MMA March 2016 Newsletter

MARYLAND

ISSUE 23/ MARCH 2016

MOTORCOACH ASSOCIATION

FMCSA PROPOSES NATIONAL TRAINING STANDARD FOR ENTRY LEVEL DIRVERS

10 ways to reduce

FMCSA Extends

email unsubscribes

Compliance Date

FMCSA Launches Study

Interchange Final Rule

of High-Risk Truck and Bus Companies

of Bus Leasing and

Until January 1, 2018

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO TRANSFORMING YOUR DESK INTO A PEACEFUL, PRODUCTIVE PLACE TO WORK/

Some say a messy desk is a sign of creativity. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Mark...

CAN A SALARY “BUILD-IN” OVERTIME PAY?/

One approach to the coming changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s Section 13(a)(1) exemptions would...

VOLUNTARY BENEFITS EVOLVING TO MEET NEEDS OF DIVERSE WORKFORCE/

Motivated by the need to meet the changing needs and lifestyle of an increasingly...

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WORKPLACE CULTURE COLLABORATIVE/

LEASE CHARTER RULE, WILL HURT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT/

Open spaces, water cooler talk, and allowing employees to update Facebook are often....

3 WAYS YOU’RE KILLING YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT’S INTEREST IN YOUR PRODUCT AND HOW TO REGAIN IT/

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety...

INTEGRATED MARKETING/

The study will assess how well the Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category...

United Motorcoach Association (UMA) needs your help to secure support from Members...

You’ve created your product, so now it’s time to put it out there and make money, right?...

What if I told you that there is a high likelihood that you are getting over 80% of your sales...

FMCSA EXTENDS COMPLIANCE DATE OF BUS LEASING AND INTERCHANGE FINAL RULE UNTIL JANUARY 1, 2018/ On May 27, 2015, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)...

FMCSA PROPOSES NATIONAL TRAINING STANDARDS FOR ENTRY-LEVEL TRUCK AND BUS DRIVERS/ FMCSA LAUNCHES STUDY OF HIGH-RISK TRUCK AND BUS COMPANIES/ FMCSA SEEKING INPUT ON SLEEP APNEA SCREENING/

The US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will host three public listening...

10 WAYS TO REDUCE EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBES/

A well-oiled email marketing strategy can be unsurpassable in terms of ROI and audience...

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From The President/ The MMA Lunch and Learn was a huge hit with over 50 members in attendance. The meeting held at the DoubleTree in Columbia, MD saw a number of speakers including Loretta Bitner, Chief Commercial Passenger Carrier Safety Div, Office of Enforcement and Compliance, FMCSA, Christopher T. Koermer, Dir. of Transp, Maryland Public Service Commission, Suzanne Te Beau Rohde, Vice President of Government Affairs & Policy, ABA, Mike McDonal, Prod Dir, Regulatory Compliance, Saucon Technologies, Sylvia Jackson, AMBEST, and Lesley Jackson Tompkins, CPCU, CFE, APA, AIC, FCLS Sr. Premium Auditor Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company all

speaking on topics of interest to our members. Watch for further notices of upcoming Lunch & Learns in future newsletters.

The MMA Travel Showcase is right around the corner being held in Manheim, PA at the Spooky Nook Complex. As of the writing of this message there are over 120 Booth’s showcasing areas of interest throughout the US for you to help plan tours for your groups to visit. Be sure to register if you have not done so we are still accepting registrations from our Tour Operator/Operator members. The more the merrier says Mary Presley our Executive Administrator.

FMCSA has posted a NPRM in the Federal Register on National Training Standards for Entry-Level Truck and Bus Drivers resulting in a comprehensive training program emphasizing safety and driving efficiency.

More details about this can be found by going to the FMCSA Website.

The United Motorcoach Association will be holding their Capital Hill Fly-In on April 12 & 13 in Washington DC. All MMA Members are encouraged to attend and voice their concerns about this proposed rule and other’s. ABA will hold a similar event in May so if you can’t make the UMA event please try and be at the ABA one.

Recently our Executive Administrator testified at a bill hearing in Annapolis in opposition of SB 472, which requires employers with more than nine employees to provide employees with earned sick and safe leave that is paid at the same rate as the employee normally earns; requiring employers with nine or fewer employees to provide an employee with unpaid earned sick and safe leave; providing for the manner in which earned sick and safe leave is accrued by the employee and treated by the employer; requiring an employer to allow an employee to use earned sick and safe leave for specified purposes; etc. Details will be

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updated on this and other bills as they are voted on, in the MMA Website.

Do you know of someone who should be a member of MMA? Please share with them what a vibrant organization we are and how much we value our members. Encourage them to join and perhaps if you would share there contact information with one of the MMA Board Members so that they can reach out to them to encourage their membership.

Hope To See You At The Travel Showcase

Al Spence, President MMA A & S Midway Trailways

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7

Transforming Your Desk

The complete guide to transf into a peaceful, productive p

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forming your desk place to work

Some say a messy desk is a sign of creativity. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg—all notorious champions of workplace disarray— might agree.

More often than not, however, a messy desk is just messy.

Unless you’re already a creative genius, having a helter-skelter work space is likely to hinder you from feeling productive, happy, or inspired. But working at a desk that’s too impersonally tidy can be just as fruitless. Luckily, Quartz is here to help get things in order and set you off on a path of organizational triumph.

Your desk is a cockpit. You are the pilot Whether you work in an office or at home, treat your desk as the steering center for all your working needs: what you use most often should be within reach, with everything else farther away or stowed out of sight.

So first, establish what you use on a regular basis.

Pen and paper? Fine to keep on the top of your desk. (Maybe a pencil, too.) That clunky tape dispenser that comes in handy once a month? Better to relocate to a nearby shelf, drawer, or supply closet.

Follow Japanese principles

design

Japanese lifestyle chain Muji—whose name translates to “no brand”— is famous for its sparse, efficient designs. The company operates under the idea that there is “richness in the bare minimum.” Similarly, Japanese organization guru Marie Kondo (who’s changed many a life, including one at Quartz, with her bestselling how-to book) says: “You can clear your mind simply by discarding all unnecessary papers.”

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Simply, simply, simplify, with the goal of keeping the surface of the desk as clear as possible.

“Whatever you don’t need, use, or love—whatever isn’t functional, let it go,” feng shui consultant Laura Cerrano suggests to Quartz. “Clutter goes beyond the aesthetic visual: it also relates to the mindset, the emotions.”

Drop $10 on a decent lamp As the sun wanes in afternoon hours, the artificial overhead lighting of an office can be overly harsh— or sometimes too dim for comfort. A small lamp (however cheap or extravagant you want it to be) will do the trick.

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Just make sure to fit the lamp with a yellow-toned bulb, rather than a bright white one. The glow will keep you focused, and the warmth will make your desk seem an inviting—and impressive—space to coworkers and bosses. Blue is also a possibility; it mimics sunlight.

Set up a horizontal flow If your desk feels burdened or unbalanced, it helps to have a flow. Try laying out heavier things (computer monitor, books, mugs) on the left and keeping the right side light and airy (pens, sticky notes, open space).

As eyes naturally moves from left to right for English speakers, it’ll follow the slope—leading to a pleasant, weightless feeling. Right-to-left readers, maybe try the other way.

Forbid yourself from ever making piles of anything

more tranquil experience of sitting—provided your posture, chair, and eye alignment are all well-adjusted.

Do keep things strictly horizontal. When papers or folders are heaped on top of one another, they impede the flow of the desk; not to mention, it’s difficult to see what they are.

Use headphones—the right way

Use vertical file stands instead. If there’s not enough room on your immediate desk for all your documents, think beyond it: take advantage of nearby walls, bookshelves, drawers, or other storage options. To stay focused and tidy, never have files for more than two projects at a time on top of your desk, feng shui teacher R.D. Chin tells Quartz.

Lunch time: Put food in its proper place

For compact desks, you might also consider installing an under-the-table keyboard tray to maximize surface space. “Keep the mind focused on a particular task,” Chin advises. “The rest of it? Get it away from your vantage point.”

Use nature to block out chaos and distraction Offices, particular those with open design plans, come with all sorts of noise. While you can’t exactly banish loud/cluttered/intrusive neighbors from the building, you can take steps to greatly reduce their influence on your day.

“Working in offices is kind of artificial, so to speak, so you need to add some natural energy,” Chin explains.

Use leafy, willowy plants—like orchids, peace lilies, and snake plants—as dividers between your desk and others’. Plants subtly establish your desk as your own space, but they’re warm enough to still invite the occasional drop-by from colleagues. Their serenity could also encourage messy neighbors to tidy up their own space.

Forget about those trendy standing desks Yes, you’ve heard all about the standing desk, the latest in flashy office fads. But standing desks come with major downsides: joint pain, for one. Unless you have your own private office, they also tend to make smaller workspaces look clunky, lopsided, and stifling.

There’s a myriad of other ways to stay active at the office, such as taking frequent walking breaks or even just fidgeting often in your seat. If the idea of a standing desk is outside of your comfort zone, better to quit the (literally) stress-inducing trend and embrace the much

Pick the proper tunes for your mindset, and don’t keep the music on all the time.

Food and work, experts say, ideally should not mix.

Work requires focus and diligence; food should be a pleasant indulgence. If you must mingle the two, 1) try to do it as sparingly as possible, and 2) do it right.

Protect your work surface. Keep non-plastic utensils in your drawers to make eating a slightly less frenetic, on-the-go experience. Bring foods that are actually enjoyable—see Quartz’s previous complete guide to packing lunches.

