CVSA Guardian 4th Quarter 2013 by CVSA

GUARDIAN A Publication of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

exemptions

standards

data quality

grants training

safety MAP-21

motorcoach safety

hazmat

streamlining

Volume 20, Issue 4 4th Quarter 2013

MCSAP funding

crashworthiness

technology

uniformity

enhancing CMV safety size & weight

GUARDIAN Fourth Quarter Volume 20, Issue 4 www.cvsa.org

IN THIS ISSUE ■ Insight

President’s Message ................................................................................1 Executive Director’s Message................................................................2 Letters to the Editor CSA Missing the Mark..........................................................................3 Challenging Data Q Violations and Assessments ........................3 Use the Iowa DOT Model to Further Human Traﬃcking Fight ....4 Knowledge Matters The CVSA Decal—What Does it Really Mean? ..............................5 Why Do Wheels Come Oﬀ ..................................................................7 ■ Cover Story

A Safer Tomorrow: CVSA’s Policy Positions for the Next Transportation Bill in the U.S. ..........................................................9 ■ Government News

Ask the Administrator ............................................................................12 Changing the Paradigm of Motorcoach Safety ..................................13 FMCSA Data Quality Grants Improve State Data Reporting........14 Implementation of the Uniﬁed Registration System— What You Need to Know ..................................................................16 NTC Announces EMMT Training .........................................................16 FMCSA Improving the Collection of Traﬃc Enforcement Data .....16 The Legislative & Regulatory Rundown ...........................................17

GUARDIAN A Publication of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Out-of-Service Snapshots from the Yukon Territory ....................28 Motorcoach Inspections in Alberta ..................................................28 Local Enforcement ................................................................................29 Regional Rap ..........................................................................................30 ■ From the Driver's Seat

Distracted Driving Tops My List of Safety Issues ............................31 ■ Safety Innovators

Technology and Information Sharing Aid in Detecting Fatigued CMV Drivers ....................................................32 Trailer Inspection and Maintenance ..................................................33 ■ RAD Inspection News

Environmental Assessment for a Low- and Intermediate-level Waste Deep Geologic Repository in Kincardine, Ontario ........34 Meetings and Conferences of Interest ............................................34 Idaho Site Taps Old World Process to Treat Nuclear Waste ........35 Two Level VI Certiﬁcation Classes Take Place..................................35 NRC Approves Changes to TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT..................36 WIPP Chooses Andy Walker to Act as Technical Project Oﬃcer ....36 Richard Swedberg Retires from FMCSA ...........................................37 WIPP Shipment & Disposal Information...........................................37

■ Inspector’s Corner

The Journey to Becoming the NAIC Champion ..............................18 ■ CVSA Committee & Program News

Brake Safety Week Inspection Results Show Lowest Brake System Out-of-Service Rate Yet ..........................................19 Annual Conference Round-Up Colorado Welcomes CMV Safety and Enforcement Professionals ..........................................................20 CVSA Names New Oﬃcers for 2013-2014....................................20 Savage Presents CVSA President’s Awards ..................................21 Regions Elect New Presidents..........................................................21 ■ Regional News

Puerto Rico Public Service Commission Launches Advertising Campaign ......................................................................22 School Opening Marks Enforcement Eﬀort in Florida..................22 Florida Conducts TACT Enforcement ................................................23 MN State Patrol and New Ally Avert Unsafe Food from Consumers’ Table................................................................................23 Nebraska State Patrol Completes 2013 Post Crash Inspection Course ..............................................................................24 Iowa DOT Deploying Laptop-Disabling Equipment in Motor Vehicle Enforcement Vehicles ............................................25 An Update from the Region III President ........................................26 Washington State Honored for Automated Infrared Roadside Screening (AIRS) ................................................................................26 CHP Enforcement and Outreach Helps Reduce OOS Rate ........27 Veriﬁcation Exercise for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials ..........................................................................28 GUARDIAN

GUARDIAN 6303 Ivy Lane • Suite 310 • Greenbelt, MD 20770-6319 Phone: 301-830-6143 • Fax: 301-830-6144 Guardian is published quarterly by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance with support from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. CVSA and FMCSA are dedicated to government and industry working together to promote commercial vehicle safety on North American highways. CVSA Staff: Stephen A. Keppler, Executive Director • Collin B. Mooney, CAE, Deputy Executive Director • Carlisle Smith, Director, Hazardous Materials Programs • Adrienne Gildea, Director, Policy & Government Affairs • William P. Schaefer, Director, Vehicle Programs • Lisa Claydon, Director, Communications & Marketing • Iris R. Leonard, Manager, Member & Program Services • Edgar M. Martinez, Member Services • Claudia V. McNatt, Manager, Meetings & Events • J. Craig Defibaugh, Controller • Wanica L. Foreman, Administrative Assistant Copyright 2013, CVSA. All rights reserved. No part of this issue may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. For comments, suggestions or information, please email communications@cvsa.org. Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

@cvsa

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE A Quest to Enhance Data Quality and Uniformity By Sgt. Tom Fuller, New York State Police

“As a collective group of safety professionals, this organization helps to debate issues and solve problems so we can continually advance our mutual goal of saving lives”

In Denver, one of the items I said that I wanted to focus us on this year was data quality and uniformity. This initiative was something Past President Maj. Mark Savage started a few years ago and I want to continue on that course. All of our organizations continually seek ways to be more efficient and effective, and our ability to do so on the public sector side hinges, in large part, on the data and information that is being created through the work of our inspectors and investigators. In industry, I know many of you are constantly evaluating your own performance data, as well as that which we create, to make decisions. Two significant accomplishments that the Data Quality and Uniformity Ad Hoc Committee is pushing along are helping to modernize Aspen (as well as the other 3rd party inspection software products), as well as addressing the adjudicated citations issue. Both of these activities have seen progress during Mark’s tenure and are now moving closer to becoming reality. FMCSA has initiated the work to do the programming to integrate our recommendations into the inspection software, and, as a result of our deliberations and decision in Denver, will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register to outline an approach to account for adjudicated citations in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA), Safety Measurement System (SMS). It will be important that we continue to see this work through to its full implementation, but I am pleased that we are making progress on these two important issues that will enhance uniformity. I thank all of the members who have contributed to these efforts. Another issue that has recently come into the forefront is what some in the media and industry are calling “enforcement disparities.” This is one of the byproducts of how different people are viewing the data that we are creating. In this case, because of how CSA and the SMS are treating the inspection data, some people are seeing differences in enforcement as

a negative thing. At its core, CVSA is about uniformity and reciprocity. The North American Standard Inspection Program has been around for three decades, and the 13,000 CVSA-certified inspectors all have been properly trained and are conducting the inspection procedure the same way, nearly four million times per year. Each jurisdiction has its areas of focus and concentration based on their particular safety needs. In addition, there are many factors that impact on what the enforcement model looks like in each jurisdiction. Ultimately, what we do is all about saving lives, and all of our activities are geared towards that goal. If we are not making progress, we need to continually evaluate what we are doing and change course if need be. As we go about our daily work, we need to keep in mind that the regulated industry is counting on us to practice what we preach—and ensure our inspectors are adhering to all the inspection procedures, operational policies, the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria (OOSC) and when to apply a CVSA Decal when warranted. It also is incumbent upon industry to understand and appreciate that there will always be enforcement differences, as each jurisdiction is different and has different safety needs. The place where all of this comes together is CVSA. As a collective group of safety professionals, this organization helps to debate issues and solve problems so we can continually advance our mutual goal of saving lives. Our differences are what make us unique, but they are also what give us our strength. So, I ask for your help in continuing our efforts to enhance data quality and uniformity, and to jump into the conversation to affect positive change. ■

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Gearing up for 2014 By Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA, Executive Director

As 2013 comes to a close, I thought it would be useful to start looking towards next year and what may be on the horizon. There are a number of signiﬁcant policy issues looming that will keep all of us busy next year. As noted in this issue of Guardian, the current transportation authorization bill in the United States expires in September, and the CVSA Reauthorization Task Force and Executive Committee have been working diligently to prepare us for the discussions that will be taking place as Congress starts to consider the bill. As much as we will work to ensure our policy recommendations are heard, the issue that will take top billing in the conversations in the halls of Congress will be how to keep the nation’s transportation system funded for both the short and long-term.

streets in 2014. One of the items of importance to CVSA Members and Associate Members is the Truck Size & Weight Study. CVSA’s Size & Weight Committee has been providing input to the FHWA contract team that is supporting the project, and there are many members that are participating in CVSA’s Heavy Vehicle Data Collection Study to help gather inspection data to help look at potential safety implications. Another MAP-21 provision that we are tracking and providing input on at FHWA is the Truck Parking Study, which has signiﬁcant implications for our Associate Members. The National Freight Advisory Council established in MAP-21 is debating a number of items relative to the future of freight policy in the United States; CVSA is represented by Maj. Mark Savage in this group.

The Safety Fitness Determination Rule component of FMCSA’s CSA Program is expected to be published for Notice and Comment sometime in the spring. This will be a signiﬁcant event and our CSA Task Force is prepping for this eventuality. Related to CSA, the results of FMCSA’s Crash Weighting Study are expected to be announced soon, and both the DOT Inspector General and the Government Accountability Oﬃce are conducting separate studies regarding CSA; their results are expected to be released in 2014.

The Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse and the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners are expected to make progress towards implementation in 2014, and studies regarding Farm Exemptions and the Hazmat Safety Permit Program are due out. Relating to Hazmat, PHMSA is moving forward on the MAP-21 study on the feasibility of a paperless hazard communications pilot program, and CVSA’s Hazardous Materials Committee is engaged with PHMSA on this effort. Another item that is getting a lot of attention in MAP-21 is the study requiring FMCSA to evaluate the 34-restart provision of the Hours-of-Service regulations that went into effect July 1 of this year. In addition, FMCSA recently announced it is shifting course regarding the entry level driver training

The long-awaited Electronic Logging Device Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is about to be published for comments. An important aspect of this rule will be to evaluate and comment on it in context with what Canada is doing, as they also are working on a companion standard. The National Highway Traﬃc Safety Administration (NHTSA) is slated to publish its proposed rule on speed limiters. Recently, FMCSA has joined in on this rulemaking to not just address new equipment, but in use equipment as well. This issue also has potential implications across the border, as there are several Canadian provinces that already require these devices. The integration of the medical certiﬁcate with the commercial driver’s license is another rule that is moving towards full implementation in 2014 in the United States. There are a number of items in the current authorization bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), that are chugging along, some of which are scheduled to hit the

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rulemaking that has been on their docket for a while, and also was a provision in MAP-21, so we expect there to be some progress made regarding this issue in 2014. Several standards addressing occupant protection, crash avoidance, fire suppression, and crash mitigation for motorcoaches are also in various stages of study, with NHTSA taking the lead on these initiatives. Amid all of this activity, CVSA has a number of Petitions for Rulemaking at FMCSA we are hoping will get attention and positive movement this coming year. Whew, that was a mouthful—and just the tip of the iceberg. As you can imagine, the various DOT modal agencies that CVSA interacts with have a lot to work on. It is also important for us to keep in close consultations with our Members from Canada and Mexico to ensure we are cognizant of, and can effectively communicate, their input. Many of these initiatives have the potential to have significant impacts on CVSA Members and Associate Members. We are tracking, reporting on, and providing input on these items as directed by the Executive Committee. I sincerely appreciate all of you who are contributing to our collective efforts. At times, it seems to make all of our heads spin, but it is critical that we contribute to the process. For those of you who are not involved, I encourage you to get involved. As you can see, there are many opportunities to do so! ■

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CSA—Missing the Mark By Kevin Mullen, Director—Safety, ADS Logistics Co, LLC I was an early and ardent supporter of CSA. It’s humorous even now to look back at some of the blogs I wrote back when it was still CSA 2010. I was most supportive of the Driver Safety Management System (DSMS) that was contained in early reports. I felt it was historically significant that the FMCSA was finally going to address driver behavior as it relates to motor carrier safety. For the first time, drivers would have skin in the game. You see, to this day, there is a sinister, inherent anti-carrier bias in everything the FMCSA does. Its press releases, its testimony to Congress, its remarks at seminars and meetings and most definitely its regulatory processes spring from one clear premise…all carriers are complicit in driver behaviors and violations. FMCSA continues to believe that our industry encourages, condones or, at the very least, looks the other way when drivers violate their regulations. While that may have been true not that many years ago, carriers who think that way are certainly in the minority today. And FMCSA needs to recognize the sea change and adapt accordingly. As an industry, we invest tens of millions of dollars into safety and compliance. We purchase state-of-the-art collision and lane-divergence warning systems. Many of us have embraced ELDs long before they will be mandatory. [And don’t get me started on how FMCSA could have addressed driver fatigue long ago had they had the guts to mandate e-logs sooner. How many fatigue-related fatalities are on the hands of FMCSA which winked and nodded at log violations for years when they alone had the authority to reduce them? In actuality, it’s the feds who have looked the other way.] We spend countless millions more on safety and compliance personnel, log auditing software, training, employment screening, etc. Heck, we even have to pay $10 to get a drivers’ PSP record to do our hiring due diligence. And we’re the only ones doing anything with the information. FMCSA isn’t. Our state partners aren’t. Motor carrier safety is touted as a federal, state and carrier partnership…but, we all know that’s a lot of hot air. The feds think we’re complicit with our drivers and (some) states issue inspection reports which penalize carriers but don’t write citations to the drivers. [An inherent flaw in the system wherein the

MCSAP funds for the inspections are more important to states than issuing citations which, studies show, is the most effective way to affect the desired behavioral change.] Drivers still don’t have skin in the game today. Motor carrier safety is left to the carrier. If we terminate a driver for his safety record, if we terminate a driver for what we determine to be too many CSA points, we take the hit. We have an empty truck. We lose revenue…and the driver…he’s hired the next day by a less safetyconscious carrier. The safe, conscientious, compliant carrier takes the hit. The less than conscientious carrier fills a seat. Where is the incentive in all these federal programs and regulations? Where is the partnership? So, I ask FMCSA (actually, I did ask FMCSA Indiana Division Administrator Kenneth Strickland this a few months ago if anyone had suggested this.) if anyone has considered modifying CSA so that the drivers’ CSA points do follow him? And how about giving a safe, compliant carrier credit (deducting points) for cutting loose a driver who accumulates too many points? I know, I know…the cynical folks at FMCSA are already thinking we “force” the poor driver to violate the regulations and then jettison the hapless fellow when he gets too many points. But, I calculate it would take about a week for drivers nationwide to learn which carriers run safe, compliant operations. Given driver networking today, maybe a week is overly generous. Good, safe, professional drivers would flock to good, safe, professional carriers. Unsafe carriers would likely be put out of business by market forces…primarily the inability to attract and retain drivers. Ta da! CSA works! Think about it. Two minor changes: 1) drivers own the points their violations generate (restore the DSMS—individual responsibility for individual actions and behaviors. What a novel idea!). Unsafe drivers will have trouble finding jobs and repent or they are removed from the industry. 2) Carriers inherit the points of any drivers they hire and shed the points of any drivers they terminate. If you want to hire a driver just to fill a seat, you pay the (CSA) price. Ta da! CSA works! CSA works as it was intended…finally. ■

Challenging Data Q Violations and Assessments By B J Morse, Transportation Consultant We would like to address the Data Q system that was set up by the FMCSA so trucking companies could challenge erroneous violation and points assessed, by the state, during safety inspections conducted by the CVSA. After doing hundreds of Data Qs in the past we have concluded that the system sometimes works, but, for the most part, fails to address the safety issues. Too many times, officers write erroneous or frivolous violations and then the violation is Data Q’d—only to be changed to another violation that meets the states quota or agenda. CVSA has set policies that every CVSA inspector should follow, just as FMCSA has set rules and regulations for companies and drivers to follow. If everyone would play by the same rule book, then the information gleaned from these inspections would be more accurate. It is well-known throughout the trucking industry that insurance carriers rely on a lot of data, including Data Q scores, to rate premiums for trucking companies. If these erroneous and frivolous violations are not put in check, the premiums for the trucking companies will continue to climb. As it is now, the individuals at the state level become judge and jury regardless of the facts. The points accessed for erroneous and frivolous violations stay with the company for 24 months and the individual driver for 36 months without “due process of law” provided by the United States Constitution. The FMCSA and CVSA regulations and policies, for the most part, are very clear as to what is expected of the companies and drivers. However, when the state reads items into the regulation or misinterprets its meaning, then it tends to cause problems for everyone involved. CVSA should put in place an impartial panel, with members from different states, which could decide these contested Data Qs instead of letting the individual states be judge and jury. In this manner, these erroneous and frivolous Data Qs can be decided in a fair and impartial basis, and the data that is gleaned would be more accurate without the influence of the state’s agenda. ■ FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Use the Iowa DOT Model to Further Human Trafficking Fight in Your State By Lyn Thompson, Truckers Against Trafficking In May, the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, partnering with the nonprofit organization Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), created a plan that is effectively expanding their efforts to fight human trafficking in their state. The plan, which has become known as the Iowa DOT Model, because it is the first of its kind in the United States, provides a number of entry points for state law enforcement to engage members of the trucking industry in battling this crime, and it uses asset forfeiture funds to pay for expenses. Iowa Motor Vehicle Division Chief Dave Lorenzen, who, along with his staff, originated the plan, believes enlisting the help of truck drivers is a good way to expand the reach of law officers. “The motor carrier industry people are out there every day, 24-7, 365 days a year,” he said. “They see things where there’s not that much law enforcement out there. They can obviously give us a set of eyes we don’t have.” Lorenzen learned about TAT and its goal of educating, equipping, empowering and mobilizing the trucking industry to fight human trafficking as part of their everyday work. He examined TAT’s materials and spoke with TAT Executive Director Kendis Paris. “One of the initiatives of our office is to reach out to the motor carrier industry to provide materials that educate them on the aspects of human trafficking,” Lorenzen explained. “We now have materials for drivers in the 40 state rest areas, and we’re also continuing to work with putting the materials in the truck stops across the state.” The complete Iowa DOT Model includes: • Training MVE employees with TAT materials • Stocking weigh stations and rest areas with TAT materials • Visiting truck stops and trucking companies with TAT materials, urging them to train employees and distribute • Spreading awareness about TAT via multiple channels—website, Iowa Truck Information Guide, state fair, etc. • Using influence to spread the word about TAT to trucking (and other) agencies (i.e. DIAP, CVSA, motor coach industry, driver services staff, etc.)

