CVSA Guardian 1st Quarter 2012

Volume 19, Issue 1

First Quarter 2012

Guardian

Getting the most from your

Committees Help Achieve Excellence of CMV Inspections Through Uniformity, Quality Training

CVSA MEMBERSHIP

First Quarter 2012

www.cvsa.org

Table of Contents

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Insight President’s Message ......................................................................................................1 Executive Director’s Message ..........................................................................................2 Letters to the Editor ........................................................................................................3 The Legislative & Regulatory Rundown ............................................................................4 Knowledge Matters ........................................................................................................6

Federal News Ask the FMCSA Administrator..........................................................................................8

Published by: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance 6303 Ivy Lane, Suite 310 Greenbelt, MD 20770-6319 Phone: (301) 830-6143 Fax: (301) 830-6144 www.cvsa.org

Roadside Inspector Feedback Guides ISS Enhancements ................................................10 The National Training Center Rolls Out New Hazardous Materials Training Courses ..........11 New Medical Certification Requirements ........................................................................11 The Commercial Driver’s License Program Turns 25 ........................................................12

Dedicated to government and industry working together to promote commercial vehicle safety on North American highways.

NTSB Concludes Investigation of Missouri Crash, Recommends Nationwide Ban on Use of Nonemergency Portable Electronic Devices ......................13

HEADQUARTERS STAFF

TSA Initiates “Highway Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancements” Program ..........14 TSA’s Highway Anti-Terrorism Program Helps Foil Hijacking and Bomb Plots ....................15

CVSA News COHMED Builds Partnerships to Ensure Success ............................................................17 International Safety Team Receives Media Training to Promote CVSA Safety Message ......17 CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Data Show Message Getting Through to Drivers ................18 Brake Safety Week Captures Snapshot of Industry’s Compliance Rate ..............................19

Cover Story/Feature Making the Most of Your Membership ............................................................................20 Using the CVSA Website to Update Your Membership Profile, Pay Dues or Register for Meetings ............................................................................23 2012 CVSA Sponsorship Opportunities Now Available ....................................................24

Inspector’s Corner

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Committee & Program News Training Committee Helps CVSA Members Achieve Excellence, Professionalism in the

Stephen A. Keppler Executive Director Collin B. Mooney, CAE Deputy Executive Director Larry D. Stern Director, Level VI Inspection Program Adrienne L. Gildea Director, Policy & Government Affairs William P. Schaefer Director, Vehicle Programs Randy J. West Director, Driver Programs Laura M. Zabriskie Director, Communications & Marketing

Performance of CMV Inspections Through Uniform, Quality Training ..........................26 Vehicle Committee Works to Ensure Enforcement, Industry Understand OOS Conditions ....................................................................................27 North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Efforts Continue ................................28 NTC Conducts Webinar-Based Instructor Recertification Training......................................29

Regional News Inspectors Keep an Eye Out for Bad Logbooks................................................................30

Iris R. Leonard Manager, Member & Program Services Claudia V. McNatt Manager, Meetings & Events J. Craig Defibaugh Controller

WSP Initiates Roads and Rails to Reduce CMV Collisions ................................................31

Regional Rap ............................................................................................................31 Local Enforcement News Local Agencies Partner with State Agencies to Reduce Crashes Involving Commercial Vehicles ..................................................................................34 Local and Lead Agencies Increase Reach to Ensure CMV Safety by Combining Resources ......................................................................35 Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol Partner to Create Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad ................................................................36

Why We Do What We Do ....................................................................................36 Associate Member News Safety Innovators Making a Difference: Insights on Intersection Collisions ........................37 CVSA President Takes Partnership Message to Arizona Trucking Association ....................38 Safety, Compliance & Security: A Critical Alliance ............................................................38 What Happens Off Duty Matters ....................................................................................39

RAD Inspection News ............................................................................................41

For comments, suggestions or information, please email us at communications@cvsa.org.

About the cover: Participants from CVSA’s North American Inspectors Championship come together with commercial vehicle drivers at ATA’s National Truck Driving Championship.

Guardian is a publication of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Trends That Will Transform Safety For the Future

By Maj. David L. Palmer, CVSA President

Commercial vehicle enforcement personnel and industry continue to chip away at the task of putting safety at the forefront with the number one goal of achieving zero commercial vehicle-related deaths.

In the United States, this year marks the one year anniversary since the CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) initiative was implemented to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities related to commercial motor vehicles. It introduced a new enforcement and compliance model that allows FMCSA and its State Partners to contact a larger number of carriers earlier in order to address safety problems before crashes occur. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

In addition to CSA, there are a number of new initiatives that will require law enforcement to continue to be trained and educated on things like HOS rule changes, texting and handheld cell phone bans and an enhanced focus on bus and motorcoach operators.

One of the most important pieces of CSA coming this year will be the Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) rulemaking. Once in place, it will establish a truer performance-based safety rating regime which ultimately will serve to both target the bad actors and better incentivize the industry to be safe. In addition, this new regime will bring us into closer alignment with the Canadian approach to rating motor carriers - their National Safety Code has had a performance-based approach to rating carriers for some time. Only a small population is currently being rated in the U.S., but once the SFD is in place all data being compiled will count and ratings will likely be available on a month-

Maj. David L. Palmer

ly basis. Once CSA is up and running for a couple of years, it will be integrated into every enforcement tool available and will create more incentive for the safer carriers, while shining the spotlight on the bad performers. People who are purchasing transportation services will be making buying decisions and safety will be a part of their decision process.

For those who choose not to be safe, it will become such a disincentive because they won’t be generating the revenue or customers and will likely be forced out of business. Those that aren’t putting safety first are truly rolling the dice and will pay the cost in the long run. CSA will help to create a mechanism for the industry to police itself. That will help us target the high risk operators more effectively and get them off the road, which will lift everybody up.

When the CDL Program was established as part of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, it set minimum national standards that states must meet when testing and licensing

CMV drivers. These federal requirements consist primarily of driver testing criteria based on driver knowledge and skills. Nearly twenty years after the full implementation of the CDL program, the debate continues over the criteria that should be used to verify a driver’s qualifications to operate large commercial vehicles. While proponents of mandatory driver training believe that uniform training requirements are necessary, opponents of mandatory training argue that the emphasis should be on driver competency rather than on training hours.

We want to help our members and industry get smarter. We want to help shift behavior and to make this shift permanent. We continue to see some positives especially with Operation Safe Driver and our Teens & Trucks Share the Road program. This is how we can create a paradigm shift in the industry away from a singular priority on velocity to more priority placed on safety.

Many in the safety community have been making a big push on young drivers. The fatalities among youth are down substantially compared to the rest of the population. The focus on younger drivers through education and awareness has helped to get them on the straight and narrow to establish good driving habits early.

During 2011 there was a lot of activity, much of it being regulatory in nature.

This is unlikely to slow much in 2012.

Information availability through the internet, blogs, and social media have all contributed to an educational information overload. We have to recognize that these tools are with us to stay and we need to harness them to help further our message. All of this information is avail-

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (continued from page 1)

able to everyone from the driver behind the wheel, to the safety director, insurance carriers and law enforcement personnel. One of CVSA’s goals in this coming year will be to help in this regard, by harnessing the knowledge of our members and packaging it to share best practices within our organization as well as others outside.

We need a vision like Dwight D. Eisenhower who transformed the U.S. economy when he created the modern transportation system - a vision that transformed our society to a faster, more efficient economy.

Unfortunately, those advances came with a hefty price tag. People often complain about congestion and traffic; however, the AAA Foundation has measured the cost of congestion versus safety and safety costs considerably more to the economy. This fact is lost on most people, and it is a collective responsibility that we have to do a better job in educating the public on safety. However, all of us involved in CVSA, and many others, too are trying to shift this paradigm, and slowly – one life at a time. We will continue to chip away at it until we achieve our goal. I know all of us place a value on safety. We would not be part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance if we did not! But we need to convince others: industry, Congress, other decision makers, and the general public. Unfortunately, crashes involving commercial vehicles are only “local” news features for a day or two, and then everyone is back to business as usual. But it’s never business as usual when lives are lost.

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www.cvsa.org

Executive Director’s Message

By Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA, Executive Director

Stephen A. Keppler

For many years a major concern in the truck and bus community has been that we need to work on improving the “image” of the industry. Most people take the position that the general public views the industry as bad actors and renegades. A big reason for this is the sensationalism of the mainstream media in their quest for the shock and awe story, and how that is viewed by the public. However, unlike most people I don’t blame the media for this. They have a job to do. I believe it is us - the safety professionals - that have a responsibility not only to showcase the good, but to condemn the bad that goes on. We need to be honest with people and do a better job of explaining the importance of what it is that we do and how it impacts on the everyday life of all of us.

Over the past few years the safety community is working in a collaborative manner to shift our mindset in terms of how we approach our work. The concept of “safety culture” has been born in part from these discussions. The concept of safety culture goes beyond image because in some people’s minds image can be seen as superficial. Culture goes beyond

the superficial. It is a behaviorial trait that becomes part of you and that you practice every day. All of us involved with CVSA have this safety culture, we breathe and exude it every day, it is part of our being. That is why we are here.

You will notice in this issue of Guardian we are launching a new feature, called our “safety innovators” section. I asked our Director of Communications & Marketing, Laura Zabriskie, to help us in launching this new piece because I am continually amazed at all the things our members and associate members are doing to enhance safety in their spheres of influence, and we need to do a better job of bottling and sharing it with others.

Another member service we rolled out this past fall was our webinar program, yet another means to showcase information and knowledge sharing. We are ramping up this program in 2012 and I am excited at the topics that are being bantered about by the committees and programs. Be on the lookout on our website for the schedule, it will be posted soon. We are also partnering with other organizations to deliver safety focused webinars and to help get the CVSA name out there.

I believe one of the best values of CVSA Membership is the “cultural experience” that is gained from member interaction. Others may call it networking, but it goes beyond that, it is networking with a purpose. That purpose is big, broad and compelling - it is helping to save lives. I am a firm believer that it is our responsibility to help shape and drive this cultural shift, not only within our respective organizations but with our friends, family and the public.

People who we don’t even know and will never meet are counting on us.

I ask you, if we do not stand up and become the safety champions, who will?

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

In October 2006 The American Trucking Associations and Road Safe America independently petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require vehicle manufacturers to install speed limiters on new trucks with gross weights exceeding 26,000 pounds. Both petitions call for the devices, also known as speed governors, to be programmed at a maximum speed of 68 mph.

Safety and environmental benefits are the main reasons for mandating the use of speed governors. Reducing the speed of large trucks will lead to lower fuel consumption which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and saves on fuel costs. The risk of collision is also reduced when driving a truck at lower

speeds due to reduced stopping distance and greater reaction time.

By exceeding the speed limit drivers expose themselves to a number of dangers. For example, speeding makes it tougher to react to sudden road changes.

Driving at increased speeds also induces stress that may lead to lack of concentration. According to FMCSA’s Large Truck & Bus Crash Facts (2009), driving too fast for conditions or over the posted speed limit by a truck driver were main factors in fourteen percent of single-vehicle collisions and six percent of multi-vehicle crashes that led to a fatality.

The technology to limit speed is readily available. According to the American Transportation Research

Institute (ATRI), “nearly all engine manufacturers offer some form of speed governor, and likewise, the majority of motor carriers and drivers are familiar with speed governors, either through firsthand experience or communication with others in the industry.”

Countries including Australia, Japan and the European Union require speed limiters in large trucks. And more recently, the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario began requiring them. It is time the United States initiate a process to consider requiring them to further improve truck safety.

Shazia Noreen American Trucking Associations

Accident Event Recorders – Proactive Technology for Fleet Owners Accident event recorders, also known as AERs, are an extremely valuable loss control tool for commercial transportation operations. AERs, which record both video and audio when a driving incident occurs, can help enhance driver performance, reduce accidents and save lives. This technology also offers other significant benefits including decreased expenses and lower loss costs.

Improving driver performance is the number one benefit of installing AERs. A 2009 study funded by FMCSAn and conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found AERs reduce risky driving events by as much as 52%. Likewise, AER vendors say figures for overall loss dollars may decrease by an estimated 30% because expenditures for repairs, downtime and workers’ compen-

sation claims are lower. So it’s not surprising that safer drivers have fewer and less severe accidents, resulting in improved claims experience and lower insurance premiums. And, in the case of an accident, the AER’s video clips provide an irrefutable witness that can streamline claims handling.

If you are not familiar with how AERs work, basically a small video camera is mounted to the vehicle and a forward-facing lens captures events in front of the vehicle, while a rear-facing lens captures the inside of the vehicle. The

camera records changes in driving such as hard braking, swerving, collision, and other events. When a triggered event occurs, the system saves a video clip that may be reviewed. There are also other types of AERs which record continuously to monitor both driver and passenger behaviors.

As the saying goes “every picture tells a story,” and this couldn’t be truer when it comes to AERs. Video clips are invaluable when an accident occurs and may help avoid costly litigation, act as an (continued on page 5)

CVSA’s Guardian welcomes your letters and comments. To submit a letter, send an email to communications@cvsa.org or write to CVSA, c/o Guardian, 6303 Ivy Lane, Suite 310, Greenbelt, MD 20770-6319.

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The Legislative & Regulatory Rundown

By Adrienne Gildea, CVSA, Director, Policy & Government Affairs

Reauthorization Remains Stalled as Congress Searches for Funding At the outset of 2012, we find the reauthorization bill a few steps forward, yet stalled on Capitol Hill. There was a flurry of activity as 2011 drew to a close, in an effort to prepare the bill for action early this year.

The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee moved first, in mid-November, marking up their portion of the bill and setting the framework for the other committees. The EPW bill is a two-year bill, with funding set at the current levels. However, the issue of funding is still not resolved and a $12 billion deficit remains between the funding levels and the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenue projections. If the offset cannot be found, there is a mechanism worked into the bill to reduce the annual funding levels, keeping the HTF solvent.

Overall, the bill seeks to expedite project delivery and streamline the federal process, while giving states more flexibility with federal funds, as long as certain minimum performance measures for performance and safety are met. Most of the bill does not touch on CVSA member issues; however, the bill does include the language from Jason’s Law, identifying the nation’s truck parking shortage as a national priority and making construction of new facilities and expansion of and improvements to existing facilities eligible for funding in a number of programs.

On December 14th, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation marked up several bills, including the FMCSA, HazMat and NHTSA titles. Despite some contention over a non-related freight provision, the motor carrier safety bill was reported out of Committee on a party line vote.

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The REINS Act…While not specific to the motor carrier safety and enforcement community, if enacted, would have a tremendous impact on CVSA members.

The Commerce bill contains a number of positive items for CVSA. First, funding levels are kept steady and additional flexibility is provided with MCSAP funds. In addition, the bill addresses a number of key CVSA issues, such as maintenance of effort (MOE); registration and new entrant requirements; fine limits; CDL and driver training requirements; EOBRs; safety rating reciprocity with Canada; development of a drug and alcohol clearinghouse; a comprehensive truck size & weight study; motorcoach safety; and, a study of the existing regulatory framework and its impact to safety. However, work remains to be done, particularly regarding the grant funding levels, administration and distribution, matching requirements and the takedowns for training.

With the EPW and Commerce titles complete, the Senate turned to the Banking Committee, which is responsible for the transit piece of the bill, and the Finance Committee, in charge of finding the necessary funding for the overall package. As of this writing, Finance Chairman Max Baucus had not publicly identified a source for the $12 billion

necessary to close the funding gap.

Meanwhile, on the House side, very little observable progress was made, but high-ranking Republicans on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, as well as House leadership, are confident they will be able to move the bill in early 2012. One issue likely to get attention in the House bill is truck size and weight limits, following the exemptions granted to Maine and Vermont in the 2012 Transportation Appropriations title.

Staff in both the House and Senate remain optimistic that they can move their respective legislation. However, reconciling the two - with the vast differences and highly politicized nature of an election year - seems unlikely.

House Seeks to ‘Rein’ in the Regulatory Process Last year, in an effort to slow the Administration’s pace on issuing regulations, the House passed HR 10, the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, or REINS, Act. The bill amends US Code to require that major rules of the executive branch have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law. The measure would essentially give Congress veto power over the regulatory process, usurping a tremendous amount of authority from the executive branch and throwing every major issue into the highly politicized Congressional arena. While not specific to the motor carrier safety and enforcement community, the bill, if enacted, would have a tremendous impact on CVSA members. While the matter is unlikely to get any consideration in the Senate, CVSA staff will be following the issue.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AERs – Proactive Technology for Fleet Owners (continued from page 3)

Several Safety Rules on the Horizon in 2012 As expected, FMCSA released their truck drivers HOS rule late in December and it was met with criticism from both sides.

Several changes were made to things like the definition of ‘on-duty time’ and the 34-hour restart provision, but the controversial issue of maximum drive time remains unchanged at 11 hours. It’s possible that this rulemaking is heading back to court, as safety advocates and industry weigh the value of a legal challenge. ATA has indicated they are considering that route, but have not announced a decision.

A number of other rules are on the horizon. FMCSA has indicated that the Final Rule on the ‘National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners’ will be

published ‘this winter’. Rules on ‘Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators’ and ‘Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance; Driver-Vehicle Inspection Report for Intermodal Equipment are also due out in early 2012. NHTSA plans to issue a number of rules regarding motorcoach safety in early 2012, including the ‘Electronic Stability Control Systems for Heavy Vehicle’ rulemaking and requirements for safety belts and rollover structural integrity.