Ditch all things dark and monochrome The easiest, yet most valuable thing you can add to your desk? Color.

Pastel file folders. Nature-toned notebooks. A neon mouse pad. Whatever colors get you excited the most, use them to truly personalize your space. Colors make all the difference between a bland, sterile desk environment and a motivating one. You’ll also be much more enthusiastic about going into the office if you have a vibrant workspace to greet you—rather than a drab white slab.

Seek inspiration on the internet, by subscribing to the quirky Modern Desk newsletter, for example, for ways to bring inventive new gadgets and gizmos into your space if you’re stuck on how to liven it up.

Now, go off and get organized—with our best wishes for an energized, spirit-filled day.

Article by Amy X. Wang seen on www.qz.com

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Can A Salary “Build-In” Overtime Pay?

Can A Salary “Build-In” Ov 12 www.greenazine.com

One approach to the coming changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s Section 13(a)(1) exemptions would be to abandon exempt status for at least some employees.

Of course, this will mean (among other things) that affected employees must receive the required FLSA overtime compensation for their hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Some employers will probably contemplate paying such employees weekly salaries that “build-in” overtime compensation for up to a particular number of overtime hours.

As an illustration, assume that Tom’s employer will no longer treat him as exempt once USDOL’s revisions take effect, but management still wants to pay him a weekly salary. He always works between 40 and 45 hours in a workweek, unless he is sick, is off for a holiday, or takes vacation.

Tom’s employer determines that the hourly equivalent of his current salary is $16 an hour. Management keys his new weekly salary to a 45-hour workweek, setting it at $760 [($16 × 40 ST hrs.) + ($16 × 1.5 × 5 OT hrs.)]. If Tom works up to 45 hours in a workweek, he receives $760. If he works more than 45 hours in a workweek, he receives additional pay at a rate of (1.5 × $16) = $24 an hour for the extra worktime.

While this makes sense in many ways, it does not comply with the FLSA.

Fundamentals Must Be Observed The FLSA does not require that nonexempt employees be paid on an hourly basis. They can instead be paid on a salary-plus-overtime basis.

vertime Pay? www.greenazine.com

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But a bedrock FLSA principle is that overtime compensation must ultimately be based upon a rate-per-hour, that is, upon the “regular rate” of pay.

This is usually computed by dividing an employee’s total workweek remuneration by the total number of hours worked in the workweek for which that compensation was paid. See, e.g., 29 C.F.R. § 778.109. In almost every situation, FLSA overtime pay must vary as the number of overtime hours worked varies.

In the hypothetical, Tom’s pay for his hours worked between 40 and 45 in a workweek is exactly the same, whether he works one overtime hour or five.

Consequently, neither the U.S. Labor Department nor a court would be likely to view any of Tom’s $760 salary to be in the nature of overtime premium under the FLSA.

The Limited FLSA Exception The only way to pay a fixed amount that includes overtime premium for varying numbers of overtime hours is to use a so-called “Belo” contract. This term comes from the 1942 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Walling v. A.H. Belo Corporation, which approved such an arrangement. However, Congress later amended the FLSA to restrict the conditions under which this may be done.

The FLSA’s Section 7(f) authorizes paying a constant sum for varying amounts of overtime work if: (1) The employee’s duties “necessitate irregular hours of work”; and (2) The employee is employed under an individual or union contract specifying a regular hourly rate (of at least the FLSA’s minimum wage) for hours worked up to 40 in a workweek, plus 1.5 times that specified rate for hours worked over 40; and (3) The contract provides for a weekly guarantee of straight-time and overtime pay, based upon that specified rate, for not more than 60 hours.

Naturally, the employee must receive additional time-and-one-half overtime compensation for FLSA overtime hours worked beyond the number on which the guarantee is based.

On its face, this exception might seem to be easy to invoke. But the typical hurdle is that many

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employees’ duties do not “necessitate irregular hours of work.” The requirement is generally said to be that the person’s hours worked in a workweek: •

Must vary appreciably below 40 as well as above this threshold and must do so in a significant number of workweeks; and

•

Must vary because of the work requirements themselves, rather than due to vacations, holidays, sickness, personal reasons, scheduled time off, and so on.

USDOL says that “minor” or “insignificant” hours variations are insufficient, and that even fluctuation that is more than “occasional, minor, or insignificant” is deemed to be inadequate if it occurs “exclusively or nearly so” in hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

The circumstances of Tom’s work, which are by no means unusual, do not “necessitate irregular hours of work” within the parameters of these descriptions.

The Bottom Line Adequate variation in hours worked is not the only requirement for, or potential pitfall of, a Belo plan. Suffice it to say that employers should move slowly and carefully in evaluating whether such a compensation method will pass muster under their particular circumstances.

It could also be that the applicable overtime requirements of another jurisdiction will not permit these plans, even in situations in which the FLSA will.

There are many alternative ways to compensate nonexempt employees consistently with the FLSA, but pay plans like these are unlikely to provide a reliable answer for most employers.

Article by John E. Thompson seen on www.wage-hour.net

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15

Evolving Workforce Drives Change

Voluntary benefits evolving to meet needs of diverse workforce Motivated by the need to meet the changing needs and lifestyle of an increasingly diverse workforce, the vast majority of U.S. employers believe voluntary benefits and services will be important to their value proposition over the next three to five years.

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A recent survey from Willis Towers Watson reveals that 92% of study participants view voluntary benefits as an important part of their total rewards as compared to only 73% in 2015. “The growth of VBS is widespread

among employers of all sizes and in all industries,� says Amy Hollis, voluntary benefits leader of Willis Towers Watson. “The appeal is simple. These programs enrich traditional benefits by offering a high level of personalization to employees while leveraging group purchasing

power. Moreover, because these programs are voluntary, they add little or no cost to employers.”

Conventional programs many employers have made available for years include dental and vision care plans, supplemental life, accidental death and dismemberment and disability insurance. Other established voluntary benefits many organizations offer are home, auto, critical illness, hospital indemnity insurance and legal and identity theft protection. However, emerging voluntary benefits incorporate newer features such as purchasing via payroll deduction, student loan consolidation/refinancing and multilife long-term care insurance.

Based on changing interests and priorities, Willis Towers Watson research predicts that the following voluntary options will experience dramatic growth over the next two years: •

Identity theft protection, offered by 35% of employers in 2015, could double to nearly 70% by 2018.

•

Critical illness insurance, offered by 44% of employers in 2015, could grow to 73% by 2018.

•

Student loan repayment programs, offered by just 4% in 2015, could increase to 26% by 2018.

•

Pet insurance, offered by 36% in 2015, could rise to 60% by 2018.

“In the past, employers have focused VBS programs on the needs of baby boomers,” says Mary Tavarozzi, group benefits practice leader of Willis Towers Watson. “Now employers need to attract, retain and engage millennial employees, who have very

different needs and priorities. They also are beginning to recognize that helping employees with financial well-being early in their careers may contribute to a more engaged workforce.”

Core and voluntary benefits used to operate in different silos, but Hollis says more and more employers are presenting them together as complimentary products at open enrollment time. For example, highdeductible health plans, critical illness and hospital indemnity may be offered concurrently. “It’s not just to help offset the HDHP from a psychological standpoint,” Hollis says. “When you are coupling the decision point, something magical happens because employees can see how A can fit with B or C in a way that results in a holistic package.”

While voluntary benefits are cost-effective from an employer perspective, there are also many advantages for employees, not the least of which is the convenience factor. “Payroll deductions mean instead of putting insurance premiums on a credit card, the employee does not incur a credit card fee or a line of credit hit on their FICA score,” she continues.

“Furthermore, guaranteed issue of coverage like critical illness insurance or hospital indemnity insurance without medical examinations or individual underwriting can also be a significant benefit for employees with health problems.”

When it comes to actual dollar savings for employees signing up for voluntary benefits, she says they can range from as low as 5% to as high as 70%. “For example, an ID theft program can cost 70% less than on

the open market and deliver much better value as far as the plan design and the services delivered,” she notes.

Hollis acknowledges employee resources are finite, so after contributing to their basic medical plan and retirement savings there may not be a lot left over to purchase voluntary benefits. That’s why she suggests that an employer’s voluntary strategy be grounded in demographics, reflecting what employee paychecks can actually buy.

One disincentive for employees considering the purchase of “must have” products like home and automobile insurance may be the lack of portability if they leave the company either voluntarily or involuntarily. “The portability provisions will vary by each line of business and each carrier. In some cases employee coverage can continue but discounts may be lost.

In others, policies can be ported on a temporary basis – say up to three years – as opposed to permanently,” she says.

“At the end of the day, the objective of employers is to provide an opportunity for employees to buy plans at a competitive cost that truly help them to protect their paycheck from a retirement or savings standpoint, or stretch their dollars when they are spending money on insuring a house or a car that they would have to pay for anyway,” Hollis says.

Article by Sheryl Smolkin seen on www.benefitnews.com READ THE ORIGINAL

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Lease Charter Rule

Lease charter rule, will hurt

(it may change, but we can star United Motorcoach Association (UMA) needs your help to secure support from Members of Congress adding language to the FY 2017 Department of Transportation appropriations bill to stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from enforcing the Lease and Interchange Rule for Passenger Carriers. In its current form, this rule is an unwarranted and unwelcome burden on passengers and the industry and would do nothing to enhance safety.

