upcoming 2015 webinars and archives of previous webinars.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

R EGIO N A L NE W S

REGION V

Photos

Photo credit: Phil Barron, Northern Regional Manager, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Oﬃcer Sheldon Barteaux, Whitehorse Weigh Station, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Photo credit: Cecil Fahey, Western Region, Enﬁeld Compliance Station, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Joel Turner, Western Regional Manager, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Ron Shute, Western Region, Kelly Lake Compliance Station, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Jason Gay, Western Region, Kelly Lake Compliance Station, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Oﬃcer Rod Dykeman, Western Region, Enﬁeld Compliance Station, Province of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Troy Scott, Mobile Unit VC-88, Northern Region, Province of Nova Scotia.

GUARDIAN

S A F E T Y I N N O VA T O R S

SAFETY INNOVATORS T-Force Toolkit: Increasing Truck and Bus Traﬃc Enforcement By Robin Riessman, UMassSafe

or a variety of reasons, routine traffic stops with large trucks and buses occur significantly less than traffic stops with passenger vehicles. Considering the detrimental effects of commercial vehicle crashes, it is critical that we incorporate truck/bus traffic enforcement into existing highway safety activities. With this growing issue in mind, the University of Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program (UMassSafe) developed T-Force, a truck and bus traffic enforcement toolkit, providing a free onestop shopping tool for resources for traffic patrol officers. T-Force is a three-part program geared specifically toward the enforcement of moving violations, such as speeding and lane violations. Different from programs aiming to inform specialized Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) officers, this information is intended for a wider audience, particularly officers conducting regular traffic enforcement. “We have been looking for a way to help local police departments increase regular traffic enforcement, such as speeding violations, with large trucks and buses,” said Lt. Donald Bridge, Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. “The T-Force Toolkit has gathered all of the information that we need into one place, and has been very useful as an addition to our trainings in Connecticut.” The T-Force Toolkit is comprised of three main sections:

1. Resource Materials: This section offers detailed information regarding the importance of traffic stops with trucks/buses; strategies for maintaining officer safety; how truck/bus traffic stops are different from those with passenger cars; the process of conducting an effective traffic stop; and the details involved in CDL. Users can move quickly through this interactive tool, accessing only the information they need.

2. Instructor’s Portal: This section provides access to all of the materials needed to conduct the Safe and Effective Traffic Stops: Truck and Bus Traffic Enforcement training. This training, developed by UMassSafe, is currently being taught in several states across the country for local and state traffic patrol officers. Guided by MCSAP instructors,

participants are guided through the entire traﬃc stop from start to ﬁnish. Instructors can access all course materials on the T-Force Toolkit website, including a guide for both instructors and participants as well as a PowerPoint presentation. The instructor’s portal also provides a calendar of live trainings around the country along with helpful instructor tips.

3. Online Training: This section, which is currently under development, will include an online version of the classroom training. This resource will be easy to access and traverse, with built-in tracking capabilities for use by police stations looking to see which officers have completed the training. “Truck and Bus Traffic Enforcement classroom training has provided the Massachusetts State Police with comprehensive and targeted training for our troopers,” said Lt. Fitzgerald, Massachusetts State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section. “The materials and stepby-step details provided have been an invaluable addition to our program.” The T-Force Traffic Enforcement Toolkit was developed by the University of Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program and supported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under a grant/cooperative agreement. UMassSafe is a multidisciplinary traffic safety research group housed in the University of Massachusetts Transportation Center at the University of Massachusetts. With the unique ability to examine highway safety from a variety of perspectives, UMassSafe provides tools and information in a format that is practical for a wide range of users from law enforcement personnel to statisticians at federal agencies. Working on issues related to commercial motor vehicle safety for more than 10 years, UMassSafe has developed a data query tool, high-crash corridor maps and crash report training, as well as conducted extensive crash data analysis and data quality improvement projects. For more information, visit www.tforcetoolkit.com or contact Robin Riessman at umasssafe@umass.edu or 413-577-1035. n

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

F R O M T H E D R I V E R ’ S S E AT

FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT Cognitive Distractions, Blind Spots and Road Rage By Eddie Weeks, AAA Cooper Transportation

The more we respect each other and the more we keep our eyes and minds on the roadways, the safer everyone will arrive at their destination.