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• Incorporating TAT training DVD and wallet cards into all programs that MVE builds (law enforcement, service clubs, motor carrier industry) • Using asset forfeiture funds to pay for TAT materials • Ensuring that every CDL issued (or renewed) is accompanied with a TAT wallet card “We’re excited that several other states have already looked at this model and are using it to expand their law enforcement efforts, including Arizona, Idaho, Colorado and Connecticut,” stated Paris. “We’d like to see it adopted in full across the country.” Human trafficking is a $32-billion industry worldwide. The U.S. Justice Department estimates between 100,000-300,000 American children are at-risk each year of being trafficked into the sex trade. Foreign nationals who are trafficked into this country for that purpose are

an additional population. Ongoing FBI stings have rescued trafficking victims at a variety of locations nationwide, including truck stops and travel plazas. “As members of the trucking industry are becoming educated about this crime, they’re stepping up and becoming involved in significant ways to help eradicate it,” said Paris. “Calls from truckers to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) to report human trafficking tips or situations continue to rise. Truckers now rank seventh among all caller types reporting potential human trafficking situations. If law enforcement can do its part to spread awareness and put our materials into their hands, I believe members of the trucking industry will prove themselves to be crucial partners in this endeavor.” For more information, contact Kendis Paris at 720-202-1037 or tat.truckers@gmail.com. ■

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KNOWLEDGE MATTERS The CVSA Decal—What Does it Really Mean? By John Sova, Trooper, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and Kerri Wirachowsky, Enforcement Program Advisor Carrier Enforcement Program, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, and CVSA Vehicle Committee Chair

ver the years, the original intent and purpose of the CVSA decal program has been lost. Inspectors and industry alike often confuse what the decal means, what it stands for, and what should be considered when viewing it on a vehicle. There are approximately 13,000 CVSA-certified inspectors conducting over four million inspections a year throughout North America. Two of the seven types of North American Standard Inspections, the Level I and Level V, include a comprehensive review of the vehicle. Passing one of these two inspections will result in the vehicle being eligible for a CVSA decal. If, at the completion of one of these inspections, any vehicle in the commercial motor vehicle combination qualifies, certified inspectors must follow CVSA policy by applying a CVSA decal to each vehicle that passed. Inspectors apply the decals, but what does this decal really mean and what is the decal’s intended purpose? • Does it mean the vehicle has no violations? • Does it mean every component on the vehicle has been thoroughly inspected and found to be in good working order? • Does it mean the carrier does not need to have the vehicle inspected for another year? • Is it placed on the vehicle as a badge of honor indicating that the carrier is an excellent carrier? • Is it just another sticker for a carrier to place on the vehicle to go along with all the other marking requirements? • Is it the same as the sticker for the periodic inspection requirements? • Is it a screening tool for inspectors? Is it a combination of these or is it something entirely different? We will explore these different thoughts and explain why inspectors really carry these colorful stickers. To unravel this mystery, we need to start where all inspectors look when they need guidance in their job functions and responsibilities—agency policy. In this case, we want to review the CVSA Operations Manual. Within this manual, we find Operational Policy 5—Inspection/CVSA decal. This policy outlines how to conduct inspections and procedures for proper use and application of the CVSA decal. It includes general information about how, where, and when to apply the decal.

It also provides guidance on what to do once a decal is aﬃxed to a vehicle, thus, giving us the intended purpose of the decal. We will begin with when a CVSA decal is to be applied. Operational Policy 5 states: “To qualify for a CVSA decal, a vehicle must not have any critical vehicle inspection item violations contained in CVSA Operational Policy.” This statement does not say the vehicle is defect or violation free, it only states there cannot be any violations of the Critical Vehicle Inspection Items. The genesis for the entire North American Standard Inspection was based on California’s “Critical Item Inspection,” which was an 11-step procedure that formed the core of the Level I Inspection procedure, which is now 37 steps. It was the original intent by the founding members of CVSA, as still is the case today, that when a vehicle passes the inspection with no defects of the critical inspection items that a CVSA decal shall be applied. To take this a step further, we also need to take hidden components into consideration. This is also referred to in Operational Policy 5 which states: “For the purpose of a CVSA decal issuance, if no violation is detected during a North American Standard Level I or Level V Inspection due to a hidden part of the listed Critical Vehicle Inspection Items, CVSA decal shall be applied.” This means that there could be a defect of a Critical Inspection Item present, but based on our training, tools, and access to certain items, we may not be able to detect it. So, now we have determined that the CVSA decal: 1) does not mean that a vehicle is defect or violation free; and 2) does not mean that all components have been thoroughly inspected and found to be in good working order. Once a decal is placed on a commercial motor vehicle we further discover in Operational Policy 5 that it is valid for a period not to exceed three consecutive months (the decal will be valid for the remainder of the current month plus potentially two additional months). So, it is valid for up to three months, but what does this mean? Operational Policy 5 further points out that: “Vehicles displaying a valid CVSA decal generally will not be subject to re-inspection.” In support of this statement, the policy also provides guidelines as to when a vehicle with a current CVSA decal can/should be re-inspected Continued on next page

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KNOWLEDGE MATTERS Continued from page 5

within the timeframe that the decal is valid. The policy outlines the following circumstances where a re-inspection may be contemplated: 1. A North American Standard Critical Vehicle Inspection Item or Out-of-Service violation is detected;

One of the main purposes for the CVSA decal is for it to be used as a screening tool for inspectors to increase eﬃciency and maximize their eﬀorts.

2. When a North American Standard Level IV (Special Inspection) exercise is involved; 3. When a statistically based random inspection technique is being employed to validate an individual jurisdiction or regional out-of-service percentage; or, 4. When re-inspections are conducted to maintain CVSA North American Standard Inspection quality assurance. In the United States 49 CFR 396.17(f) of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations indicates that the CVSA decal is equivalent to the required “periodic” or annual DOT inspection. This is not found in any CVSA Policy. In fact, CVSA strongly believes and advocates that the roadside inspection program and the annual/periodic inspection are not equivalent, and that these two programs need to be decoupled from each other. The North American Standard Inspection and the CVSA decal in our view are not equivalent to a “government mandated maintenance standard” inspection for annual or periodic inspections. The North American Standard Inspection Program and North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria have been in place for more than two decades and were never intended to serve this purpose. These two “types” of vehicle inspections— the roadside inspection and the annual inspection—are intended to complement each other, and one inspection is not any more important than another. The roadside inspection is the “last line of defense” for highway safety. When a driver or vehicle is placed out- of-service during a roadside inspection, it is indicative that the motor carrier likely has a failing or defective preventative maintenance and/or driver trip inspection program. When a vehicle “passes inspection,” the CVSA decal is applied to indicate that there were no violations of critical inspection items that could be inspected and were not hidden at that time. One of the main purposes for the CVSA decal is for it to be used as a screening tool for inspectors to increase eﬃciency and maximize their eﬀorts. The decal allows an inspector to

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screen out vehicles that have already passed roadside inspections, so they can focus their efforts on CMVs that have either not been inspected or were inspected but may contain defects/violations of the critical vehicle inspection items. Although vehicles with current CVSA decals may not be free of all defects/ violations, if there were any violations noted at the time of inspection they were unlikely to result in an imminent hazard situation. As we have seen, the CVSA decal serves several purposes. We also find these purposes outlined in the first official meeting minutes of the CVSA (February 27-28, 1980) and which are still true today. Below is the information quoted from these minutes regarding provisions in the CVSA Member MOU and the decal: “Equipment successfully passing inspection by parties to the agreement and under the provisions contained herein shall be issued an identification device (decal). The purpose of said decal is to identify equipment having successfully passed inspection, to serve notice to all parties hereto of such successful inspection; and, by way of identification, obviate the necessity for further safety inspection by parties hereto so long as the decal remains in force and effect.” As you can see, even in the formative years of CVSA, the decal was front and center in the minds of the members, as well as the industry they regulated. It was—and still is—one of the foundational elements of the organization, as it is not only a symbol of uniformity and reciprocity, which are key tenets of CVSA, it is also evidence of the quality of the inspection performed. While over the years, inspectors have called into question the purpose and value of the CVSA decal, industry always has viewed it as a valuable tool to help them in evaluating the efficacy of their safety and maintenance programs. So, the next time an inspector conducts an inspection and is wondering whether or not to place a CVSA decal on a vehicle, remember that the decal is an important operational tool for enforcement to help make efficient use of their time, as well as visible evidence of their work. The decal also helps the industry to evaluate its own practices so they can help do their part in advancing CVSA’s safety mission. It is also an important symbol that embodies what CVSA is all about—uniformity and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections and enforcement across North America! ■

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Why Do Wheels Come Off Trucks? By Jim Park, TruckingInfo.com We don't hear many reports of wheel separations anymore, but that doesn't mean we have solved the problem. Reliable estimates suggest unplanned separations still occur at a rate of probably several per day. Exact numbers are hard to determine because many incidents go unreported. "We do not have much information about wheel off incidents," says William Schaefer, Director of Vehicle Programs at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. "A lost wheel may not be discovered immediately by the vehicle operator and then when it is, it is fixed, providing no record for enforcement or research efforts. Also, even when a wheel is involved in a crash—whether with another vehicle or with pedestrians or property—the driver may not know it has happened and tracking the vehicle down could be a challenging forensic exercise." The October issue of Heavy Duty Trucking features an in-depth look at solutions to wheel separations, including tips on bearing installation and wheel fastener tightening and installation procedures. Because of the limited space in our printed publication, there was not a lot of room for a broader discussion of the problem. In this edition of our monthly Tire & Wheel newsletter, we take a deep-dive into the issue of wheel separations, including some very good background on the problem and some innovative research into its causes. The last time wheel separations came under serious scrutiny in this country was 1992. Following a rash of wheel separations in the fall of 1991 that left seven people dead, an extensive National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation concluded that "…the leading causes of wheel separations from medium and heavy trucks are improper tightening of wheel fasteners and bearing failure; both are the result of inadequate maintenance." A series of recommendations issued by the NTSB was followed up by industry, including the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations and others.

Suppliers came to the table with innovative products and guidelines aimed at improving wheel installation and reducing wheelseparation incidents. The NTSB report dealt more with solutions than the causes. In fairness, since 1992, policies and procedures have been developed to mitigate the problem, and information on wheel-end maintenance is easy to ﬁnd. The recurring problems seem to rest with industry's reluctance to put in place rigorous maintenance procedures. A few years after the series of incidents that prompted the NTSB investigation, the Province of Ontario experienced a series of fatal wheel separation events. The tragedies that occurred in 1995 prompted an investigation into the causes of wheel separation, and do date, some of the best research on the problem has come from Ontario.

A coroner's inquest, convened in October of that year, put forward 31 recommendations concerning wheel maintenance and inspection, chains of responsibility and legal accountability. Among the results of the inquest was a contentious absolute liability offence with fines of up to $50,000 to the carrier and driver, regardless of why a wheel might have separated. The recommendations also mandated official investigation of each reported incident. From that, Ontario learned a great deal about the causes and was able to reduce the number of wheel separations quite dramatically. The number of reported incidents dropped from 215 in 1997 to just 99 in 1998, with an average of 75 incidents per year between 1999 and 2003 (the most recent year for which figures are readily available). This decrease has

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FOURTH QUARTER 2013

INSIGH T

KNOWLEDGE MATTERS Continued from page 7

been sustained up to the present time, but countless more wheel separations went—and continue to go—unreported.

Trends in Wheel Separation

Of a group of 80 separation reports generated between 2000 and 2003 involving wheel fasteners, 66 or 83%, noted that the suspect wheel had recently been repaired.

In its investigation, officials in the Province of Ontario came up with some interesting statistics on wheel separation incidents. Research revealed that separation incidents were about even between tractor and trailer, with trailers representing about 6% more incidents than trucks. Seasonality also appears to have been a factor, although hard conclusions about why remain elusive. Separation incidents reported in Ontario spiked to around 35 per month in January and February 1997 when the monthly average over the year was about 5 or 6. Fastener-related separation accounted for 25 of the recorded incidents while bearing related failures accounted for about 8 to 10. The following year, the seasonal increase was present, but with the heightened awareness of the problem, and after the training programs were in place, the numbers dropped to about half the previous year's numbers. In 643 incidents where the mode of failure was reported, failure of the wheel fasteners occurred in 65% of the incidents, while wheel bearings were the mode of failure in 26%. Failure of the wheel itself or the axle spindle resulting in separations accounted for only 9% of the 643 incidents. Those types of failures are considered exceptions to the norm. Of a group of 80 separation reports generated between 2000 and 2003 involving wheel fasteners, 66 or 83%, noted that the suspect wheel had recently been repaired. This turns out to be a critical observation. One of Ontario's coroner's jury recommendations was a training and certification program for workers who remove or replace wheels on trucks, trailers and motorcoaches. It's an offense in that province for a non-certified technician to install a wheel, and there is a sign-off procedure to document who did the work.

GUARDIAN

The training program covers, among many other things, proper wheel-nut torqueing procedures, which investigators had discovered was lacking in the province. Proper procedures include removing all rust and debris from mating surfaces, proper inspection of the fastening hardware and proper fastening, which means at the very least using a calibrated torque wrench rather than an impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts. Investigations of many wheel-separations revealed that wheel nuts had worked lose due to lost clamping force attributed to material lodged between the wheel discs breaking free and/or fasteners damaged by over-torqueing. As we have noted, the number of reported separations has dropped since the training, certification and sign-off programs went into place. No longer, in Ontario, can just anyone grab an impact wrench and go to town on a truck wheel. The Ontario regulations also require a recently installed wheel to be retorqued after 50 to 100 miles. While many carriers and owneroperators say the requirement is burdensome, it appears to have contributed to a reduction in wheel separations. Check out the October 2013 edition of Heavy Duty Trucking for more on the procedures and techniques for proper wheel-end maintenance. You can read a very good synopsis of the events in Ontario in a report written by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation's Rob Monster. It's well worth 10 minutes of your time. You can download it at http://docsfiles.com/pdf_ wheel_separations.html. ■ Jim Park is a freelance journalist and currently the Equipment Editor of Heavy Duty Trucking. This article is reprinted with permission from Truckinginfo.com, the website of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine.

CO V E R S T O R Y

a safer tomorrow CVSA’S POLICY POSITIONS FOR THE NEXT TRANSPORTATION BILL IN THE U.S.

By Alan Martin, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, CVSA Reauthorization Task Force Chair & Program Initiatives Committee Chair

Part of CVSA’s mission is “to promote commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers.” On September 30, 2014, the current highway transportation bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), will expire. While it’s likely that Congress will extend the current program into 2015, work will begin in 2014 on the policy changes that will be incorporated into the next highway bill. In order to meet its mission of providing leadership to policy makers, CVSA has spent the past year developing a series of policy positions in preparation for the coming debate. Continued on next page

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

CO V E R S T O R Y

Continued from page 9

How We Got Here In August of 2012, CVSA’s Executive Committee, under then-President David Palmer, directed the Program Initiatives Committee to create a task force to develop recommended policy positions for the Alliance. The task force is comprised of representatives from each of the Regions, a Locals Representative, the Associate Advisory Committee Chair, and the International Oﬃcers. In addition, several subject matter experts were invited to join the group to ensure there was good insight on the various technical issues that would be discussed. Once the task force was assembled, a survey was sent to the CVSA membership to gather input on items and issues of interest and to begin honing in on the issues that matter most to the membership. At the same time, members of the task force reviewed the Alliance’s existing policy positions and compared them to the policy included in MAP-21 to determine which issues had been resolved, which positions should carry forward, and which should be revised. Next, the task force held a series of conference calls to discuss the survey results and to begin identifying issue areas to focus on. The Alliance solicited input from other groups as well, asking for their input on issues they view as critical. A number of organizations replied, and many asked the Alliance to consider supporting items on their agendas. In December of 2012, CVSA held a two-day, in person meeting at the Alliance’s headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland. At the meeting, the task force heard from a number of outside organizations and, along with the input from the member survey, a list of positions that the Alliance could consider taking was compiled. At the end of the meeting, the task force agreed on a number of positions and staﬀ began working to assemble them into a series of draft positions.