The rule deters your capability to execute a typical charter contract with other carriers with operating authority for capacity or emergency reasons, as is done in the normal course of your business. The rule would prohibit traditional practices and require your company to enter a formal lease arrangement with a carrier for supplemental services and assume full responsibility for the compliance and violations of the federal safety regulations of that carrier.

UMA believes a lease should never be required between two carriers when both have Federal operating authority. The current practice allows enforcement agencies to properly assign violations and address the motor carrier ultimately responsible for compliance under their own US DOT number.

Imposing regulatory violations to a passenger carrier when contracting for supplemental service serves no one fairly or accurately.

Please send the attached letter (click here <http://www.uma.org/ pdf/eandInterchangeRuleLettertoSenatorsRepresentative. docx>) via email or fax to your US Senators and House Representative(s) where you are domiciled as soon as possible.

To find your US Senators and Representative(s) please click here <http://www.opencongress.org/people/ zipcodelookup>.

United Motorcoach Association

113 S. West St., 4th Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 800.424.8262 / 703.838.2929 Fax: 703.838.2950 | Web: www.uma.org

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t! Do something about it.

rt there.)

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You’re Killing Your Client’s Interest

3 Ways You’re Killing Your Potential Client’s Interest in Your Product and How to Regain It 20 www.greenazine.com

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You’ve created your product, so now it’s time to put it out there and make money, right?

Yeah, that would work, so long as you can keep your audience’s interest alive. For some that only works the other way round — they unconsciously kill their audience’s interest. That can get really messy when they keep pushing so hard, especially when they think that will make it all work out in the end.

Are you guilty of killing your potential client’s interest? Here 3 ways to find out.

1. You focus too much on sales Focusing too much on sales like strangling your potential client with your bare hands until they can barely breathe.

How would you feel like if some random person comes to you and tries to sell you one of their products?

selling a course on branding for creatives, make sure that the information you give out for free relates to branding.

When you give value consistently, people start to trust you. They start to see you as someone who is an expert in your field. When you give them value, they are drawn to you. You make them want more information. You’ve got them hooked.

At that point, you can tell them that if they’d like more information they can learn more from your product.

2. You don’t build relationships Trying to sell without building relationships is like running your potential client over with an SUV. Who you would feel more comfortable buying from: someone who is familiar to you who you can trust or some stranger you’ve never known before?

Eeeek! Go away! Who are you?

That’s a no brainer! The person who is more familiar, of course!

My thoughts exactly. If you don’t like it when someone randomly starts selling things to you, then what gives you the impression that once you tell people about your product they’d buy it?

Glad you said that. If you prefer to buy from someone who is more familiar then what makes you think that someone who does not know you, even a little bit, would want to buy from you?

No one likes being sold to. Period. It’s annoying!

Building relationships with your target audience is so important. Yes, they may be drawn to you because of the immense value you give them but you need to also get close to your audience and get to know them better. Form a bond with your audience. Make friends with them.

When you tell people about what you’re selling, they get intimated. They freak out. Even if the product you want to sell will be the best thing that will ever happen in their lives if they buy it, they would not want to hear anything about it. This is because their first impression of you is of that of the “annoying salesman”.

If you want to make sales then you need to start off on the right foot. You need to start from the position of giving value.

Begin by giving great tips and tricks that they can apply. Tell them about the tools they can use to make their lives easier. Share the mistakes you made and the lessons you learnt in your journey.

Make sure the things you give are related to what your product is about. For example, if you are

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When you build relationships, you show yourself as someone who is approachable. People will not only be drawn to you but will also be committed to you. Having people buy your product is good but having those same people come back every time to have something up for sale is even better.

That is what makes business sweet.

3. You don’t give what your audience wants Not giving what your audience wants but forcing them to buy what you think they need is like

ramming a spoon down your potential client’s throats.

Ever created a product and all you got was crickets?

Yeah, we all have those days. Don’t worry, it can be avoided.

You may have worked for hours trying to create that EPIC product. The fact that no one buys your product does not mean that your product is crappy or not useful. It just means that your product is not what your audience wants.

But this is what my audience needs!

Here’s a newsflash: people don’t buy what they need. They buy want they want.

Needs are things that are a requirement. Wants are things that you desire and wish for. What you need is not necessarily what you want. What you want is not always what you need. For example, you WANT to have a 6-figure income but you NEED to work hard in order to make that kind of money. No one wants to put in the work. I mean it’s so hard! You’d definitely choose having that money given to you for free on a silver platter than working your ass off any day.

In order to get sales you have to create a product that is centered on what your audience WANTS. Your audience are MORE prone to buying what they want. That is what they go for.

For you to know what your audience wants you have to find out where it itched them the most so that you can go there and give them a good scratch. Okay, maybe that was a bit too graphic.

But you get the idea.

Get to know your audience. Listen to them. Find out their problems, their pain points and their struggles. Find out what they are looking for and what they are asking from your competition that your competition is not giving. Once you’ve got all those facts then create products that will give them what they want.

Get to know your audience.

Listen to them. Find out their problems, their pain points and their struggles. Find out what they are looking for and what they are asking from your competition that your competition is not giving. Once you’ve got all those facts then create products that will give them what they want.

So there you have it!

If you want your potential client to buy your product make sure you don’t strangle them, run them over with your SUV or ram a spoon down their throats. It can get messy.

Article by Vicky Law seen on www.huffingtonpost.com

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Integrated Marketing

Integrated marketing

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What if I told you that there is a high likelihood that you are getting over 80% of your sales from 20% of your marketing budget? Well, if you are like most companies I have worked with over the last 15 years, the chances are pretty good that you are closer to those numbers than you might want to believe.

The problem is not bad spending, bad opportunities, or even bad management; it’s actually a visibility problem. Most advertisers have what I like to call a perpetually growing marketing portfolio, which means that every year there are a handful of things they sign up to do. It may be little things like sponsoring the local high school’s sports programs, or big things like making a significant investment in a television campaign. As an advertiser, you decide what things you’re going to do, put them in the budget, work it out, and start running the ads.

The problem comes when you get to the end of the contract and it is time to renew, because most companies have little more to go on aside from how they “feel” the campaign went. This “feeling,” overlaid with how well the company is doing, are put together and the decision to renew, change or eliminate the item is made.

The big problem is that this can lead to “reduction paralysis” because you just don’t know. The ad salesman will inevitably bang you over the head with statistics of how many people you are reaching by saying things like, “27,000 people drive by your billboard every day,” or, “You have been getting 270,000 impressions a month!”

These are big numbers and it’s easy to see them as a major potential contributor to your success, but these numbers leave out

the most important part of the equation: Did any of these people actually book a coach with you?

This not knowing can lead you to a paralysis that results in a perpetually growing marketing budget that underperforms and does not give you the data you need to really refine the company’s spending.

You work hard for every dollar you spend on marketing and you should require it to work equally as hard for you. Here are a few ways to make that happen.

1: Ask the question. If you donothing

else, do this. Have your booking staff start asking the question, “How did you hear about us?” Contrary to what many believe, this is not an imposition, nor will it jeopardize your ability to book business.

One of the keys to having this be successful is to have them ask this question early.

I prefer the moment that the person on the phone wants more than just casual information. Sure, you don’t want to answer the phone saying, “Thanks for calling ABC stage lines, how did you hear about us?”But. You do want to do it before getting a credit card. This information is the most valuable you can gather. This will tell you what you are doing, usually in broad strokes, that’s driving dollars to the bottom line.

2: Use unique phone numbers. The

only effective way to refine a budget is to start with data that you can use to make informed decisions. No matter what kind of advertising you are doing (web, print, TV, radio, coach wraps), this tool will help you understand how much traffic it is actually generating for your sales team.

This technique allows you to place different phone numbers on every ad or avenue you use and then track who called, how long www.greenazine.com

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they stayed on the line, and more. Now you can know if that post card you sent generated any calls. This can be done with the phone company, but I prefer third party vendors like Kall8 or CallRail. These companies provide great insights and clear concise reporting.

3: Use Unique URLs (web addresses). Many

operators undervalue the use of unique URLs in their companies. These can be powerful tools to not only brand individual aspects of one’s business (e.g. using chicagoweddingbus.com to direct traffic to your wedding page), but also provide incredible insights into the effectiveness of campaigns. Imagine looking at a report that showed you that 250 people went to your website from the URL that they saw on the side of your coach this year. Too often, when we focus exclusively on promoting our main web address, all of our visitors end up in the same bucket and we don’t know if one came from our TV ads and another from our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. For less than a couple cups of coffee a year you can buy a domain, point it at a specific page on your site, and start tracking if people used it to get to you.

4: Landing pages. This is probably more like number

3.5 than 4, but we will cover it here as a separate item because I don’t want people to let it stand in the way of getting started with unique URLs. Unique landing pages are good not only from a tracking standpoint, but also from a sales standpoint. There has been a great deal of research done around the idea of how modern consumers want to experience the web when it comes to purchasing a product, and the consensus is clear. People want the data they want quickly, easily, and neatly presented, and very little else. So what does that mean to a motorcoach operator? It means that if you go to a bridal show and meet 150 brides, they don’t want to go to your home page and have to wade through a list of 50 other things you do and find bridal services on a list somewhere on a services page. They want to open a page that speaks uniquely to their needs and nothing else. They want to book business with a company that cares about what they need. Period. Landing pages are a great way to do this. Simply have a page on your site that speaks to the top services you offer, or want to offer. Purchase

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unique URLs and send buyers that are interested in those services directly to those corresponding pages.