GUARDIAN

istracted and aggressive driving are some of the safety issues drivers face every day. We are all aware of the physical distractions some drivers do: texting, talking on their cell phone, eating, drinking, putting on make-up, reading, etc. But what about mental distractions; more commonly known as cognitive distractions? When you are thinking of someone you are going to meet or something you planned to do that day, this is a silent distraction or inattentive blindness that you are unaware you are doing. Similar to that of tunnel vision, you are looking straight ahead out of your windshield but your brain doesn't recognize what you see. The tragedy of this is that many drivers don't realize this is as dangerous as texting and driving.

motorist won't be able to do so safely. It's important they know about the four-second rule.

Traﬃc accidents are the number-one cause of fatalities for young people in our nation with distractions being the number-one cause of those accidents, surpassing drinking and driving. It is important that we make other drivers aware of how dangerous this is. One life lost is one too many.

What can you do to avoid being involved in road rage? Don't respond or look at the aggressor. Avoid eye contact. Lock your doors. If you’re on the interstate, exit. The aggressor may go on. If you’re in traﬃc, leave enough space to pull out from behind the vehicle you are following.

Regarding blind spots around a truck, I frequently see motorists getting directly behind the truck. They get so close that they have created a blind spot of their own. They can't see what's happening on either side or in front of the truck. If the truck has to stop quickly, the

Driving is a privilege. Sharing the road with large trucks and all vehicles in general is a necessity. The more we respect each other and the more we keep our eyes and minds on the roadways, the safer everyone will arrive at their destination. n

When traveling the interstate, I have noticed pick-up trucks with unsecured loads that sometimes lose part of their load. Whether it is a ladder, bucket or tools, this can create a deﬁnite hazard for someone following too closely. It is important to secure all loads, whether going a long distance or just a short mile. What about road rage? At one time or another, we all have probably experienced it. Road rage is aggressive driving and excessive speeding at its worst. Nearly one-third of all motor vehicle accident fatalities are caused by speeding. What are some of the signs of road rage? Sudden acceleration, hard braking, tailgating, cutting a vehicle oﬀ, making hand signals.

RA D INSP ECT IO N NE W S

RAD INSPECTION NEWS Level VI Certification Class 147 Held in New Mexico CVSA held its 147th Level VI Certification class in Anthony, NM, Aug. 25-28, 2014. In attendance were 14 hazardous materials inspectors from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Motor Transport Police and the Colorado State Patrol. Also in attendance were Andy Walker and James Mason from the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO), New Mexico. With the completion of Class 147, CVSA has certified 119 Level VI Inspectors in federal fiscal year 2014. n Level VI Inspector Reggie Bunner instructs students from Class 147 on package survey techniques.

Attend an Eight-Hour Level VI Refresher Class at the 2015 COHMED Conference Director of Hazardous Materials Programs Carlisle Smith with a team of national instructors will conduct an eight-hour Level VI Refresher Class during the 2015 COHMED Conference in Long Beach, CA. The refresher will be held on Monday, Jan. 26, and is open only to certiﬁed Level VI Inspectors. The Level VI Refresher, held during the COHMED Conference, will allow an inspector to meet the requirements of CVSA Operational Policy 4 for maintenance of certiﬁcation. To learn more about the COHMED Conference or to register, visit www.cvsa.org/events/cohmed/2015. n

About RAD Inspection News RAD Inspection News features news and other stories pertaining to the North American Standard Level VI Inspection Program for Transuranic Waste and Highway Route Controlled Quantities (HRCQ) of Radioactive Material. This inspection is for select radiological shipments that include enhancements to the North American Standard Level I Inspection Program and the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria with added radiological requirements for transuranic waste and highway route controlled quantities of radioactive material. Learn more at www.cvsa.org/nas_vi. RAD Inspection News is made possible under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Since January 2007, it has run as a section inside CVSA's Guardian. n

National Instructor Richard Swedburg provides instruction during last year's eight-hour COHMED Refresher Class.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

RA D INSP ECT IO N NE W S

LEVEL VI 2015 CLASS SCHEDULE

CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Program Stops in Michigan and Florida

CVSA is planning the 2015 Level VI Certiﬁcation Classes for the radioactive shipments inspection program. Under a cooperative agreement with the U. S. Department of Energy, CVSA schedules classes for inspecting motor carriers and their drivers transporting transuranic waste and Highway Route Controlled Quantities (HRCQ) shipments of radioactive material. Under this cooperative agreement, CVSA provides Level VI training to jurisdictional inspectors who meet the prerequisite (CVSA Level I and Hazmat Certiﬁed).

arry Stern, CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Coordinator, took the CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Program to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI, Sept. 6-10, 2014. The GHSA membership is made up of state and territorial highway safety oﬃces. GHSA also has associate membership made up of organizations, associations and businesses that support its goals and objectives.