In addition, FMCSA is taking a look at HOS for the motorcoach industry. A listening session was held in conjunction with the 2012 ABA Marketplace in early January and work will continue on the issue through 2012.

CVSA Academic Scholarship

Since its inception in 1982, CVSA has been a safety advocate of commercial vehicles. CVSA represents the individuals who dedicate their work to promoting an environment free of commercial vehicle accidents and incidents.

As North America’s leading commercial vehicle safety organization, the CVSA Academic Scholarship is the centerpiece of the Alliance’s educational outreach initiative. The Scholarship provides two $1,000 grants to graduating high school seniors whose parent or legal guardian is a good standing member of CVSA. This grant program is competitive in its selection criteria, uniquely tailored to recognize outstanding high school seniors. Scholarship recipients are selected by weighing academic performance and extracurricular activities.

Application Deadline: March 31, 2012 For more information, please visit: www.cvsa.org/about/cvsa_academicscholarships.php

unquestionable witness, and assist in expediting claims. The video may clear a driver by showing what really happened and removing any chance for misjudgment based on bias. Claims adjusters can make quick and informed decisions based on actual facts, at times virtually eliminating costs related to accident reconstruction and litigation.

The technology also brings other valuable benefits. For instance, AERs help eliminate fuelwasting driving habits such as speeding, hard-braking and rapid acceleration. Furthermore, these improved driving skills result in lower maintenance and repair costs.

In addition, AERs help isolate potentially serious driving patterns and reinforce good performance, making coaching and training much more effective. Companies using the technology can stage more successful safety meetings by providing real-life examples and driving trend analysis.

AER technology is constantly changing and improving, with a variety of products and services coming into the marketplace every day. Operations without AERs in their fleets should strongly consider the investment as they will realize significant benefits from this proactive safety tool designed to improve driver performance and make our roads safer for everyone.

Kate Paciorek, Safety Claims and Litigation Services, LLC

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KNOWLEDGE MATTERS

Training: A Texas Perspective to the EverEvolving Classroom By the Texas Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Training Staff

Technology is constantly changing in today’s world. Every year, new gadgets and programming applications are released to the public, changing the way jobs are performed and affecting public culture. In the last ten years, technological advancements have become more innovative and prevalent worldwide.

Advancements in technology have greatly impacted the educational system in a positive manner. It has changed the way materials and information are presented to students, and the method in which students learn.

As recently as forty years ago, everything was done with a paper and pencil, and the Internet was only a vague idea that few had heard of. Even some of the older generation believes that it would have been nice to have this new technology in their day.

Traditionally, the core element of classroom instruction was the text book.

It was the instructor’s job to point out important information needed by the student to ensure subject mastery.

During instruction, other visual aids were introduced, such as flip charts,

Getting Everyone on the Same Page A Case for In-Service Training

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handouts, and dry marker boards.

In the early 90’s, the North American Standard (NAS) courses were taught using slide carousels and VHS video tapes for course presentation. At that time, the use of an overhead, and slide projector was considered advanced technology. The host agency conducting the course would receive a shipment from NTC which contained the carousels, tapes, student materials, and test booklets. One specific NAS course might contain a total of six to eight separate

carousels, with individual carousels possibly containing as many as 50 slides!

The instructor quickly learned after the first course instructed, and before the second, to check the slides in each carousel to ensure that all slides were in their proper order and that their orientation within the carousel was correct!

They also learned quickly to mark a location in the Instructor Manual to “start the tape”!

“Concept Webs” basically consisted of information transferred to a flip chart, then hung on the wall for the student’s use. At the conclusion of the course, students would take the test, mark their answers in the test booklet, and the host agency would then pack everything up and ship it back to NTC. Instructional aids began moving into the Information Age in the latter 90’s with the use of DVD’s containing PowerPoint Presentations and videos, along with the use of pre-printed Concept Webs. As we speak today, many classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and computer integrated desks or workstations which place the materials directly at the student’s finger-

If you work in a commercial vehicle enforcement division in your jurisdiction, have the responsibility for reviewing data concerns that are filed about Federal or jurisdictional data and notice a repeated pattern of problems, it may be time for you to do some inservice training.

“Here in Maryland, we use the Data Qs process to evaluate problems we are having in the department,” said Francis “Buzzy” France, an administrative officer with the Maryland State Police, and a CVSA Past President. “If I get the same problems day in and day out I know I need to clarify those violations insofar as training.”

Conducting in-service training has many benefits. For one, it keeps inspectors versed in the current regulations. Not only does it communicate the work for all certified inspectors, it emphasizes the important elements of the training courses and the key elements including: load securement, brake inspections, hours-ofservice (HOS) inspections, driver credentialing (what is needed for a driver to drive a vehicle), verify drivers licenses to make sure they are valid, checking operating authorities for the companies they are working for, HazMat regulations, analyze shipping papers for HazMat, as well as

We stand by NTC’s mission of providing high quality motor carrier safety and law enforcement training to achieve the goal of reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.

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tips from a host computer. Nowadays, most tests are graded with mechanically scored answer sheets or online, with the results sent back to the student almost instantaneously. This has made life more convenient for students while enhancing the learning process by improving the way subject matter is presented.

With the current rate of technological advancement, it’s impossible to imagine what a classroom may be like in twenty years. The shift in worldwide computer usage and the need for computer skills in today’s society have demanded entities to create guidelines which are aimed at preparing students to effectively carry out their duties and responsibilities.

While these changes are easy to imagine and are close at hand, one thing for certain about the far off future: Technology will continue to evolve for years to come and the CVE Training Unit of the Texas Department of Public Safety will continue to advance with the “Ever Evolving Classroom.”

We stand by NTC’s mission of providing high quality motor carrier safety and law enforcement training to achieve the

goal of reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.

The Texas Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Training Staff consists of seven Sergeants who each have their own “specialty” course of instruction. Each has “risen” through the ranks and all have previously been roadside inspectors for many years. Two civilian instructors are specifically devoted to instructing the Compliance Review certification courses. The unit is managed under the command of a Captain and two Lieutenants, which make up a total of approximately 215 cumulative years of experience. The Training Unit, as a whole, averages instructing approximately eighty (80) one-week schools per year, not only to uniformed Troopers, but to civilian personnel and local agency Inspectors as well.

MCSAP schools consist of NAS Parts A & B, Non-Bulk Hazardous Materials, Cargo Tank, Other Bulk, Passenger Vehicle Inspection, and Compliance Review. In addition to the federal certification courses, the Training Unit also conducts certification training in Intrastate Rules and Regulations, along with Basic Texas State Law.

checking the requirements for placarding and marking.

According to France, inspectors become more effective and uniform in their inspections after receiving training. He also indicated that in some cases, there is a correlation between inspectors receiving training and an uptick in violations. “After taking the courses we see a general increase in violations. We know as a result of doing the training that it helps increase our department’s uniformity for conducting the roadside process. And with the new CSA program, it is more important than ever because these roadside inspections drive the whole program.”

France indicated that for states that do not have instructors they typically utilize the FMCSA’s National Training Center (NTC) staff. But NTC doesn’t always have training courses in their states. “CVSA has put together a tool box of suggestions of things they can do, although we have never set a policy of how much in service training needs to be done,” said France, who also served as a CVSA Training Committee chair.

“But by doing it, I get a lot more value and get more from my inspectors and they are more confident in conducting different level inspections that they do not normally come across.”

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France recommends jurisdictions need to really look at developing in-service training for all their inspectors at least annually, if not more given the new changes in HOS. “We really need to increase our communication between the training realm and the roadside inspector to ensure that everyone is on the same page because the more we train them the better they get,” France stated. “They don’t do all these inspection levels all the time, so when they do get a Level I and they haven’t done it in a while, the training is what will keep them versed in conducting a thorough and uniform inspection.”

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Ask the FMCSA Administrator

Finally, our National Training Center will work with CVSA to develop and roll-out comprehensive training on the new requirements prior to the July 1, 2013 compliance date.

Question: What plans does FMCSA have in the near-term to educate enforcement personnel on the new hand-held cell phone ban for commercial truck and bus drivers?

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro answers your questions. In this issue, the Administrator explains current plans to educate enforcement personnel on the new hours-of-service rule and the new cell phone rule; what FMCSA has in store for CSA in 2012; and how the enforcement community can stay current on motorcoach safety issues.

Question: What plans does FMCSA have in the near-term to educate enforcement personnel on the new hours-of-service rule?

Answer: On December 22, 2011, FMCSA made public the hours-of-service final rule for truck drivers. The rule raises the safety bar by limiting use of the 34-hour restart to once per week, requiring the 34-hour restart to include two night time periods between 1:00 am to 5:00 am and prohibiting driving if more than 8 hours have passed since the driver’s last break of 30 minutes or more.

There are also provisions relating to onduty time and penalties which pertain to

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all CMV operators, and record keeping for oil-field operations.

FMCSA understands that it is critical for enforcement personnel and industry to have an in-depth understanding of these new provisions before they are implemented. The compliance date for the majority of the rule is July 1, 2013; however, compliance with the “on-duty time” definition, penalty provisions and oil field operations occurs when the final rule takes effect February 27, 2012.

Between now and July 1, 2013, FMCSA will take a number of steps to ensure understanding of the provisions.

First, the new rule is available on the FMCSA website http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov as are a series of Questions and Answers that help explain the rule. I urge you to take the time to review these materials now. Second, during the first quarter of 2012, FMCSA will be hosting a series of webinars to make FMCSA and State personnel familiar with the regulations. We will also provide a PowerPoint presentation that can be used when conducting information sessions with safety stakeholders, state trucking associations or other interested groups.

Answer: The final rule prohibiting truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles becomes effective nation-wide on January 3, 2012.

Enforcing this new law will involve some challenges for state and local law enforcement. However, I believe we can meet those challenges and take strong steps to stop this unsafe behavior. We know enforcement can be effective based on experience since the 2010 ban on texting became law. Since the texting rule went into effect, more than 300 texting violations have been recorded at the roadside.

Also, an earlier pilot program in Hartford, CT and Syracuse, NY, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed that stepped up enforcement against distracted driving can improve safety. In that year-long program, the Hartford police cited 9,500 drivers for texting or talking on cell phones while driving. The Syracuse pilot reported similar results.

To assist in making enforcement as successful as possible, we are working with and through the CVSA Training Committee to develop procedures and methods to ensure uniform compliance.

Enforcing this new rule is a giant leap forward for safer roads. It’s too dangerous

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for drivers to use a hand-held cell phone while operating a commercial truck or bus. Drivers must keep their eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, and head in the game when operating on our roads.

Question: What does FMCSA plan for CSA in 2012?

Answer: In the year since Compliance, Safety, Accountability was launched in every state, we have seen clear results. We are reaching more carriers and reaching them sooner which is making a difference for commercial motor vehicle safety.

In 2012, we will build on the positive impacts seen in the first year so that we can continue the path we began last year.

Moving forward, expect to see new improvements to address crash accountability. We will make changes to the cargorelated BASIC to better identify and address hazardous materials and aligning violations that are included in the Safety Measurement System or SMS with CVSA inspection levels. This means that we will eliminate vehicle violations that are derived from driver-only inspections and driver violations from vehicle-only inspections. We will also issue a proposed rule that would use on-road performance and investigation data in determining a truck or bus company’s safety fitness.

All of these actions are part of a longterm commitment to improve road safety by strengthening commercial carrier, vehicle and driver safety. By reaching more carriers earlier and using a range of corrective interventions to address a carrier’s specific safety problems, we will maintain high safety standards by placing safety at the forefront of every truck and bus company’s operations.

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enforcement community informed on current activities related to motorcoach safety and oversight.

On January 18, FMCSA’s National Training Center will host two webinars on motorcoach activities to provide you with the latest insights and strategies to improve safety. Anne Collins, FMCSA Associate Administrator for Field Operations will facilitate a panel of speakers led by FMCSA’s Passenger Carrier Division Chief Loretta Bitner, Eastern Service Center Field Administrator Bob Miller and Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Lieutenant and CVSA Passenger Carrier Committee Chair Don Bridge for an informational session on critical motorcoach policy and regulatory issues.

We will discuss the September national passenger carrier safety strike force, exchange best practices from our experiences, and provide information from the Motorcoach Safety Action Plan and the National Motorcoach Safety Summit. The webinar will also highlight emerging enforcement issues. All of this will help us achieve our safety goals of raising the safety bar, maintaining high standards and removing high-risk carri-

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ers from operating. Register for the 10 am webinar at https://fmcsa.adobeconnect.com/_a960512357/cvsamc1/event/r egistration.html or the 2pm webinar at https://fmcsa.adobeconnect.com/_a9605 12357/cvsamc2/event/registration.html.

If you miss the January 18 webinar, you can view it online at the CVSA web site.

The actions we take to vigorously protect the public from unsafe motor coach drivers, buses and companies would not be possible without our safety partners.

The stakes are high. After all, the public is counting on us to make sure that safety is the first priority of bus companies and drivers and that they understand and obey the rules of the road.

Our work together makes roads safer for the American people. Your hard work, integrity and commitment to our safety-first mission are commendable.

We recognize that you are critical to our success and we thank you for your tireless efforts. Best wishes for a safe and productive 2012 to all our state and local safety partners.

Have a question? Send it to AskFMCSA@dot.gov.

Question: How can I stay current on enforcement priorities for motorcoach safety?

Answer: At FMCSA, we have pledged to do everything within our authority to help prevent future motorcoach crashes.

To keep that pledge, we must keep the

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Roadside Inspector Feedback Guides ISS Enhancements

By Gregory Nahmens, FMCSA, Transportation Specialist, Commercial Passenger Carrier Safety Division

In an ongoing effort to increase the effectiveness of roadside inspections, the FMCSA as part of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program will improve the methodology used in the Inspection Selection System (ISS) in the spring of 2012. ISS is used to identify and prioritize motor carriers for inspections and serves as the foundation for by-pass recommendations in e-screening applications. FMCSA is implementing the enhancements to the ISS algorithm based on feedback from roadside inspectors.

“Input from our ‘on the ground’ enforcement personnel is essential to developing and enhancing the tools needed to carry out our important safety mission; we are committed to listening to enforcement partners across the country in order to improve our systems, processes, and programs,” said Administrator Anne S. Ferro.

The revised algorithm enhancements include: • Targeting motor carriers with demonstrated safety problems that can be addressed during a roadside inspection; • Ensuring that carriers with limited inspection data do not fly under the radar; and

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Assisting roadside inspectors to more easily identify out-of-service (OOS) carriers by assigning them a score of 100.

The revised algorithm will focus inspectors on motor carriers with safety performance problems in areas most likely to be observed and effectively addressed through a fixed site roadside inspection; providing inspectors with a meaningful, safety-based “Inspect” recommendation was the primary request from the inspector community and applies the CSA tenet of matching the right intervention tool with the demonstrated safety problem.

The revised algorithm will ensure that FMCSA gathers important safety performance information about motor carriers who have limited inspection data by including a random sample of carriers with “insufficient data” each month in the “Inspect” category. The ISS will not automatically assign “Inspect” recommendations to all carriers with insufficient data as it does today, resulting in fewer overall “Inspect” recommendations. This ensures that the majority of carriers in that category are based on safety performance while balancing

the need to monitor carriers with limited exposure to the roadside inspection program.

Finally, the revised algorithm will prioritize OOS carriers with the highest ISS score, allowing inspectors to quickly identify those carriers who should not be operating. This determination will be made on a daily basis, providing timely information at roadside regarding carriers’ authority to operate.

Overall, FMCSA made these ISS improvements to assist roadside inspectors in prioritizing motor carriers to inspect; the agency continues to work closely with States’ e-screening programs to ensure their systems are closely aligned with the agency’s priorities, as reflected in the new ISS algorithm.

“With valuable feedback from enforcement personnel, we have reexamined the system and made changes so that the ISS is as meaningful and useful as possible in order to carry out our joint mission to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes,” said Ferro.

Stay tuned for further updates as they become available by subscribing to the CSA RSS feed or email list at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/stay_connected.aspx

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The National Training Center Rolls Out New Hazardous Materials Training Courses

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New Medical Certification Requirements A Guide for Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Holders

General Information • What is changing? State driver licensing agencies (SDLAs) will be adding your medical certification status and the information on your medical examiner’s certificate to your Commercial driver’s license system (CDLIS) record.

• When does this change start? This change starts on January 30, 2012 • What is not changing? The driver physical qualification requirements are not changing.

FMCSA National Training Center (NTC) is approaching the end of a year-long project to redevelop its HazMat training.

The aim of the NTC HazMat Course Redevelopment Project is to achieve better learning outcomes for training directed to Federal and State personnel who conduct HazMat-based compliance reviews, investigations or inspections.

The instructional materials for the new HazMat training courses are produced in a range of media for greater flexibility. For example, all web-based pre-requisites reduce the need for instructor led resources and allow for more performance based/hands-on interaction in the classroom.

Each of the new training courses has now been piloted and the lessons learned incorporated into a final revision.

NTC certified HazMat Instructors will have two opportunities to re-certify in the new HazMat training courses: • January 10, 2012, at NTC, Arlington, VA • January 30, 2012, at the Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Conference (January 30 - February 3, 2012), Newport Beach, CA Rollout of the new HazMat training courses will begin February 2012.