Then, as you look to refine your budget, you can see how many people are coming to that page and how long they are staying. Additionally, if you put a unique phone number on it, you’ll also be able to track how many are calling your sales team as a result. Then, if your team is asking the question from #1 (above), you can tell how many of those people are actually booking business.

This data gives you the power to refine your budget and have a truly integrated marketing campaign. This power is very important for companies who want to spend less to generate more buzz, or for those companies who want to spend the same amount but want it to work better for them. It is inevitable that those who sell advertising will always have numbers to woo or wow you when it comes time to sign or renew. These simple tools, however, will give you the ability to know, without a doubt, if you should renew.

Imagine telling the billboard salesman: “I agree that having 27,000 people drive by my billboard is nice.

But over the last quarter, we have only seen 50 calls from that effort and booked just $2000 worth of business, which simply doesn’t pay for that effort. I need to cancel my contract.”

With knowledge comes power, the power to make every single dollar work harder for the future of your business! Good luck!

Article seen on www.motorcoachmarketing.org

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Extends Compliance Date

FMCSA Extends Compliance Date of Bus Leasing and Interchange Final Rule Until January 1, 2018 On May 27, 2015, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published in the Federal Register a Final Rule to identify motor carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce and correctly assign responsibility to these entities for regulatory violations during inspections, compliance investigations, and crash investigations.

The original compliance date as set forth in the Final Rule was January 1, 2017.

This Final Rule will also provide the general public with the means to identify the responsible motor carrier at the time transportation services are provided.

Article seen on www.fmcsa.dot.gov

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had recommended that FMCSA regulate the leasing of passenger carriers in much the same way as it regulates the leasing of for-hire property carriers.

ARTICLE ONLINE

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The one-year extension of the compliance date announced today will allow FMCSA a sufficient opportunity to review and, where appropriate, make adjustments due to a number of petitions for reconsideration.

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In regards to the Motorcoach Marketing program, we love it. So far, we have made the 1000 postcards, and we did some full page handouts. We just got a stand up banner.

When I get some time, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be making new rack cards for both offices. We made 500 church theme postcards and 500 in the safety theme.

We sent out the church cards through a local mailing company to every church within 50 miles. So far, we have had a great response and 4-5 people booked trips from it. I plan on using the safety ones soon by sending them to our new customers. All of our staff and drivers love the modern design and the finished products. Only one of my staff has watched the videos so far, but we will be working on that next month. So far Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very happy with the service. It works well and looks great!

Chris Knittel

Owner/General Manager New Mexico Texas Coaches, LLC

We Help Operators Sell More Charters To More People.

Easier. Faster. Far More Effective.

MotorcoachMarketing.org 30 www.greenazine.com

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Make Your Workplace Culture Collaborative

How To Make Your Workp Open spaces, water cooler talk, and allowing employees to update Facebook are often more effective in creating a collaborative workplace than all the team-building exercises your consultants can dream up. Here’s a look at what works in the real world.

Pay is only one component in building a motivated and contented workforce. Employees need to feel like they can talk freely with one another and their bosses. So the question becomes: How can a CIO create such an environment? Forget about bringing in hired consultants and running team-building exercises, and instead let employees collaborate informally during the day.

Collaboration is squarely at the top of the management priority list nowadays. “Companies recognize that all problems ultimately stem from communication shortfalls,” said Ryan Sanders, COO at BambooHR, a human resources software supplier.

As a result, CIOs are constantly trying to improve employee communication. Team-building exercises have long been used to open up communication channels, but they have grown as stale as week-old bread. “Team building exercises are often a waste of time,” said Dianne Crampton, founder of TIGERS Success Service, a management consulting firm.

Management will look at a team-building event as a silver bullet, but at best it produces a temporary surge in morale. After employees return to the office, they see that their work has piled up and no substantive changes are made. They then ask, “What was the point of the exercise?”

Idle Chatter: The Key to Collaboration Success Rather than hold one-time, staged, team-building events, managers need to create a collaborative mood in their departments on an ongoing basis. What works? While it may seem counterintuitive, CIOs should encourage idle chitchat. Having individuals stand around a water cooler and discuss the previous

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night’s big game or a child’s upcoming dance recital builds up trust among employees, which lowers barriers once they get back to “real” work.

The natural inclination of many CIOs is to stamp out these distractions in the name of greater productivity, but doing so actually has the opposite effect. When people are physically fatigued and their muscles hurt, they rest. The same principle applies to mental exhaustion. Standing up, moving away from the desk, grabbing a snack, or having a quick conversation all help get a person’s blood flowing and give the brain a needed a break. When employees return to their desks, they often feel rejuvenated and attack outstanding issues with renewed vigor.

Office layout plays a role in how easily employees interact. Increasingly, enterprises are replacing the traditional tight cubicles with open space and fewer barriers. The idea is to let employees step away from the grind of their desks, take regular breaks, and engage in quick, casual conversations.

Zappos has taken that idea to the extreme. It’s deliberately designed its offices so employees have little to no privacy. “A lot of the stuff we do from the Zappos perspective, in terms of employees within the office, is really thinking about how do you get people to collide more often,” said Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, in a company blog post. “We prioritized collisions over convenience.” The rationale is that a casual conversation can quickly turn into a formal exchange in which outstanding problems get solved.

The Need to Eliminate Distractions Like everything in life, the casual conversations have potential downsides. The constant chatter can distract other employees, who have their own work to complete. In response, a growing number of startups and forward-thinking companies are incorporating small, often two- to three-person, private rooms in each work area. If a conversation blossoms, employees hop into the room, brainstorm, problem-solve, and return to their desks without disturbing coworkers.

place Culture Collaborative

Social media is another potential distraction.

Surprisingly, its appeal is less than traditional diversions, ranking seventh on a list of eight potential distractions (watching TV was last), according to a BambooHR study.

So, to build a team-oriented culture, think antithetically. Rather than shooing employees back into their cubicles and banishing social media, try gathering everyone around the water cooler for a discussion about what is trending on Twitter.

Yet, many CIOs struggle when crafting social media usage policies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Managers should not spend a lot of time trying to monitor or ban employees from using social media,â&#x20AC;? said Karen Williams, chief product officer at Halogen Software, a talent management software vendor. The workers may become resentful, and often they find ways around any technical barriers.

Article by Paul Korzeniowski seen on www.informationweek.com READ THE ORIGINAL

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National Training Standards

FMCSA Proposes Nation Entry-Level Truck and Bu

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nal Training Standards for us Drivers The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today proposed a set of comprehensive national prerequisite training standards for entry-level commercial truck and bus operators seeking to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL). The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) reflects consensus recommendations of a negotiated rulemaking committee comprised of FMCSA representatives and 25 stakeholders and responds to a Congressional mandate imposed under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. Public comment is sought as the next phase of the rulemaking.

“Well-trained drivers are safer drivers, which leads to greater safety for our families and friends on our highways and roads,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “With the help of our partners, today’s proposal serves as a major step towards ensuring that commercial vehicle drivers receive the necessary training required to safely operate a large truck or motorcoach.”

Under the proposal announced today, applicants seeking a “Class A” CDL – necessary for operating a combination tractor-trailer type vehicle weighing 26,001 lbs. or more – would be required to obtain a minimum of 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training from an instructional program that meets FMCSA standards, including a minimum of 10 hours of operating the vehicle on a practice driving range.

Applicants seeking a “Class B” CDL – necessary for operating a heavy straight truck (such as a dump truck or box truck) or a school bus, city transit bus, or motorcoach – would be required to obtain a minimum of 15 hours of behind-the-wheel training, including a minimum of seven hours of practice range training.

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of any of the individual curricula.

“A diverse group of commercial motor vehicle stakeholders completed a tremendous amount of work, and that effort resulted in an unprecedented consensus,” said FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling. “We’ve designated 2016 as our ‘Year of Partnerships’ and these comprehensive entry-level driver training standards exemplify our commitment to working closely with our safety partners, including state and local law enforcement, the safety advocacy community, and all other stakeholders to reduce crashes and to save lives.”

Mandatory, comprehensive training in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories would apply to the following individuals under the proposal: First-time CDL applicants; Current CDL holders seeking a license upgrade (e.g., a Class B CDL holder seeking a Class A CDL) or an additional endorsement (necessary, e.g., to transport hazardous materials, operate a tank truck, school bus, or motorcoach, or pull double and/or triple trailers); and A previously disqualified CDL holder seeking to reacquire a license.

These individuals would be subject to the proposed entry-level driver training requirements and must complete a course of instruction provided by an entity that:

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Meets the minimum qualifications for training providers; Covers the curriculum; Is listed on FMCSA’s proposed Training Provider Registry; and Submits electronically to FMCSA the training certificate for each individual who completes the training.

Under the proposal, military drivers, farmers, and firefighters would continue to remain generally exempt from the federal CDL requirements.

FMCSA’s Entry-Level Driver Training Advisory Committee (ELDTAC) met for six two-day negotiating sessions starting in February 2015 until reaching consensus in May 2015. The ELDTAC included FMCSA representatives and a crosssection of 25 representatives from motor carrier transportation, highway safety, driver training, state licensing, law enforcement, labor union, and insurance organizations.