LEVEL VI 2015 CLASSES Train the Trainer Albuquerque, NM—Feb. 24-26

The CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Program booth was also displayed during the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, Oct. 25-28, 2014. IACP active members are police oﬃcers with executive authority or its equivalent, including commissioners, superintendents, chiefs, directors, etc.

Future meetings the CVSA Level VI Public Outreach Program will attend in 2015 are: • CVSA COHMED Conference Long Beach, CA Jan. 26-30 • Waste Management Symposium Phoenix, AZ March 15-19 • Department of Energy’s National Transportation Stakeholders Forum Albuquerque, NM May 12-14 • Contractor Transportation Management Association Point Clear, AL July 6-9 • National Conference of State Legislators Seattle, WA Aug. 3-6 n

Richmond, VV—March 23-26 Orlando, FL—April 27-39 Lansing, MI—May 19-22 Springﬁeld, IL—June 15-18

DOE Issues Final Request for Proposal for Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center Services

Austin, TX—Oct. 19-22 Sacramento, CA—Nov. 2-5

Any jurisdiction that needs inspectors trained and/or can host a Level VI Class in 2015 is asked to contact Carlisle Smith at 301-830-6147 or carlisles@cvsa.org.

he U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a ﬁnal Request for Proposal (RFP) for support services at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center (TWPC) in Oak Ridge, TN. The total estimated value of the contract is $100-$300 million. The period of performance will be ﬁve years, with a three-year base period and one two-year option period.

• Performing surveillance and maintenance activities • Providing support to the Central Characterization Project for ﬁnal certiﬁcation and disposition of TRU soil and debris waste • Processing of other Remote Handled/Contact Handled TRU waste originating from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory • Processing Nuclear Fuel Services soils

A draft RFP was released July 1, 2014, requesting comments from industry. This acquisition is a 100 percent set-aside for small businesses under North American Industry Classiﬁcation System (NAICS) Code 562211, Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal. Services under this procurement include, but are not limited to: • Safely and compliantly managing and operating the Oak Ridge TWPC Category II nuclear facility in support of processing EM legacy TRU waste

GUARDIAN

Similar services are currently being performed with Wastren Advantage, Inc. The current contract ends on Jan. 16, 2015, with an option to extend the ongoing services for six additional months in accordance with the terms of the contract and to align with this procurement’s award schedule. n

CVSA LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT Capt. William “Bill” Reese Idaho State Police VICE PRESIDENT Maj. Jay Thompson Arkansas Highway Police SECRETARY Julius Debuschewitz Yukon Highways and Public Works PAST PRESIDENTS Sgt. Thomas Fuller New York State Police Lt. Col. Mark Savage Colorado State Patrol Maj. David Palmer Texas Department of Public Safety

REGION PRESIDENTS Region I Cpl. Rick Koontz Pennsylvania State Police Region II Lt. Col. Troy Thompson Florida Highway Patrol Region III Maj. Lance Evans Iowa Department of Transportation Region IV Lt. Ken Roberts California Highway Patrol Region V Pierre Pratte Contrôle Routier Québec

REGION VICE PRESIDENTS (Non-Voting) Region I Sgt. John Samis Delaware State Police Region II Capt. Scott Carnegie Mississippi Department of Public Safety Region III Master/Sgt. Todd Armstrong Illinois State Police Region IV Sgt. Scott Hanson Idaho State Police

ASSOCIATE MEMBER PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) Jason Wing ABF Freight System, Inc. ASSOCIATE MEMBER VICE PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) David Guess Usher Transport, Inc. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (Non-Voting) William “Bill” Quade Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) David Cooper Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Region V John Lunney New Brunswick Department of Public Safety

Salvador Monroy Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT)

LOCAL PRESIDENT Oﬃcer Wes Bement Grand Prairie Texas Police Department

William "Bill" Schoonover Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

LOCAL VICE PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) Sgt. Kenneth Hopkins Mansﬁeld Police Department

Darren Christle Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), CRA Chair

COMMITTEE AND PROGRAM CHAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRS Driver-Traﬃc Enforcement Committee Sgt. Raymond Weiss New York State Police Hazardous Materials Committee Sgt. Brad Wagner Nebraska State Patrol Information Systems Committee Holly Skaar Idaho State Police Passenger Carrier Committee Lt. Donald Bridge, Jr. Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