What are CDL holders required to do?

1. You must determine what type of commerce you operate in. You must certify to your SDLA to one of the four types of commerce you operate in as listed below, • Interstate non-excepted: You are an Interstate non-excepted driver and must meet the Federal DOT medical card requirements (e.g. - you are “not excepted”).

• Interstate excepted: You are an Interstate excepted driver and do not have to meet the Federal DOT medical card requirements.

• Intrastate non-excepted: You are an Intrastate non-excepted driver and are required to meet the medical requirements for your State.

• Intrastate excepted: You are an Intrastate excepted driver and do not have to meet the medical requirements for your State.

2. If you are subject to the DOT medical card requirements, provide a copy of each new DOT medical card to your SDLA prior to the expiration of the current DOT medical card.

For more detailed information read the following: Starting January 30, 2012 and no later than January 30, 2014, all CDL holders must provide information to their SDLA regarding the type of commercial motor vehicle operation they drive in or expect to drive in with their CDL. Drivers operating in certain types of commerce will be required to submit a current medical examiner’s certificate to their SDLA to obtain a “certified” medical status as part of their driving record.

CDL holders required to have a “certified” medical status who fail to provide and keep up-to-date their medical examiner’s certificate with their SDLA will become “not-certified” and they may lose their CDL.

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The Commercial Driver’s License Program Turns 25 The CDL Matures in its Role for CMV Safety

By DaRonda McDuffie, FMCSA, Public Affairs Specialist Happy 25th Birthday, Commercial Drivers License (CDL)!

October 2011 marked the 25th anniversary of the Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Safety Act of 1986. This law established a program to improve highway safety by ensuring that drivers of large trucks and buses are qualified to operate those vehicles and to remove unsafe and unqualified drivers from the highways. The Act retained the State’s right to issue a commercial driver’s license, but established minimum national standards which States must meet.

Drivers have been required to have a CDL in order to drive certain CMVs since April 1, 1992.

The national CDL program has contributed to the reduction of fatalities and injuries over the past 25 years. Fatalities have decreased by almost half, from 5,600 in 1986 to 3,600 in 2010, while the number of CDL holders has grown to approximately 14.2 million. Each year, 40,000 applicants across the U.S. become CDL holders.

During the registration process, the State checks the information of an individual applying, renewing or updating his or her CDL, through the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS). The applicant also receives a complete check through the National Driver Register (NDR), which is a computerized database of information provided by the State, about drivers who have had their licenses revoked or suspended, or who have been convicted of serious traffic violations. Verifications are done to ensure that the driver is not dis-

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qualified to drive and does not possess a license from more than one jurisdiction.

If the driver holds a license from another jurisdiction, the State must require the driver applicant to surrender his or her driver’s license issued by that State before issuing a new one. The State must request the complete driving record of the applicant from all jurisdictions where the driver was previously licensed in the past 10 years. FMCSA works closely with our state partners to maintain an efficient and accurate CDL program.

This efficiency is made possible through valued partnerships.

Joint efforts with CVSA, new partnerships with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriff ’s Association (NSA), as well as targeted training offered by FMCSAs National Training Center, are in place to educate State and local law enforcement, other stakeholders, and the trucking industry.

Increased outreach involving these alliances has resulted in more detailed oversight of truck and buses, and has been a factor in strengthening law

enforcement’s ability to identify unsafe behaviors such as speeding, reckless driving, and lack of safety belt use.

CDLIS is heavily used by Federal and State law enforcement officers and driver licensing agencies.

Each day CDLIS receives 316,000 queries. FMCSA is working to make the CDLIS system accessible to all law enforcement, not just CMV Inspectors, through the Nlets network early in 2012. This access will provide driver record access from State offices, and contains vehicle registration information for both carrier and vehicle inquiries. With the growth in availability, annual queries to CDLIS are estimated to rise to 37 million, up 5 fold from the current rate of 4.5 million.

In the near term, CDLIS will merge with FMCSA’s Medical Certification program. Work is underway to interconnect the CDLIS with the Medical Certification National Registry by 2014.

“Validating medical certification cards will strengthen the link between safety and enforcement and reinforce our safety mission,” said Selden Fritschner, FMCSA Chief of the Commercial License Division.

Current and ongoing improvements to the CDL program result from strong and sustained relationships with our state partners. The program’s continued success will impact FMCSA’s safety first mission, our ability to plan for the future of safety programs, and our framework for building and sustaining new partnerships for the purpose of making a difference for commercial motor vehicle safety.

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NTSB Concludes Investigation of Missouri Crash, Recommends Nationwide Ban on Use of Nonemergency Portable Electronic Devices

By Jennifer Morrison, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Vehicle Factors Investigator The NTSB recently met to conclude its investigation of an August 2010 accident, which occurred on eastbound Interstate 44 near Gray Summit, MO. The accident was a chain reaction of three collisions that took place when traffic had slowed on approach to an active construction zone. A bobtailing 2007 Volvo truck-tractor had slowed for traffic when it was struck from behind by a 2007 GMC Sierra pickup truck. The lead school bus of a two-bus convoy from St. James High School, enroute to the Six Flags St. Louis amusement park, then struck and overrode the pickup, ramped upward, and came to rest on top of the pickup and the tractor. Moments later, the following school bus struck the right rear of the lead bus.

As a result of the accident, the 19year-old male driver of the pickup and a 15-year-old female passenger seated in the rear of the lead school bus were killed. A total of 35 passengers from both of the buses, the two bus drivers, and the driver of the tractor received injuries ranging from minor to serious.

Eighteen people were uninjured.

The NTSB’s investigation revealed that the pickup driver sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes preceding the accident, with the last text being received just moments before the pickup struck the tractor.

This accident is the most recent in a string of accidents investigated by the NTSB, across all modes of transportation, where the deadly consequences of driver distraction from the use of a portable electronic device

have become evident. To name just a few, these accidents include: The 2008 Chatsworth, CA, commuter train collision, where 25 people were killed and dozens more injured, when the train engineer ran a red signal while texting; the 2010 “Duck” boat accident in Philadelphia, PA, where two tourists were killed when the boat was overrun by a barge being driven by an operator who failed to maintain a proper lookout due to repeated use of a cell-phone and laptop computer; and the 2010 Munfordville, KY, accident where a truck driver failed to maintain control of his fully loaded combination unit, crossed the median and collided with a 15-passenger van, killing 11 people, because he was distracted by use of his cell-phone.

In the Gray Summit accident the NTSB determined that the probable cause of the initial collision, between the pickup and the tractor, was distraction due to the text messaging conversation being conducted by the pickup driver.

As a result of this investigation, a safety recommendation was issued to the 50 states and the District of Columbia to ban the nonemergency use of portable elec-

tronic devices (other than those designed to support the driving task) for all drivers.

The safety recommendation also urges the use of high-visibility enforcement to support these bans and implementation of targeted communication campaigns to inform motorists of both the new law and the heightened enforcement.

Other items addressed in the Gray Summit investigation include video event recorders, collision warning systems, medical oversight of commercial vehicle drivers, state oversight of pupil transportation, school bus inspections, school bus emergency exit window design, and school activity pre-trip safety briefings.

As a result of the investigation, the NTSB issued a total of 13 new recommendations to various Federal, state, and industry associations, and either reiterated or reclassified another 10 recommendations previously issued by the agency.

The NTSB also recently released its Report on Curbside Motorcoach Safety, a comprehensive examination of motorcoach transportation safety with an emphasis on curbside motorcoach operations. The full report addresses the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s oversight of all sectors of the motorcoach industry so that comparisons with curbside operations can be made. The report provides 27 primary conclusions from the findings of the NTSB’s investigation of curbside motorcoach safety; no recommendations were issued with the report.

Both reports are available on the NTSB’s website: www.ntsb.gov.

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TSA Initiates “Highway Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancements” Program

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has launched a new voluntary security review program designed to assess and improve the overall security posture of the trucking, motorcoach, and school bus transportation sectors, as well as select infrastructure sites. For the past few years, TSA, through its Surface Transportation Security Inspection Program (STSIP), has been conducting voluntary Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement (BASE) reviews of public transit systems in the United States. The program has been very successful, and TSA is now bringing this same security review concept to the larger highway transportation sector. This program will improve the working relationship between TSA and our corporate trucking, motor coach, school bus and infrastructure partners, while at the same time elevating the overall level of highway security. In furtherance of this effort, TSA is requesting participation from their trucking and busing partners in conducting “Highway Baseline Assessments for Security Enhancements” (HWY BASE) reviews.

HWY BASE is a non-regulatory program in which highway transportation stakeholders across the U.S allow TSA to review their security practices. In return, TSA will provide them with a report on their findings, assign an overall security “score,” and provide recommended options for consideration designed to mitigate any vulnerabilities identified. In conjunction with the HWY BASE program, TSA is also assisting stakeholders in need of security planning guidance by providing a simplified security plan template

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adaptable to all modes, as well as a stepby-step guide to conducting an effective, site-specific risk assessment for any location. Simply stated, the HWY BASE program is an opportunity for industry to receive assistance from TSA in developing a robust security planning and assessment program designed to drive down the risk of a truck or bus company becoming the potential target of criminal or terrorist elements.

Following the review, participating companies will be provided with a detailed summary report that includes security strengths, security weaknesses, and a separate security “score.”

Participating stakeholders will receive a report card-type score ranging from 0% thru 100% . Those scoring 90% or more on their Overall Security Performance will be recognized for earning TSA’s “Security Gold Standard” and will receive a certificate commending their security efforts.

A company or facility will be identified as a candidate for this program using a risk-based methodology developed by TSA’s Highway & Motor Carrier

(HMC) Division,. The initial focus of the program will be larger companies that represent the largest portion of their respective industry. TSA field personnel assigned to offices across the U.S. will review various aspects of the company’s security practices based on a series of recommended “Security Action Items” developed by HMC, in concert with industry partners.

During the HWY BASE review process, TSA will review related security documents, interview appropriate security personnel, and (if appropriate) observe operations. Once again, the emphasis is that of collaboration and cooperation between the company and TSA, and no enforcement action will be taken as a result of the review. Additionally, no information provided will be shared with any entities outside TSA and the proprietary information will be protected in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations.

Participating in the HWY BASE program offers many benefits. Among those are the following: • May give a company a competitive edge thru TSA’s “Gold Standard” achievement recognition • Grant funding for security enhancements may be available from TSA • National transportation security posture will be enhanced, reducing the overall risk of terrorism • Company assets will be better protected against both terrorist and criminal elements • May reduce a company’s potential liability exposure (“can you afford not to be securityminded?”)

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TSA’s Highway Anti-Terrorism Program Helps Foil Hijacking and Bomb Plots

By Mark Messina, TSA, Highway and Motor Carrier Transportation, Security Specialist

Many think of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at our airports as we prepare for screening prior to boarding an aircraft, however, with over 200,000 trained First Observers™ contributing to recent success in foiling a February, 2011 motorcoach hijacking and a Texas bomb plot linked to terrorism, the Administration’s eyes are clearly focused on the road.

First Observer is the anti-terrorism domain awareness program created by TSA’s Highway and Motor Carrier (HMC) Division to train highway professionals to accurately observe, assess and report terrorist behavior. The TSA believes First Observer has widespread highway mode application and is a low cost, easy to implement force multiplier.

Recent success stories such as the foiled hijacking of a Greyhound motorcoach traveling between Arlington, VA and Durham, NC and the disruption of a Texas bomb plot targeting former President George W. Bush and power

• Company reputation as an “industry leader” may be enhanced • May improve community relations through recognition as a “good neighbor” • Employees will benefit from an improved security environment • Will provide data to inform future decision making at the federal level • Offers a no-cost opportunity for industry stakeholders to enhance their security posture with non-binding recommendations for improvement.

The personnel assigned to actually conduct the HWY BASE reviews will be

plants throughout the West Coast, validate HMC’s belief. Headlines around the time focused on Super Bowl XLV festivities and HMC jumped into the action by training 1200 new First Observers at or near Cowboys Stadium.

Following Green Bay’s victory over Pittsburgh, only minor incidents, with no nexus to terrorism, were reported to the 24-hour First Observer Call Center.

The motorcoach hijacking, attempted two days prior to kick-off, didn’t receive much press amid the hoopla surrounding America’s premier sports extravaganza.

Boarding a Greyhound motorcoach bound from Arlington, VA to Raleigh, NC with 35 passengers onboard, alleged

hijacker, 32-year-old Jose Darwin Flores, 32, of Arlington, VA, approached the driver with a handgun and took control of the bus, according to Warren County, NC, Sheriff Johnny M. Williams.

Southbound on Interstate I-85, along the Richmond, VA and Raleigh corridor, Flores told the driver to pull over near Exit 223. There, 33 terrified passengers were allowed to leave the bus. Two passengers remained on the bus. One hid in the back of the motorcoach and the other would not leave the driver alone to face the hijacker. Upon release at the exit, many of the passengers contacted police.

Flores then forced the driver, a Carey, NC veteran motorcoach operator receiving Greyhound and TSA training when she joined the company, to continue down the road. Following many of the lessons presented in her TSA/First Observer training, she remained calm and convinced the driver she could not continue the trip if she were not allowed to use a rest room. (continued on page 16)

Transportation Security representatives who are security professionals trained in all surface transportation modes. These employees, assigned to TSA offices nationwide, will be tasked with collecting security data from locally participating companies, having that data analyzed, and generating a report for the stakeholder. After the initial review by a local TSA security professional, the company will have opportunities to work closely with the TSA representative to implement any recommendations deemed appropriate by the company. Any mitigation recommendations made in the report will be advisory in nature and

place no financial or legal obligation on the participating company. TSA personnel will be reaching out to general freight trucking, food transporters, motor coach and school bus companies, as well select infrastructure sites. Hazardous material transporters are not currently part of the transportation sector selected for this program.

Remember, the goal of the HWY BASE program is to reduce the risk of a terrorist incident involving the highway transportation sector. TSA is asking for HWY BASE participation from all of our industry partners as we continue focusing on transportation security awareness.

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Agreeing to her request, Flores allowed the driver to pull over at a local Sunoco gas station where she and both remaining passengers exited to use the rest room, leaving Flores alone on the bus. Shortly afterward, sheriff deputies, alerted by released passengers, stunned Flores after he refused to leave the bus and took him into custody.

Today, Flores is in the Warren County Detention Center, held on a $30-million bond and faces multiple kidnapping charges. The Greyhound driver, a mother of three with previous school bus driving experience, credits her TSA training and her years of experience for her success.

Similar TSA training led to the February, 2011, FBI bust of Khalid AliM Aldawsari, a 20-year-old Saudi student studying in Texas. Aldawsari was charged with attempting to bomb nuclear power plants and dams along the West Coast and the home of former President George W. Bush. An alert employee of Con-way Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan based transportation and logistics service provider with a hub in Lubbock, TX, quickly initiated the process alerting local law enforcement personal and the FBI to a shipment of Phenol, a chemical used in homemade bomb manufacturing.

Following First Observer principles rolled out to Con-way associates under the program’s previous “Highway Watch” moniker, the Con-way employee realized something “just didn’t look right” when the chemicals passed through the Lubbock hub.

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Based on the nature of the chemicals shipped and inconsistency regarding the intended use of the chemical, provisions in Con-way’s incident management program triggered a DHS/TSA notification plan. Reacting to reports, the FBI gained entry into Aldawsari’s apartment on Valentine’s Day finding, according to the complaint, “concentrated sulfuric acid, concentrated nitric acid, lab equipment, to include beakers and flasks, wiring, Christmas lights, the HazMat suit and clocks.” All of those, the government alleges, could be used to make an improvised explosive device. The FBI arrested Aldasawsari, February 23, 2011 and charged him with the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

First Observer motorcoach security and cargo modules used by the Greyhound driver and the Con-way logistics associate clearly define processes enabling users to non-confrontationally and accurately observe, assess and report terrorist and criminal activity. Eleven training modules endemic to the program cover all national highway modes such as infrastructure, trucking, cargo, HAZMAT, school bus, motorcoach, parking structures, highway workers, port authority operations, vehicle rental and leasing and law enforcement industries and organizations.

Keeping the training time and cost manageable was another part of the TSA training strategy. At a time when every government, public and private sector agency or organization is “doing more

with less,” First Observer training is provided at no cost to stakeholders. Most First Observer training is online (www.FirstObserver.com), but TSA knows the most effective training is classroom based. That’s why First Observer offers “Train the Trainer” sessions as a significant part of the curriculum. Onsite and webinar training opportunities exist and based on specifics of the group, high-level, direct training is available as well.

Until now, training was optional for domestic motorcoach and over-the-road bus (OTRB) operators. The 9-11 Act, however, requires OTRB operators to provide anti-terrorism domain awareness training such as First Observer to its frontline employees. TSA is currently preparing a rule requiring training of specific passenger carriers. With this requirement in mind, at its presentation to the FPWG, TSA asked the group to consider recommending a DOD acquisitions policy change requiring TSAapproved security awareness training of ANY motor carrier, bus or truck wishing to do business with the DOD. “This is a government program that not only allows HMC to form true partnerships with other public and private sector highway security professionals but it’s one that makes sense and is easy to integrate into existing security plans and operations.” said HMC General Manager William H. (Bill) Arrington.