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Study Of Truck And Bus Companies

FMCSA Launches Study of High-Risk Truck and Bus Companies

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The study will assess how well the Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) safety measures used by the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Safety Management System identify high-risk carriers and predict future crash risk, crash severity, or other safety indicators for motor carriers, including the highest-risk carriers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, through its Committee on National Statistics and Transportation Research Board, to perform a study of high-risk truck and bus companies. This study will assess how well the Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) safety measures used by the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Safety Management System identify high-risk carriers and predict future crash risk, crash severity, or other safety indicators for motor carriers, including the highest-risk carriers.

FMCSA is undertaking this at the direction of Section 5221 of the Fixing Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) of 2015.

A panel of experts will examine the methodology used to calculate BASIC percentiles and identify carriers for enforcement, including the weights assigned to particular violations, and the link between crash risk and specific regulatory violations. Also under study are: The relative value of inspection information and roadside enforcement data Any data collection gaps or data sufficiency problems that may exist and the impact of those gaps and problems on the efficacy of the CSA program The accuracy of safety data, including the use of data from crashes in which a motor carrier was not at fault Whether BASIC percentiles for motor carriers of passengers should be calculated separately than for freight motor carriers The differences in the rates at which safety violations are reported to FMCSA for inclusion in the safety management system by various enforcement authorities, including states, territories, and federal inspectors

A panel of experts will examine the methodology used to calculate BASIC percentiles and identify carriers for enforcement, including the weights assigned to particular violations, and the link between crash risk and specific regulatory violations.

How members of the public use the system and what effect making its information public has had on reducing crashes and eliminating unsafe motor carriers from the industry The panel will issue a report with findings and recommendations at the end of the study; the study committee for the project will be posted for public comment within two months at http://www8. nationalacademies.org/cp/.

The project is a collaboration between the Committee on National Statistics of the Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the Transportation Research Board.

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Sleep Apnea Screening

FMCSA seeking input on sleep 40 www.greenazine.com

The US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will host three public listening sessions to solicit input on the impacts of screening, evaluating and treating commercial truck drivers for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended the US DoT take action to address OSA screening and treatment for transportation workers, including rail operators. A joint Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) is the first step towards proposing requirements specifically on sleep apnea.

“It is imperative for everyone’s safety that commercial motor vehicle drivers and train operators be fully focused and immediately responsive at all times,” said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “DoT strongly encourages comment from the public on how to best respond to this national health and transportation safety issue.”

Estimates suggest as many as 22 million men and women could be suffering from sleep apnea without realizing it. The condition can cause unintended sleep episodes and deficits in attention, concentration, situational awareness, memory and the capacity to safely respond to hazards when performing safety-sensitive service, FMCSA indicates. For those with OSA, eight hours of sleep can be less productive than four hours of ordinary, uninterrupted sleep, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

“The collection and analysis of sound data on the impact of OSA must be our immediate first step,” said FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling. “We call upon the public to help us better understand the prevalence of OSA among commercial truck and bus drivers, as well as the safety and economic impacts on the truck and bus industries.”

Article seen on www.trucknews.com

apnea screening

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[4910-EX-P]

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 391 Federal Railroad Administration 49 CFR Parts 240 and 242 [Docket Numbers FMCSA–2015–0419 and FRA–2015–0111] RIN 2126 –AB88 and 2130-AC52 Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Personnel for Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; request for public comments.

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) request data and information concerning the prevalence of moderate-tosevere obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among individuals occupying safety sensitive positions in highway and rail transportation, and on its potential consequences for the safety of rail and highway transportation. FMCSA and FRA (collectively “the Agencies”) also request information on potential costs and benefits from regulatory actions that address the safety risks associated with motor carrier and rail transportation workers in safety sensitive positions who have OSA. For instance, the agencies request comment on the costs and benefits of requiring motor carrier and rail transportation workers in safety sensitive positions who exhibit multiple risk factors for OSA to undergo evaluation and treatment by a healthcare professional with expertise in sleep disorders.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before [INSERT DATE 90 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.]

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ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by either of the docket numbers listed at the beginning of this notice using any one of the following methods: Federal Rulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov.

Fax: 202-493-2251.

Mail: Docket Services (M-30), U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.

To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' heading under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions regarding submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FMCSA: Ms. Christine Hydock, Chief of the Medical Programs Division, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE, Washington DC 20590-0001, by telephone at 202-366-4001, or by email at fmcsamedical@dot.gov.

FRA: Dr. Bernard Arseneau, Medical Director, Assurance and Compliance, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, by telephone at 202-493-6232, or by email at Bernard.arseneau@dot.gov.

If you have questions about viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Ms. Cheryl Collins, Dockets Manager, Docket Services, telephone 202-493-0402.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:

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Public Participation and Request for Comments The Department encourages the public to participate in this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), by submitting comments and related materials to the appropriate dockets.

Where possible, the Department would like the public to provide scientific peer-reviewed data to support comments.

Submitting Comments If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this ANPRM (FMCSA– 2015–0419 and FRA–2015–0111), indicate the heading of the specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation.

You may submit your comments and material online, by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of these means. The Department recommends that you include your name and a mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your document so an Agency can contact you if it has questions regarding your submission.

To submit your comment online, go to www.regulations.gov, type the docket number, “FMCSA-2015–0419” or “FRA-2015-0111 in the “Keyword” box, and click “Search.” When the new screen appears, click the “Comment Now!” button and type your comment into the text box in the following screen. Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual or on behalf of a third party and then submit. If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8½ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. The Agencies will consider all comments and material received during the comment period and will use them to inform any future rulemaking proposals.

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Viewing Comments and Documents To view comments and any document mentioned in this preamble, go to www.regulations.gov, insert the docket number, “FMCSA-2015–0419” or “FRA-2015-0111” in the “Keyword” box, and click “Search.” Next, click the “Open Docket Folder” button and choose the document listed to review. If you do not have access to the Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the Docket Services in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Privacy Act Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its potential rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.

Legal Basis for the Rulemaking Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(a) and 31502(b)--delegated to the Agency by 49 CFR 1.87(f) and (i), respectively--to establish minimum qualifications, including medical and physical qualifications, for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers operating in interstate commerce. Section 31136(a)(3) requires that FMCSA’s safety regulations ensure that the physical conditions of CMV drivers enable them to operate their vehicles safely, and that medical examiners (MEs) trained in physical and medical examination standards perform the physical examinations required of such operators.

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In 2005, Congress authorized FMCSA to establish a Medical Review Board (MRB) composed of experts “in a variety of medical specialties relevant to the driver fitness requirements” to provide advice and recommendations on qualification standards. 49 U.S.C. 31149(a). The position of FMCSA Chief Medical Examiner was authorized at the same time. 49 U.S.C. 31149(b). Under section 31149(c)(1), FMCSA, with the advice of the MRB and Chief Medical Examiner, is directed to “establish, review and revise . . . medical standards for operators of commercial motor vehicles that will ensure that the physical condition of operators of commercial motor vehicles is adequate to enable them to operate the vehicles safely.” As discussed below, FMCSA, in conjunction with the Chief Medical Examiner, asked the MRB to review and report specifically on OSA. The MRB’s recommendations are described in the MRB and Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) Recommendations section of this ANPRM. Federal Railroad Administration Under 49 U.S.C. 20103, the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) has broad authority to issue regulations governing every area of railroad safety. The Secretary has delegated rulemaking responsibility under section 20103 to the Administrator of FRA. 49 CFR 1.89(a). The railroad incidents discussed below illustrate the risks to railroad safety posed by railroad employees that have moderate-to-severe OSA. Moreover, FRA has exercised this safety authority to require other medical testing. FRA regulations require locomotive engineers (49 CFR 240.121) and conductors (49 CFR 242.117) to undergo vision and hearing testing as part of their qualification and certification at least every 3 years. There are individual medical circumstances that may lead a railroad to require some engineers or conductors to undergo more frequent testing. In addition, Congress has authorized the Secretary to consider requiring

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certification of the following other crafts and classes of employees: (1) car repair and maintenance employees; (2) onboard service workers; (3) rail welders; (4) dispatchers; (5) signal repair and maintenance employees; and (6) any other craft or class of employees that the Secretary determines appropriate. Therefore, the Secretary, and the FRA Administrator by delegation, has statutory authority to issue regulations to address the safety risks posed by employees in safety sensitive positions with OSA. BACKGROUND: What is obstructive sleep apnea?

OSA is a respiratory disorder characterized by a reduction or cessation of breathing during sleep. OSA is characterized by repeated episodes of upper airway collapse in the region of the upper throat (pharynx) that results in intermittent periods of partial airflow obstruction (hypopneas), complete airflow obstruction (apneas), and respiratory effort-related arousals from sleep (RERAs) in which affected individuals awaken partially and may experience gasping and choking as they struggle to breathe. Risk factors for developing OSA include: obesity, male gender, advancing age, family history of OSA, large neck size, and an anatomically small oropharynx (throat). Additionally, OSA is associated with increased risk for other adverse health conditions such as: hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, obesity, cardiac dysrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, and sudden cardiac death.

Individuals who have undiagnosed OSA are often unaware they have experienced periods of sleep interrupted by breathing difficulties (apneas, hypopneas, or RERAs) when they awaken in the morning. As a result, the condition is often unrecognized by affected individuals and underdiagnosed by medical professionals.

What are the safety risks in transportation?

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For individuals with OSA, eight hours of sleep can be less restful or refreshing than four hours of ordinary, uninterrupted sleep.1 Undiagnosed or inadequately treated moderate to severe OSA can cause unintended sleep episodes and resulting deficits in attention, concentration, situational awareness, and memory, thus reducing the capacity to safely respond to hazards when performing safety sensitive duties. Thus, OSA is a critical safety issue that can affect operations in all modes of travel in the transportation industry.