GUARDIAN

Enhancing Truck and Bus Safety

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is an international not-for-profit organization comprising local, state, provincial, territorial, and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States (U.S.), CVSA’s mission is to promote commercial Canada, and Mexico. safety and security by providing leadership motor vehicle (CMV) to enforcement, industry and policy makers. In the U.S., CVSA’s members are the jurisdictions tasked with enforcing the Federal Regulations (FMCSRs) and the Hazardous Motor Carrier Safety Materials Regulations (HMRs), funded through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). In addition, CVSA has several hundred associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals: uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections, and enforcement activities throughout North America by individuals dedicated to highway safety and security. As part of the next surface transportation authorization debate, CVSA encourages Members of Congress to consider the following improvements to CMV safety policy.

Improving the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance

The Federal government entrusts the States with the responsibility of enforcing the FMCSRs and the HMRs. To meet that responsibility, Congress provides funding to the States, through the MCSAP and a number of other focused grant programs. The States use these funds to conduct enforcement activities, train personnel, purchase equipment, update software and other technology, and conduct outreach and education activities. The funds are used, in part, to pay the salaries of more than 13,000 full and part time CMV safety professionals. According to FMCSA, these people conduct more than 3.5 million roadside inspections, 34,000 new entrant safety audits, and 7,800 compliance reviews each year.

Program

The benefits of the MCSAP are well documented and every dollar invested in the State programs yields a big return for taxpayers. CVSA estimates that the MCSAP has an estimated benefit-to-cost ratio of 18:1, and every roadside inspection conducted yields an estimated $2,400 in safety benefits. And, of course, effective enforcement of the FMCSRs and HMRs helps save lives, keeping dangerous vehicles and drivers off the nation’s roads. With each new transportation bill, the States are tasked with additional enforcement and oversight responsibilitie s. At the same time, the motor carrier industry continues to grow. With a growing industry, and new and improved regulations, it is imperative that States have the funds necessary to effectively develop and implement their CMV safety programs. To meet this need CVSA recommends increasing the Basic MCSAP Grant program match to 90 percent Federal /10 percent State. Training, in particular, is critical to a uniform, and funds are required for the development effective program of training materials,

instructors, and travel to and from training courses. CVSA supports providing adequate resources to maintain and enhance existing State CMV inspector training programs to ensure uniform enforcement of motor carrier safety and hazardous materials regulations. Furthermore, flexibility within grant programs is a key consideration , allowing States to meet their responsibilities through creative, State-specific solutions.

Recognizing that future funding for the MCSAP is directly tied to the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), CVSA supports ongoing efforts to identify sustainable, long-term revenue sources to address the HTF solvency, in order to ensure stability for the MCSAP. However, in the event that no new revenue is available, CVSA urges Congress to ensure that MCSAP funding is not reduced, but remains at the levels set by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). When States see a reduction in their MCSAP funding, jobs are lost, programs are reduced and fewer inspections, compliance reviews, and safety audits are conducted, reducing the safety benefit of those activities and undermining years of improvement in CMV safety. Even without a reduction in funding, States will experience a reduction in productivity due to a variety of factors, including cost of living increases, increased premiums on benefits or fringe rates, increases in equipment purchases, and increases to update software and other technology.

Another challenge the States face is the administrative burden of MCSAP and, in particular, the current Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP) requirements. States should be required to provide comprehensive plans detailing how Federal funds will be used to meet their safety goals. However, the current process is cumbersome, redundant and time consuming for the States, siphoning off time and funds that could be better spent on enforcement and education activities. CVSA recommends streamlining and restructuring the current CVSP process to relieve the States of some of the administrative burden it creates.

Regulatory Effectiveness

The foundation of quality, uniform and consistent enforcement activities is an effective regulatory framework. It is critical that those subject to the regulations understand their responsibilities and that those tasked with enforcing them can do so effectively. Over time, however, additional regulatory authority, coupled with changes to the industry and technological advancements, can result in inconsistent, outdated and redundant regulatory language. To improve the clarity and effectiveness of the federal regulations, CVSA supports a number of ‘housekeeping’ improvements geared towards reducing, enhancing and

The task force spent the following months narrowing down and reﬁning the policy recommendations. As agreements were forged, a series of issue papers was developed to correspond with each policy recommendation. After each paper was approved by the task force, they were presented to the CVSA Executive Committee for review and approval. As 2013 comes to a close, the task force is diligently completing its work. As of midNovember, the Executive Committee had approved eight position papers and the task force was completing work on three more. These papers—and the positions they outline—will serve as the core of the Alliance’s advocacy eﬀorts next year, though, it is anticipated that other issues may arise.

Available CVSA Whitepapers • Robust Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Critical to Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety • Improving Safety through Regulatory Housekeeping, Reciprocity and Uniformity • Exemptions Compromise Safety, Impede Uniform Enforcement • A Responsible Approach to Commercial Motor Vehicle Size and Weight Limits • En Route Inspections of Passenger-Carrying Commercial Motor Vehicles • Strengthening Hazardous Materials Safety • Preventing & Mitigating Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes with Technology • Improving Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashworthiness Standards

CO V E R S T O R Y

CVSA’s Reauthorization Priorities MCSAP Changes CVSA’s reauthorization positions touch on a variety of topics, but are all geared toward improving CMV safety by bringing more clarity, consistency and effectiveness to enforcement of the regulations. One of the most critical priorities revolves around recommended improvements to the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). As the enforcement community knows, States have been entrusted with the task of keeping the nation’s roadways safe, but to do so, States must have funding and flexibility to carry out the mission. CVSA has a series of recommendations geared toward ensuring that the States have adequate funds to carry out the responsibilities assigned to them. Specifically, the Alliance recommends improvements to the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program’s grant application process, seeking to reduce the administrative burden on both the States and FMCSA, streamlining the process and freeing up time and resources that can be refocused on the program’s mission—safety. CVSA will work to ensure that decision makers understand the significance of the MCSAP program and how the enforcement community’s efforts save lives every day by taking dangerous vehicles and drivers off the road.

Regulatory Effectiveness CVSA also recommends improvements to the regulations themselves. The foundation of an effective regulatory framework is quality, uniform and consistent enforcement activities. It is critical that those subject to the FMCSRs understand their responsibilities and that those tasked with enforcing those safety regulations can do so effectively. However, over time, additional regulatory authority, coupled with changes to the industry and technological advancements have resulted in inconsistent, outdated and redundant regulatory language. To address this, CVSA has developed a series of recommendations to reduce, enhance and streamline regulations. In addition to efforts to clean up the FMCSRs, CVSA also encourages a higher level of collaboration between the U.S. and its North American neighbors to advance regulatory reciprocity and uniformity.

Exemptions Another top priority for the Alliance is the issue of exemptions. CVSA has long opposed the practice of exempting segments of industry from the regulations. Every new exemption is an opportunity for confusion and inconsistency in enforcement, which undermines the very foundation of the federal commercial motor vehicle enforcement program—uniformity. CVSA continues to oppose the inclusion of legislative exemptions.

Data Quality and Information Technology Data quality and information technology are a critical component in the CMV safety strategy. The data collected is the foundation on which the Federal and State programs are built. Therefore, it is imperative that the data coming in is as accurate as possible and that the quality of that data is not undermined when processed and transmitted. CVSA has developed a series of recommendations that will improve both the collection and handling of data.

Motorcoach Safety The Alliance continues its commitment to motorcoach safety in this latest round of policy recommendations, urging that the current prohibition on roadside inspections of buses and motorcoaches carrying passengers be eliminated. In addition, CVSA will ask Congress to give States the authority to require that passenger-carrying CMVs report to an open weigh station while en route, speciﬁcally for weight enforcement purposes. This authority will help ensure that passenger-carrying vehicles and components are not being overloaded.

Truck Size and Weight One topic that’s sure to get a lot of attention in the coming months is the issue of truck size and weight limits. CVSA was a strong advocate for the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits study mandated by MAP-21 and it is the position of the Alliance that no changes should be made to federal truck size and weight limits until the study has been completed.

Hazardous Materials The Alliance has also developed positions addressing hazardous materials safety, seeking improvements to policy that will ensure States have the funds and tools they need to eﬀectively enforce the Hazardous Materials Regulations, and opposing any changes that seek to limit States’ authority over hazardous materials shipments.

Crashworthiness Standards Finally, while reducing the number of crashes that occur on our nation’s roadways should be a top priority for the CMV community, work can also be done to help reduce the impact of crashes that do occur. The Alliance will support placing a high priority on evaluating and implementing enhancements to commercial motor vehicle crashworthiness standards. In addition, CVSA supports legislation and policies that encourage the deployment of safety technologies proven, through independent research, to improve commercial motor vehicle safety, either through preventing crashes or mitigating the severity of crashes.

Next Steps The task force will work to ﬁnalize the remaining issue papers as 2013 comes to a close. When the discussion begins in earnest next spring, CVSA will be well-positioned to advocate strongly for the priorities and positions identiﬁed and developed by the membership. While it’s unlikely that a new reauthorization will be completed before the September 2014 deadline, a good deal of work will be completed in the coming months and the direction of the bill will certainly begin to take shape. CVSA will work with all parties to ensure that full consideration is given to the issues that matter to the commercial vehicle safety community. ■

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

ASK THE FMCSA ADMINISTRATOR Each edition, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro answers your questions.

Compliance, Safety, Accountability or CSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) has proven to be an eﬀective tool to identify motor carriers for intervention. What kind of improvements to the SMS is the FMCSA working on?

A: FMCSA designed both the SMS methodology and the SMS Online public website with the intention that improvements could be recommended and added over time. FMCSA implemented a number of enhancements to the SMS methodology a little less than a year ago in December 2012, including the development of a new Hazardous Materials Compliance Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Category (BASIC). FMCSA is currently working on a new design for the SMS Online public website. The re-design is based on feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, and will improve the display and user experience. This round of enhancements will not change the SMS methodology. Before implementation, there will be a preview period when the public can comment on the changes. The enhancements will achieve several key objectives: 1. Provide easier navigation and user-friendly features and descriptions to clarify the SMS’s role as FMCSA’s prioritization tool for interventions. 2. Consolidate FMCSA carrier compliance and safety information so users do not have to go to multiple sites. 3. Improve access to detailed information and new performance monitoring tools. 4. Provide clarity on the relationship between the BASICS and crash risk. The preview is currently available for the enforcement community, and a Federal Register notice will be published when it is available for industry and public review. FMCSA is strongly encouraging all stakeholders to review the revised format and give us their comments. Have a question? Send it to AskFMCSA@dot.gov.

GUARDIAN

FMCSA currently uses all violation data reported on inspections in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) and Preemployment Screening Program (PSP). Does the Agency have plans to address violation data associated with state citations when they are dismissed or adjudicated and the defendant is found not guilty? A: To improve the quality of data and promote uniformity in the treatment of violation data used by SMS and PSP, the Agency is exploring ways to address inspection violations associated with a citation that has been adjudicated by a court.

By working with partners like CVSA, the Agency has developed a process that would allow motor carriers to submit Requests for Data Review (RDR) through DataQs along with court documentation. A DataQs analyst would examine and append inspection records to reﬂect the result of the adjudication process. In turn, the Agency would store and acknowledge the citation result in its systems. In September of this year, the CVSA Executive Committee voted to support the proposed process. A Federal Register announcement will provide details on the Agency’s approach. The Agency continues to identify IT and policy impacts and will provide training on the new process for DataQs analysts in spring 2014.

What is the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and how does it work? A: Established by Congress in 2006, the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee or MCSAC is composed of 20 experts from the motor carrier safety advocacy, safety enforcement, industry, and labor sectors with the sole mission of providing recommendations to the Agency. Each member serves a two-year term. The MCSAC brings unique perspectives to their work and develops consensus-driven recommendations for our Agency. Currently, MCSAC members are considering whether hours-of-service requirements for drivers of passenger carrier vehicles should be changed to improve safety. As part of this task, the group provides the Agency with information and ideas

to help in our consideration of regulatory options in strengthening safety requirements. The Agency places a premium on reaching out to the trucking community and all of our safety stakeholders. That is why we created a MCSAC subcommittee to focus on CSA. This group has been hard at work considering enhancements to CSA so that we can continually improve the program. I value the commitment of the MCSAC membership to safety. Without their hard work and dedication, we could not be successful in what we do. You can learn more about the MCSAC and read the results of their work by going to www.mcsac.fmcsa.dot.gov

U.S. DOT has a new Secretary—what is he like to work for?

A: Great! Our new Secretary, Anthony Foxx, is not a novice to transportation. He understands first-hand the importance of transportation from his tenure as Mayor of Charlotte. In his own family, he experienced how transportation provided his family with a way to a better future. His great-grandfather, Pete Kelly, drove a truck, and he used it to raise 13 kids and send all of them to college. Every day, I see his sharp understanding about transportation and his firm belief in its capacity to move America forward. Secretary Foxx has a clear and strong vision of safety. His overriding priority is to make our transportation system the safest and most efficient in the world. He also understands the role of CVSA members in highway safety and that what you do matters. He knows that our important safety work is never complete. He values your partnership when it comes to truck and bus safety. He asks his senior leaders at DOT to use our own creativity and innovation to solve problems and push our agendas forward. Reaching out to you, in turn, I ask for your continued support to improve the work we do with bigger, bolder and better ideas. We will be both participant and witness to a great era for transportation safety with Secretary Foxx at the helm. ■

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

FMCSA’s Motorcoach Safety Initiative: Changing the Paradigm of Motorcoach Safety By Loretta Bitner, Chief, Commercial Passenger Carrier Safety Division, FMCSA

“Running a bus company will be like running an airline. There won’t be lot of tolerance for anything less than superior performance.” That is a direct quote from a passenger carrier company official after his operation was one of the first carriers declared an imminent hazard and shut down as part of FMCSA’s Motorcoach Safety Initiative. In response to a series of tragic motorcoach crashes resulting in multiple fatalities, this past March, FMCSA implemented a three-phase plan known as the Motorcoach Safety Initiative (MSI). The MSI contains both immediate and longer-term actions to deliver a strong stance on motorcoach safety and change the paradigm to improve our effectiveness. This approach employs three main components—enforcement, stakeholder engagement, and consumer outreach—and emphasizes quick action supported by a long-term strategy to help further the Agency’s ability to effectively change the paradigm of motorcoach safety enforcement and compliance. Phase I of the MSI included meetings with CVSA leadership, safety advocates and industry associations to explore avenues to enhance the safety awareness of the industry. Phase I also included Operation Quick Strike, which began April 1, 2013. Fifty-four FMCSA Special Agents received specialized training in enhanced investigative techniques on passenger carrier operations. Following a week-long training course, they were immediately deployed, and, with assistance from our State partners, began an intensive campaign utilizing these enhanced techniques on a list of 250 high-risk passenger carriers. To date, over 185 of the 250 investigations have been completed with dramatic results. The investigations have yielded a 73 percent enforcement rate, nearly a third of the investigations (57) resulted in a proposed unsatisfactory safety fitness rating, and 14

imminent hazards were issued. On-site Level V inspections conducted with the assistance of our state partners resulted in an exceptionally high OOS rate of 26 percent.

price alone, when contracting with a passenger carrier. Educational outreach to stakeholders is a critical component to an eﬀective enforcement strategy.

In late August, FMCSA and our state partners conducted the National Passenger Carrier Strike Force. During this two-week event, approximately 8,000 passenger vehicle inspections were conducted. In addition, safety assessments on approximately 1,300 passenger carriers with insuﬃcient performance data were conducted by federal and state personnel. The results of these safety assessments will assist FMCSA in prioritizing passenger carriers for future investigations and to meet the MAP21 legislative mandate that FMCSA conduct a comprehensive investigation on passenger carriers every three years.

Finally, Phase III of the MSI will conclude with the Agency’s analysis of what it will take to achieve one level of safety for all passengers. FMCSA is analyzing its safety oversight authority and its resource needs to develop a safety oversight structure that provides a continuously rigorous oversight and enforcement program like the MSI. The goal is to employ more robust and eﬀective enforcement practices to ensure compliance of motorcoach companies, remove unsafe carriers from the road, and ensure the safety of bus passengers and the traveling public. It will take all of us to get to our goal of one standard for passenger safety, and we will continue to work together to save lives.