Information about First Observer and the HMC mission is found on the HMC website (www.tsa.gov/highway).

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COHMED Builds Partnerships to Ensure Success

By Capt. Bill Reese, Idaho State Police, CVSA, COHMED Program Chair

I attended my first COHMED Conference in San Diego in 1996. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago, must be my age, but that’s another story. In 2004, I got involved with the COHMED Leadership as the Region IV Chair.

Since then, I have found myself on a journey that has led to my current position as the COHMED Program Chair.

It is truly an honor to serve in this capacity. For the last 21 years I have been involved in a diverse variety of aspects involving hazardous materials transportation safety. It has been a passion that has driven me to this point in my career. Hazardous materials transportation is challenging, interesting, and educational. At the same time, it can be frustrating, mind boggling and it’s constantly changing! That’s why training and education are so important. So, our mission at the annual COHMED Conference is to make the challenges of hazardous materials interesting and educational.

Our 2012 COHMED conference will be held from January 20 through February 3, 2012, in Newport Beach, CA. I commend the leadership team for putting together one of the best conference agendas we’ve had.

When I took the reins as the COHMED Program Chair, I set a goal to increase our attendance at the COHMED Conferences. To be successful in today’s tough economic times, we need to work together and pool our combined resources. One of the steps we’ve taken to leverage our combined resources is through building partnerships. At last year’s conference, during the industry meeting, I challenged our attendees from industry to bring more of their industry partners to the next conference.

This year we were able to partner with the FMCSA National Training Center to host an instructor development update course for their national instructors who teach the hazardous

material inspection courses. The course will be held on the first day, which will allow participants to attend the COHMED conference the rest of the week. This cost sharing will allow states to send people to the conference who otherwise would not have been able to attend.

We’ve also built a strong relationship with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. They are assisting us with instructors and some grant funding. In addition, we’ve worked with our Canadian liaisons and we’ll be offering more training sessions applicable to our counterparts from Canada.

We have had great participation in the past from Transport Canada and are looking forward to the provincial agencies being more involved.

By building partnerships and working together we can provide the synergy we need to take COHMED to the next level! See you there.

International Safety Team Receives Media Training to Promote CVSA Safety Message

By Andrew Stoeckle, Washington State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Division, CVSA 2012 International Safety Team, Team Leader

Members of the International Safety Team (IST) will be attending public information officer (PIO) training in Ann Arbor, MI. After being selected to the IST for 2012 several members asked if they could receive PIO/media training. One of IST’s sponsors Con-way Freight offered to host and conduct the training at their headquarters in Ann Arbor. A date was set for the first week in January, and the team has packed their snowshoes to head north!

As a member of the IST I am looking forward to the training and after talking to several other members while in Austin, TX I believe they are too. As law enforcement officers and civil servants we are told not to talk or trust the media unless we have received training. Although when it comes to

getting information out to the media it is the best way. It also is important to know what media outlets are available. Twitter is one easy way to get a message out to the public and media.

You can just type a quick message and thousands of people can read it.

Members of the IST will be at selected media kickoff events for CVSA programs like Roadcheck, Operation Safe Driver and Operation Air Brake to name a few, as well as other industry and trade events throughout the year. This training will help us better understand our roles and responsibilities at these events. It will also help us understand what the media expects from us. This is important so we get the right message out.

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CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Data Show Message Getting Through to Drivers Combined Enforcement, Educational Outreach Takes Unsafe Drivers Off Roads Targeting enforcement and education efforts at both passenger as well as commercial vehicle drivers is starting to pay off, according to recently released results from CVSA’s 2011 Operation Safe Driver campaign. Drivers are slowing down and taking heed of safety groups’ messages that driving fast and cutting it close around commercial vehicles is a deadly combination.

Operation Safe Driver was launched in 2007 by CVSA, in partnership with FMCSA, to address the problem of improving the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner – either by, in, or around commercial vehicles – and to initiate educational and enforcement strategies to address those exhibiting high-risk behaviors.

“Campaigns that target and remove unsafe drivers from the road, like CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver, are yielding positive results,” said Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA’s executive director. “Until we move closer to achieving zero deaths, CVSA will continue to educate the driving public – and especially teens - about the risks they take when speeding and cutting off vehicles.”

CVSA initiated two new focus areas under the Operation Safe Driver campaign after analysis of crash data revealed certain demographics were more prone to be at risk for being involved in crashes with commercial vehicles. The Teens & Trucks Program was created to help educate teens about safe driving practices around commercial vehicles. Efforts educating young drivers (ages 16-20) are proving to have the most significant effect, with fatalities from crashes declining at a faster rate than overall fatalities between 2006 and 2010. According to recently released data from the National Highway

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Traffic Safety Administration, there has been a 39 percent decrease in fatalities in young driver-involved crashes compared to a 23-percent decrease in overall fatalities during the 2006 to 2010 time period.

In 2011, CVSA launched the Defeating Distracted Driving campaign for commercial vehicle drivers and will roll out a similar campaign focusing on Defeating Distracted Driving for Teens.

Distracted driving has been a focus area both by safety groups and DOT Secretary Ray LaHood after the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute released its report linking catastrophic crash events to the use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices.

During this year’s campaign, law enforcement officers who pulled over nearly 44,000 commercial and passenger vehicle drivers found that the top three reasons warnings and citations were issued to both commercial and noncommercial vehicle drivers include (1) speeding, (2) failure to obey traffic control devices and (3) failing to use a safety

belt. This indicates a switch in the top three violations position from 2010. In 2010, speeding was first, followed by failure to use a safety belt, and failure to obey traffic control devices respectively.

Of the warnings issued to CMV drivers, 16.8% were for speeding, versus 40.5% for passenger car drivers, both significant reductions from 2010; 5.9% were for failure to obey traffic control devices, compared to 3.2% for passenger car drivers, minor reductions from 2010; and, 3% were issued for failing to use a seat belt while operating their vehicle, compared to 1.9% for passenger car counterparts. These numbers represent a slight rise for CMV drivers and a slight decrease for passenger car drivers. Of the citations issued to CMV drivers, 12.8% were for speeding, versus 40.6% a significant drop for passenger car drivers; 2.9% were for failure to obey traffic control devices, a slight drop, compared to 1.9% for passenger car drivers; and, 3.7% were issued for failing to use a seat belt while operating their vehicle, compared to 7.0% for passenger car counterparts. CMV drivers were issued significantly less warnings and citations in 2011 for failing to buckle up (416) as compared to 2010 (1,055).

The data, obtained during the fourth annual Operation Safe Driver campaign, October 15-22, 2011, was collected by 3,805 law enforcement personnel at 1,848 locations across the United States and Canada. On the enforcement front, details on the results include: • 34,725 CMV Roadside Inspections (4.7% resulted in the driver being placed out-of-service; 24.6% of the Level I Inspections resulted in the vehicle(s) being placed out of service.

In 2010, there were 39,784 inspec-

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tions conducted and a driver OOS rate of 5.3%, vehicle Level I OOS rate of 27.4%; For Drivers: 0.81 violations per roadside inspection (0.44 in 2010); 0.08 OOS violations per roadside inspection (same in 2010); 0.07 citations per roadside inspection (0.04 in 2010); For Vehicles: 4.45 violations per roadside inspection (1.04 in 2010); 0.23 OOS violations per roadside inspection (same in 2010); 0.07 citations per roadside inspection (0.08 in 2010); 20,804 CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts: 7,062 warnings were issued (0.32 per contact); 8,121 citations were issued (0.35 per contact); In 2010, there were 21,555 contacts, which resulted in 7,062 warnings (0.33 per contact) and 8,067 citations (0.40 per contact); 8,770 Non-CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts: 7,126 warnings were issued (0.52 per contact); 7,256 citations were issued (0.69 per contact); In 2010, there were 7,700 contacts, which resulted in 3,818 warnings (0.60 per contact) and 6,477 citations (0.68 per contact); 27,482 CMV Driver License checks (31,737 in 2010) and 6,375 Non-CMV Driver License checks (9,876 in 2010).

“FMCSA is proud to be part of a life-saving effort like Operation Safe Driver – which sends a strong message to all drivers to think safety first, every trip and every time,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro.

For more information about CVSA’s outreach programs, including Teens & Trucks and Defeating Distracted Driving for Commercial Vehicle Drivers, please visit www.operationsafedriver.org.

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Brake Safety Week Captures Snapshot of Industry’s Compliance Rate Brake Adjustment, Component Out-of-Service Defects Drop, Overall OOS Rate for Brakes Up For the second year in a row, commercial vehicle inspectors conducted a record number of inspections during Operation Air Brake’s “Brake Safety Week”. Each year enforcement data gathered from across the continent provides a snapshot of industry’s rate of compliance while highlighting areas that need continued focus with regards to brake safety regulations and relevant maintenance practices. This year, although the number of out-of-service (OOS) defects for both brake adjustment and brake components are down slightly, the overall OOS rate for brakes rose.

“Brakes continue to be the number one OOS defect and Brake Safety Week is a reminder of the critical importance they serve in the safe operation of commercial vehicles,” said Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA’s executive director. “The Operation Air Brake campaign remains the premier joint effort among federal, state, and local commercial vehicle enforcement and industry to promote commercial vehicle brake safety.”

Brake Safety Week is a prominent event of the Operation Air Brake campaign, an ongoing, international effort dedicated to improving truck and bus brake safety throughout North America. Brake Safety Week took place September 11-17, 2011. Its importance is underscored by the fact that brakes were cited in 29.4 percent of crashes as an associate factor in the crash, according to the Large Crash Causation study conducted in 2006.

Overall results show: • 30,872 vehicles inspected in 2011. This exceeds the 2010 mark of 30,472 vehicles, the previous record inspected, since the program started in 1998; • 2,605 or 8.4% of vehicles were placed OOS for brake adjustment (8.9% in 2010, 9.0% in 2009); • 2,453 (or 7.9%) of vehicles were placed OOS for brake components (8.0% in 2010, 9.2% in 2009); and, • 4,385 (or 14.2%) of vehicles were placed OOS for brakes overall (13.5% in 2010, 15.1% in 2009).

The Operation Air Brake campaign exists, in part, to reduce the out-of-service rate for brake-related defects. This Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) model has been used successfully in other areas of traffic safety, and is being employed throughout North America to focus on the very important issue of brake safety and regulatory compliance. The Operation Air Brake Campaign was developed and initiated

by Canada in 1998.

The OOS rates for Canada were again lower than in the U.S. for 2011. This year, 8.7% of vehicles inspected in the U.S. during Brake Safety Week were placed OOS for poor brake adjustment, compared to 3.7% in Canada. Inspections in Canada resulted in 7.3% of vehicles being placed out of service for brakes, compared to 4.4% in 2010.

“FMCSA once again applauds Operation Air Brake for saving lives by preventing continued operation of trucks and buses with serious brake problems that place the safety of the traveling public at risk,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro.

To learn more about Operation Air Brake and Brake Safety Week, visit www.operationairbrake.com.

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COVER STORY

Making the Most of Your Membership Keeping pace with the changes in regulations and technology, combined with the fast-paced nature of commercial transportation, can be a challenge.

CVSA is vigilant in keeping our members informed by providing both enforcement and industry the tools to not only keep pace, but to be out ahead of the curve to help you do your job as effectively and efficiently as possible.

However, it is our members who are the best resource for providing updates on important and timely issues affecting the industry. CVSA provides a place to learn from others; contribute input through our many committees and programs; and to hear what is working in other jurisdictions and companies and how to apply it in your own workplace. When you are active in CVSA, you become to be a part of a large and diverse group with tremendous knowledge that can support you when you need it.

Networking is one of the important benefits available to you. Attending CVSA events and meeting face-to-face with key industry representatives, as well as law enforcement officials, is very valuable.

“This unique audience has made it possible to discuss issues important to our company and clients face-to-face

with those who can aid, advise and educate us,” said Del Lisk, Drive Cam Vice President, Safety Services. “Many times I’ve brought back information that has impacted our thinking about the future direction of our technologies.”

CVSA provides a unique forum for our industry partners to share their perspectives throughout CVSA’s committees and programs, as well as providing support and critical input to the Alliance, the Associate Advisory Committee as well as other technical advisory committees.

“Our number one objective is to provide safe, well-maintained equipment for the do-it-yourself household-moving customer,” said Joe Cook, U-Haul International’s Director of Government Relations. “By far, the greatest benefit from CVSA membership is the relationships we build each year with other members. Our membership in the CVSA community has allowed us to foster relations with law enforcement, industry, policy makers and other stakeholders committed to achieving highway safety as well as reciprocity and uniformity of regulations throughout the United States and Canada. Membership allows us access to people who are experts in their respective fields who in

turn can provide answers to complicated questions. Of course, it has to be reciprocal for it to work. If someone has inquiries about our operation we want them to have someone they can reach out to as well.”

Another great benefit is the opportunity to participate in one of CVSA’s many technical working committees.

“The Vehicle Committee is a great arena for us to make sure any changes we make meet the standards necessary to keep our highways safe,” added Cook.

“In addition, the Information Systems Committee offers the opportunity to connect with the enforcement people that handle the inspection and crash data for their jurisdictions which, over the years, has helped us and enforcement to understand each other and how we operate much better. The Program Initiatives Committee provides a broad view of the many items introduced and being considered by CVSA.” “CVSA allows the State of Nebraska to promote safety by achieving our goals through uniformity, compatibility, and reciprocity of commercial motor vehicle inspections,” said Doug Donscheski, MCSAP Manager, Nebraska State Patrol, Carrier Enforcement Division.

“We have been actively involved in sev-

CVSA Programs At a Glance All CVSA programs share three core elements: education, enforcement and awareness. All are designed to familiarize drivers, safety managers, enforcement agencies, elected officials, and the motoring public about commercial vehicle safety issues and how it affects them. For more information about any of these programs, please visit www.cvsa.org/programs.

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Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED)

North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC)

International Safety Team

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CVSA Committees At a Glance Executive Associate Advisory Driver-Traffic Enforcement

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Size and Weight Training Vehicle

For more information about any of CVSA’s committees, please visit www.cvsa.org/committees.

eral committees such as the Executive, Driver/Traffic Enforcement, Hazardous Materials, Data/Information Systems, Size and Weight, Program Initiatives, and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Being a member of CVSA allows us to be on the front end of proposed national legislation that will affect our jurisdiction. The networking within CVSA is priceless. Through our contacts within CVSA we have implemented a monthly teleconference sharing information within the Midwest States.”

Information provided to and through our committees allows for important dialogue to take place.

“I joined the Passenger Vehicle (Motor Coach) Committee mainly because the Yukon started to inspect motor coaches and I wanted to learn as much as possible,” said Julius Debuschewitz, B.A., Manager, National Safety Code, Government of Yukon. “I am also the only CVSA instructor in the Yukon so I joined the Training Committee with the aim of learning more and becoming part of the network that inevitably is part of the committees. I have also attended the NAIC Committee meetings which helped me be able to travel to NAIC and judge Level I and Level V inspections and instruct part of the practical passenger vehicle training offered to

contestants. The overall aim, however, was to get enough knowledge about the program to send a contestant from the Yukon to the next NAIC. Yukon now will hold its first Yukon Challenge 2012. The Yukon takes part in Operation Air Brake and Roadcheck each year, which has led to better OOS rates in both events as time has gone by. This has been the case particularly with local carriers, something the longdistance carriers are quite happy about.”

The Hazardous Materials Committee provides technical expertise related to hazardous materials/transportation of dangerous goods in an effort to reduce incidents and encourage uniformity and consistency in the application of the regulations.

As Capt. W.L. “Bill” Reese, Idaho State Police, Commercial Vehicle Safety Hazardous Materials explains, “In Idaho we have a small program, 21 commissioned staff and four support staff. Even with our small staff we’ve always strived to get the most out of our involvement with CVSA and to benefit from our relationship. We participate in the Training Committee, Vehicle Committee, Hazmat Committee, and the Information Systems Committee.

We also participate in the Level VI and COHMED Programs. Being actively involved in these committees and programs allows us to get critical information and at

the same time represent our agency and our interests. When I took over as the Deputy Commander of our Commercial Vehicle Safety Division in 2003, we were not actively participating in Operation Airbrake and some of the other CVSA Programs. Since I took over, we have been actively involved in most of the programs. I’ve found that our officers in the field like to be more involved and it contributes to our overall success in our state. The bottom-line for me has always been the more you are involved the bigger impact you can have in your own jurisdiction and nationally. I’ve worked for the last 21 years to help build a model program. We are small but highly successful for our size. A big reason for that is our active participation with CVSA.” The Information Systems Committee serves the needs of the CMV safety program and supports CVSA’s mission.

“I attend the Information Systems Committee Meeting every CVSA Conference. I bring back a lot of information, learning all the IT updates in SAFETYNET helps with answering certain DataQ requests, with Nonmatch Crashes and Inspection Information-ASPEN fixes etc.,” said Shari Leichter, Administrative Analyst II, Bureau of Trucking Services, NJ DOT. “I attend the second Executive

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Tools of the Trade Committee meeting because I like to hear what went on in each committee meeting and bring back that information to our office at DOT, New Jersey State Police and New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission. In addition, I attend the International Safety Team meetings.”