The following paragraphs provide some examples of accidents where the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that OSA played a role in causing an accident (or near-accident) involving motor carriers and trains.

Work Zone Collision, Jackson, Tennessee On July 26, 2000, the driver of a tractor-trailer traveling on Interstate 40 near Jackson, Tennessee, collided with a Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicle trailing construction vehicles, killing the state trooper inside. The tractor-trailer then traveled across the median and collided with a Chevrolet Blazer heading in the opposite direction, seriously injuring the driver of the Blazer. The tractor-trailer driver was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighed 358 pounds, and had been diagnosed with and undergone surgery for OSA, but had not indicated either the diagnosis or the surgery on examinations for medical certification. The NTSB found that the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unreported OSA, untreated hypothyroidism, or complications from either or both conditions predisposed him to impairment or incapacitation, including falling asleep at the wheel while driving. The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incapacitation, which

1

Gay, P., Weaver, T., Loube, D., Iber, C. (2006). Evaluation of positive airway pressure treatment for sleep related breathing disorders in adults. Positive Airway Pressure Task Force; Standards of Practice Committee; American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Sleep 29:381-401.

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resulted from the failure of the medical certification process to detect and remove a medically unfit driver from service.2 BNSF Railway Collision, Red Oak, Iowa On April 17, 2011, at approximately 6:55 a.m. CDT, an eastbound BNSF Railway (BNSF) coal train traveling near Red Oak, Iowa collided with the rear end of a standing BNSF maintenance-of-way equipment train. The collision resulted in the derailment of two locomotives and 12 cars, a diesel fuel fire, and the deaths of both crewmembers on the striking train. In its investigative report, the NTSB noted that neither of the fatally injured train crewmembers had undergone a sleep study prior to the incident. However, in each case, medical records indicated that both crewmembers had multiple risk factors for OSA.3 NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was “the failure of the crew of the striking train to comply with the signal indication requiring them to operate in accordance with restricted speed requirements and stop short of the standing train because they had fallen asleep due to fatigue resulting from their irregular work schedules and their medical conditions.”4 NTSB recommended that FRA “require railroads to medically screen employees with safety sensitive duties for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.”5 Metro-North Railroad Derailment, Bronx, NY On December 1, 2013, at approximately 7:20 a.m. EST, southbound Metro-North Railroad (Metro-North) passenger train 8808 derailed as it approached the Spuyten Duyvil 2

Work Zone Collision Between a Tractor-Semitrailer and a Tennessee Highway Patrol Vehicle, Jackson, Tennessee, July 26, 2000, Highway Accident Report NTSB/HAR-02/01 (Washington, DC: National Transportation Safety Board, 2002), available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR0201.pdf.

3 NTSB, Railroad Accident Report, RAR-12/02, Collision of BNSF Coal Train with the Rear End of Standing BNSF Maintenance-of-Way Equipment Train, Red Oak, Iowa, April 17, 2011, pp. 43-44. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR1202.pdf.

4 Id. at 72.

5 Id. at 73.

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Station in New York City. All passenger cars and the locomotive derailed, and, as a result, four passengers died and at least 61 passengers were injured. The train was traveling at 82 mph when it derailed in a section of curved track where the maximum authorized speed was 30 mph.

Following the accident, the engineer reported that: (1) he felt dazed just before the derailment;6 and (2) his wife had previously complained about his snoring. The engineer then underwent a sleep evaluation, which identified excessive daytime sleepiness, followed by a sleep study, which diagnosed severe OSA. Based on its investigation of the derailment, the NTSB concluded that the engineer had multiple OSA risk factors, such as obesity, male gender, snoring, complaints of fatigue, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Even though the engineer exhibited these OSA risk factors, neither his personal health care provider nor his Metro-North occupational health evaluations had screened the engineer for OSA.7 NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was the “engineer’s noncompliance with the 30-mph speed restriction because he had fallen asleep due to undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea exacerbated by a recent circadian rhythm shift required by his work schedule.”8 Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway Chaffee Collision On May 25, 2013, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a Union Pacific Railroad (UP) freight train collided with a BNSF freight train at an interlocking near Chaffee, Missouri. The collision resulted in the derailment of 13 cars from the BNSF train, two locomotives and 11 cars from the UP train, and a diesel fuel fire. The two crew members from the UP train were injured and transported to a local hospital. The derailing train cars struck nearby highway bridge supports,

6

NTSB, Railroad Accident Brief, RAB-14/12, Metro-North Railroad Derailment, October 24, 2014, p. 2. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB1412.pdf.

7 Id. at 3.

8 Id. at 5.

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resulting in the collapse of portions of the bridge, two motor vehicle accidents, and injury to five motor vehicle occupants. NTSB estimated the total damages to be more than $11 million.9 NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be “failure of the Union Pacific Railroad train crewmembers to comply with wayside signals leading into the Rockview Interlocking as a result of their disengagement from their task, likely because of fatigue-induced performance degradation.” NTSB concluded that a contributing factor to the engineer’s fatigue was undiagnosed OSA.10 NTSB also concluded that absence of positive train control (PTC) 11 was a contributing factor in each of the above train accidents.12 FRA agrees that PTC is an important technology that may prevent certain types of accidents in which OSA is a contributing factor. Nevertheless, PTC is not required on all track segments and any potential OSA regulations could have substantial positive impact at those locations. Potential OSA regulations could also have benefits even where PTC is fully implemented. For instance, compliance with potential OSA regulations could prevent incidents that PTC is not designed to prevent. Even in a situation when an engineer with OSA falls asleep and PTC functions as intended and stops a moving train before certain incidents,13 there may be delay costs to passengers and other trains from attending to the engineer that could be avoided by potential OSA regulations. The three examples of train

9

NTSB, Railroad Accident Report 14/02, Collision of Union Pacific Railroad Freight Train with BNSF Railway Freight Train Near Chaffee, Missouri, May 25, 2013, p. ii. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/rar1402.pdf.

10 Id. at 42.

11 The NTSB report for the Red Oak accident concluded that a lack of a PTC system “that identifies the rear of a train and stops a following train if a safe braking profile is exceeded” contributed to the accident. NTSB Railroad Accident Report, RAR-12/02 at 72. NTSB further concluded that the type of PTC system that was in development or being deployed at the time of the report (2011) would not address this type of accident. Id. at 71.

12 See id. at 72; NTSB Railroad Accident Brief, RAB-14/12 at 5; and NTSB Railroad Accident Report 14/02 at 3738, and 50.

13 See 49 CFR 236.1005(a).

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accidents described above are illustrative of the consequences that could result from accidents that occur due to OSA. What actions have the Department’s Operating Administrations taken?

The Department promotes the safety of America’s transportation system through information, websites, regulations, guidelines, and policies. The Department’s operating administrations regulate transportation safety following authorizations from the Congress. The authorities for determining and ensuring that transportation operators engaged in interstate commerce are physically qualified differ among the Department’s operating administrations.

Several administrations have been working for many years, in some instances along with advisory groups, to improve policies on medical fitness for duty of personnel in safety-critical functions. The sections below summarize the initiatives that several DOT operating administrations have taken to address OSA under their current authority.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Although this ANPRM covers how FMCSA and FRA will potentially treat OSA, FAA’s history of its OSA screening of pilots is instructive. The FAA was created to provide the safe and efficient use of the national air space; that mission has evolved to providing the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. While the United States has an impressive safety record, the FAA continues to work with the aviation and medical communities to maintain medical certification standards to keep our skies safe. The FAA has always considered OSA a disqualifying condition, but has used its special issuance process14 to certificate airman if the hazard of OSA was satisfactorily treated or mitigated.

14

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/general/si

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In November 2013, FAA proposed guidance that would have required pilots with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more to be evaluated for OSA. Key aviation industry stakeholders, as well as members of Congress, expressed concerns about this single-factor enhanced screening as lacking a sufficient evidentiary basis, and thus being an example of overregulation by the FAA. In response, FAA worked with stakeholders, to revise the guidance to address those concerns and issued new medical guidance to Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) on March 2, 2015, which balanced industry and Congressional concerns with the FAA and NTSB’s safety concerns about pilots flying with OSA. Under the new guidance, AMEs screen airman for OSA using an integrated assessment of history, symptoms, and physical/clinical findings. If screening identifies a need for further evaluation, an OSA risk factor evaluation will be done by the AME at the time of the physical examination using the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidance provided in the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners.15 A pilot identified as being at risk for OSA will be issued a medical certificate, and shortly thereafter receive a letter from FAA’s Federal Air Surgeon requesting that an OSA evaluation be completed within 90 days. The evaluation may be done by any physician (including the AME), not just a sleep medicine specialist. If the evaluating physician determines, using the AASM guidelines, that a laboratory sleep study or home study is warranted, it should be ordered at that time. The pilot will have 90 days (or longer under special circumstances) to accomplish this, as outlined in the Federal Air Surgeon’s letter. The pilot may continue flying during the evaluation period until they have been diagnosed with OSA. A pilot is not allowed to fly once diagnosed with OSA, but upon submitting documentation of effective treatment to FAA, the FAA will then consider the pilot for a special issuance medical certificate, which allow the pilot to resume 15

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/

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flying. More information on FAA guidance can be found at: https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=18156 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s October 5, 2000, Advisory Criteria In 2000, FMCSA issued advisory criteria providing interpretive guidance to MEs concerning its physical qualifications standards. These advisory criteria are recommendations from FMCSA to assist MEs in applying the minimum physical qualification standards. The advisory criteria were published with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations as part of the medical examination report form in 49 CFR. 391.43 (Physical Qualification of Drivers; Medical Examination; Certificate, 65 FR 59363 (October 5, 2000)).