Phase II of the initiative includes a dedicated outreach eﬀort to work with stakeholders such as tour operators, faith-based organizations, and educational associations to raise awareness concerning passenger safety. Industry stakeholders are being urged to utilize the extensive safety performance data available to the public through our SaferBus App and FMCSA web-based resources. We want to encourage consumers of all types to make an informed decision, not a decision based on

FMCSA is grateful to all state inspectors who have lent their expertise and eﬀort to increasing the volume of Level V inspections. Given the prohibition against en route inspections, these inspections as part of an investigation are adding meaningfully to the intervention. The shockingly high rate of out of service vehicles of 26 percent during these scheduled inspections reinforces the importance of this work. ■

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

FMCSA Data Quality Grants Improve State Data Reporting By Scott Valentine, FMCSA Analysis Division, Data Quality Program Manager As a data-driven organization, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) relies on strong partnerships with its stakeholders to achieve its safety mission of reducing the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Timely, accurate, and accessible data reported by state troopers, local police officers, roadside inspectors, and safety investigators are critical to the success of the Agency’s safety programs and the development of its regulations. FMCSA uses data collected from motor carriers, federal and state agencies, and other sources to monitor motor carrier compliance with federal regulations. These data are also necessary to evaluate the safety performance of motor carriers, drivers, and vehicle fleets, and to help federal safety investigators focus their enforcement resources by identifying high-risk carriers and drivers. Historically, data deficiencies (related to accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of information) have posed problems for FMCSA. In 1999, Congress addressed this by passing the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act (MCSIA), which—among other things—created the Commercial Vehicle Analysis Reporting System, or CVARS. Through CVARS, FMCSA initiated several efforts to improve the collection and analysis of truck and bus crash data. Between 2002 and 2005, more than $21 million in discretionary grants and cooperative agreements were provided to the States under the CVARS program. In August 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was signed into law. Under SAFETEA-LU, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation was authorized to make grants to any agency or instrumentality of a state or territory of the United States, exclusive of local governments, through the Safety Data Improvement Program (SaDIP) for projects and activities aimed at improving the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety data. In 2012, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP–21) authorized continuation of this program.

State Safety Data Improvement Program In FY 2006, SAFETEA-LU authorized $2 million in SaDIP grants, and from FY 2007 through FY 2013, SAFETEA-LU authorized an additional $3 million in SaDIP grants each year. The program has been so popular that requests for SaDIP grants have exceeded the available funds each year from FY 2008 through FY 2013. Since the inception of the program, FMCSA has awarded 97 SaDIP grants to 36 states, totaling nearly $23 million. Table 1 on the next page shows the history of SaDIP awards to states. States have used grant funds to initiate the following primary activities: • Reducing the backlog of data not yet entered into state-level databases by hiring contractors and state personnel to create more complete state crash data files. • Improving the state’s timely reporting of inspections data by incorporating the use of mobile data units to reduce or eliminate the number of paper inspection report forms requiring hand-entry of data. • Developing and implementing electronic data systems for collecting and processing crash data in a more timely, accurate and consistent manner. • Providing training and educating law enforcement officers and state traffic records personnel on the definitions and criteria for CMV crashes and how to create more accurate and consistent data. • Analyzing existing data and state crash data collection forms to identify insufficiencies or inaccuracies and develop plans for addressing them. In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements established by SAFETEALU, successful SaDIP grant applicants must also address their performance against the State Safety Data Quality (SSDQ) performance measures in their grant proposals. The SSDQ measures were developed by FMCSA to evaluate the completeness, timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of the statereported commercial motor vehicle crash and inspection records in the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). The SSDQ evaluation uses a 12-month time period that ends three months prior to the MCMIS snapshot for each measure, unless otherwise stated in the rating description. Crash and inspection records were used in this evaluation if the date of the event occurred within the 12-month time period, not when the records were uploaded to MCMIS. The quality of this data is evaluated with each monthly snapshot and the states receive ratings of "Good," "Fair" or "Poor" for nine SSDQ Measures. Based on these individual ratings, plus an Overriding Indicator, each state receives an Overall State Rating. Data quality grant awards for activities supported by SaDIP, and formerly CVARS, have resulted in significantly improved data reported by the states to FMCSA. As of September 27, 2013, 45 states had an Overall State Rating of “Good.” The goals and priorities for the FY2014 SaDIP funding opportunity will be announced in a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in the Federal Register within the coming months. The NOFA will also provide basic information about how to apply. Additional information about prior year SaDIP funding is available in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), under program number 20.234.

■ States that Received SADIP Funding 2006-2013

GUARDIAN

For more information about the State Safety Data Quality Program, please visit the Data Quality Module of the Analysis and Information Online website at: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/DataQuality/dataquality.asp. FMCSA’s primary contact for technical aspects of the Safety Data Improvement Program is Scott Valentine. He can be reached at scott.valentine@dot.gov or 202-366-4869. ■

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

Table 1. SaDIP Funding Distribution FY 2006â&#x20AC;&#x201C;13 State

FY 2006

Alabama

$300,000.00

Alaska

$160,384.00

FY 2007

Arizona

$112,800.00

California

$400,000.00

FY 2008

FY 2009

FY 2010

$240,000.00

$500,000.00

$350,000.00

$335,479.20

$94,416.00

$25,600.00

$45,600.00

$300,000.00 $26,400.00

$127,758.00

$165,764.00

$280,345.00

$258,343.00

$415,957.00

$243,656.64

Maryland

$54,136.00

$350,000.00

$408,740.00

$316,000.00

$99,902.33

$640,000.00

$420,000.00

$240,288.16

$188,482.91

$270,746.40

$101,408.00

$205,708.67

$154,400.00

$288,000.00

Massachusetts $201, 578.00

$299,664.00

Michigan

$230,810.00

$215,981.64

$111,281.00

$298,305.00 $193,619.00

$309,994.00 $182,587.00

$183,126.00

$318,642.00 $90,447.00 $350,000.00

$380,252.00 $290,000.00

$249,994.00

$379,110.00

Missouri

$68,250.00

Nebraska

$299,923.20

Nevada

$8,640.00 $125,790.54

New Jersey

$116,120.00

New Mexico

$104,244.00 $180,000.00

$425,153.00[1]

North Carolina

$204,739.00

$82,755.00

$291,520.00

$450,120.40

$72,175.00

$204,739.00 $102,640.00

$697,920.00

North Dakota

$187,232.00 $35,000.00

Oklahoma

$80,726.09

$350,000.00

Pennsylvania

$147,869.00 $44,000.00

$72,000.00

Tennessee

$54,944.00 $28,016.00

$311,800.00

Texas

$277,400.00

Utah

$336,164.00 [2]

Virginia

$300,000.00

Washington

$350,000.00

$456,000.00

$250,000.00

$300,170.00

Wisconsin Total

$338,373.00

$256,000.00

Louisiana

Rhode Island

$353,250.00

$300,000.00

Kentucky

New Hampshire

$120,049.00

$200,000.00

Indiana

Mississippi

$375,687.00

$440,000.00

Iowa

Maine

$443,001.00

$334,294.00

Georgia

Kansas

FY 2013

$209,337.60

Florida

Idaho

FY 2012

$129,350.00

Connecticut District of Columbia

FY 2011

$350,000.00 $1,977,097.78

$3,000,000.00 $3,300,000.00 $3,000,000.00 $3,000,000.00 $3,000,000.00 $3,000,000.00 $2,994,000.00 FOURTH QUARTER 2013

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

Implementation of the Unified Registration System: What You Need to Know The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) undertook the Unified Registration System (URS) rulemaking to improve and integrate the Agency’s registration process for all for-hire motor carriers (both exempt and non-exempt), brokers, freight forwarders, Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs), Hazardous Materials Safety Permit (HMSPs) applicants and cargo tank (CT) manufacturing, testing, and repair facilities. The URS streamlines and simplifies the registration process and serves as a clearinghouse and repository of information on these entities. Additionally, URS reduces the amount of time these entities must spend filling out paperwork as part of the FMCSA registration process and enables the Agency to maintain more accurate information on the entities subject to its regulations. The URS final rule was published on August 23, 2013 (78 FR 52607). There are two effective dates for particular provisions of this rule. On November 1, 2013, two changes took effect. First, the new enforcement provisions for failing to file biennial updates according to the schedule in 49 CFR 390.19(b)(2) took effect. As a result, starting on November 1, 2013, entities now subject to the biennial update requirement (i.e., motor carriers, IEPs and HMSPs) were notified of when their biennial update is due. (Brokers, freight forwarders and CT facilities do not need to meet the biennial requirement until October 23, 2015). Failure to complete biennial updates and submit them to FMCSA will result in the deactivation of the entities’ USDOT number and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day with a maximum penalty of $10,000 [See 49 CFR 390.19(b)(4)]. Also effective November 1, 2013, a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) providing transportation in interstate commerce must not be operated without: 1) USDOT Registration; and 2) an active USDOT Number. Motor carriers operating a CMV without USDOT Registration and an active DOT number will be subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 [See 49 CFR 392.9b] beginning January 1, 2014.

FMCSA Improving the Collection of Traffic Enforcement Data According to FMCSA’s most recent program effectiveness measurement report, 297 people made it home to their families in fiscal year 2009, instead of dying in a CMV-involved crash, thanks to traffic enforcement interventions conducted by state and local enforcement personnel. FMCSA’s mission is saving lives. To do that, we will continue to encourage states to consider their overall crash problems, including the crash causation factors that led to those crashes. We are confident that traffic enforcement activities will remain a core element of the overall enforcement approach for state partners. FMCSA will also continue to encourage non-inspection traffic enforcement on CMVs by non-MCSAPparticipating local agencies. The data tell us that, between 2008 and 2011, inspections with traffic enforcement violations recorded on the report declined by almost 25 percent. A variety of factors led to this: reductions in state resources due to economic factors, a decline in vehicle miles traveled, and, probably most importantly, an increased emphasis by FMCSA and our state partners on traffic enforcement activities without the requirement that they be accompanied by an inspection. At the same time, our current system does not collect traffic enforcement activities when they are not associated with an inspection uploaded to FMCSA. To improve FMCSA’s ability to more accurately assess the level of traffic enforcement activities not associated with inspections and to better measure the benefits provided by these grant-funded activities, FMCSA is asking states to begin reporting the following data elements in their quarterly reports for grants that include non-inspection traffic enforcement activities funded through MCSAP Basic, High Priority and Border Enforcement grants: • CMV Non-Inspection Traffic Enforcement Contacts • CMV Non-Inspection Traffic Enforcement Citations • Non-CMV Traffic Enforcement Contacts for violations impacting CMV Safety • Non-CMV Traffic Enforcement Citations for violations impacting CMV Safety

On October 23, 2015, other provisions of the URS rule will take eﬀect. As of that date, the Agency will require all FMCSA-regulated entities registering or providing information to the Agency to do so through the URS electronic online registration process. The Agency has posted information and Frequently Asked Questions for your use and convenience at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registrationlicensing/urs-Faqs.aspx. ■

NTC Announces EMMT Training The National Training Center (NTC) has developed training in Electronic Monitoring & Mapping Technology (EMMT) focused on roadside and investigator practices. EMMT devices help motor carriers compile records of duty status, track vehicle locations, gauge vehicle performance and more. FMCSA can also use these devices during its inspections and investigations. NTC trained and certiﬁed 23 FMCSA investigators in EMMT in November. These 23 trainees will then train staﬀ at all four Service Centers. NTC will also train FMCSA state partners in EMMT, who will likewise train their respective states. Eventually, the new EMMT training will be incorporated into the North American Standard (NAS)— Part A course and the Investigative Safety Analysis (ISA) course. ■

GUARDIAN

Providing this information via a grant quarterly report is only a temporary solution. As part of this initiative, FMCSA will also be working with the states to determine the most efficient method of collecting this data in the long term. Specifically, we will be looking at state capabilities to electronically collect officer activity through a computer aided dispatch system, collect data for local agencies, collect the number of convictions from either the state’s court records or the State Driver Licensing Agency, and determine how states keep track of this activity for the purpose of grant reimbursement. FMCSA will ask states to begin capturing the four data elements for grantfunded activities in the first half of FY 2014. Based on the data collected and the results of our capabilities evaluation, FMCSA may make minor adjustments to the data collection request in the second half of FY 2014. After that, FMCSA will consider long-term standards of reporting and coordinate with states on the best approach before releasing official guidance. Any final guidance will include adequate time to accommodate changes to data systems, especially those funded by grants. Increasing traffic enforcement activities, and accurately measuring those activities and the associated outcomes, is critical to adding to the lives each year currently being saved by these efforts. For more information, please contact Brandon Poarch, Chief, FMCSA State Programs Division at brandon.poarch@dot.gov or 202-366-3030. ■

GOV ER NMEN T NE W S

THE LEGISLATIVE & REGULATORY RUNDOWN By Adrienne Gildea, CVSA, Director, Policy & Government Aﬀairs

Outlook for 2014—Preparing for the Next Transportation Bill As the 2013 legislative year wraps up in the U.S., we begin to look ahead to 2014. The current transportation bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), expires on September 30, 2014, which means that lawmakers have just over nine months to develop and pass new legislation. However, as is becoming the trend on Capitol Hill, it is unlikely that Congress will meet that deadline. Instead, one or more extensions pushing current policy into 2015 is expected. There are a number of issues standing in the way of a completed reauthorization this year. First, and most pressing, is the ongoing debate over federal spending levels. In early January, Congress will once again consider the matter of funding the federal government. The budget deal that was agreed to following the shutdown in October included a three-month continuing resolution (CR) that expires January 15, 2014. To avoid another shutdown, Congress will have to reach an agreement on funding levels for the remainder of FY2014, or at least a portion of it. Once Congress has reached a deal on spending levels, they must turn immediately to the issue of the debt ceiling by the current deadline of February 7, 2014. Once these two issues are resolved, which will be no small task, Congress then will have to begin working on appropriations bills for FY2015, which are technically supposed to be completed by the end of the fiscal year. This all adds up to a very busy beginning of 2014 for Congress. In addition, there is the fatigue factor for Members of Congress. MAP-21 was completed only last year, and some on Capitol Hill will not be interested in dealing with highway legislation again so soon, regardless of the coming expiration. This, combined with the fact that it is an election year, will likely result in little momentum for completing a transportation bill. While a bill is not likely to be completed, work will certainly begin in 2014. The congressional committees with jurisdiction over transportation issues will begin holding hearings and taking stakeholder input. Committee staff will spend the coming months determining the scope of the bill and developing the corresponding policy. Members of Congress will begin filing “marker bills,”

which are used to establish a position on a particular issue, with the expectation that the bill will be rolled into the ﬁnal legislation. In fact, several Members have already begun introducing legislation on issues like drug testing for CMV drivers, motorcoach safety, and truck size and weight restrictions. None of these bills are expected to pass on their own, but rather will contribute to the discussions in the coming months, providing concepts and proposals for Members to react to and, in some cases, amend. One major determination that will be made before Congress can move forward is the overall direction of the bill. Will it be a large, transformative bill that makes sweeping changes or will it be a scaled back bill that makes minor changes to the existing structure? The end result will likely fall somewhere in between. Another major consideration is funding. The Highway Trust Fund is headed, once again, for insolvency in 2015 and a large portion of the transportation discussion will center on how to pay for the system. Given that MAP-21 was passed just last year and the challenges that will be associated with the funding debate, it’s possible that Congress will opt for a small bill, with only a handful of policy changes, focusing their energy on the funding piece and allowing the changes made by MAP-21 to fully take eﬀect.

2014 Regulatory Agenda While Congress begins consideration of the next transportation bill, FMCSA will be busy implementing the requirements of MAP-21. In the bill, Congress tasked FMCSA with 29 new rulemakings, all due within two years, as well as 15 reports. This is in addition to the work already underway at the agency. According to DOT’s November Report on Signiﬁcant Rulemakings, a number of major rules are slated for publication in the coming months. Most notable, perhaps, is the agency’s Safety Fitness Determination rule, which is schedule to be published for public comment in May of next year. The agency’s Final Rule on Electronic Logging Devices, required by MAP-21, is scheduled to be published in December. FMCSA plans to propose enhancements to the Uniﬁed Registration System called for in MAP-21 in August of 2014. Another MAP-21 requirement that has not yet been initiated is the minimum training requirements for CMV drivers. Among the studies required by the legislation, FMCSA is working on a report on the new “Covered Farm Vehicle” exemption included in bill, due to Congress by April of 2014. In addition, DOT is working to complete the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study by the November 2014 deadline. ■

Regardless of how Congress decides to proceed, as noted in the cover story by Alan Martin, CVSA is ready for the coming discussion and will actively engage with Congress as considerations for the transportation bill get underway. The Alliance, partnering with likeminded organizations, will work to ensure that Members of Congress fully understand the value and purpose of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program and the impact a robust, eﬀective enforcement program has on commercial vehicle safety. In addition to educating Members of Congress on the improvements outlined in the Alliance’s reauthorization policy, CVSA will be asked to engage in the discussions that will undoubtedly take place on hours of service, electronic logging devices and the CSA program.