“The thing that we use the most from CVSA is our contacts,” said Theresa Broadbent, Landstar Transportation Logistics Director, Equipment/Operator Compliance. “We have invited many CVSA members to speak during our monthly safety conference calls and discussed everything from California and their EPA regulations, to trailer length laws. CVSA is so embedded in our life.”

Broadbent added.

Work conducted during these meetings directly contributes to and shapes tremendous changes in legislation, regulations, policy, research, enforcement, operations, education and social trends.

But the impact does not end when the meetings do. CVSA continues to have an impact throughout the year through our many programs, and legislative and regulatory work – all of which helps to drive our membership and industry forward in raising the safety bar higher.

CVSA offers a number of value-added products in our store that are designed to enhance both your ability to educate your staff and/or employees on safety and training procedures. For more information, please visit the CVSA Online Store at http://cvsa.stores.yahoo.net/.

What Members Like Most “I am the Missouri MCSAP coordinator, and my degree is in business. I use CVSA’s Guardian to learn more about the industry so that I understand the terminology that my partners are using when we develop the CVSP and handle other grant issues. This job has quite a learning curve, but reading as much as I can about the industry helps,” Christa A. Luebbering, Missouri Department of Transportation, Commercial Motor Vehicle Program Manager, Traffic & Highway Safety “The ability to contribute to publications such as Guardian is yet another benefit. Last year we were able to take advantage of the ‘Industry Spotlight’ section to get the message out about our Safe Trailering program. We truly appreciate the opportunity to promote our programs to hundreds of members through CVSA publications,” Joe Cook, U-Haul International “I try to become very much involved with CVSA on a regular basis and … am very involved with CSA 2010. I train our employees on the DOT inspection process and Roadside inspections. I take truck safety over the top and enforce all rules and regulations of the FMCSA. It is my bible along with CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria that I teach to the mechanics at our company. I am a Fleet and Equipment Manager and I work very close with the Washington State Patrol, Vancouver Washington DOT and Clark County DOT Officers to promote safe truck enforcement on our highways. Being a former Law Enforcement Officer myself I take truck and vehicle safety very serious and I make sure my people do also. Thank you for the updates you have been sending that is what is needed in our industry. I love getting the updates it keeps me aware of what is going on,” Chuck Williams, Calportland Company

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Using the CVSA Website to Update Your Membership Profile, Pay Dues or Register for Meetings Rule #1: Use Internet Explorer, other browsers my change the way the forms are displayed and limit the functionality of the website.

How to retrieve your password or member ID: Go to the WWW.CVSA.Org using Internet Explorer • If you have membership, you already have an account. Even if you have never been to this site, all members have an account.

• If you don’t know your password, click on the blue text at the bottom of the “My Account Login” box.

• If you do not have an email address on file with us, or it has changed since you last updated us, you will need to contact the main office and they will be able to help you.

To make updates to an organizations record, or pay the company membership, the primary contact can select “Organization Processing” on the left. Although the link is present for everyone, only the primary contact will be able to utilize it.

As you can see after we select organization processing we are in the record for the organization by the red print at the top “Welcome Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance” at which point the functionality is similar to the individuals. To update the profile information, you select “update” next to the title “profile information”. And membership information can be found by selecting “More Info” next to the membership information header.

After you have logged in, click on the “View My Account” button on the right-hand side in order to update your information, register for meetings or pay membership dues.

Note: only the Primary Contact for an organization can make payments for, or make updates to, the company record.

The main screen for your account looks like the one above, and will show all invoices that are currently due, as well as their source. In this example there is one invoice with a balance due, and it is from a meeting. To pay this invoice you can click on the link above it, “Select Invoices to Pay Now.”

The “more information” screen for membership shows the list of individuals the company has selected to act as representatives, allowing them to access the members only area of the CVSA website. If you would like to add additional representatives, you can do so here by selecting “add a representative.”

Individual Memberships: To view your membership information, select to view the Services section on the left. Here you can select “your memberships” to view your current membership status, and renew your membership.

If you wish to update your contact information above, click on the “Update” link to the right of the Profile information title.

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2012 CVSA Sponsorship Opportunities Now Available

Becoming a CVSA sponsor has the ability to provide a key enabler to differentiate and spotlight your organization as showing a commitment to safety and security, and help generate revenue opportunities, commercial expertise and credibility in a competitive and fast-paced industry. Your customers and the safety community that is represented by CVSA and the groups we work with are likely to be far more receptive to messages accessed through integrated sponsorship campaigns than through other forms of commercial communication.

Defining the Problem Roadway congestion, traffic jams, overturned tractor trailers due to mechanical failures, crashes and deaths caused by distracted and aggressive drivers. These are all common factors in the complicated equation of our day to day driving commute. Many complain about and wonder why these problems occur. One group, however, works every day to save lives by preventing these problems from happening in the first place – CVSA. A Critical Piece By becoming a CVSA sponsor, not only are you enhancing your organization’s image, you are making a commitment to solving the most challenging safety issues.

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Your organization’s support makes it possible for CVSA to: • Enhance roadside inspection efforts across North America; • Increase member services; • Develop and disseminate pertinent safety and regulatory information to industry; and, • Deliver quality educational and training programs for commercial vehicle enforcement and industry throughout North America.

As a CVSA sponsor you gain premium exposure with government, industry leaders and participants, while increasing their visibility within the commercial motor carrier community. Sponsorship is a guaranteed tool to ensuring your organization gets targeted exposure as an industry leader and participant attention.

As you evaluate the 2012 CVSA Sponsorship Opportunities, please keep in mind: • CVSA is a very active and dynamic organization. Since 1980, our members have helped contribute to and shape tremendous changes in legislation, regulations, policy, research, enforcement, operations, education and social trends throughout North America.

• Our sponsors say it best. The reason they are sponsors is that it gives them the opportunity to participate and

have a voice in programs that strive to familiarize the general public, government and enforcement agencies and elected officials about truck and bus safety and security issues.

• Your organization’s support helps CVSA extend its mission and makes it possible to enhance roadside inspection and other safety, compliance and educational efforts across North America; develop and disseminate pertinent safety and regulatory information to government and industry; and, deliver quality educational and training programs for commercial vehicle enforcement, industry and the general public throughout North America.

We know you have many choices on where to invest your time and money, and we very much appreciate your spending some of it with us. Please take the opportunity to review our 2012 Sponsorship Opportunities brochure located on our website at www.cvsa.org.

We are confident that your support as a CVSA sponsor, your commitment to safety and security, will give you the kind of return on investment you are looking for.

Please contact Edgar Martinez at (301) 830-6156 or edgarm@cvsa.org with questions and to secure your sponsorship opportunity today.

Guardian Inspector’s Corner

By Trp. John Sova, South Dakota Highway Patrol, NAIC 2011 Grand Champion

The grass has turned brown, there is a nip in the air, and snow is looming in the forecast so it must be time again to face the trials of the winter season. With the winter season for me comes the change in my duties. I have the privilege to work with FMCSA during the winter months conducting safety investigations. I continue to conduct roadside inspections, when time permits, but it allows me to step to the other side of commercial vehicle enforcement. It is on this side that you learn the importance of a quality inspection both in finding violations and properly documenting them. This also includes understanding the importance of a clean inspection (no violations) when one is warranted.

As roadside inspectors, we are responsible for conducting roadside inspections to ensure that commercial motor vehicles are operating in a safe manner on our roadways. We are focused on getting our inspections completed in a timely manner and in a quantity that keeps our supervisor happy. As we do this, we may lose sight of the fact we are just the first step of the enforcement cycle, albeit a very important step.

Roadside inspections are an important enforcement tool but they also serve a larger purpose. These inspections serve as the data in the Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS) and Driver Safety Measurement System (DSMS). These measurement systems are used to determine which carriers require further intervention. This intervention can range from a Warning Letter to a Full On-Site Safety Investigation.

Understanding both sides of CMV enforcement makes for a better inspector due to an increase in inspector knowledge. Knowledge is extremely important

when conducting CMV enforcement.

There are two areas of knowledge and both, I feel, are equally important. The first is the knowledge we all think of and that is of the actual regulations and the application of them on a roadside inspection. The second area of knowledge, that completes the inspector, is the understanding of what you do roadside affects not only the carrier and drivers but also other enforcement personnel. The implementation of CSA only highlights the importance of high quality, uniform inspections across all jurisdictions.

The inspector is expected to be knowledgeable in the regulations, the proper application of the regulations, the proper documentation on the report, and the proper enforcement at the conclusion of the roadside inspection. As an enforcement community, we usually focus on the latter or what type of enforcement we are taking road side. We need to place just as much emphasis on the first three items as we do in the actual enforcement. Roadside inspections are data gathering so if we don’t have a complete understanding of the regulation and the regulatory intent, it can lower the quality of the inspection. The proper documentation can also have a huge impact on the quality of the inspection. CSA assigns a severity value to every violation on the inspection. If the violation is not coded properly, the wrong severity weight will be assigned and will affect the impact that inspection has on the CSMS. An example of this would be citing a vehicle violation under 393.9(a), inoperative required lamps, for a turn signal inoperative, 2 points, when it should be coded under 393.9TS, 6 points. In this case, when I adjust for age of the inspection, the total points

assessed would be 6 under 393.9(a) instead of 18 under 393.9TS. By citing a violation under the wrong section, the vioTrp. John Sova lation may also not affect the DSMS when it should have since not all violations affect the driver score. Clean or no violation inspections also have a significant impact on the CSMS. These inspections are important because they show the carrier and/or driver is complying with the regulations and will improve their SMS which in turn will keep investigators from spending time with the wrong carriers. When inspections are only completed when there are violations, it skews the data and affects the quality of information in the database. Put in simple terms, garbage in equals garbage out. The CSA Operational Model is only as good as the information we put into it. If we do not put the highest quality inspections into the SMS, how do we expect the SMS to provide high quality data for investigators to use in determining which carriers require an intervention.

Depending on the jurisdiction, inspectors have many irons in the fire: roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, size and weight enforcement, state permit enforcement, investigations, instructing, crash investigation, and community awareness and policing.

With all of these other duties weighing on our time, it is crucial that we take the time to conduct good quality inspections. The CSA Operational Model and Commercial Vehicle Safety on our roads is depending on it.

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Training Committee Helps CVSA Members Achieve Excellence, Professionalism in the Performance of CMV Inspections Through Uniform, Quality Training

By Sgt. Rocco Domenico, Colorado State Police, CVSA Training Committee Chair I am writing this article as I take on the role of chair of the training committee. I am very excited to take on this role, as training is very important and touches all aspects within our Alliance. Training guarantees those processes developed by CVSA are implemented by the membership in a uniform and timely manner.

My background in training goes back to my college days and my study to become a high school math teacher. During my lessons, I felt that a career in law enforcement would better suit me than a career as a teacher. In 1996, I joined the Colorado State Patrol and within the first two years I became an accident reconstructionist. In 2002, I was selected to the position of lead instructor for Accident Investigation and Reconstruction at the Colorado State Patrol Academy. During my time at the Academy, I redeveloped our Level IV reconstruction course and implemented a procedure that established uniformed criteria in applying for our Level III reconstruction course. In 2004, I took on the rank of sergeant and for the past eight years I have supervised the training team of the Motor Carrier Safety Section. During these past seven years, I have developed numerous training courses ranging from hours-of-service updates to the implementation of Operational Policy 14. I have personally developed our State Inspector Challenge which included the development of the written exam, coordination of the practicals, and the implementation of a standardized scoring system. As you can see, for most of my adult life I have been involved in instructing.

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past while looking forward to the future.

I have asked Milan “Butch” Orbovich of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to be the Vice Chairman. Butch is an NTC Master Instructor and is an active member of CVSA. Butch and I share a vision of the Training Committee as an integral part of each of the CVSA committees. I have also asked Capt. Steve Rundell of the Texas Department of Public Safety to be our Secretary. Capt.

Rundell will continue his role as a member of our leadership team and I look forward to his involvement in ensuring the Training Committee achieves its goals.

Each has accepted my request to remain as part of our leadership team and with their help, we look to move the Training Committee forward and accomplish those tasks set before us.

The purpose of our Training Committee, “Achieve excellence and professionalism in the performance of commercial vehicle inspections through uniform and quality training,” is part of the foundation which ensures our Alliance stays at the forefront of commercial vehicle safety. I see the Training Committee as the glue that binds all of the committees within our Alliance.

Through our active cooperation, the Training Committee will ensure those procedures developed by our sister CVSA committees are implemented to our members in a consistent and timely manner. The strength of our partnerships and working together in achieving our committee goals will move CVSA forward as the international authority on commercial motor vehicle safety and security.

To make sure the Alliance continues to reach its goals there are three important upcoming training issues which will

have to be addressed. First, are the changes to the Hours-of-Service (HOS), second is the training of the 2012 Out Of Service (OOS) Criteria, and third is the development of an AOBRD and EOBR training procedures.

During the December Executive Committee Meeting, Associate Administrator for Enforcement Bill Quade stated that FMCSA would post the new HOS rules by the end of the month.

Due to the possible changes to these rules, a robust, comprehensive training procedure will need to be developed. To ensure a consistent application of enforcement of the rules, the Training Committee will need the involvement of all of its membership. With the active participation of our membership, the Training Committee can achieve its goal of providing effective and uniformed training. HOS will be a high priority discussion topic at the 2012 CVSA Spring Workshop.

CVSA is also currently finalizing the 2012 OOS Criteria. As the OOS Criteria is the foundation of our Alliance, the Training Committee will need to ensure all roadside inspectors are properly training on its implementation. In the past, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has assisted the Training Committee in developing the presentation that our membership uses to instruct the OOS Criteria. This presentation is a valuable tool which ensures uniformity in our training throughout all jurisdictions.

CVSA President David Palmer has agreed again to volunteer his state’s remarkable expertise and to assist in the development of the 2012 OOS Criteria Training Presentation. I would like to thank President Palmer and the Texas DPS for their help in starting the development of

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By Lt. Brian Ausloos, Wisconsin State Patrol, Motor Carrier Enforcement Section, CVSA Vehicle Committee Vice Chair

The CVSA Vehicle Committee has recently been working to develop several Inspection Bulletins, including multiple bulletins relating to inspection of hydraulic brakes and one relating to treadle valve inspections. During the CVSA Conference in Austin, TX, several hydraulic brake out-ofservice criteria changes were approved. Since that time the inspection bulletins have been in development. The decision was made to also include a bulletin for the air over hydraulic brake systems.

CVSA Inspection Bulletins are public documents that provide inspectors and industry alike with extra detail and guidance on particular vehicle or driver inspection aspects.

During the meeting in Austin, a concern was raised about an important maintenance issue relating to potential treadle valve separation, which could result in loss of primary braking control of the vehicle. The Committee continues to work with industry partners to develop guidance on this issue. The bulletin will bring educational awareness to

the OOS presentation. With this presentation, the Training Committee will have a starting point in our discussions on finalizing the OOS Criteria implementation.

During the last Executive Committee Meeting, an idea was presented on developing a webinar as a means to train our roadside inspectors on the OOS Criteria.

With help from our partners at NTC, this webinar will not only keep our training uniform, but will keep our training efforts moving toward our goal of leveraging new technologies.

Lastly, I would like to address the training on the AOBRD and EOBR. As we know, the rulemaking for the requirements of the EOBR are currently on hold. To keep to our mission statement of providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers, the Training Committee will need to start developing a procedure on enforcement.

While we may not know exactly what

enforcement officers as well as service technicians conducting inspections of commercial motor vehicles.

In 2012 the Vehicle Committee also plans to complete new hydraulic brake inspection criteria and develop some out-of-service criteria related to inspecting a brake treadle valve.

Along with these initiatives, the Committee will be providing FMCSA with suggestions on ways to regulate view obstructions, including sun visors, on commercial motor vehicles. Reports on several crashes, some fatal, have been presented to the committee where view obstruction was identified as a causative factor in the crash. A third initiative by the Vehicle Committee will be to improve uniformity in the application of the coupling device section of the Out-OfService Criteria. Working with our industry partners, the Vehicle Committee intends to clarify this section so enforcement personnel can understand and apply the out-of-service conditions more consistently.

the final rule will look like, the Training Committee will need to put in place the process on implementing this training to the roadside inspector. If the Training Committee can have in place a means by which all of our membership can conduct this training, the content of the training will fall into place around this procedure. I look forward to our discussion on this topic at the 2012 Spring Workshop.

These are three important topics coming before the Training Committee; they are by no means our only discussion issues. We still have the CDL enforcement, cell phones in commercial vehicles, and numerous other regulations that the Training Committee may need to address. The work of the Training Committee will assist in moving our Alliance to achieving excellence and professionalism in commercial vehicle inspection through quality training.

As I conclude, I would like to leave you with my philosophy on how I see the Training Committee proceeding forward. From my teaching background, I do believe there is no such thing as a stupid question. Active participation by all of our members in our discussions will make certain a final decision is clear and uniform. If a member is willing to give their honest, fact-based opinion on our discussion topics, it will be my duty to ensure their opinion is heard. Overall, I see the Training Committee as the focal point in getting information out to the roadside inspectors so they can perform their duties to improve commercial vehicle safety and security in an effective and efficient manner. This Training Committee has well over one hundred years of knowledge in training. I will be looking to use this knowledge base as we tackle issues on training and standardized inspections.