The advisory criterion for section 391.41(b)(5), which has been unchanged since 2000, provides the following guidance for MEs in making the determination whether a driver satisfies the respiratory standard: [Because] a driver must be alert at all times, any change in his or her mental state is in direct conflict with highway safety. Even the slightest impairment in respiratory function under emergency conditions (when greater oxygen supply is necessary for performance) may be detrimental to safe driving.

There are many conditions that interfere with oxygen exchange and may result in incapacitation, including emphysema, chronic asthma, carcinoma, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis and sleep apnea. If the MEs detect a respiratory dysfunction that in any way is likely to interfere with the driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to safely control and drive a commercial motor

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vehicle, the driver must be referred to a specialist for further evaluation and therapy. . . .

Based on the above advisory criterion, it is clear that FMCSA considers OSA to be a respiratory dysfunction that interferes with oxygen exchange. As such, if a ME believes a driver’s respiratory condition is, in any way, likely to interfere with the driver’s ability to safely control and drive a commercial motor vehicle, the examiner may refer the driver to a specialist for further evaluation and therapy. This advisory criterion is helpful to MEs when the examiner has sufficient experience or information to recognize certain risk factors for OSA and when a driver tells the examiner that he has been diagnosed with OSA. Under these circumstances, MEs may consider referring the driver to a specialist for evaluation before issuing a ME’s certificate, or request additional information from the driver and his treating healthcare professional about the management of the driver’s OSA, respectively. However, the current guidance is not helpful if the ME does not have sufficient experience or information to suspect the driver may have OSA, or the driver does not share with the examiner any previous diagnosis that he has the condition.

MRB and MCSAC Recommendations In consideration of the limitations of the current advisory criterion, FMCSA tasked its MRB and MCSAC in 2011 to provide recommendations that FMCSA should consider to (1) develop new OSA standards for motor carriers, commercial vehicle drivers, and MEs and (2) determine whether drivers with this respiratory condition should receive an unrestricted two-year medical certificate to operate CMVs in interstate commerce. The MCSAC also recommended interim actions that FMCSA could take to help MEs address the issue before completing a rulemaking. A copy of the task statement, all presentations provided to the MCSAC, MRB, and

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the Committeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; December 13, 2011, letter report to the FMCSA Administrator are included in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice and also at the MCSAC webpage at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/advisory-committees/mcsac/2012-past-meetings.

During the deliberations of the MCSAC and MRB, experts indicated that studies16 show that a using a BMI of 33 as a screening indicator for OSA is the value at which false positives and false negatives are minimized. A false positive would require a driver who does not have moderate-to-severe OSA to undergo a sleep study unnecessarily, while a false negative would fail to require a driver who actually has moderate-to-severe OSA to undergo a sleep study. The medical experts participating in the meeting indicated that approximately 75 percent of moderate-to-severe OSA cases would be correctly identified by requiring a sleep study for drivers with a BMI of 33 or greater; however, approximately 25 percent of drivers with moderate-to-severe OSA would be missed with this cutoff. Because the likelihood of OSA in patients with BMIs of 35 or greater rises to nearly 80 percent, the MCSAC and MRB agreed to use a BMI of 35 (rather than 33) in their interim advice to MEs screening drivers for referral to a specialist. A copy of the MCSAC and MRB discussion notes is included in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.

The chairs of the MRB and MCSAC considered their December 13, 2011, report as a first step towards recommendations for addressing OSA. The two committees completed more detailed recommendations in February 2012 to support a future notice-and-comment rulemaking.

A copy of those recommendations is included in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.

16

Numerous studies were cited in presentations to the groups; links to two relevant presentations are: (1) https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/advisory-committees/mcsac/addressing-obstructive-sleep-apnea-cmv-drivers, and (2) https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/advisory-committees/mcsac/screening-osa-commercial-vehicle-operators.

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Before FMCSA issued a notice requesting public comment on proposed regulatory guidance, several stakeholder groups expressed concerns about the agency addressing OSA through regulatory guidance, even on an interim basis. These groups requested that FMCSA pursue the matter through a notice-and-comment rulemaking process.

In 2013, Congress enacted Public Law 113-45 (127 Stat. 557, October 13, 2013, in a note to 49 U.S.C. 31305) directing FMCSA to issue any new or revised requirements concerning sleep disorders, including OSA, by rulemaking. Such requirements would include those for sleep apnea screening, testing, and treatment of CMV drivers.

On January 12, 2015, FMCSA issued a bulletin to healthcare professionals on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners regarding OSA. The bulletin reminded healthcare workers of the current physical qualifications standards and advisory criteria concerning the respiratory system, and specifically how those requirements apply to drivers that may have OSA. It encouraged MEs to explain to drivers the distinction between actions based on the current regulations and advisory criteria versus actions based on the MEsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; professional judgment.

Federal Railroad Administration The FRA has taken various regulatory and non-regulatory actions to address the risk of accidents in which fatigue and/or OSA may be a contributing factor.

FRA Hours of Service Laws and Regulations FRA enforces laws and has issued regulations regarding hours of service for certain railroad employees. See 49 U.S.C. chapter 211 and 49 CFR part 228. The hours of service (HOS) laws and regulations establish maximum hours of work and minimum hours of rest for train employees, signal employees, and dispatching service employees, as defined at 49 U.S.C. 21101.

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HOS laws and regulations are a necessary component of mitigating risk associated with work schedules, including potential fatigue-related risks. However, HOS laws and regulations do not adequately mitigate risks associated with undiagnosed or inadequately treated OSA, even if the work schedules comply with the HOS laws and regulations, as they assume that the sleep that occurs during off-duty time is normal, restful sleep.

Fatigue Management Plans RSIA also requires certain railroads to establish a fatigue management plan. See 49 U.S.C. 20156(f). FRA is currently working with the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) to draft a regulation to implement this mandate. The RSIA requires plans to be “designed to reduce the fatigue experienced by safety-related railroad employees and to reduce the likelihood of accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities caused by fatigue.” Id. at section 20156(f)(1). Further, the RSIA requires a railroad to consider the need to include in its fatigue management plan, as applicable, “opportunities for identification, diagnosis, and treatment of any medical condition that may affect alertness or fatigue, including sleep disorders.” Id. at section 20156(f)(3)(B). However, RSIA does not specifically mandate that the regulation require railroads to screen and evaluate safety-related railroad employees for OSA or other sleep disorders.

FRA Safety Advisory 2004-04 On September 21, 2004, FRA issued Safety Advisory 2004-04 to alert the railroad community, and especially those employees with safety sensitive duties, to the danger associated with degradation of performance resulting from sleep disorders that are undiagnosed or not successfully treated. 69 FR 58995 (Oct. 1, 2004). FRA recommended that the railroad community take the following actions:

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1.

Establish training and educational programs to inform employees of the potential

for performance impairment as a result of fatigue and sleep related issues; 2.

Develop standardized screening tools for diagnosis, referral, and treatment of

sleep disorders (especially sleep apnea); 3.

Develop rules to encourage voluntary reporting of sleep disorders by employees

with safety sensitive duties; 4.

Implement policies that would prohibit employees in safety sensitive positions

who have incapacitation or performance-impairing medical conditions related to sleep from performing any safety sensitive duties until the medical condition appropriately responds to treatment; and 5.

Implement policies to: (a) promote self-reporting; (b) encourage participation in

evaluation and treatment; and (c) establish dispute resolution to resolve any issues regarding fitness of those employees who have reported sleep-related issues.

RSAC Medical Standards Working Group In September 2006, the RSAC established the Medical Standards Working Group to develop standards for identifying conditions that could lead to sudden incapacitation or impairment of safety-critical personnel. The Working Group established a Physicians Task Force that developed draft medical standards and protocols. FRA put the Medical Standards Working Group on hiatus due to the requirement to focus on activities mandated in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

Railroadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guide to Healthy Sleep Website

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As part of its non-regulatory efforts to address fatigue, FRA sponsors the Railroaders’ Guide to Healthy Sleep website.17 This website is set up to disseminate educational information to railroad employees and their families about sleep disorders, the relevance of healthy sleep to railroad safety, and information about improving the quality of the railroaders’ sleep. The website was developed in conjunction with the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, WGBH Educational Foundation, and Volpe – The National Transportation Systems Center.

Why do the Agencies believe regulatory action may be necessary?

Based on the potential severity of OSA-related transportation incidents and accidents, and the varied, non-regulatory, OSA-related actions taken by the Department’s Operating Administrations to date, the Agencies are considering taking regulatory action to ensure consistency in addressing the safety issue presented by transportation workers with safety sensitive duties who are at risk for OSA. The Agencies seek information from interested parties regarding OSA, in order to better inform their decision on whether to take regulatory action and, if so, how to craft the most effective and efficient regulation to address the potential safety risks associated with OSA. REQUEST FOR COMMENTS The Agencies request public comment on the questions below. In your response, please provide supporting materials and identify your interest in this rulemaking, whether in the transportation industry, medical profession, or other.

The Problem of OSA

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https://www.railroadersleep.org/

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1. What is the prevalence of moderate-to-severe OSA among the general adult U.S. population? How does this prevalence vary by age?