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

T HE ROA DSIDE INSP ECTOR

INSPECTOR’S CORNER The Journey to Becoming a NAIC Grand Champion By Derek Canard, a CVSA-certiﬁed North American Standard inspector from Arkansas

“Trophies and titles are just acknowledgements; the true award is the experience”

ords cannot describe the honor and privilege it has been to participate over the years at NAIC. Being recognized as the 2013 Grand Champion has been a long, emotional journey. I cannot begin to reflect on my success from this year without acknowledging the disappointments from years past. I have tremendous pride in participating at NAIC by virtue of winning my department’s state competition; however, I was honestly embarrassed when it was announcing during contestant introductions how many times I had been to NAIC. Salt Lake City was the home of my fifth attempt to reach the pinnacle of my career. I reminisced about each of the years I competed while staring out the window on my flight to Utah. No matter what year I tried to concentrate on, NAIC 2011 in Orlando weighed heavy on my mind. Coming off a High Points U.S. win in 2010, I promised everyone that, win or lose, I would gracefully pass the torch and become a mentor for our state representatives in the future…I lied. Finishing runner up two years in a row wasn’t enough to bestow me with the grace needed to walk away. The following year was difficult for me because my department elected to adopt a policy limiting the number of consecutive state championships to three. I was currently at four and despite my pleas to be “grandfathered” in, I was sidelined. Each year I competed, I approached it as my opportunity to redeem myself. Not having the opportunity to do so the following year was hard, but it proved to be more beneficial than I ever imagined.

home pouting. I didn’t come home wondering if that one violation I ﬁnd every day, but missed under pressure, would have mattered. Most importantly, I didn’t come home thinking about what I needed to do next year to be better. I came home this year thinking something more bittersweet, “its over.” Over are the times I’ve spent networking with contestants that would later go on to become my friends. Over are the times spent telling war stories and sharing a laugh with someone who lives 1,000 miles away. Over are the training sessions that have exposed my weaknesses and helped me become a better inspector. Over are the handshakes shared with drivers and industry personnel expressing our undying gratitude for one another. Over are the times that have made me strive to be the best. Looking out over the Utah mountains, I came to a realization. My aﬀection for NAIC wasn’t because of its recognition and competitive nature, it’s because of the experience. Nowhere else have I been given a platform to meet people from all over North America that share the same niche profession as me. Nowhere else have I attended the caliber of in-depth training. Nowhere else outside of my own department have I been made to feel appreciated. Nowhere else but at NAIC. Trophies and titles are just acknowledgements; the true award is the experience.

I took the time off as an opportunity to evaluate my abilities as an inspector, building on my strengths while identifying my deficiencies. I came into NAIC 2013 with different mindset, more determined as ever, and as the saying goes...the rest is history.

I cannot close without acknowledging the special people who have made this year possible. Thank you to my wife, Beth. I am so thankful to have her in my life. I know I have made her life miserable throughout this journey and she, too, has made many sacriﬁces along the way. Without her support, I would have been lost and I would be nothing. I can never express how grateful I truly am and I promise to take her on a real vacation after next year.

Just as I did on the ﬂight to Salt Lake City, I used the time returning home to reminisce about my time at NAIC. For the ﬁrst time, I didn’t come

Thank you to the Arkansas Highway Police. I am grateful to work for a department that is such a huge supporter of CVSA and NAIC. I thank you

GUARDIAN

Chief Burks and Major Claunch for recognizing the importance of the program. Thank you to my mentor and friend, Buckie Thomas. I owe all my success to him. Buckie was our department’s first contestant to make the top 10 at NAIC and then gracefully passed the torch. I truly feel that I am an extension of him and his abilities. He has pushed me further than I ever thought I could go and, as head of our state completion, challenged me in ways only rivaled by Kerri. He is the true champion and deserves all the recognition. If I can be half the man Uncle Buck is, I’ll consider myself successful. I am forever grateful. Thank you to CVSA and its entire staff. I have seen how much time and dedication is put into the program and those involved can never be thanked enough for all their work. I speak for every contestant when I say that we are blessed to have an organization that recognizes us for the work we do at a sometimes unappreciated job. There is a little part of me dreading NAIC 2014 because I know I’ve only seen a quarter of what goes into it. I’d like to say a special thank you Sharon Keane, wife of NY Trp. William Keane. Thank you for sharing your husband’s life with us. I first met Billy at NAIC in 2008. We were on a team together and he babysat a young kid away from home that week. My time in Houston with Billy has always stuck with me. A day or so before Billy’s passing, he asked Sharon get me a bag of sweet tarts because I told him I had been craving some. The remaining sweet tart is now proudly displayed on the Grand Champion trophy as a constant reminder of a lost friend. Sharon, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family daily. Most importantly, thank you God. Thank you for the blessings I’ve received though my years at NAIC and thank you for looking over my kids while their daddy was chasing a dream. ■

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

Brake Safety Week Inspection Results Show Lowest Brake System Out-of-Service Rate Yet During CVSA’s two annual international brakefocused enforcement events held in 2013— including the unannounced Brake Check day in May and the seven-day Brake Safety Week, September 8-14, 2013—federal, state, provincial, and local commercial vehicle safety inspectors found the lowest percentage of vehicles with brake violations suﬃcient to warrant out-ofservice orders in over 15 years. This year, participating agencies inspected 20,067 vehicles throughout Brake Safety Week and placed 2,714 commercial vehicles out-ofservice for brake violations. Of the vehicles inspected, the Out-of-Service (OOS) rate for all brake-related violations conducted in North America was 13.5%, compared with 15.3% for the same week in 2012. This rate for brake violations ties with May 2013 and September 2010 for the lowest OOS rates recorded since similar events began in 1998. The OOS rate for brake adjustment rose slightly to 9.0%, still near a record low, and the OOS rate for brake components was 7.1%, the lowest it has been since 2000. The OOS rates for inspections in Canada were lower than in the U.S., which is historically consistent. The OOS rate for brake adjustment was 9.2% in the U.S. and 6.2% in Canada. The OOS rate for brake components was 7.2% in the U.S. and 5.4% in Canada. The OOS rate for brakes was 13.6% in the U.S. and 11.6% in Canada.

Webinars for 2014

Brake Safety Week Results at a Glance: • 20,067 vehicles were inspected. In 2012, 21,255 were inspected. • 1,811 or 9% of vehicles were placed OOS for brake adjustment (9.4% in 2012, 8.4% in 2011, 8.9% in 2010). • 1,434 or 7.1% of vehicles were placed OOS for brake components (7.8% in 2012, 7.9% in 2011, 8% in 2010).

Next year’s line-up will include practical topics, such as… • CVSA Reauthorization Policy Recommendations and 2014 Legislative Update

• 2,714 or 13.5% of vehicles were placed OOS for brakes overall (15.3% in 2012, 14.2% in 2011, 13.5% in 2010).

• CVSA Size & Weight Committee Update: The Landscape for the S&W Debate in 2014

• More than 3.4 million brakes have been inspected since the program’s inception.

• How CSA Works

The Operation Airbrake campaign is an international eﬀort dedicated to preventing truck and bus crashes and saving lives throughout North America. Its importance is underscored by the fact that brakes were cited as an associated factor in nearly three of 10 CMV crashes, according to the most recent Large Crash Causation study. Learn more at www.operationairbrake.com.

• The Level I Inspection Process • Wireless Roadside Inspections • CSA Public Display • CDL Med Card Merger • 2014 Out-of-Service Criteria and Level I Updates • And more!

Get Alerts and Be Proactive!

Out-of-Service Rates for Brake Check and Brake Safety Week

20.0% 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

OOS Brake Adjustment

OOS Brake Components

OOS Brakes

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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

ANNUAL CONFERENCE ROUND-UP Colorado Welcomed CMV Safety and Enforcement Professionals

Chief Scott Hernandez of the Colorado State Patrol welcomed CVSA to Denver.

With attendance of 600, enforcement, government and industry were well-represented at CVSA’s 2013 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver, September 15-19. Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA Executive Director, said “I am always impressed and inspired by the commitment these professionals from all across North America have to commercial vehicle safety and working together to make a diﬀerence. Their involvement and contributions are what the Alliance is all about. We owe a big ‘thank you’ to each and every attendee for their active participation in furthering our mission.”

CVSA Names New Oﬃcers for 2013-2014

For the ﬁrst time, the General Session included a Federal Roundtable with Anne S. Ferro, FMCSA Administrator; Darren E. Christle, Executive Director, CCMTA CRA Chair; and Federico Dominguez Zuloago, Federal Motor Carrier Administrator, SCT

CVSA transitioned to its oﬃcers for the 2013-2014 term during the CVSA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver, Colorado. Sgt. Thomas Fuller (right) of the New York State Police became CVSA President, and Capt. William “Bill” Reese (center) from the Idaho State Police moved into the CVSA Vice President position. Capt. Jay Thompson (left) of the Arkansas Highway Police was elected by the membership to be the new CVSA Secretary. Sharing information and ideas is a vital part of the CVSA mission and that’s precisely why in-person meetings like this are so important.

The exhibition provided the perfect opportunity for attendees to see and compare solutions.

GUARDIAN

Thomas Fuller previously served as the CVSA Vice President for 2012-2013. He has been with the New York State Police for 26 years. In 1998, he became a MCSAP Inspector with the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit (CVEU), and since 2003, he has been the program administrator of the Hazmat, Radiological and Technology Program. Sgt. Fuller also is an associate staﬀ instructor for the FMCSA National Training Center, a Radiological Interdiction instructor for U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and one of nine national Level VI instructors. Fuller also served as chair of CVSA’s COHMED program. “I am honored to represent CVSA as the president. I will work diligently with our partners to promote the Alliance’s mission of improving commercial vehicle safety and security, says Sgt.

Fuller. “To that end, my focus for the next year will be on four points: data quality and uniformity, enhanced communication with stakeholders, strengthening partnerships and developing leaders,” he explains. William Reese previously served as CVSA Secretary-Treasurer for 2012-2013. He has been with the Idaho State Police since 1986. After serving as the CVS sergeant and lieutenant, he was promoted to CVS captain in 2010. As division commander, Captain Reese is responsible for Idaho’s commercial vehicle safety and hazardous materials inspection and response programs. From 1995-2003, he also served as an associate staff member of the FMCSA National Training Center. He previously also served as chair of the CVSA’s COHMED program. Jay Thompson, CVSA’s newly elected Secretary, has been a law enforcement officer in Arkansas for 23 years. His first CVSA experience was in 2003, when he competed in the North American Inspectors Competition (NAIC) and was awarded the John Youngblood Award of Excellence in Columbus, Ohio. He has also served as Region II President for COHMED, CVSA Region II President and CVSA Size & Weight Committee chair. ■

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

Savage Presents CVSA President’s Awards

Regions Elect New Presidents

Major Mark Savage of the Colorado State Patrol, who served as CVSA president until September 17, 2013, presented four President’s Awards during the Denver conference for “going above and beyond.”

Four of CVSA’s ﬁve regions elected presidents who will serve on the CVSA Executive Committee:

John Conley has been CVSA’s “go-to” person for many years on cargo-tank related issues, including NAIC and COHMED. He is the Past President of National Tank Truck Carriers, the trade association that represents more than 200 highway transporters of commodities in bulk, as well as nearly 300 suppliers to that industry. He joined NTTC in 1989 after serving as editor of Modern Bulk Transporter magazine for 12 years. He is a past member of the Board of the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council, on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on the Transportation of Hazardous Materials, and on the CVSA Hazardous Materials Committee. He also serves on the TRANSCAER National Steering Committee. He is retiring from NTTC at the end of 2013. Major Ron Cordova retired earlier this year from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety after serving in law enforcement for over 21 years. He served in many capacities with CVSA: president, NAIC cochair, ITS committee chair and more. Ron played a critical role as CVSA took over the NAIC Program in 1999 and represented CVSA on a trip to Mexico to talk with CANACAR. He spearheaded the statewide Smart Roadside Program that was the ﬁrst of its kind and a model for other jurisdictions. New Mexico was recognized by ITS America and GHSA for utilizing technology to reduce CMV vehicle crashes. He was an integral leader in directing oﬃcers and transportation inspectors in reducing the CMV crash rate in the state.

Sgt. William “Don” Rhodes retired in June from the South Carolina State Transport Police. He was an active member of CVSA beginning in 1992 and started participating in NAIC in 1993. He served CVSA in many capacities, including as Region II president, Training Committee member and, most recently, as Program Initiatives Committee chair. He also helped with the development of MCSAP Program Manager’s Course and was an instructor of the CVSA North American Standard Inspection Familiarization Course. Don was critical to the success of the initial roadside data uniformity ad hoc. He worked collaboratively with FMCSA to improve grant applications and supporting processes. His collaboration with the South Carolina Trucking Association for 21 years to provide programs, guidance and enforcement to promote highway safety within the state was one of his many accomplishments. Paul Tamburelli began his impressive career in commercial motor vehicle safety, security and risk management more than three decades ago. In his current position of vice president of government relations with CheckMark Safety Services, he works with the Alliance, as well as federal and state agencies and industry trade associations, for the advancement of commercial motor vehicle safety and security in North America. He has been a long-time supporter of CVSA in many important capacities, but it is his commitment to the North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC) that goes well beyond the call of duty. Paul ﬁrst got involved with the North American Inspectors Championship in 1993. Since then, Paul has served as the NAIC event chair for many years and has worked tirelessly and selﬂessly to make it happen year after year. ■

Region I Cpl. Rick Koontz has been with the Pennsylvania State Police for 24 Years and is currently the Supervisor of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Division. He has been working in Commercial Vehicle Enforcement for the past 21 years.

Region II Lt. Col. Troy Thompson, Florida Highway Patrol, began his career with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Office of Motor Carrier Compliance in 1993. In September 2013, Troy was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel to supervise the Florida Highway Patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement section. He has served in many roles as a hazardous materials specialist, field trainer, first-line supervisor and commander. In 2011, Troy was named to the Florida Trucking Association’s Hall of Fame for his outreach efforts with the industry.

Region III Maj. Lance Evans is the special operations commander for the Iowa Department of Transportation Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, where he manages the Data Q process, Hazardous Materials unit, Safety Audit unit, internal training, field training program, firearms program and evidence program, and serves as office liaison for the Governors Traffic Safety Bureau. He has been with DOT Enforcement for 19 years, served as the chair of the CVSA Hazardous Materials Committee, and is the Governor appointee to the Council of States Governments Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee.

Region V Pierre Pratte, Coordonnateur CVSA for Contrôle Routier Québec, has been an enforcement oﬃcer for CMV since January 1992. He has been a CVSA North American Standards Part A and B instructor since 1999, a member of the Canadian EQAT since 2001 (chair from 2009-2011), a motorcoach instructor since 2003, Québec’s CVSA coordinator since 2006, and Chair of the North American Public cargo securement forum for two years. For Region IV, Capt. Chris Mayrant of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, who served as the region’s President for 2012-2013, will hold the position the 20132014 term. See page 38 for a complete listing of Executive Committee members or visit cvsa.org. ■ FOURTH QUARTER 2013

R EGIO N A L NE W S

REGION I

Puerto Rico Public Service Commission Launches Advertising Campaign

Puerto Rico’s campaign includes billboards featuring key safety and compliance messages.

With the slogan "Queremos Seguridad por vanes, ayúdanos a tener unas carreteras más seguras" the Public Service Commission and the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program launched an advertising campaign to guide and encourage all carriers to ensure the safety on the island’s roadways.