Program Initiatives Committee Alan R. Martin Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Size & Weight Committee Lt. Lori Knight Arizona Department of Transportation Training Committee Capt. Rocco Domenico Colorado State Patrol Vehicle Committee Kerri Wirachowsky Ontario Ministry of Transportation

PROGRAM CHAIRS Level VI Inspection Master/Sgt. Todd Armstrong Illinois State Police Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Sgt. Brad Wagner Nebraska State Patrol International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA) Don Egli Iowa Motor Truck Association

Operation Airbrake (OAB) Sgt. Scott Hanson Idaho State Police Shelley Conklin Landstar Logistics Roadcheck Capt. Derek Barrs Florida Highway Patrol North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC) Tpr. Steven Bedard Massachusetts State Police

Operation Safe Driver (OSD) Brian Neal FedEx Ground Corp.

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

2014 CVSA STRATEGIC PARTNERS ALLIED

PREMIER

DIAMOND

PLATINUM

GOLD

GUARDIAN

2014 CVSA STRATEGIC PARTNERS SILVER ABF Freight System, Inc. Austin Powder Company Cargo Transporters, Inc. EQ - Environmental Quality Co. FoxFury LLC Greyhound Lines, Inc. Groendyke Transport, Inc.

JNJ Express Inc. Landstar Transportation Logistics Mancomm, Inc. Mercer Transportation Company PGT Trucking, Inc. Schlumberger Tech Corporation Schneider National, Inc.

STEMCO Brake Products Swift Transportation Sysco Corporation Utah Highway Patrol Vehicle Inspection Systems, Inc.

BRONZE American Bus Association Compliance Safety Systems LLC DATTCO, Inc. Dibble Trucking, Inc. Frontier Transport

Herzig Hauling, LLC Lytx, Inc. NATC, Inc. National Tank Truck Carriers Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

Praxair, Inc. Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association United Motorcoach Association Warren Transport, Inc.

FRIENDS OF CVSA American Coatings Association, Inc. American Pyrotechnics Association Anderson Trucking Services, Inc. Bork Transport of Illinois Brake Tech Tools

Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) Envirun, Inc. EQT Corporation Gateway Distribution, Inc. Greg Neylon HoďŹ&#x20AC;man Transportation, LLC/G&D Trucking Inc.

Horizon Freight System, Inc. H.R. Ewell, Inc. Kaplan Trucking Inc. LabelMaster MIA Safety Services Transport Canada

NEW CVSA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS American Timber and Steel

Florida Trucking Association

AmeriGas Propane

ITRE - NCSU

ANPACT

Lindamood Heavy Hauling, Inc.

Bubble Technology Industries, Inc.

Pennsylvania Bus Association

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

UMassSafe

Concordant Transportation

Volvo Group Trucks North America

ESCO Leasing, LLC

Washita Valley Enterprises, Inc. As of Nov. 17, 2014

6303 Ivy Lane, Suite 310 Greenbelt, MD 20770-6319

View the magazine online at www.cvsa.org/guardian.

2015 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

COHMED 2015 REGISTER TODAY!

Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Conference JANUARY 26-30, 2015 Hyatt Regency Long Beach | Long Beach, California

CVSA Workshop APRIL 12-16, 2015 Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront | Jacksonville, Florida

North Inspectors Championship (NAIC) AUGUST 10-14, 2015 Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch | St. Louis, Missouri

CVSA Annual Conference & Exhibition SEPTEMBER 13-17, 2015 Boise Center | Boise, Idaho

The annual COHMED Conference is presented by CVSA’s Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Program. The conference will take place on Jan. 26-30, 2015 in Long Beach, CA. The COHMED Program fosters coordination, cooperation and communication between federal, state and local agencies that have regulatory and enforcement responsibility for the safe transportation of hazardous materials and the industry that they regulate.

Learn more at www.cvsa.org/events.

By attending this focused, one-of-a-kind conference, you’ll meet with representatives from federal and state agencies, hazardous materials specialists and instructors, enforcement personnel, emergency planning managers, ﬁrst responders, trucking companies, academics, interest groups and private industry from all across North America. If you are involved in hazmat regulation, enforcement or safety, the COHMED Conference is one event you cannot aﬀord to miss. To learn more and register for the 2015 COHMED conference and to reserve your hotel room, visit www.cvsa.org/events/cohmed/2015.