2. What is prevalence of moderate-to-severe OSA among individuals occupying safety sensitive transportation positions? If it differs from that among the general population, why does it appear to do so? If no existing estimates exist, what methods and information sources can the agencies use to reliably estimate this prevalence?

3. Is there information (studies, data, etc.) available for estimating the future consequences resulting from individuals with OSA occupying safety sensitive transportation positions in the absence of new restrictions? For example, does any organization track the number of historical motor carrier or train accidents caused

by OSA? With respect to rail, how would any OSA regulations and the current PTC requirements interrelate?

4. Which categories of transportation workers with safety sensitive duties should be required to undergo screening for OSA? On what basis did you identify those workers?

Cost & Benefits 5. What alternative forms and degrees of restriction could FMCSA and FRA place on the performance of safety-sensitive duties by transportation workers with moderate-to-severe OSA, and how effective would these restrictions be in improving transportation safety? Should any regulations differentiate requirements for patients with moderate, as opposed to severe, OSA?

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6. What are the potential costs of alternative FMCSA/FRA regulatory actions that would restrict the safety sensitive activities of transportation workers diagnosed with moderate-to-severe OSA? Who would incur those costs? What are the benefits of such actions and who would realize them?

7. What are the potential improved health outcomes for individuals occupying safety sensitive transportation positions and would receive OSA treatment due to regulations?

8. What models or empirical evidence is available to use to estimate potential costs and benefits of alternative restrictions?

9. What costs would be imposed on transportation workers with safety sensitive duties by requiring screening, evaluation, and treatment of OSA? 10. Are there any private or governmental sources of financial assistance? Would health insurance cover costs for screening and/or treatment of OSA? Screening Procedures & Diagnostics 11. What medical guidelines other than the AASM FAA currently uses are suitable for screening transportation workers with safety sensitive duties that are regulated by FMCSA/FRA for OSA? What level of effectiveness are you seeing with these guidelines?

12. What were the safety performance histories of transportation workers with safety sensitive duties who were diagnosed with moderate-to-severe OSA, who are now successfully compliant with treatment before and after their diagnosis?

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13. When and how frequently should transportation workers with safety sensitive duties be screened for OSA? What methods (laboratory, at-home, split, etc.) of diagnosing OSA are appropriate and why?

14. What, if any, restrictions or prohibitions should there be on a transportation workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; safety sensitive duties while they are being evaluated for moderate-to-severe OSA? 15. What methods are currently employed for providing training or other informational materials about OSA to transportation workers with safety sensitive duties? How effective are these methods at identifying workers with OSA? Medical Personnel Qualifications & Restrictions 16. What qualifications or credentials are necessary for a medical practitioner who performs OSA screening? What qualifications or credentials are necessary for a medical practitioner who performs the diagnosis and treatment of OSA? 17. With respect to FRA should it use Railroad MEs to perform OSA screening, diagnosis, and treatment?

18. Should MEs or other Agenciesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; designated medical practitioners impose restrictions on a transportation worker with safety sensitive duties who selfreports experiencing excessive sleepiness while performing safety sensitive duties?

Treatment Effectiveness 19. What should be the acceptable criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of prescribed treatments for moderate-to-severe OSA? 20. What measures should be used to evaluate whether transportation employees with safety sensitive duties are receiving effective OSA treatment?

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RULEMAKING ANALYSES AND NOTICES Executive Order (E.O.) 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures Under E.O. 12866, “Regulatory Planning and Review” (issued September 30, 1993, published October 4 at 58 FR 51735, and discussed above in the “Background” section), as supplemented by E.O. 13563 and DOT policies and procedures, if a regulatory action is determined to be “significant,” it is subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review.

E.O. 12866 defines “significant regulatory action” as one likely to result in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or Tribal government or communities.

(2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another Agency.

(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof.

(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the E.O. The Department has determined this ANPRM is a “significant regulatory action” under E.O. 12866, and significant under DOT regulatory policies and procedures due to significant public interest in the legal and policy issues addressed. Therefore, this notice has been reviewed

by OMB. Issued under the authority of delegations in 49 CFR 1.87(f) and (i) and 49 CFR 1.89(a), respectively: 23

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_____________________________________ T.F. Scott Darling III, Acting Administrator Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration _____________________________________ Sarah Feinberg, Administrator Federal Railroad Administration

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Reduce Email Unsubscribes

10 ways to reduce email un A well-oiled email marketing strategy can be unsurpassable in terms of ROI and audience engagement.

So, what are the myriad ways companies can keep their database plump and receptive and reduce unsubscribes?

Here are 10 ways.

1. Make it clear what the user is signing up for There’s a balance to be had between maximising ease of email sign-up and offering the user options for subscription.

Giving the user tick boxes to choose from, for example, male or female fashion updates, newsletters or sale alerts, weekly or monthly updates, could potentially decrease conversion of your signup field, even if it stands to increase subsequent engagement of subscribers.

What is paramount is that users know they are indeed signing up to receive emails, and understand what these emails will include.

The example below is from Next and shows a muddled mix of opt-out and opt-in experiences during account registration.

All such confusion does is increases the number of people who subscribe in error and then swiftly unsubscribe, unnecessarily blurring engagement rates in your data.

Next mixes opt-out (not advised) with opt-in.

2. Send fewer emails. Send more emails. (i.e. conduct frequency testing) Testing email frequency is important, and indeed it will be one of the main factors influencing unsubscribe rate.

However, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to frequency - implications of engagement levels can be difficult to tease out.

For example, users sporadically interact with some services and companies (e.g. we may buy a holiday on average once a year), but that doesn’t mean these companies won’t benefit from a branding perspective by emailing every week. Customers, too, may be happy to keep these companies front-of-mind, in preparation for a 66 www.greenazine.com

big annual purchase, or simply on the off chance that an enticing promotion is offered.

In one of Parry Malm’s fantastic email articles for Econsultancy, he discloses positive results for the socalled re-send method, used by MusicRadar.

Re-sending a newsletter daily for seven days to non-

nsubscribes re-sending its newsletter to non-openers.

3. Get feedback from unsubscribers A rather obvious one, this, but there are different ways in which you can do it. It’s common practice to offer users a list of reasons for unsubscribe and necessitate that one is chosen in order to complete.

However, I quite like the approach taken by Kogan.com. As the screenshot below shows, I was allowed to unsubscribe before being presented with an open text field where I was asked to provide feedback.

This appealed to my vanity (my opinion matters!) and I’m sure it will garner some instructive feedback.

4. Allow for a change of heart Kogan.com again. Immediately after I’ve hit unsubscribe, I’m allowed to recant.

I’d love to see data showing how often the ‘no’ option is chosen. My hunch is not very often, but it’s an interesting tactic, making sure that no recipients unsubscribe in error.

5. Take a break or promise to take it easy Okay, this is my last use of Kogan.com, though it’s a technique used by many, including Zalando.

Unsubscribers may not want a complete cessation of messaging. If they’re unsure whether a regular email is of use to them, they make take the opportunity to enjoy a break for a week or two.

There’s also the option of changing email frequency here, which is best practice for email preferences.

6. Automate openers was shown to be advantageous, giving a 255% uplift against control, with greater than 99.9% confidence.

Re-sends in this experiment were also more successful than re-activations (using different creative to encourage a recipient to re-engage) in this experiment.

MusicRadar’s reactivation email was less successful than

Tying email timing and content to the customer lifecycle / sales cycle allows brands to deliver more relevant messaging that can help to increase engagement and reduce unsubscribes.

This can include: •

A programme of welcome emails

•

Notification of products back in stock

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•

New stores opening near you

•

Incentivising product reviews

•

Basket abandonment emails

•

‘Recently browsed’ emails

•

Loyalty rewards

For more automated email types, see 20 Automated emails your customers won’t delete.

7. Recognise unsubscribe trends and re-engage Set criteria for what an inactive subscriber is and move these recipients to a re-engagement segment.

The soon-to-unsubscribe might be characterised by a drop-off in opens and clicks at certain points in the customer lifecycle.

Looking at hurdle rates can help e.g. 30% of purchasers have clicked or opened within the last six months.

8. Segment Segmentation may be considered by some to be the oldfashioned cousin of automation, but designing content for different audience demographics is obviously still a valuable strategy.

For example, if an estate agent wanted to send out some content/research about UK house prices, it would get more engagement if it tailored and targeted this content to specific regions in the UK. A B2B company may want to segment an audience into purchasers, decision makers, CEOs etc. knowing that each audience desires different information.

Ultimately, a marketing department should be able to use knowledge of its products, content and audience to ramp up customer interest.

9. Test subject lines Optimising open rates by testing subject lines doesn’t mean unsubscribes will dwindle. Just because more recipients are opening your messages, doesn’t mean they’re any more relevant.

However, it’s clear that the more intriguing subject lines are, the more an impression of value is conveyed. This may be enough to placate some users.

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Communicating with a customer offline or through other online channels can add context to email comms.

Partly, this is rationale for automation, but it’s also a reminder that a phone call or direct mail can be your most powerful engagement tactic.

People are attracted to ‘sale’, ‘save’, ‘% off ’ and ‘free delivery’ in subject lines. It’s often this FOMO attached to unsubscribing that keeps recipients engaged.

10. Establish comms elsewhere Lastly, it’s important to note that relevance doesn’t have to be created solely within the email channel itself.

Communicating with a customer offline or through other online channels can add context to email comms.

Partly, this is rationale for automation, but it’s also a reminder that a phone call or direct mail can be your most powerful engagement tactic.

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