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

GUARDIAN

The advertising campaign, which will be disseminated through print, billboards, and radio ads, emphasizes the importance of complying with the laws and regulations that the Public Service Commission regulate. Specifically, it refers to using a seat belt, having an up-to-date medical certificate and the Public Service Commission license, taking the proper actions before departing and performing a general inspection to anticipate any situation that could put in risk the life of the driver or any other who is in transit. During the launching of the campaign, the Public Service Commission Inspectors conducted an operation where material and information relating to the advertising campaign was distributed. The president of the Public Service Commission, Omar Negrón said, "over the past few months we have focused our efforts in orienting our dealers about the importance of fully complying with laws and safety regulations. Today, through this initiative, we continue to disseminate our message to ensure the safety of all who transit on roads and highways.” The Public Service Commission will remain active guiding all carriers and guaranteeing that they fully comply with the specific regulations on this type of load. "It is our duty and obligation to ensure that accidents as a consequence of the mishandling and breach of these policies are reduced," noted the director of MCSAP, Jose Miranda. ■

REGION II

School Opening Marked Enforcement Effort in Florida The end of summer was signaled by school buses on the road and students returning to academia all across the country. Unfortunately, many motorists, including drivers of commercial motor vehicles, can become accustomed to summer break and forget best safety practices when driving around school buses and young pedestrians traveling to school. When school began on August 19, 2013, in southeast Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol’s Office of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (OCVE) recognized the child safety hazards that occur while motorists become reaccustomed to additional motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the first week of school and responded by assigning over 30 OCVE troopers to intensified traffic enforcement along highways where high volumes of commercial

motor vehicle traffic operate through school zones. One corridor, US 27, identified in Broward County, has a school zone where traffic must adjust to speed limit reductions from 65 miles per hour to 15 miles per hour inside of a small stretch of roadway. While the primary intent of this enforcement detail was to promote safety for children within school zones by educating motorists of the deadly consequences of poor driving behavior, several inspections and citations were issued throughout the week to violators. We cannot measure whether a life or multiple lives were saved by this effort, but the OCVE considers this enforcement detail a success based on the result that no school zone crashes were recorded and no children were injured in the school zones that OCVE identified for this enforcement detail. ■

R EGIO N A L NE W S

REGION II

Florida Conducts TACT Enforcement During the week of September 23-27, 2013, the Florida Highway Patrol’s Office of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (OCVE) conducted a Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) enforcement campaign. During this week-long enforcement wave, the OCVE dedicated 2,650 hours of enforcement, resulting in 2,331 enforcement actions. In an effort to reduce crash rates as part of the TACT enforcement wave, the OCVE identified several corridors with high crash rates involving commercial motor vehicles for intensive enforcement. A stretch of I-75 between Naples and Fort Lauderdale, commonly known as Alligator Alley, was specifically identified as a corridor with high rates of deadly crashes due to a combination of driver behavior and rural remoteness for emergency response. On September 26 and 27, the OCVE dedicated 182 enforcement hours in a two-day multi-district enforcement detail using radars, lasers and fixed wing aircraft to focus on aggressive driving, fatigue and distracted driver behaviors. This TACT initiated enforcement effort resulted in over 200 enforcement actions, predominantly for unlawful speed, on commercial and non-commercial motor vehicles. ■

Florida Highway Patrol conducts a traﬃc stop on Alligator Alley.

REGION III

MN State Patrol and New Ally Avert Unsafe Food from Consumers’ Table By Jordan Langer, State Patrol Oﬃce and Administrative Specialist, Minnesota State Patrol For the past year, many Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) troopers and commercial vehicle inspectors in the Minnesota State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Section have added new tasks to their routine when inspecting the cargo area of a truck hauling food or beverages: taking temperature readings of the food, checking for cross-contamination issues and insanitary conditions, and contacting MDA if food violations or blatant disregard for food safety is present. The new role troopers and commercial vehicle inspectors have is part of a new partnership between MDA and the MSP’s Commercial Vehicle Section. The alliance exploits the Commercial Vehicle Section’s exposure to trucks transporting food to assist MDA in their mission to eliminate tainted food from reaching consumers.

guidance concerning issues with temperature abuse, cross-contamination issues and insanitary conditions. In addition, MDA provided the State Patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Section with 10 thermometers. Sgt. Hauge said MDA was paramount in getting a protocol in place and a relationship forged. Lorna Girard, Food Inspection Supervisor at MDA, said she is excited about the partnership and thinks the State Patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Section will greatly help MDA’s eﬀorts in eliminating unsafe food from reaching consumers’ table. “The State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Section is a logical partner for MDA,” she said. ■

The inception of the partnership started last fall when Trooper Bob Hauge became aware of the then novel work Indiana State Police, in collaboration with local health agencies, were doing to crack down on trucks hauling unsafe food. Motivated by the national media coverage and realizing food carriers in Minnesota could be committing similar oﬀenses without recourse, Sgt. Hauge purchased his own infrared thermometer and began checking food temperatures during his normal cargo inspections. Within the ﬁrst week of using the thermometer, Hauge said he stopped someone hauling milk at 62 degrees and another person hauling bags of sprouts at 58 degrees. In both cases, MDA was called to the scene to investigate and the food was subsequently embargoed and destroyed. And, in both situations, Sgt. Hauge exchanged business cards with the responding MDA inspector, in hopes of forming a working partnership. Within the ensuing months, after several meetings, phone calls and a “Ride Along‟ with Sgt. Hauge, MDA developed a guidance document that includes a decision tree for holding a truck and when to call MDA for

Many MSP troopers and commercial vehicle are now using dual thermometers, which can take an infrared reading, using a 10:1 ratio (distance to surface reading). If the infrared reading is high, such as 65 degrees, MDA recommends taking a temperature reading using the probe. Placing the probe end between two food items or boxes and pressing together ﬁrmly obtains a more accurate reading of the actual product temperature.

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Nebraska State Patrol Completes 2013 Post Crash Inspection Course By Doug Donscheski, MCSAP Manager, Nebraska State Patrol, Carrier Enforcement

Back Row: Jose Miranda, Seth Wimer, Nestor Pla, Bart Teter, Trey Pellizzari, Mike Anderson, John Hibschman, Aaron Schoen, Gerald Schmidt; Front Row: Heriberto Zapata, Jason Carballo, Chris Halm, Dana Moore, Matt Koll, Monty Kindler, Shannon Kenison, Sheryl Harley

The Nebraska State Patrol Carrier Enforcement Division initiated and developed a Post Crash Inspection course in 2008 and recently completed its fourth such course in August 2013. Feedback from the attending students continues to affirm the importance and high quality of education received. Inspectors from Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas and the Washington DC Metro Police Department attended this year’s course. In past years, personnel from Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and Wyoming have provided positive and supportive evaluations of the course. Student feedback is not dismissed, but rather used to improve each year’s curriculum. One student said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I would recommend it to all our motor carrier officers.” Another one said, “the whole class was excellent, the learning environment was great, and I cannot thank the staff enough for all they did for us.” When a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) is involved in a serious crash, multiple entities with different interests become involved. Regardless of their particular point of view, they all seek the truth in order to facilitate a just and fair outcome, which can only be accomplished with a thorough investigation. The purpose of the Post Crash Inspection (PCI) is to determine any and all contributing factors from the CMV components, CMV driver and, possibly, the CMV carrier.

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Due to the additional size and momentum of CMVs, such crashes can be more devastating, both physically and emotionally, to all parties involved. Evidence and contributing factors should be documented professionally, accurately, and completely. To do so, investigators need the proper tools and knowledge base. Being a NAS Level I certiﬁed inspector gives students the basic foundation needed to conduct a Level I Inspection. The NSP Post Crash Inspection Course builds on that foundation and gives them the speciﬁc expertise needed for a methodical and thorough forensic examination. The end results, through either criminal or civil processes, are, therefore, based on all, not just some, of the facts. Data gathered from Post Crash Inspections will not only result in a more thorough investigation of the crash, the collected data may be used to identify and focus enforcement actions to reduce the occurrence and severity of CMV crashes. Additionally, the data can be used to identify manufacturing/design defects, or possible carrier practices that may lead to contributing factors. The Post Crash Inspection Course was designed to replicate real life scenarios and to expose students to as many scenarios as possible during the week. This year’s course provided staged wrecked vehicles including three tractors and semi-trailers, one pickup and trailer, and one bus. The vehicles were positioned as they may have been found at the

scene. Some were even tipped over on their side, thus replicating the challenges students will face in actual Post Crash Inspections. Students practice critical thinking skills and learn how to determine the correct course of action in collecting their data, such as how to supply air pressure to brake chambers when the vehicle(s) are not operational and how to determine if a defect was present before the crash or caused by it. Students also practiced evidence preservation by learning how to properly document their actions and observations. Students were provided with a book containing all PowerPoint presentations and course materials used during the class, which assists in easy notetaking materials, and the resources needed to address questions in the ﬁeld well after the course is completed. The student books also included a DVD containing all course material in PDF format. The classroom instruction portion of the course consisted of the following items: • Evidence Considerations—Prepares students with the correct mindset that a crash is a crime scene, and the CMV is their evidence. Crime scene procedures, evidence recognition, preservation, documentation and collection were some of the highlights of this class. • Photography—Outlines how a digital camera “sees the world,” basic camera

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REGION III

Iowa DOT Deploying Laptop-Disabling Equipment in Motor Vehicle Enforcement Vehicles operations and nighttime photography techniques. • Vehicle Mechanics—Focuses particularly on brake components and ABS functions. This block of instruction was presented by a representative of Bendix, a manufacturer of brake components which exposed the students in the minutia details of brake systems from the manufacturer’s perspective. It was the block of instruction that sets the course above and beyond any other similar class. • ECM—Includes instructions of preventing data loss from Engine Control Modules. • EOBR/AOBRD—Covers how to obtain, handle and interpret electronic log data. • FMCSA—Outlines the capabilities and resources of the FMCSA and how they can assist the Post Crash inspector. • Driver Impairment Awareness—Covers DUI and DUID, driver fatigue and sleep apnea, and driver focus and interviewing. • Special Problems—Outlines how to design and conduct a research project as it relates to CMVs and Post Crash Inspections The course teaching philosophy was modeled after successful forensic programs. Forensic science depends on the expertise of various professions. The application of any scientific area of study to legal matters defines forensic science. Because of this definition, whenever possible, each class was instructed by an available expert in the associated topic and instructors used for each practical scenario were experienced Post Crash Inspectors. This teaching method provided students with up-to-date information from qualified instructors.

Iowa Department of Transportation motor vehicle enforcement (MVE) officers use a myriad of tools to complete their job duties. One of those tools is a laptop computer in every Iowa DOT MVE patrol vehicle. While these laptops are invaluable to the officers, they can also provide a dangerous distraction when the officer is driving. To reduce the risk of this distraction, the Iowa DOT is deploying a new piece of software in its patrol vehicles called “Arch Angel.” This is a combination of hardware and software designed to improve safety of both law enforcement and the motoring public by disabling the laptop computer in the law enforcement vehicle when a predetermined speed is reached. MVE Chief Dave Lorenzen stated, “Distracted driving can contribute to crashes and other traffic problems, such as sudden stops, departing from your lane, and inconsistent speeds. As a law enforcement agency, it is our duty to not only enforce laws related to those issues and be part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Iowa DOT’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement Office is committed to modeling safe driver behavior by using this technology to ensure the officer’s full attention is committed to safely operating the patrol vehicle.” The Arch Angel software constantly monitors the speed of the law enforcement vehicle. When that speed reaches or exceeds 15 mph, the software automatically disables or locks the laptop computer, key board, mouse and touch screen. While the computer is locked, critical applications continue to run ensuring that the physical location of the officer continues to be

“The Iowa DOT’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement Office is committed to modeling safe driver behavior by using this technology to ensure the officer’s full attention is committed to safely operating the patrol vehicle.” sent to other law enforcement officers so situational awareness is maintained. The officer is able to use one keystroke to call for help if necessary. In addition, the officer can view a statewide map showing the location of the emergency they are responding to and the position of other law enforcement officers in the area. Once the vehicle’s speed falls below 15 mph, the computer becomes active. The installation of this equipment is just one more way the Iowa DOT is working to eliminate dangerous driving behaviors and reach the goal of zero fatalities on Iowa’s highways. For more information, contact: MVE Chief Dave Lorenzen at 515-237-3215 or david.lorenzen@dot.iowa.gov. ■

In our society, the quest for knowledge often depends on funding. People’s time and resources tend to be measured with dollars and cents. Development of the NSP Post Crash Inspection Course proved that those who seek the truth know its value. The course is a testament to industry and government working cooperatively, devoting their time and resources. Mark your calendars as the 2014 Post Crash Inspection Course is scheduled for September 22-26, 2014, in Grand Island, Nebraska at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center. The class will be limited to 20 students (two from each jurisdiction). If you are interested in attending, please send email to doug.donscheski@nebraska.gov. ■

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REGION IV

An Update from the Region President By Major Lance Evans, Iowa Department of Transportation Another fall conference brought us a change in leadership within Region III. I am now the Region President and Msgt. Todd Armstrong was elected to fill the role of Vice President. The Region would like to thank Alan Martin (Ohio) for his service to the Region over the past four years. The Denver Conference saw a large turnout from Region III, in fact, the biggest turnout in recent memory. Many issues were discussed that affect the majority of the Region, namely CDL issues when pulling Anhydrous Ammonia nurse tanks, farm exemptions and hours-of-service issues when dealing with livestock haulers. Region III is well represented when it comes to committees and programs within CVSA: Josh Downing (Colorado) • Level VI Chair Todd Armstrong (Illinois) • HM Vice Chair • Level VI Vice Chair Chris Barr (Indiana) • Driver-Traffic Enforcement Vice Chair Brad Wagner (Nebraska) • HM Vice Chair • COHMED Chair Dianne Reuter (Minnesota) • Info Systems Vice Chair Alan Martin (Ohio) • Program Initiatives Chair Chris Turner (Kansas) • Program Initiatives Vice Chair Butch Orbovich (Ohio) • Training Vice Chair Rocco Domenico (Colorado) • Training Chair Brian Ausloss (Wisconsin) • Vehicle Vice Chair Lance Evans (Iowa) • HazMat Chair

All these individuals have accepted their roles and will represent CVSA in a professional manner, Region III is proud to have such a large contingent on these valuable committees/ programs. Region III would like to recognize Doug Donscheski and Rex Railsback for their hard work and dedication to various ad-hocs and Committees. Throughout the coming months, communication, as echoed from President Fuller, will be our main goal; open dialogue to vent issues through the Executive Committee is our number one priority. Region III welcomes the opportunity to work with the Alliance and bring items of discussion to the forefront on the various Committees. One initiative for the Spring CVSA Workshop and going forward will be to discuss relevant issues that are in need of a vote at the executive level. On day two of the Region meeting, a lot of time was spent talking about all the issues that were discussed in committee, as important as they are, the main issues that need addressed are the call for actions that will be brought in front of the Executive Committee. As the Region President, I want to vote according to what is in the best interest of the Region, taking the time to discuss each action item in detail will go far, in rendering a vote according to the Regions wishes. I look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead for the Alliance and the Region. Commitment to safety is on the forefront of all of our minds. Together, we can accomplish a great deal when it comes to making our roadways safer for everyone, and that work starts with all aspects of the alliance. ■

Washington State Honored for Automated Infrared Roadside Screening (AIRS) The Washington State Patrol and the Washington State Department of Transportation received the National Roadway Safety Award by the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for their joint project developing an infrared commercial truck brake screening system. Operators of commercial vehicles need to check that their brakes are in working order frequently, but there are those who do not take the time to do so, jeopardizing their lives as well as those who travel the roadways alongside them. Officers check brakes at weigh stations throughout Washington State, but this can be time consuming and expensive. Members of the Washington State Patrol and the Washington Department of Transportation worked together with new technology software to create the Automated Infrared Roadside Screening (AIRS). The AIRS system inspects each and every vehicle’s brakes as it enters an AIRS-equipped weigh station at ordinary travel speeds, without deterring a vehicle, and without the operator’s awareness. The resulting analysis is immediately displayed in the weigh station for an enforcement officer in a simple graphical format. Those vehicles with a potential faulty brake(s) are emphasized in red. “The AIRS system is both a timesaver and a money saver,” said Greg Cohen, Executive Director of the Roadway Safety Foundation. “This tool allows the state to conduct appropriate safety checks while still maintaining freight mobility and avoiding a negative effect on the state’s economy. We hope to see the cost effective AIRS system grow and expand nationwide.” “We will never compromise safety, but we will always work to be more efficient,” said Washington State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste. “I could not be more proud of those who developed this terrific use for infrared technology.” National Roadway Safety Award recipients were evaluated on three criteria—innovation, effectiveness and efficient use of resources. Program categories included infrastructure improvements; operational improvements; and program planning, development and evaluation. ■

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REGION IV

CHP Enforcement and Outreach Helps Reduce OOS Rate The California Highway Patrol’s Grapevine Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (GCVEF) is located within Kern County. The county has significant agriculture and oil industries, which require a large number of commercial vehicles. Additionally, Kern County is the connection point of three major highways: State Route 99, State Route 58 and Interstate 5. Approximately 16,400 commercial vehicles are recorded entering or exiting Kern County on a daily basis. Between May and August 2010, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commercial Officers and Commercial Vehicle Inspection Specialists (CVIS) conducted nearly 1,000 commercial vehicle inspections in the geographical sphere of influence around the GCVEF during special inspection operations. The percentage of vehicles or drivers placed out-of-service for safety related items was 33 percent—a third of all trucks inspected in Kern County were unsafe to be operating on the road. “This was a very high out-of-service rate,” said GCVEF Commander, Lt. Dave Wymore. The CHP approached the Kern County Branch of the California Trucking Association (CTA) and opened a line of communication to address the high out-of-service rate.

The California Trucking Association helped demonstrate safe driving practices to teens from Taft High.