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North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Efforts Continue

By Pierre Pratt, Contrôle Routier Québec Société de l’assurance Automobile du Québec, Coordonnateur CVSA, and Will Schaefer, CVSA, Director, Vehicle Programs

The North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum met November 29th in Montreal, for the second of its biannual meetings. It bolstered its reputation as a key venue for representatives of state, provincial, and federal agencies, industry participants, and others to meet to discuss enforcement criteria, share best practices, and establish harmonized policies on securing cargo on commercial motor vehicles. The open meeting attracted more than 60 attendees and addressed numerous technical issues. It also hosted four guest presentations on current and future cargo securement needs and desires.

The origin of the Forum dates to the early 1990s when efforts began in Canada to harmonize motor transport cargo securement regulations. In 1994, collaboration began between the United States and Canadian governments to pursue uniform regulatory requirements for securement of cargo in highway transport. The result of that initial collaboration was the formation of the Model Regulation, formally titled the North American Cargo Securement Standard. The Model Regulation establishes the minimum requirements for achieving safe cargo securement to be adopted by both countries through their respective established regulatory processes. The Forum, meanwhile, has since become largely associated with CVSA’s Vehicle Committee, from which many of the issues arise and through which some are resolved. But the Forum now includes an established process that supports harmonization through the Model Regulation.

The Model Regulation is a living document fashioned cooperatively among the two countries’ regulating agencies and industry. The current edition, the January 2003 version, stands as the target regulatory model for the two countries.

Discrepancies between the regulations in the two countries continue to exist due to the fact that it takes varying levels of effort

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and time to adopt and implement the new regulations. But the Model Regulation serves as a target, and it is moving North America toward cargo securement regulation and enforcement harmonization. The Model Regulation document can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.cvsa.org/ committees/cargo_securement.php.

The Forum, meanwhile, provides a venue and a process to address issues that arise, and it allows new perspectives to inform the refinement of the Model Regulation. The process has evolved over the years, with the latest iteration in use, more or less, since the March 2008 meeting in Denver, CO. Issues are submitted to CVSA, confirmed as cargo securement issues for consideration, and added to the Forum agenda. Topics that require interpretation of the regulations (especially the Model Regulation) are referred to the Regulators Group, comprising representatives of the U.S. FMCSA and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

Some examples of topics addressed at the latest meeting include: clarifying what is a loose tiedown; defining preferred methods for securing metal coils; clarifying what are meant by crushed cars; improving the definition of what is an acceptable tiedown; and reviewing ongoing research of what is acceptable wear and tear for synthetic web tiedowns.

Four presentations were made to the Forum to address various specific operations or commodity securement concerns: (1) a presentation by FP Innovations was made concerning the use of composite stakes on bunk trailers, suggesting inspection methods and criteria; (2) a presentation from an association of tow truck operators on the proper securement of damaged vehicles; (3) improved methods for safely securing prefabricated houses to trailer chassis from the Québec association of prefab houses; and (4) best practices from the Canadian oil and gas industry for securing long drilling pipe or rods.

The next North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum meets in conjunction with the CVSA Workshop in Bellevue, WA, on Monday, April 23, 2012.

For further information, check the CVSA website at this URL: htt p://www.cv sa.org/committees/ cargo_securement.php.

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NTC Conducts Webinar-Based Instructor Recertification Training

By Keith Kerns, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Safety Investigator, CVSA 2012 International Safety Team Member

During the months of October and November 2011 the FMCSA National Training Center (NTC) conducted associate staff instructor recertification training for North American Standard Part A and Part B instructors. NTC associate staff instructors are comprised of state and federal personnel that have completed the NTC’s instructor development program and are evaluated and assisted

by NTC Master Instructors during their first instructing assignment.

This is the first time that this training has been conducted utilizing webinars. All previous instructor recertification and training has been conducted at selected locations throughout the United States where instructors would have to travel, causing NTC to incur travel, lodging and meal expenses. The webinar-based recertification and training has proven to be extremely cost effective and was well received by the participants.

NTC is responsible for providing instructors and course material to individual states for the purposes of training enforcement personnel in the application of The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC).

This year’s webinars were presented by members of NTC’s Training Review and Update Committee (TRUC), the committee members are Dick Morrison (FMCSA/NTC), James “Buckie” Thomas (Arkansas Highway Police), Keith Kerns (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) and Randy West (CVSA). Also instrumental in preparing this year’s training was Joe Bowling (Virginia State Police).

The purpose of the training and recertification webinars is to ensure

that all NTC instructors have received the latest updates to course materials, are aware of any changes that have occurred in the FMCSRs and have the most recent CVSA inspection bulletins. Uniform presentation of course materials is essential in ensuring that we have a successful roadside inspection program. This training and recertification will occur annually and is mandatory for the instructors.

This year’s training focused on CSA, properly identifying carriers, proper selection and documentation of violations, course material changes and various regulatory changes that have occurred including changes made in the FMCSR Part 383 CDL definitions.

Many areas of the course material and training are comprised of information, inspection bulletins and operational policies that have been issued by CVSA from the extensive research, input and discussion that occur within the various CVSA committees. My involvement with the NTC and its mission to ensure that we have the best instructors. Teaching quality course material has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career, and as a member of CVSA’s 2012 International Safety Team, I will be provided with even more opportunities to promote the mission of commercial vehicle safety and the role that CVSA and NTC play.

Left to Right: Dick Morrison, FMCSA, Keith Kerns, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and James “Buckie” Thomas, Arkansas Highway Police.

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REGIONAL NEWS

Inspectors Keep an Eye Out for Bad Logbooks

By David McKane, Oregon Dept. of Transportation, Motor Carrier Transportation Division, Manager, Investigations, Safety, and Federal Programs

V IV

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III II

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, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon.

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Oregon truck safety inspectors were at it again this year in special multi-day exercises that focused on driver logbooks. In six major efforts that extended over 32 days, inspectors checked 4,525 drivers and placed 1,054 out-of-service for critical safety violations (23%). Most of the violations were related to driving after the 14th hour after coming on duty, driving more than 11 hours, and holding logbooks that are not current or are improperly completed and/or falsified.

For several years now, Oregon inspectors have been making headlines with exercises like these. But they demonstrate their effectiveness every day, as evidenced by the fact that they continue to lead the country at finding problem drivers. FMCSA records for federal fiscal year 2010 show Oregon with 42,942 inspections and an overall 15.26% rate for placing drivers out of service. Only Connecticut, with 24,324 inspections and a 12.72% rate, comes close to Oregon’s results.

One team of Oregon inspectors has so outperformed all other truck inspectors that it was honored with this year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Award, presented by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, FMCSA, and the International Registration Plan.

Motor Carrier Transportation Division Safety Compliance Specialists Jess Brown, David Rios, Harold Smith, Steve Swanson, and Harold Wolford make up a team called Oregon’s Safety Shift4. They were nominated for the national award because in the last two years, these five individuals alone conducted 3,700 inspections and turned in a driver outof-service rate of 28% in 2009 and 21% in 2010. During multi-day inspection exercises they specialize in finding drivers who are trying to avoid inspections by driving the back roads or parking somewhere to wait things out.

During these exercises, their driver out-of-service rate reached 52% in 2009 and 42% in 2010.

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WSP Initiates Roads and Rails to Reduce CMV Collisions

REGIONAL RAP

By Trp. C. Hooper, Washington State Patrol

CVSA PAST PRESIDENT JOHN HARRISON RECOGNIZED WITH GOVERNOR’S PUBLIC SAFETY AWARD

In January 2011, the Washington State Patrol initiated the Roads and Rails Safety emphasis in partnership with local and rail industry law enforcement.

This year-long project is aimed at reducing commercial motor vehicle collisions and traffic violations in the Port of Seattle area.

It is a part of the commercial vehicle safety enforcement and education effort that will increase freight mobility and commercial motor vehicle safety throughout the state. Other areas of focus include railway crossing safety, ensuring the safe transportation and documentation of hazardous materials within intermodal containers, and checking both vehicles and drivers for appropriate documentation.

The State Patrol will lead the first joint enforcement emphasis, and will take place in the latter part of February in the Port of Seattle vicinity. Details and times to follow.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the partnership include the Washington State Patrol, Union Pacific Railroad Police, BNSF Police, Port of Seattle Police, Utilities and Transportation Commission, Seattle Police, U.S. Department of Transportation, FMCSA, Snohomish County Sheriffs, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Federal Way Police.

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On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, retired Georgia DPS MCCD Capt. and CVSA Past President John Harrison received one of several Governor’s Public Safety Awards for Outstanding Service to the Profession. Gov. Nathan Deal and Georgia Public Safety Training Center Director Tim Bearden presented the award medallion while local Fox Affiliate WAGA-TV reporter Randy Travis read the award citation.

The award cites Capt. Harrison’s 34 years of service to Georgia, as well as his tenure in CVSA. Each year since 1998, Georgia Governors have awarded Public Safety professionals in diverse disciplines awards for heroism and service to the profession, and their names are engraved onto plaques placed at the Awards Memorial at the Training Center in Forsyth.

The Governor’s Public Safety Awards Program (GPSA) was initiated in 1998 in order to provide an opportunity for the men and women in the public safety family to be recognized for outstanding service to their communities and contributions to their profession. As per former Gov. Zell Miller, who established these awards, “While we have appropriately honored those who have fallen, I would like to establish an organization that would also honor those who by virtue of their personal integrity and determination make public safety the respectable and necessary profession it is.” Gov. Nathan Deal has committed to the continuation of the GPSA program.

PROVENCAL PROMOTED AT NECS® David A. Fuhs, President and CEO of NECS® recently announced, at the company’s annual Board of Directors meeting, the promotion of Paul Provencal to the position of Vice President, D.O.T. Compliance Consulting. In his announcement, Mr. Fuhs advised that since joining NECS® six years ago, Paul Provencal has been instrumental in building their D.O.T. Compliance Consulting business and contributing significantly to the growth of their D.O.T. Compliance services. “He provides extensive consulting and training support for numerous NECS® clients, assisting them in maintaining D.O.T./CSA Compliance including reducing the risk of roadside inspections, violations, fine and penalties and lost revenue associated with vehicles and drivers placed out of service. Paul also coordinates the activities of additional Compliance and Safety consultants and is engaged in bringing new clients on-board” further stated Mr. Fuhs.

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First Quarter 2012

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REGIONAL RAP

GEORGIA DPS COMMANDING OFFICER, CHIEF MARK MCLEOD RETIRES

BRITISH COLUMBIA CONDUCTS CVSA MOTORCOACH INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Chief Mark C. McLeod retired December 1, 2010 as the Commanding Officer, and Chief Law Enforcement Officer, of the Motor Carrier Compliance Division within the Georgia Department of Public Safety. Chief McLeod embarked on his career with the State of Georgia in April 1981 as an employee of the Department of Transportation, beginning with his initial position of Equipment Operator within the Maintenance Division.

Chief McLeod transferred to the Enforcement Division of the Department of Transportation in March 1982, thus launching his longstanding career in the field of law enforcement.

Through his many years of employment with the Department of Transportation Law Enforcement Division, Chief McLeod expanded his career through the ranks of Major. In December 1999, Major McLeod was appointed to Colonel - the highestranking position within the Department of Transportation’s Law

A CVSA Motorcoach Instructor Development course was hosted by British Columbia Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement in Kamloops, BC on November 22 - 24, 2011.

Enforcement Division. With the formation of the Department of

The course was initiated by CVSA Region V (Canada)

Motor Vehicle Safety by former Governor Roy Barnes, Colonel

Education Quality Assurance Team (EQAT) with Instructor

McLeod assumed the position of Chief Law Enforcement Officer

candidates from British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon

for the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety’s Law Enforcement

Territories.

Congratulations to David Sabyan (British Columbia),

Division. In 2005, the agency was once again divided, and the

Gerald Vose (Alberta), and Julius Debuschewitz (Yukon) who

enforcement division was brought to the Georgia State Patrol.

were successfully certified as Instructors for CVSA

During his career with the Department of Public Safety, Chief

Motorcoach Inspection course. Please recognize their contribution and personal commitment as commercial vehicle

McLeod was the liaison to the Georgia General Assembly on leg-

safety professionals. Their efforts and professionalism during

islation that related to commercial motor vehicle enforcement

the course and subsequent activities strongly supported

and commercial motor vehicle safety. Chief McLeod, a native of

inter-provincial cooperation. They are an asset to Canada’s CVSA program.

Thomaston, Georgia, is a graduate of the Law Enforcement

The course was facilitated by Richard Roberts, CVSA

Training Center of Middle Georgia, the Georgia Association of

Program Coordinator, BC and Wes Roth, Sgt CVSA

Police Chiefs’ Executive Training Class, and a member of the

Programs, AB.

Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. In addition, Chief McLeod has also served on various law enforcement committees, and is active in numerous law enforcement organizations.

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Pictured from left to right: Brandon Llyod, David Sabyan, Rick Spanier, Richard Roberts, Julius Debuschewitz, Wes Roth, Collin Nemeth, Don Allenby, Michael Jonson, Rob Scott, Michael Gustavson, Ken Squarebriggs, Ged Vose. Piotr Giminski is kneeling.

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DPS SGT. BART MASSEY NAMED COMMERCIAL ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THE YEAR 2010

Sgt. Bart Massey is a twenty-two year veteran of the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS). On March 1, 2008 DPS formed a new interdiction squad within the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Bureau. The squad was the vision of Sgt. Massey, who perceived a growing need for interagency cooperation to dismantle and disrupt criminal organizations that were using commercial motor vehicles to facilitate criminal activity.

Under Sgt. Massey’s leadership, the members of his squad have enjoyed great success in shutting down much criminal activity in the short life span of the program. In FY2010 alone, the squad generated the following seizure statistics: Marijuana Cocaine Methamphetamine Currency Commercial Vehicles: Passenger Vehicles: Arrests Total number of seizures Wholesale Value of Seized Narcotics

5963 Pounds 173.5 Pounds 5.5 Pounds $3,117,743 17 4 25 26 $10,913,980

Sgt. Massey’s sustained commitment to interagency cooperation led to invaluable partnerships with a number of public agencies and with members of the commercial vehicle industry throughout Arizona and

Maj. Palmer and ATA Safety and Maintenance the country. These Council Chairman Tom Long pose with the 2010 relationships in turn Outstanding Arizona DPS Commercial Enforcement led to enforcement Officer, Sgt. Bart Massey. efforts that went beyond the seizure of contraband and assets. Sgt. Massey established a process to provide criminal investigation units with intelligence and informants to aid in investigations that ultimately dismantled or disrupted several criminal enterprises that were operating across the country.

In the squad’s short existence, Sgt. Massey’s success and his commitment to advancing law enforcement cooperation with industry have been noticed by national initiatives such as the El Paso Intelligence Center, Office of National Drug Control Policy and FMCSA. Sgt. Massey has been asked to speak or serve on committees at several law enforcement and industry venues such as the Domestic Highway Enforcement National Conference and the Combined Accident Reduction Effort Conference, giving insights and examples of how interagency cooperation can increase both the scope and effectiveness of efforts to disrupt criminal activity using commercial vehicles.

Sgt. Massey’s consistent efforts exemplify the spirit of cooperation that is the cornerstone of effective law enforcement. For these reasons, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona Trucking Association selected Sgt. Bart Massey as the Outstanding DPS Commercial Enforcement Officer of the Year.

Congratulations, Sgt. Massey!

NEW CVSA ASSOCIATE AND LOCAL ENFORCEMENT MEMBERS American Road Line

Legend Energy Services, LLC

Association of Energy Service Companies

Liberty Tire Recycling, LLC

Blackjack Investments, Ltd.

Matheson-Trigas

Bloomington Shuttle Service, Inc.

Medallion Transport & Logistics, LLC

California Trucking Association

PartsRiver, Inc.

EQ - The Environmental Quality Co.

Pioneer Transportation, LLC

Gordon Trucking, Inc.

TRANSWAY, Inc.

Institute of Scrap and Recycling Industries, Inc.

Vangent, Inc.

Iowa Motor Truck Association

Vigillo, LLC

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Local Agencies Partner with State Agencies to Reduce Crashes Involving Commercial Vehicles

By Officer Robert Mills, Fort Worth (TX) Police Department, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement

As many of you already know, truck and bus traffic is on the rise. Here in the Dallas Fort Worth area, we have seen an increase in traffic over the last few years.

Some of this increase is due to the massive amount of construction projects in the area. The job of enforcing regulations regarding truck and bus safety has always fallen on state agencies but now more than ever, more local agencies in the United States and Canada have joined this partnership in order to reduce crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Pennsylvania are just a few of the states that have local agencies enforcing safety regulations. What started out as a small part-time duty has now turned into a larger, full-time effort to save lives. The goal of the local agencies is to support our state partners in an effort to reduce crashes through enforcement and education efforts. Here in Fort Worth, we

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have nine officers and a supervisor that work commercial vehicle enforcement.

Not only do our officers conduct visible roadside inspections and traffic enforcement, our efforts sometimes are “behind the scenes.” Our unit has a great relationship with our industry partners in the Fort Worth area. Not only do we conduct safety meetings with their drivers and staff, we also show drivers how we conduct certain levels of inspections.

There have been some concerns about local agencies enforcing the regulations and we are very aware of those concerns.