Personnel from the GCVEF, along with the CHP’s Central Division Commercial Units, implemented an aggressive education, inspection, and enforcement campaign. The California Trucking Association (CTA) agreed to provide access to their membership. Additionally, the CTA assisted with presenting hands-on demonstrations regarding safe driving practices around commercial vehicles to local high school students. The students saw a graphic video depicting the consequences of distracted driving. They got to speak with oﬃcers and a truck driver, as well as sit in a commercial vehicle to experience what the truck drivers observe. GCVEF personnel shares information directly with Kern County CTA, and CTA invites CHP spoke persons to meetings, to safety seminars and to speak directly with drivers. Many trucking companies have direct contact with the CHP’s Commercial Industry Education Program Liaison, which allows for concerns, negative trends, and conﬂicts to be resolved quickly. In 2011, the vehicle and driver out-of-service rate dropped to 25 percent. In 2012, the out-of-service rate decreased to 18 percent. In 2013, during a focused operations enforcement period, 820 commercial motor vehicle inspections were completed. The inspections resulted in 533 various violations, 250 citations and 39 verbal warnings. Additionally, 53 commercial drivers were cited for failing to stop and submit to inspection. However; only 16 percent of the vehicles or drivers were placed out of service for unsafe operation.

To recognize the professional commercial drivers and companies, CHP hosted an appreciation day presented by CTA. It was an opportunity to say thank you to the drivers and carriers who make safety part of their daily routine.

The decrease in unsafe vehicles from 33 percent to 16 percent is a direct result of increased enforcement, as well as the partnership between CHP and CTA. The relationship built between CHP and CTA is an excellent example of how a government entity and the private sector can work together in addressing issues that have an impact on both groups. ■

Events like this help to build rapport and camaraderie between enforcement and drivers.

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REGION V

Veriﬁcation Exercise for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials

REGION V

Out-of-Service Snapshots from the Yukon Territory

This example of “cargo securement” was found by Oﬃcer Carol Bates at the Whitehorse Weigh Station, Yukon Territory.

Following the tragic events of last July in Lac-Mégantic, the transportation of hazardous materials has become a subject of much discussion and concern among Quebecers, especially considering that 70 percent of the transportation of hazardous materials is carried out by trucks. The transportation of hazardous materials is subject to a complex set of regulations that require carriers to meet more stringent requirements than the rest of the transportation industry. Carrier enforcement oﬃcers receive training on regulations governing the transportation of hazardous materials, including provisions of the Highway Safety Code in this regard. Thus, they are qualiﬁed to intervene on the road in compliance with all provincial and federal statutes.

Oﬃcer Carol Bates also captured this image of deﬂated air bags (suspension) on a trailer at the Whitehorse Weigh Station, Yukon Territory.

REGION V

Motorcoach Inspections in Alberta

From September 23 to 27, 2013, Contrôle routier Québec joined a Canada-wide hazardous materials verification campaign coordinated by Transport Canada. The purpose of the campaign was to ensure the safety of truck transportation of these types of goods. During this operation, carrier enforcement officers conducted over 515 inspections in which 77 offences statements were issued in connection with hazardous materials. These inspections were carried out on our roads, at inspection stations or during facility audits. ■

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Sgt. Wes Roth of the Alberta Justice & Solicitor General shared this photo of Motorcoach Level I Inspections on the brake tester at gondola lift parking in Banﬀ, Alberta in late September.

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LOCAL ENFORCEMENT Operation Safe Driver Event a Big Success By Robert Mills, Officer, Fort Worth Police Department and Wes Bement, Officer, Grand Prairie Police Department After months of conference calls and planning, we held our kick-off event for Operation Safe Driver Week on October 16, 2013, at Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie Texas. More than 100 students participated in the media conference and events that followed. The students signed a “no text and drive” pledge which was taken to Washington D.C. after the event. The media conference was moderated by CVSA Local Member Vice President Officer Wes Bement of the Grand Prairie Police Department and began with opening comments from the student body president, Priscilla Ipina. Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye spoke about the new texting ordinance in Grand Prairie and the dangers of texting and driving by all vehicle drivers. Other speakers included Major David Palmer of the Texas Department of Public Safety and past CVSA President; David Bishop, former chairman of TXTA and CEO of Refrigerated Transport Inc.; and Officer Robert Mills of the Fort Worth Police Department and current CVSA Local Member President. In addition, the American Trucking Associations’ 2013 National Driver of the Year and TXTA Driver of the Year, Gary Babbitt, spoke to the students about what he

sees on a daily basis while driving a truck. Gary has logged more than five million miles accident-free, and, in my opinion, that’s amazing. Michael Irwin from CVSA was also present during the event and was a tremendous help putting this together. After the press conference, media began conducting interviews of enforcement members, trucking industry representatives and the students. The students were very positive about the events of the day and interacted with all of the officers and industry personnel. Display tables offered hundreds of free items for all of the students, including backpacks, pens, pencils, tablets, highlighters and buttons featuring safety messages to remind the students about the dangers on our roadways. Truck and bus companies, as well as a no-zone demonstration, were set up in the parking lot. Kids were able to sit in the driver’s seat of the trucks and see firsthand what drivers see and don’t see in the mirrors. Students couldn’t resist sitting in and playing with all of the devices in the police Tahoes that were on site. There is just something about a siren button that kids can’t keep their finger off of.

The Tarrant County MCSAP agencies that were present at the event also would participate in the Operation Safe Driver mobilization the following week. Those departments include Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield and Hurst. Some of the enforcement efforts included ticketing aggressive cars and trucks (TACT), roadside inspections, seat belt enforcement and some officers will even be riding with local truck drivers to watch for aggressive driving around these large vehicles. Other officers, placed strategically around the city, will then ticket those passenger cars driving aggressively. A special thanks to the following organizations for their help in making this event a success: Texas Trucking Association (TXTA); CVSA; HELP, Inc.; FedEx; Texas Department of Public Safety; Grand Prairie and Fort Worth Police Departments; Grand Prairie Independent School District; Refrigerated Transport, Inc.; Texas Moving Co., Inc.; Gotta Go Trailways; and local law enforcement agencies that participated…and a special thank you to Dubiski Career High School. All of you involved are truly partners and are saving lives. ■

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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REGIONAL RAP RECOGNITIONS

RETIREMENTS

Jason Wing, manager of safety compliance and training for ABF Freight System, Inc. received the National Safety Professional Award of Excellence from the American Trucking Associations. The National Safety Professional Award of Excellence recognizes "those dedicated and accomplished safety professionals who contribute greatly to the success of their motor carriers' safety programs and experience, but who do not hold the highest safety title within their company," said Susan Chandler, executive director of the ATA Safety Management Council. "It's time to honor—on a national, industry-wide scale—these signiﬁcant contributions to safety."

Capt. Owen Bruce Bugg retired from the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety (DMVS) on September 1. He had been involved with commercial vehicle safety and hazardous materials since 1987. In 1993, he headed up the hazardous materials planning group for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. The group’s role took on an added dimension in 1995 when a sarin nerve gas attack was launched on the Tokyo subway. Their eﬀorts led to some of the ﬁrst “weapons of mass destruction” responder training for non-military responders in the U.S.

To be eligible for the award, a candidate must have responsibility for safety program implementation, monitoring and/or training with a minimum of ﬁve years of experience. The candidate also must be an active member in his or her state trucking association's safety council, the ATA and the ATA Safety Management Council. Dave Huneryager, president and CEO of the Tennessee Trucking Association, was named the winner of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) President's Trucking Association Executives Council (TAEC) Leadership Award during the group's annual Management Conference & Exhibition. The President’s TAEC Leadership Award was created by ATA and sponsored by J.J. Keller in 2002 to honor outstanding state trucking association leaders and to create an enduring legacy for that leader and for the industry. The award comes with a $10,000 grant for a non-proﬁt 501(c)(3) trucking education or research organization of each honoree’s choosing. Dave currently serves on HELP’s executive committee and was selected to co-chair the organization’s newly established Corporate Governance & Ethics Task Force. ■

After 9/11, Bruce worked on multiple issues around the safe and secure transportation of hazardous materials, particularly radioactive materials. Bruce coordinated efforts with the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security on a variety of issues. Bruce pioneered the effort to bring mobile data into the DMVS vehicles and supported the deployment of and training in computers and data “air card” use for inspections. He also worked on refining and clarifying Georgia’s commercial vehicle crash data, and developed a model for risk-based planning and scoring of crash data. Bruce was a hazardous materials instructor, both in Georgia and for the U.S. DOT National Training Center. He served as the chair of both the CVSA Hazardous Materials Committee and COHMED Program. He received the CVSA President’s Award in 2006, was elected to the Regional Presidency of CVSA Region II in 2008, and was awarded the inaugural COHMED Excellence in Law Enforcement Leadership Award in 2012. Bruce served as co-chair of the Heavy Vehicle Task Team for the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. In addition, he had been the Governor’s designee for the notification of radioactive materials shipments into and through Georgia since 1992. Bruce now serves as regional manager–safety and security for a large national transportation company. He lives in DeKalb County with his wife Cynthia, and their daughter, Victoria. ■

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

Commercial Vehicle

Safety Alliance

Volume 20, Issue 4 4th Quarter 2013

standards

data quality

nts gra training

hazmat

motorcoach safety

MAP-21

streamlining

safety exemptions

MCSAP funding

crashworthiness

technology

uniformity

V enhancing CM safety

size & weight

www.cvsa.org/guardian 30

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www.cvsa.org/safetyexchange

F R O M T H E D R I V E R ’ S S E AT

FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT Safety, Courtesy and Pride By John Lex, America's Road Team Captain, Walmart Transportation professional truck driver

These simple three words—Safety, Courtesy and Pride—I feel best describe a professional truck driver; three words I try to always remember when I am behind the wheel of my truck.

“Many of our highway users... do not know the limitations of a large truck. They don’t know that following a tractor-trailer without a safety cushion is a death trap.”

Safety Knowing the ultimate goal is to get from point A to point B as safely as possible. As professional truck drivers, we know to expect the unexpected while we are moving America’s goods. Not only are we looking out for our safety, but the safety of everyone else. Many of our highway users, whether teens, moms or dads, motorcycle riders, RV and bus drivers, and even senior citizens, do not know the limitations of a large truck. They don’t know, for instance, that it takes over the length of a football field and both end zones to come to a complete stop in a fully loaded rig. They don’t know that following a tractor-trailer without a safety cushion is a death trap. They don’t know that if they are going to pass a truck, they should pass on the left and definitely not the right. And, even though they should know, they don’t realize the safety dangers of distracted driving. That’s why as a professional truck driver, you always have to be focused behind the wheel. A professional truck driver is always conscious of his/her following distance and obeying all traffic laws. There is no telling how many lives are saved each year by professional truck drivers, but we know this each and everyday day we are out on the road.

Courtesy As a professional truck driver, we have a unique job where we have to share our work space with everyone else on the road. I like to say that cab of my truck is my oﬃce. That is where I make the best decisions of the day—behind the wheel—hopefully saving lives. We are always courteous to other motorists. Moving over to the left lane (when safe to do so) to allow room for a motorist to enter the highway, being able to give directions when needed, and helping stranded motorists. These are a few things we do because they are the right things to do. I treat everyone on the highway as if they were my family. These simple courtesies we hope would tell the real stories of the professional truck driver and improve an image of the trucking industry that in the past few decades has been tarnished over the years by Hollywood and the media.

Pride Professional truck drivers show their pride, by not only being safe and courteous, but by the way they dress, the way they conduct themselves, and by the way they take care of their equipment. Being able to help in times of need, such as devastating events, we deliver life's essentials with such pride. Knowing that what we do makes a diﬀerence. We deliver the goods, whether it is food, much needed medicine, or even a new skateboard, that make life possible for everyone. Most importantly, is the fact that we deliver it all safely! In closing, I feel for me to call myself a professional truck driver I have a moral obligation to do the right thing out on the highway. We are all ambassadors out there and need to look out for and protect everyone. ■

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

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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

SAFETY INNOVATORS Technology and Information Sharing Aid in Detecting Fatigued CMV Drivers By Sergeant David Bangart, Washington State Police, Commercial Vehicle Division

Total Number of Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Inspections Completed Washington: Oregon: Idaho: British Columbia: Total:

1,075 812 359 372 2,618

Drivers Placed Out-of-Service: Washington: Oregon: Idaho: British Columbia: Total:

125 (12%) 254 (31%) 28 ( 8%) 25 ( 7%) 432 (16%)

Driver Out-of-Service Violations Broken Down

WSP Trooper Andy Stoeckle screens a driver for HOS compliance during the enforcement emphasis.

August 18, 2013, marked the start of a 96-hour multi-agency emphasis conducted throughout Washington State, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia. The operation was planned and organized by Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper Andy Stoeckle and was the second enforcement phase of a two-year agency safety project targeting fatigued commercial vehicle drivers. Commercial vehicle troopers, officers and inspectors from the WSP, Oregon Department of Transportation, Idaho State Police, and British Columbia participated in the operation. The Public Oriented Public Safety (POPS) project was initiated with several goals in mind. The primary goal was to reduce the number of fatigued commercial vehicle drivers on our roads, but a second objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of sharing information and data between stakeholders to help confirm drivers’ hours-of-service (HOS) records presented during inspection. The enforcement emphasis began with the simultaneous opening of fixed scales throughout the participating states and province. Officers

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targeted fatigue drivers by close examination of drivers’ logbooks. Drivers found to be operating in excess of allowable HOS or in possession of a falsified logbook were placed out-of-service for an average of 10 hours. Washington State Department of Transportation shared information from Washington’s automated license plate readers with Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. Additionally, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia shared scale crossing records and information with all participating agencies. Other tools utilized by officers to validate HOS included real time data from the FMCSA Portal site and Aspen records. The information exchange between the jurisdictions and advancements in technology proved to be extremely valuable for officers in detecting and confirming HOS violations. Results from the emphasis revealed just how effective partnerships and information sharing are in promoting commercial motor vehicle safety. The outputs from the participating jurisdictions are listed to the right. ■

False reporting of driver’s duty status: 207 Driving over the hours of service rules: 125 Other Logbook Violations: 32 Disqualiﬁed driver: 45 Other Driver Violations: 19 Drugs/Alcohol: 3 Total: 432

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

Trailer Inspection and Maintenance By Bob Blair, CEO, LITE-CHECK LLC Roadcheck 2013 results for vehicle out-ofservice shows very little improvement over previous years with brakes remaining number one. Brake adjustment OOS was 19.5% and brake systems OOS was 30.1% for a total of 49.6%. Lights OOS followed at 12.6%.

components in trial and error, plus, the associated cost of downtime will pay for these tools in a very short time. Then, include the expensive road costs and violations with issues that should have been detected and the costs become very signiﬁcant.

Stephen Keppler, CVSA Executive Director has commented that most OOS violations found on the road were present upon beginning the trip and should have been detected prior to departure.

The “missing link” with trailer maintenance is the lack of reliable data for meaningful reports. Tools are available to automatically read the electrical, air and ABS. Combine the trailer system data with a meaningful trailer visual inspection including slack measurements and tire conditions on a tablet by the technician that is transmitted to the oﬃce for an immediate update. This process eliminates several steps with accurate information for an indispensable ﬂeet report.

Technology & Maintenance Council has expended a great deal of eﬀort in creating Recommended Practices for trailer inspection and maintenance. Sadly, we don’t see them in practice. The typical shop has homemade devices to test the trailer systems without any clue of the power or air being used and lacking any diagnostics. The process is completely under the technician’s control and dependent upon his experience and skill. Consequently, trailer testing is haphazard at best. Trailer maintenance is the abandoned stepchild of the ﬂeet and has not changed in years. Budgets do not include advanced diagnostic tools even though the costs of extensive labor (TMC says 18% for diagnostics), wasted

The “challenge” is to reduce the cost of trailer operations by 20% by using current technology with established testing principles. Imagine a signiﬁcant improvement in shop diagnostics (labor), reducing component waste and, consequently, reducing trailer downtime. These actions result in enhanced trailer utilization (less trailers needed). Emergency road costs are much less because the issues are repaired at home. And the CSA scores would also improve. A BIG WIN! ■

CALL FOR GUARDIAN SUBMISSIONS CVSA is always looking for interesting, relevant content for its quarterly magazine. We would be happy to consider your news, ideas, insights and articles on the issues facing the commercial vehicle safety community for upcoming editions of Guardian! Deadline for First Quarter 2014 issue: January 8, 2014 Questions? Please contact Lisa Claydon at lisac@cvsa.org or 301-830-6152.