We decided years ago that if our agency has to investigate these crashes in our jurisdictions, we need to be part of the solution. I want to encourage our industry partners to reach out to your local enforcement agencies that enforce the safety regulations. I also want our local agencies to do the same and let your industry partners know that we are all in

this together. Saving lives is not a real possibility by simply issuing citations on our roads and highways. The only way we can reduce crashes and save lives is to work together for that common goal. It’s not just about CMV enforcement, it’s also about public education and awareness. In the DFW area, our local agencies work together each month and during CVSA safety campaigns to spread the word about distracted and aggressive driving, teens and trucks and brake safety. We understand that most CMV crashes are not the fault of the truck driver which is why we are very active in the “Ticketing Aggressive Cars & Trucks” program. We actively try to educate passenger vehicle drivers about how to drive around large commercial vehicles. We have over 20 local agencies actively involved in CVSA right now.

Jim Slykhuis (York Regional Police and current Locals Vice President) and I have pledged to double our local membership over the next few years. As we move forward into 2012, I want to challenge each of our local agencies and industry partners to work together to ensure that truck drivers and motorists get to their destinations safely. A word that has been instilled in me by CVSA and my lead agency is “UNIFORMITY.” As Jim and I represent our local agencies over the next few years, uniformity is something we will be discussing with all of our partners. In closing, I want to thank all of our local agencies and industry partners for the great job each of you do every day. This is truly a PARTNERSHIP and without it, we cannot reach our goal of reducing CMV crashes. If Jim and I can be of any assistance to our local agencies or industry partners, please feel free to contact us.

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Local and Lead Agencies Increase Reach to Ensure CMV Safety by Combining Resources

By Sgt. Jim Slykhuis, York Regional Police, CVSA Local Vice President

In the spring of 2010 I received an email from a member of the Pittsburgh Police, Officer Tom Jacques, who took it upon himself to send this email out to all police officers who were qualified in conducting CVSA Level I inspections.

Until then, I was unaware that successfully completing the training to conduct Level I inspections did not result in me becoming a member of CVSA or that I could even join. After speaking with Tom about CVSA, one of my members and I attended CVSA’s Annual Conference in Anaheim. This was without a doubt one of the best conferences I had ever been to. The other members in attendance were very friendly and made us feel welcome. After speaking with members of the CVSA staff, we paid our yearly dues and became Local Members. It has been a very busy year and a half, with the conference in Austin and all of the upcoming events and training that has occurred.

I am unsure how other jurisdictions across North America work, but I can say that here in Ontario we are blessed with having the support of our lead agency, the Ministry of Transportation.

I have been able to contact them at any time and receive assistance in the form of advice or in their attendance at our various commercial vehicle blitzes that we conduct each year. The ministry has by far the greatest number of CVSA trained inspectors in the province and their continued partnership with us makes it much easier to achieve the desired results of improved road safety.

Each year we conduct approximately 12 blitzes in our area which is located just north of Toronto and attend and assist our neighbouring jurisdictions with some of their blitzes. As I am sure

each of you can attest, money and manpower is always an issue. By combining our resources we are able to inspect far more vehicles in a day than we would otherwise do. Trucks, being mobile in nature, move from one jurisdiction to another and thus a vehicle in our area will be in our neighbour’s area within an hour.

For the past six years we have been training our front line officers on what the Highway Traffic Act defines as a commercial motor vehicle and what paperwork is required for these vehicles. They have also been taught to identify the easy to view defects which will affect safety on our roadways.

During the three days of instruction, officers are informed that under no circumstances are they to ever go under a vehicle. The training that we provide does not address the hazards that exist and these officers do not carry the safety equipment needed to safely examine the underside of the vehicle.

What does happen is that if an officer stops a vehicle that needs to be looked at he/she will contact either us or the Ministry of Transportation to attend and conduct a full Level I inspection.

What we have found as a result of this training is that more and more commercial motor vehicles are being stopped and inspected. When the call is made for a CVSA level of inspection, the vehicle being inspected will generally be taken out of service as a result of significant safety violations.

Most of these officers are very eager to learn and when they see ministry officers stopped on the side of the road with a commercial motor vehicle, they will stop, not only to make sure that they are safe, but also to ask them

questions about the stop and learn from them. This interaction goes a long way in improving the working relationship between the police and the Ministry of Transportation officers.

In closing, let me say that the strong partnership that exists between the Ministry of Transportation and the York Regional Police is due to a continued commitment of both sides to improve road safety and the desire from all involved to work together to make it happen.

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Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol Partner to Create Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad

By Trp. C. Hooper, Washington State Patrol

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has partnered up with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to create a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad (CVES). The CVES mission is to improve public safety within the Seattle region by reducing the number of unsafe commercial motor vehicles operating on our roadways through a process of education and enforcement.

The SPD squad is made up of four officers from the Traffic Section who completed a three week long commercial vehicle enforcement training course at the WSP Academy. The four CVES officers

will devote their time to enforcing commercial vehicle safety regulations and will also be part of a multi-agency commercial vehicle enforcement task force.

This project was completed in partnership with SDOT and the WSP who provided laptops, weight scales, a CVES enforcement vehicle as well as individual tools and equipment for the officers.

The Port of Seattle, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and Union Pacific Railway (UP) are also participating in this effort and have contributed additional training, support and facilities.

Over 40,000 commercial vehicles travel on the roadways through Seattle

every day. A number of these trucks are operating with safety violations egregious enough to place them “out of service� under federal motor carrier safety guidelines.

City, county, state and federal agencies have therefore organized a task force to conduct commercial vehicle emphasis patrols. The goal of this enforcement effort is to improve safety by reducing the number of equipment violations and unsafe trucks operating throughout the Seattle region.

Task force emphasis patrols will occur over the next year in areas to be determined by task force agreement.

Loader in the trailer had only 1 tie down on the front.

The hub cover was broken and most of the oil had leaked out. A few more miles down the road and there could have been major wheel bearing issues.

Why We Do What We Do CVSA has recently introduced a new feature in Guardian, Why We Do What We Do, a photo gallery of outof-service violations found roadside.

We encourage all members to send us your photos with a description of the out-of-service violation.

A cracked wheel found on a log truck.

Broken axle on log truck.

Photos submitted by Sgt. Dan McCormac, Transporation Officer Charles Nichols, Sgt. Garfield Scharfenberg of Alberta Solicitor General and Public Security Commercial Vehicle Enforcement.

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SAFETY INNOVATORS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Insights on Intersection Collisions

By Del Lisk, DriveCam, Vice President, Safety Series

Safety Innovators is a new column focusing on innovative ideas, information, extraordinary efforts and the people and organizations that are raising the bar to ensure commercial vehicle safety.

Studies show that almost 40% of all traffic collisions are intersection-related crashes. This should come as no surprise since any time drivers have an opportunity to cross each other’s path, the risk increases substantially. Not only are intersection crashes common, they also often lead to higher severity outcomes than other types of vehicle incidents, such as side-swipes and backing collisions.

This is an important point. Why? Because some organizations focus so much on frequency that they tend to overlook less frequent incident types that result in higher severity crashes and a disproportionate amount of accident-related payouts.

So what are the key contributors to these intersection-related collisions? The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) released an interesting study on this topic, “Crash Factors in Intersection-Related Crashes: An On-Scene Perspective.” This research studied collisions that occurred at an intersection while turning left, turning right or crossing over. Because of the length of the article, I’ve included highlights that can help you as you look at the type and severity of collisions within your organization.

About 96% of the intersection-related collisions had critical reasons for the incident that were associated with the driver. Less than 3% had critical reasons assigned to the vehicle or environment.

In other words, nearly every one of these

incidents was due to a driver action, not other factors.

What was the most common critical reason for the incident? Inadequate surveillance. Drivers simply failed to see the problem until it was too late. Effective use of our eyes is still the most critical aspect of safe driving.

Next most common was “false assumption of other’s actions.” We frequently see this when viewing our clients’ risky driving clips. For example, a driver approaching an intersection is taken by surprise when an on-coming vehicle turns left across their path. Don’t give other drivers too much credit.

Assume the worst and be prepared for it.

Close behind was, “turned with obstructed view” present in 7.8% of the collisions. What does this mean? Too often, drivers turn across an intersection without a clear view. In other words, they’re relying on blind luck. At some point their luck will run out. When it comes to turning across an intersection the motto should always be, “if you don’t know, don’t go.”

“Illegal maneuver” was cited in 6.8% of the events. Far too many drivers habitually roll through stop-signs and traffic lights, or turn illegally. Unfortunately, each time they do this and nothing happens, it reinforces that behavior. The NHTSA findings suggest this dangerous habit will catch up to them.

It may come as a surprise that it was this far down the list, but “internal distraction” was found as the critical reason in only 5.7% of the collisions. Certainly, distractions need to be eliminated - especially in and around intersections. But keep in mind there are other very important con-

cerning factors that need to be addressed in order to reduce risks at intersections.

The last factor I’ll mention is “misjudgment of gap or other’s speed,” which was present in 5.5% of the crashes. We’ve all had a close call due to this error. This can be a dangerous mistake for every driver but for those driving larger vehicles, it’s much more difficult to overcome because of less ability to accelerate out of the way and greater length of vehicle to clear the other driver’s path.

Let’s recap the key points: • Be especially vigilant in and around intersections. Don’t just focus straight ahead.

• Don’t assume you know what another driver is going to do. Assume the worst and plan accordingly until their actions confirm otherwise.

• Don’t move into, or across, the intersection if you can’t see if it’s clear.

Better to lose a few seconds off your schedule waiting for a safe opportunity than to risk a serious crash.

• Obey traffic control devices and traffic laws. Don’t become part of the almost 7% who paid a high price for ignoring these devices and laws.

• Eliminate all distractions inside the cab of your vehicle while approaching or entering an intersection. Driving is always dangerous, but risks are even higher in and around intersections.

As the statistics show, intersections are risky. Use the tips mentioned to greatly reduce your chances of an intersection crash. And if you can, consider an alternate path if your route includes an intersection that is known to be a particularly dangerous crossing.

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First Quarter 2012

CVSA President Takes Partnership Message to Arizona Trucking Association

CVSA President Maj. David Palmer traveled to the Phoenix, AZ area October 27-28 to address the Signature Safety Series Breakfast sponsored by the Arizona Trucking Association. The breakfast is held each year in conjunction with the association’s Leadership Conference and Annual Membership Meeting and features a recognized safety leader as the main speaker. Past speakers have included FMCSA administrators John Hill and Anne Ferro.

Maj. Palmer was introduced by ATA’s Safety & Maintenance Council Chairman, Thomas Long of Knight Transportation (a CVSA member), who served as emcee for the breakfast. In his remarks, Palmer discussed the role that CVSA plays in bringing together the enforcement community and the truck and bus industry to work collaboratively on issues of mutual interest.

Palmer said that CVSA’s primary focus is on promoting uniformity among states, provinces and local jurisdictions in the enforcement of commercial vehicle rules and laws. Much of the input for CVSA’s work comes directly from its industry partners, Palmer said. He urged companies not now a member of CVSA to sign up and get involved.

“For several years, we held a luncheon and presented annual safety awards during the final day of the conference,” said ATA President & CEO Karen Rasmussen. “However, the ATA Board of Directors felt that the safety awards deserved their own separate event, a change that took place in 2008. But they didn’t want to lose the focus on safety at the conference, so they established the Signature Safety Series breakfast to recognize the importance of safety in the daily operations and company planning of ATA’s member carriers, and to bring in top safety speakers” she said.

“It was great to have Maj. Palmer as our speaker this year, but we especially appreciate the time he spent with ATA members over the two days, getting to know them and their company operations in Arizona, and listening to their concerns,” Rasmussen said. “It was yet another example of the partnership and dialogue between industry and CVSA. He did an excellent job of carrying the CVSA message to our members,” she said.

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www.cvsa.org

Safety, Compliance & Security: A Critical Alliance

By Gerald A. Krisa, R&L Carriers Inc., Vice-President of Safety, CVSA, Associate Advisory Committee Chair

Eighty-five percent (85%) of cargo theft occurs once the commodities leave the secure confines of the manufacturer. The hijacking and general activities associated with the theft of highvalued freight poses a significant risk to commercial motor vehicle drivers and to the assets operated by motor carriers.

The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) was Gerald A. Krisa originally formed to address the security hardening of High Valued Theft Targeted (HVTT) cargo in the high technology segment of our economy. Today, TAPA plays a leadership role in elevating the security protocols for facilities including manufacturing sites and warehouses along with the critical logistics network of trucks, ships, aircrafts and rail. TAPA is organized geographically into TAPA The Americas, TAPA Europe, Middle East and Africa, and TAPA Asia Pacific. Although the various regions pose many unique challenges to security, the common mission of securing high valued commodities, whether high tech, high end clothing, auto parts, food or pharmaceuticals, bonds this progressive global alliance.

In light of the challenges associated with securing high-valued cargo moving in trucks and containers, TAPA has developed a Trucking Security Review (TSR) with its the three global sectors. In North America, R&L Carriers Inc. and National Retail Systems, both member companies of TAPA, were selected to help develop the criteria and audit for the new 2012 TSR certification.

Reducing the risk of potential theft combines elements of both security and safety compliance. Although covert and overt security technologies along with other deterrents play a significant role in this battle against organized crime, safety compliance cannot take a subordinate role in the equation. If a commercial motor vehicle or driver is not in full compliance, delays associated with en route repairs and corrections may increase the risk of theft if the pre-planned journey and timeline are jeopardized. The new 2012 TSR introduces elements of driver qualification and commercial motor vehicle compliance to the standard. Auditors will apply many criteria found in the FMCSR in the review and certification of motor carriers in North America.

Security the motor carrier industry is everyone’s responsibility.

We all have a vested interest in assuring products and foodstuffs can be transported safely and securely to their destination.

Although regulatory protocols continue to evolve with the guidance of governmental agencies around the globe, TAPA shall continue to escalate the protocols to ensure resources and expertise can be deployed to secure our supply chain. For more information on the TSA, visit http://tapaonline.org/.

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What Happens Off Duty Matters

By Capt. Robert (Bob) Powers (Ret.), Sabino Consulting, President

A few years ago, before my retirement from the Michigan State Police, I had an encounter with an extremely fatigued truck driver. At about 9:00 PM on a beautiful summer evening I was in plain clothes driving an unmarked state police vehicle returning home from a business meeting when I encountered the fatigued driver.

My first impression was that the driver of the five-axle tractor-trailer combination was extremely drunk as the vehicle was weaving radically across both westbound lanes of the freeway. It appeared that at any moment the truck would leave the roadway. I had to get it stopped.

I radioed for assistance and with the help of a trooper in a marked patrol vehicle we got the vehicle stopped. To my astonishment the middle aged male driver was not intoxicated, in fact he had not recently consumed any alcohol at all. Was the driver under the influence of illegal or prescription drugs? No. Distracted driving? No. Drowsy or fatigued driving seemed to be the only possibility left. I checked the driver’s logbook and found everything to be in order. Upon interviewing the driver the cause of his dangerous lane usage was confirmed as driver fatigue. Although this driver was in full compliance with the federal hours of service regulations, it was his activities while off duty that were the root of the problem. During his 34-hour restart, he did just about everything but rest. He worked on his truck, worked on a project around the house, watched some television, and attended a family outing. Instead of getting the proper rest before returning to duty, the driver only napped for a few hours before getting behind the wheel again. This driver was extremely fatigued and unfit to operate any motor vehicle, especially an 80,000 pound CMV. Yes, what happens off duty matters!

In retrospect, the determination of fatigue in this incident is not surprising as

researchers have consistently found that driving fatigued produces symptoms very similar to drunk driving. Unfortunately, the tragic results of fatigued driving and drunk driving are usually the same.

Fatigued driving kills!

Preventing driver fatigue is everyone’s job. Law enforcement and federal regulators can only do so much. While hours of service regulations, logbooks, electronic onboard recorders and screening for sleep apnea are all important weapons in the battle against fatigued driving, even when combined these weapons will not provide a total solution. A strong cultural change in which society places fatigued and distracted driving on par with drunk driving as totally unacceptable is the missing component in the fight against fatigued driving.

Families need to recognize that they have a responsibility to ensure that their loved ones who operate a commercial motor vehicle receive adequate sleep while off duty. They must refrain from placing demands on the driver’s time that may prevent he/she from getting much needed rest.

They must ensure the driver has an environment conducive to uninterrupted sound sleep. Federal regulators, law enforcers, company safety officials, safety advocates and the media must work together to identify and implement ways to create a culture where driving while fatigued is no longer an acceptable or tolerated behavior.

Driving fatigued is an unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated!

Another problem is that the effects of fatigue are often underestimated. Drivers often fail to recognize the onset of fatigue.

When the effects of fatigue become apparent drivers think ingesting coffee or other stimulants, opening a window and turning up the volume of the radio will magically eliminate fatigue. If only it was that simple. I can offer a personal example of the effects of fatigue.

Many years ago while working the midnight

shift at the Detroit State Police post, I fell asleep while driving a motorcycle home from work. I crashed when I fell asleep and failed to negotiate a left hand curve on an exit ramp of the freeway. Except for my pride, I was not seriously injured. I did learn a lifesaving lesson that morning. Fatigue is a very powerful and extremely dangerous phenomenon which is much easier to prevent than to overcome once it sets in. That is the lesson I learned on the day and that is the lesson we need to teach all drivers, especially drivers of large trucks and buses.