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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RAD INSPECTION NEWS

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

Environmental Assessment for a Low- and Intermediate-level Waste Deep Geologic Repository in Kincardine, Ontario By Lisa Janairo, Council of State Governments Midwestern Radioactive Waste Transportation Committee On September 16, Canada began holding hearings on the environmental assessment for the low- and intermediate-level waste deep geologic repository (DGR) that Ontario Power Generation (OPG) wants to build in Kincardine, Ontario, less than a mile from Lake Huron. Complicating OPG’s project are the proposed facility’s proximity to one of the Great Lakes (source of drinking water for 30 to 40 million people) and the fact that the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organisation is in the middle of its own process to site a DGR for spent fuel. OPG has pledged that it won’t build the facility unless the Saugeen Ojibway Nations (SON) are on board with the plan. In May, the Michigan Senate unanimously passed a resolution expressing concern about the project, and the binational Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a coalition of mayors from around the region, testiﬁed in opposition on Tuesday, September 17. Two Michigan state legislators testiﬁed at the hearing in opposition to the DGR on September 30. On October 21, U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both from Michigan, wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry to ask him to involve the International Joint Commission in urging Canada to reconsider the location of the DGR.

The hearings continued through October 11 and resumed on October 28 to address unresolved issues. All hearings are webcast live, with video and transcripts available the following day. OPG's timeline estimates 2018 as the earliest operating date for the repository, if it is licensed. The repository would receive an estimated 200,000 cubic meters of waste—90 percent of it low-level waste—over its projected operating lifetime from 2018 through 2052. ■

Additional Resources: Kincardine nuclear waste site debate heats up, an article about the start of the hearings: http://preview.tinyurl.com/k8nzrf9 Toronto Star article covering the testimony of the SON: http://preview.tinyurl.com/km34eaf The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency webpage with all the project documentation: http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/ details-eng.cfm?evaluation=17520 The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission webpage containing links to live webcasts, archives, and transcripts: http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/ joint_review_panel/webcast/index.cfm. ■

Meetings and Conferences of Interest Here are upcoming meetings and conferences of interest for the radioactive transportation community: DECEMBER 4-5 Council of State Governments Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee Fall 2013 Meeting Kansas City, KS DECEMBER 10-11 Southern States Energy Board Charleston, SC

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DECEMBER 11-12 Western Governors’ Association Winter Meeting Las Vegas, NV JANUARY 15, 2014 Semiannual meeting of the Northeast High Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Task Force New York, NY

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Idaho Site Taps Old World Process to Treat Nuclear Waste National Laboratory. The Lab uses this process to remove sodium from experimental fuel for research purposes. In the EM program, the method of separating mixtures with heat has been adapted to isolate about 100 pounds of sodium from metal and debris designated as remote-handled TRU waste. Due to its reactivity with air and water, sodium must be removed before the waste can be shipped to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico for permanent disposal. The waste is primarily a product of experiments from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II and other fast reactor tests. TRU waste contains elements that have atomic numbers greater than uranium.

The Environmental Management (EM) program at the Idaho site is using an age-old process to treat transuranic (TRU) waste left over from nuclear reactor experiments. Developed in the ﬁrst century and perfected by moonshiners in the 19th century, distillation will be used at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Complex (INTEC). A process for distilling sodium metal from nuclear material was developed by the Idaho

from the debris. That sodium vapor will be condensed into a metal solid, collected and sent oﬀsite as mixed low-level waste for treatment and disposal. The treated debris will be repackaged and sent to WIPP for disposal. Premier Technology, CWI’s small-business partner, fabricated the distillation components at its Blackfoot facility, where testing is under way. Following successful testing, the equipment will be transported to INTEC and assembled beneath the hot cell. The plan is to begin repackaging the sodiumcontaminated TRU waste and preparing it for treatment in October. Startup of the distillation system is scheduled for next summer.

“The distillation of the sodium from highly radioactive waste using remote waste handling capabilities will provide our workers a very safe environment while facilitating the continued shipment of waste out of Idaho,” DOE Idaho Operations Oﬃce EM Deputy Manager Jim Cooper said.

CWI Vice President Tammy Hobbes applauded employees for resolving the technical challenge. “Our engineers came together to use their past experience with sodium and innovative thinking to implement the relatively simple technology of distillation to treat an otherwise challenging waste form,” she said.

EM and its cleanup contractor, CH2M-WG Idaho (CWI), will treat the sodium-contaminated debris in a hot cell, where the waste will be sorted and segregated before it is loaded into baskets that are lowered into the distillation unit. The material will be heated, and vapors will be drawn

Distillation is currently used commercially to separate crude oil, isolate speciﬁc elements from air and create alcohol for industrial uses and for beverages. ■

Two Level VI Certification Classes Take Place Fifteen officers from the Kentucky State Police Motor Carrier Division along with one member of the Indiana State Police, an investigator from the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission, and one investigator from PHMSA, participated in the 137 Level VI Certification Class, July 22- 25 2013, in Frankfort, Kentucky. The class took place at the Kentucky State Police Academy training center, which is on the site of a former correctional facility. On the second day of the training the classroom’s air conditioning broke and the class was moved to the former prison chapel, causing the instructors to note that this was the first time they had taught the class behind the pulpit! National Level VI Instructors Rion Stann, Rob Rohr and J.R. Leuis provided the instruction for a very successful class.

Level VI National Instructor JR Leuis provides instruction during the vehicle inspection practical exercise for class 137.

On August 12-15, 2013, 12 oﬃcers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol were joined by a New Jersey State Trooper and Justin Domouchel, special operations manager of Cassidy’s Transfer and Storage Ltd., and a HRCQ Cobalt 60 carrier. Class 138 was held at the Tennessee Emergency Operation’s center and was held simultaneously with a Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Lab’s exercise. Level VI National Instructors Richard Swedberg from FMCSA and Rob Rohr from Ohio provided the instruction to another successful class. ■

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

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LEVEL VI CLASS SCHEDULE Under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, CVSA has scheduled the Level VI Classes for 2013 and 2014 to certify inspectors to conduct Level VI inspections on motor carriers and their drivers transporting 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.

SCHEDULED CLASSES FOR 2014 Meridian, ID—March 24-27 Blythewood, SC—April 27-May 1 Sacramento, CA—May 12-15 Springﬁeld, IL—June 16-19 Anthony, NM—September 1-4 Austin, TX—November 3-6 Any jurisdiction that needs inspectors trained and/or can host a Level VI Class in 2014 is asked to contact Carlisle Smith at 301-830-6147 or email him at carlisles@cvsa.org.

NRC Approves Changes to TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established an elaborate and robust system for safely transporting defense-generated transuranic, or TRU, radioactive waste from generator sites to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for permanent disposal. A key component of the WIPP Transportation System is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT Type B packagings. Earlier this year, the NRC approved Revision 23 to the TRUPACT-II and Revision 6 to the HalfPACT Safety Analysis Reports (SAR) through its issuance of Certificate of Compliance 71-9218, Revision 21, for the TRUPACT-II and Certificate of Compliance 71-9279, Revision 7, for the HalfPACT. The primary purpose of these revisions was to add a new authorized payload container (Criticality Control Overpack [CCO]) that holds a greater quantity of fissile material. By allowing more content per container, the CCO increases overall TRU waste shipping efficiency by reducing the number of shipments required to transport the waste. The CCO is only used as a payload

www.cvsa.org/levelvi

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The SAR revision also changed the designation of the TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT from a double containment vessel to an inner single containment vessel and an outer confinement vessel. The TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT packagings are comprised of an inner containment vessel (ICV) that provides the primary containment boundary and an outer confinement assembly (OCA) that provides a secondary confinement boundary when their optional O-ring seals are utilized. The designation change is in full compliance with federal requirements for Type B packagings designed to ship plutonium contaminated waste in excess of 20 curies. It is important to note the SAR revisions do not impact the ability of these Type B packagings to protect human health or the environment. Additionally, these revisions continue to meet all the requirements for an NRC approved Type B packaging as required for use at WIPP. ■

WIPP Chooses Andy Walker to Act as Technical Project Oﬃcer

NEED MORE LEVEL VI INFORMATION? The CVSA website is the place for the most up-to-date information regarding the Level VI Program. You’ll ﬁnd the minutes of the Level VI Program Committee Meetings, Level VI reports, Level VI training and public outreach schedules and more. Also, you can ask questions concerning the Level VI Inspection Program on the Level VI online forum (blog).

container within the TRUPACT-II or HalfPACT and cannot be used alone as a transportation package.

John “Andy” Walker

John “Andy” Walker has been the Department of Energy/Carlsbad Field Office Transportation Logistics Manager since August 2008. In that position, Andy is responsible for the oversight of the Transportation Carrier contracts, Mobile Loading Unit (MLU) contract and the WIPP Management and Operating Contractors Transportation Department. The duties involved with these responsibilities include the coordination of the WIPP transportation schedule and interaction with the many WIPP transportation stakeholders. Additionally, Andy has been temporarily assigned the duties as the Technical Project Officer for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Cooperative Agreement. The Department of Energy will announce a permanent Technical Project Officer at a later date.

Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Andy was employed at WIPP with the Management and Operating Contractor for six years. Andy is a proud veteran of the United States Navy (1988-1992) and holds a BS in Environmental Management from Columbia Southern University. ■

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Richard Swedberg Retires from FMCSA Richard Swedberg, a senior Level VI instructor, was hired by U.S. Department of Transportation in September of 1991 as a health physicist to work specifically on the transportation routes and program implementation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Transportation Shipping Campaign. Working with various stakeholder groups and the U.S. Department of Energy, Richard was the DOT’s representative on the successful implementation of the WIPP’s very successful transportation rollout. In the fall of 1997, Richard was asked by then director of the Level VI Inspection Program, Jim Daust, to assist in curriculum development of the radiation safety and the science of radioactive material for the Level VI training program. Richard revised and developed the curriculum and was asked to provide instruction of the material to the Level VI classes. He began teaching the radioactive material portion of the Level VI certification course with Class 14, and he taught his last Certification class this past October in Golden Colorado, Class 140. After 9/11, Richard was called to active duty by the Marine Corps, and deployed to support the war effort. His curriculum was used to train the other Level VI National instructors in the radioactive material portion of the certification course. This effort was highly successful as the other Level VI national instructors had proficiently carried on where he left off. Richard came back from serving in the war effort in the fall of 2006, and retired as the rank of colonel. Richard Swedberg (right) received a plaque of appreciation from the Level VI Program Committee during CVSA’s Denver conference. It was presented by then chair William “Bill” Reese.

Larry Stern, then level VI inspection program director, asked Richard to return to actively teaching the Level VI certiﬁcation course. He provided regulatory updates whenever needed and ensured that the curriculum stayed current. Richard retired from the U.S. DOT at the end of November. His hard work and dedication to the Level VI Program has always been appreciated and will be greatly missed. ■

WIPP Shipment & Disposal Information As of November 4, 2013

Site Argonne National Lab

Shipments

Loaded Miles

189

324,453

Bettis Atomic Power Lab

10,955

GE Vallecitos Nuclear Center

44,800

Idaho National Lab

5,752

8,004,000

Los Alamos National Lab

1,296

443,232

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

24,804

Nevada Test Site

57,312

Oak Ridge National Lab

131

175,933

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Hanford Site

2,045

1,446,444

572

1,034,176

Sandia National Lab

Savannah River Site

1,612

Total to WIPP

11,708

2,200 2,422,376 13,990,685

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

CVSA LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT Sgt. Thomas Fuller New York State Police VICE PRESIDENT Capt. William “Bill” Reese Idaho State Police SECRETARY Capt. Jay Thompson Arkansas Highway Police PAST PRESIDENTS Maj. Mark Savage Colorado State Patrol Maj. David Palmer Texas Department of Public Safety Asst. Chief Steve Dowling California Highway Patrol

REGION PRESIDENTS Region I Cpl. Rick Koontz Pennsylvania State Police Region II Lt. Col. Troy Thompson Florida Highway Patrol Region III Maj. Lance Evans Iowa Department of Transportation Region IV Capt. Chris Mayrant New Mexico Department of Public Safety Region V Pierre Pratte Contrôle Routier Québec

REGION VICE PRESIDENTS (Non-Voting) Region I Sgt. John Samis Delaware State Police Region II Capt. Timothy Pullin Alabama Department of Public Safety Region III M/Sgt. Todd Armstrong Illinois State Police Region IV Lt. Ken Roberts California Highway Patrol Region V John Lunney New Brunswick Department of Public Safety LOCAL PRESIDENT Oﬃcer Robert Mills Fort Worth Police Department

LOCAL VICE PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) Oﬃcer Wes Bement Grand Prairie Police Department ASSOCIATE MEMBER PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) Rob Abbott American Trucking Associations ASSOCIATE MEMBER VICE PRESIDENT (Non-Voting) Jason Wing ABF Freight System, Inc. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (Non-Voting) William “Bill” Quade, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) William “Bill” Arrington, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Federico Dominguez, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) Ryan Posten, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Darren Christle, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), CRA Chair

COMMITTEE AND PROGRAM CHAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRS Driver-Traﬃc Enforcement Committee Lt. Thomas Fitzgerald Massachusetts State Police

Program Initiatives Committee Alan R. Martin Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

Hazardous Materials Committee Maj. Lance Evans Iowa Department of Transportation

Size & Weight Committee Tim Levi Oklahoma Highway Patrol

Information Systems Committee Holly Skaar Idaho State Police

Training Committee Capt. Rocco Domenico Colorado State Patrol

Passenger Carrier Committee Lt. Donald Bridge, Jr. Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

Vehicle Committee Kerri Wirachowsky Ontario Ministry of Transportation

PROGRAM CHAIRS Level VI Inspection Capt. Joshua Downing Colorado State Patrol Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Sgt. Thomas Fuller New York State Police International Driver Excellence Award Vacant Operation Safe Driver (OSD) Brian Neal FedEx Ground Corp. Operation Airbrake (OAB) Sgt. Scott Hanson Idaho State Police Shelley Conklin Landstar Logistics

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Roadcheck Capt. Derek D. Barrs Florida Highway Patrol North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC) Tpr. Steven Bedard Massachusetts State Police

2013 CVSA STRATEGIC PARTNERS ALLIED

PREMIER

DIAMOND

PLATINUM

GOLD

FOURTH QUARTER 2013

2013 CVSA STRATEGIC PARTNERS SILVER Austin Powder Company Cargo Transporters, Inc. Colorado Motor Carriers Association FoxFury, LLC Great West Casualty Company

Groendyke Transport, Inc. Intermodal Association of North America JNJ Express, Inc. Landstar Transportation Logistics

Mercer Transportation Company Perceptics, LLC Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association STEMCO Brake Products Sysco Corporation

BRONZE ABF Freight System, Inc. Academy Express, LLC American Bus Association American Pyrotechnics Association Arizona Trucking Association ATCO Electric Bridge Terminal Transport, Inc. Brown Line, LLC Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Coach USA Code Corporation

DATTCO, Inc. DriveCam, Inc. EQT Corporation Frontier Transport Greyhound Canada Transportation Herzig Hauling, LLC HoďŹ&#x20AC;man Transportation, LLC J. B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Michels Corporation NATC, Inc. National Tank Truck Carriers

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Praxair, Inc. Schneider National, Inc. Swift Transportation United Motorcoach Association Usher Transport, Inc. Vogel Safety & Risk, Inc. Wal-Mart Transportation, LLC Warren Transport, Inc. Werner Enterprises, Inc.

FRIENDS OF CVSA American Coatings Association, Inc. Anderson Trucking Services, Inc. Bork Transport of Illinois Brake Tech Tools Canadian Association of Oilwell and Drilling Contractors Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) Compliance Safety Systems, LLC Currie Associates, Inc.

Dibble Trucking, Inc. Ergon Trucking, Inc. Gateway Distribution, Inc. Greg Neylon Greyhound Lines, Inc. Horizon Freight System, Inc./ Kaplan Trucking Co. J.E.B. Environmental Services Kinedyne Corporation LabelMaster

Linde North America, Inc. MANCOMM, Inc. Miller Transporters Mississippi Trucking Association Quick Transport Solutions, Inc. Thomas Petroleum Transport Canada The Trucking Attorneys Utah Transit Authority

NEW CVSA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Abilene Motor Express

Laser Technology, Inc.

Aim Leasing Co.

MJS Safety, LLC

Bullfrog Trucking

National Transportation Consultants, Inc.

Conex Rentals Corporation

SafetyWatch Technologies,Inc.

Crossett, Inc.

TransCanada CVS

DATS Trucking Group of Companies as of November 18, 2013

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P L A N

N O W

T O

A T T E N D !

CVSA WORKSHOP Building a Brighter Future: Quality, Uniformity and Consistency in CMV Safety and Enforcement April 6-10, 2014 Los Angeles, CA

www.cvsa.org/workshop

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

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

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2014 COHMED Conference January 27–31, 2014 | Sarasota, FL Budget Committee Meeting January 27, 2014 | Sarasota, FL Winter Executive Committee Meeting January 27, 2014 | Sarasota, FL Budget Committee Meeting April 6, 2014 | Los Angeles, CA Executive Committee Meeting April 6, 2014 | Los Angeles, CA Information Systems Users Workshop April 6-7, 2014 | Los Angeles, CA North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum April 7, 2014 | Los Angeles, CA 2014 CVSA Workshop April 8-10, 2014 | Los Angeles, CA

Learn more at www.cvsa.org/events

Make Plans Now!