According to the results of FMCSA’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) released in 2009, 13 percent of all truck drivers involved in a fatal crash were fatigued. Fatigue is reported as a causation factor more frequently than inattention (8.5 percent), alcohol (8 percent), or illegal drugs (2.3 percent). As alarming as the fatigue problem is reported to be, the reality is that the problem is much worse than reported. Crash investigators often fail to report driver fatigue as a crash causation factor. Most crash reporting forms used by law enforcement do not provide for fatigue to be coded as a causation factor.

For example if a driver nods off and runs off the road the likely causation factor that will be reported as speed too fast or improper lane usage, when in fact fatigue was the true cause of the crash. Law enforcers and traffic safety statisticians must do a better job at identifying and collecting data related to fatigue and distraction as crash causation factors so that applicable countermeasures can be developed and implemented.

Preventing fatigued driving is everyone’s responsibility. We all need to recognize that fatigue kills and what happens off duty matters. We all need to accept that fatigued driving is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated. Together we can and will defeat fatigued driving.

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First Quarter 2012

www.cvsa.org

CVSA Executive Committee, Committee & Program Chairs PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY/TREASURER

Maj. David Palmer Texas Department of Public Safety

Lt. Thomas Kelly Maine State Police

Maj. Mark Savage Colorado State Patrol

REGION PRESIDENTS

REGION VICE PRESIDENTS (Non-Voting)

PAST PRESIDENTS

Region I Sgt. Raymond Weiss New York State Police

Region I Sgt. Daniel Cusumano Rhode Island State Police

Region II Capt. Douglas Shackelford North Carolina State Highway Patrol

Region II Vacant

Capt. Steve Dowling, California Highway Patrol Francis (Buzzy) France, Maryland State Police Darren E. Christle, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation

Region III Alan Martin Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

Region III Maj. Lance Evans Iowa Department of Transportation

Region IV Lt. Bruce Pollei Utah Highway Patrol

Region IV Capt. Chris Mayrant New Mexico Department of Public Safety

Region V Reg Wightman Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation

Region V Pierre Pratte Contrôle Routier Québec

LOCAL PRESIDENT

LOCAL VICE PRESIDENT

ASSOCIATE NON-VOTING MEMBER

Robert Mills Fort Worth Police Department

Sgt. James Slykhuis York Regional Police Service

Gerald Krisa, MBA, Chair Associate Advisory Committee, R+L Carriers, Inc.

GOVERNMENT NON-VOTING MEMBERS

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

PROGRAM CHAIRS

Associate Advisory Gerald Krisa, MBA Committee R+L Carriers, Inc. Driver-Traffic Enforcement Lt. Thomas Fitzgerald Committee Massachusetts State Police Hazardous Materials Sgt. Thomas Fuller Committee New York State Police Information Systems Capt. William ( Jake) Elovirta Committee Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Passenger Carrier Lt. Donald Bridge, Jr. Committee Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Program Initiatives Sgt. William (Don) Rhodes Committee South Carolina State Transport Police Size and Weight Capt. Jay Thompson Committee Arkansas Highway Police Training Committee Sgt. Rocco Domenico Colorado State Patrol Vehicle Committee Kerri Wirachowsky Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Level VI Inspection

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William (Bill) Quade, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) William (Bill) Arrington, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Doug MacEwen, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), CRA Chair Mauricio Hinojosa, Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) Adolfo Spinola, Secretarìa de Seguridad Publica, Policìa Federal Preventiva

COHMED International Safety Team Saved by the Belt Operation Safe Driver

Carlisle Smith Public Utilites Commission of Ohio Capt. William (Bill) Reese Idaho State Police Capt. Bill Dofflemyer Maryland State Police Sgt. David Medeiros Rhode Island State Police Vacant

Operation Airbrake John Meed Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure Roadcheck

North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC)

Lt. Mike Junkin Alabama Depatrment of Public Safety

Paul Tamburelli Checkmark Vehicle Safety Services, Inc.

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Level VI Classes Scheduled for 2012

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Legacy TRU Waste Cleanup Completed at Additional Sites

Under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. DOE, CVSA has scheduled the Level VI classes for 2012 to certify inspectors to conduct Level VI inspections on all transuranic waste and Highway Route Controlled Quantities (HRCQ) of radioactive materials.

CVSA provides Level VI training to inspectors who meet the prerequisite of being Level I and HazMat certified.

The following are the classes scheduled: ■ Phoenix, AZ–February 15-16

Level VI “Train the Trainer” Course ■ New Braintree, MA–March 19-23 ■ Springfield, IL–June 18-21 ■ Scranton, PA–October 1-4 ■ Sacramento, CA–October 15-18 ■ Austin, TX–November 5-8

Any state interested hosting a class or needs inspectors trained is asked to contact Larry D. Stern, Director, Level VI Program, at larrys@cvsa.org or 301-830-6147.

RAD Inspection News is made possible under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has successfully completed cleanup of all Cold War legacy transuranic (TRU) waste at 21 sites. Two of the most recent sites include the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory (BAPL) near Pittsburgh, PA and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) near Chicago, IL. BAPL remote-handled (RH) TRU waste was shipped to WIPP, making BAPL the seventh site within the DOE complex to ship RH-TRU waste. Fifteen 55-gallon drums of RH-TRU waste were removed from BAPL between September 19-21 using RH-72B shipping packages, which can hold three 55gallon drums. The last shipment of RHTRU waste from BAPL arrived at WIPP on September 23.

ANL reached a similar milestone on September 30. In all, the DOE has removed a total of 112 shipments of TRU waste from ANL. While all legacy TRU waste has been removed, additional shipments of newly generated waste are expected from Argonne over the next year.

This summer, TRU waste cleanup was also completed at the Nuclear Radiation Development, LLC, a commercial facility that supported historic DOE missions near Grand Island, NY, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA. These milestones were all achieved using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT to expedite legacy waste cleanup activities across the DOE complex.

TRU waste consists of materials contaminated with radioactive elements that have atomic numbers greater than uranium, including tools, rags, protective clothing, sludge and soil. WIPP’s mission includes the safe disposal of tow types of TRU waste, RH and Contact-handled (CH). CHTRU waste can be handled by workers without any other additional shielding than the container itself. RH-TRU waste emits more penetrating radiation than CH-TRU waste and must be handled and transported in leadshielded casks.

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First Quarter 2012

www.cvsa.org

WIPP Receives 10,000th Shipment

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) marked important milestone in the mission to clean up the Cold War legacy transuranic (TRU) waste when it received its 10,000th shipment of TRU waste on September 24.

The 10,000th shipment, which consisted of defense-generated contact-handled TRU waste, arrived at WIPP in a TRUPACT-II shipping package. The shipment came from the DOE’s Idaho site, which has accounted for nearly half

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of the shipments WIPP received.

WIPP’s first shipment came from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Other milestone shipments have included the first shipment of remote-handled waste in 2007, the final shipment from the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in 2005 and the first shipment using the new TRUPACT-III package.

“There were many people involved in the making of this 10,000 shipment milestone and more than 12 million safe

miles; we appreciate the contributions of everyone associated with WIPP’s success,” said CBFO Interim Manager Ed Ziemianski. “It’s a collective tribute to all those involved, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New Mexico Environment Department, communities across the states, CBFO and DOE Headquarter employees, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the generator sites whose employees characterize and certify the waste before is shipped, state, county and local emergency response personnel along the transportation routes, CVSA, State Police, Departments of Public Safety and those involved with WIPP truck inspections, Tribes and Pueblos, the Western Governors’ Association and contractors especially Washington TRU Solutions LLC, the WIPP management and operating contractor, whose employees ensure the waste is emplaced safely and compliantly. We were able to achieve this milestone because of the integration among all team members.”

Since its opening, WIPP has received and disposed of more than 79,000 cubic meters of defense-related TRU waste from locations around the country.

“We have a hard working group of people dedicated to the safety of their colleagues, the public and the environment who have processed each one of these 10,000 shipments as if it were the first,” said Farok Sharif, president and general manager of URS Washington TRU Solutions, the WIPP management “I am and operating contractor. extremely proud of this accomplishment and applaud the efforts of everyone involved.”

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Carlsbad Field Office Manager Selected

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Richland Operations Office (RL) Assistant Manager for the River Corridor, Joe Franco was selected as Manager for the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO), which oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

CBFO Deputy Manager Ed Ziemianski has been acting in the CBFO Manager’s position for the past year and will continue to serve as Deputy Manager.

In operation since 1999, WIPP is a DOE facility designed to safely isolate defenserelated transuranic (TRU) waste from people and the environment.

Since 2006, Franco was responsible for cleanup and restoration of the 220 square miles of the Columbia River Corridor, which includes former plutonium production reactors and fuel fabrication, research and support facilities, at the Hanford Site, Washington. Prior to his DOE RL position, Franco worked in numerous management positions from 1989 to 2006 for Washington TRU Solutions (WTS), LLC-formerly Westinghouse TRU Solutions, LLC prior to the company’s name change in 2003. WTS is the WIPP management and operating contractor.”

“Joe, a native of Carlsbad, New Mexico, brings a wealth of experience to the job, including over 25 years of nuclear experience,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for DOE Environmental Management Dave Huizenga. “Joe is no stranger to the site as he previously worked as a contractor for WTS for 17 years. As Manager of CBFO, he’ll lead the development and implementation of WIPP’s vision, priorities and program policies for the TRU waste management program mission for the DOE.” Franco said he looks forward to returning to Carlsbad and WIPP and facilitating further TRU waste deivento-

ry. WIPP is America’s only deep geologic repository for the permanent disposal of defense-generated TRU waste generated from the research and production of nuclear weapons. TRU waste temporarily stored at sites around the country is shipped to WIPP and permanently disposed in rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation 2,150 feet below the surface.

“My experience at both Hanford and WIPP allows me to help further the Department’s TRU waste management program as cleanup across the nation is completed,” said Franco. “Born and raised in the Carlsbad area, I welcome the opportunity to build relationships and work with communities throughout New Mexico and other states with interest in WIPP.” “I’d also like to thank Ed who has done an outstanding job ensuring that WIPP operations continued seamlessly, leading the site’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act efforts and achieving

the 10,000th safe shipment of TRU waste to WIPP,” said Huizenga. “I’m confident that together Joe and Ed will be a dynamic and effective leadership team at Carlsbad.”

“I’m pleased to have served as the DOE CBFO Interim Manager this past year. I look forward to continuing service as the Deputy Manager with Joe and the CBFO and WIPP Team as we continue our mission and progress with reducing the nation’s nuclear waste footprint safely, compliantly and efficiently,” said Ziemianski.

The DOE created the Carlsbad Area Office in late 1993 to lead the nation’s TRU waste disposal efforts. In September 2000, the office was elevated in status to become CBFO, taking on new responsibilities. The CBFO coordinates the TRU program at waste-generating sites, national laboratories, and other participants involved in characterizing and disposing of TRU waste at the WIPP site located 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico.

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First Quarter 2012

www.cvsa.org

Level VI Public Outreach Effective in Educating Public on DOE Shipments as One of the Safest Modes of Transportation in the Country

Contractor Changes at the Idaho National Lab

CVSA’s Level VI Public Outreach Program, combined with information provided on CVSA’s website, is proving to be an effective tool in educating the public about the U.S. Department of Energy radioactive shipments.

Duane Sammons, the Level VI Public Outreach Coordinator, will be discussing the program’s effectiveness at the following meetings in 2012: • U. S. DOE’s National Transportation Stakeholder Forum City and date TBA • Contractors Transportation Management Association (CTMA) Meeting Reno, NV, June 4-8 • National Association of County Officials (NACO) Pittsburgh, PA, July 13-17 • National Conference State Legislatures (NCSL) Chicago, IL, August 6-9

Six days per week Idaho State Police Commercial Vehicle Safety and Hazardous Materials Specialists travel to the Idaho National Lab (INL) and complete inspections on Transuranic (TRU) Waste shipments leaving the INL for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. These shipments originate at the Advanced Waste Mixed Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the INL. Effective October 1, a new contractor, Idaho Treatment Group (ITG), is taking over the shipping contract at AMWTP from Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC. With this new transition we are losing a familiar face at the AMWTP. Karlan Richards was the shipping manager for Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC. She has worked at AMWTP for the last ten years. During most of those years Karlan served as the shipping manager. Under her leadership we developed an excellent working relationship and together we moved thousands of truckloads of legacy TRU Waste, safely from the INL. In 1991 I accepted an assignment to Idaho State Police Commercial Vehicle Safety program. I served as one of the primary officers assigned to inspect shipments leaving the INL. As I rose through the ranks, over the past 20 years, one of the most important things I discovered was the need for good working relationships. Karlan’s efforts were a key ingredient to the success Idaho has enjoyed with the shipping department at the INL and AMWTP. To get the job done we need each other and a good working relationship is critical. Karlan fostered that relationship throughout the decade she spent at the INL. Richards has accepted a position with Bechtel Corporate at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico. The troopers and staff here in Idaho will miss her, but wish her well in her new adventure. We look forward to continuing the good working relationship we have enjoyed with ITG. It will be critical to our success.

Visit CVSA’s Level VI Website for the up-to-date information regarding the Level VI Program. Information on the CVSA’s Level VI Inspection Program is located on CVSA’s website, including the minutes of the Level VI Program Committee, Level VI training and public outreach schedules and other information. Also, you can ask questions concerning the Level VI Inspection Program on the Level VI Online Forum (blog). Visit www.cvsa.org, click on Programs, then click on the Level VI radiation symbol and you are in the Level VI website.

WIPP SHIPMENTS & DISPOSAL INFORMATION Shipments Received as of November 21, 2011 Site Argonne National Laboratory Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory GE Vallecitos Nuclear Center Idaho National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nevada Test Site Oak Ridge National Laboratory Rocky Flats Environmental Site Hanford Site Savannah River Site Total to WIPP

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Shipments 120 5 32 5,032 899 18 48 131 2,045 572 1,279 10,181

Loaded Miles 205,773 10,955 44,800 7,001,760 307,458 24,804 57,312 175,933 1,446,444 1,034,176 1,938,860 12,248,275

By Capt. Bill Reese, Idaho State Police

2011 CVSA SPONSORS DIAMOND

PLATINUM

A & R Transport, Inc. CheckMark Vehicle Safety Services, Inc. International Road Dynamics, Inc. James Burg Trucking Company

J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc. RSC Equipment Rental U-Haul International

GOLD Applus+ Technologies Arizona Trucking Association Austin Powder Company Continental Corporation DEKRA America, Inc. Great West Casualty Company Groendyke Transport, Inc. HELP, Inc. May Trucking Company

Mercer Transportation Company R+L Carriers, Inc. Schlumberger Technology Corporation Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association STEMCO TML Information Services, Inc. Tyson Foods, Inc. Vehicle Inspection Systems, Inc.

SILVER ABF Freight System, Inc. AMBEST, Inc. Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Chesapeake Energy Corporation Coach USA Code Corporation Compliance Safety Systems, LLC DATTCO, Inc.

DiSilva Companies Greyhound Canada Transportation Corporation Greyhound Lines, Inc. Intermodal Association of North America JB Hunt Transport, Inc. Landstar Transportation Logistics National Truck Tank Carriers, Inc. New York State Motor Truck Association

Ohio Trucking Association Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Prevost SYSCO Corporation Tennessee Steel Haulers, Inc. United Motorcoach Association Wal-Mart Transportation, LLC YRC Worldwide, Inc.

BRONZE Academy Express, LLC Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging, Inc. Boyle Transportation Brown Line, LLC ContainerPort Group, Inc. Daecher Consulting Group, Inc. Dibble Trucking, Inc. East Penn Mfg. Co., Inc.

Greatwide Truckload Management Hoffman Transportation, LLC H.R. Ewell, Inc. Illinois Portable Truck Inspection, Inc. Intercomp Company James A. Turner, Inc. Lynden, Inc.

Mid-West Truckers Association Mr. Safety-Check Systems, Inc. New Jersey Motor Truck Association Pitt Ohio Express, LLC RegScan, Inc. The Besl Transfer Co. Warren Transport, Inc. Zonar Systems

Presorted Standard US POSTAGE

PAID BALTIMORE, MD

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

PERMIT # 3361

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2012 COHMED CONFERENCE January 30 – February 3, 2012 Newport Beach, CA BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING January 31, 2012 Newport Beach, CA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING February 1, 2012 Newport Beach, CA 7TH ANNUAL FMCSA MCSAP LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE April 23, 2012 Bellevue, WA NORTH AMERICAN CARGO SECUREMENT HARMONIZATION PUBLIC FORUM April 23, 2012 Bellevue, WA 2012 CVSA WORKSHOP April 24 – 26, 2012 Bellevue, WA ROADCHECK 2012 June 5 – 7, 2012

CVSA Workshop Apr. 24–26, 2012 Bellevue, WA

NAIC Aug. 6–11, 2012 Minneapolis, MN

CVSA Annual Conference & Exhibition Sep. 24–27, 2012 Portland, ME

COHMED Conference Jan. 30–Feb. 3, 2012 Newport Beach, CA

NAIC 2012 August 6 – 11, 2012 Minneapolis, MN CVSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION September 24 – 27, 2012 Portland, ME

Visit CVSA.org for more information about all of our upcoming events.