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Effective Training

From Dennis McGee

Let’s discuss training. Imagine if you had a bucket of water and every time you attempted to fill the bucket, 95% of water would leak out instantly. Every time, all you’d retain was a measly 5%. How many times would you keep filling the bucket?

Drivers retain approximately:

90% of what they learn when they teach someone else/use IMMEDIATELY

75% of what they learn when the practice what they learned

50% of what they learn when engaged in a group discussion

30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration

20% of what they learn from audio-visual

10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading

5% of what they learn when attending a lecture safety meeting

Over my career I have observed hundreds of motor carrier safety presentations. I have seen that the Safety Department staff have spent countless hours putting together a ppt. presentation (The presentation contains good stuff, BUT remember only 5% of the presentation is retained). Numerous times the safety training follows a long safety day which has subject drivers to many other presentations deliberates why these drivers have failed to comprehend and adhere to the information given in these presentations.

Look at your drivers, I see them emailing, sending each other texts and jokes, talking, sleeping and day dreaming.

Remember the three leg stool in driver training:

1.  Train
2.  Have drivers practice/rehearse the instructions
3.  Ensure that the training is being followed

NOTE: Driver training is like football – the players TRAIN, PRACTICE and the coaches ENSURE that the training has been followed.

KISS – Keep It Simple and Short

WHAT’S A “YARD MOVE”? THE PROPOSED GUIDANCE FROM FMCSA

By Doug Marcello

THE POINT: “Yard Move” can be a key to HOS compliance. The FMCSA seeks to clear up “what’s a yard move” with proposed guidance.
The Importance: We’ve all heard the old saying, “give them an inch and they’ll take a yard move”. Or something like that. OK, maybe not, be we should.  

“Yard moves” are important to ELD’s and, in fact, all HOS Regs. For ELD’s, it is one of two special categories that manufacturers are required to include (the other–“personal conveyance–there’s a safety conference trivia question waiting to happen). 

For HOS, it provides an opportunity for activity that does go on the “driving” line. Recent guidance provides that a “yard move” is not “driving” time. It is recorded “on duty (not driving)”.  

As such, “yard moves” can be used to satisfy the 30 minute break requirement. If, of course, it’s part of a 30-consecutive minute break.  

Bottom line–the “yard move” does not count against the 11 hours driving limit and doesn’t lose the break. 

Proposed Guidance: OK, so when is a yard move a “yard move”? Well, if the proposed guidance is adopted, “only if the movement of the CMV occurs in a confined area on private property (or intermodal facility or briefly on public roads as described below). 

The proposal gives four examples of properties that would qualify. The first three are pretty straight forward;

-Intermodal yard or port facility
-Motor Carrier’s place of business
-Shipper’s privately-owned parking lot. 

Makes sense. But what about that “public road” reference? Well, the fourth is a “public road”, BUT ONLY IF AND WHILE:  

-public access is restricted – by traffic control measures-such as lights, gates, flaggers, “or other means”. 

Briefly driving on a public road to get from one part of private property to another may be considered a “yard move” IF public access is limited during the move. IF public access is not limited by the move is made–no “yard move”.  So what is NOT a “yard” that qualifies as a property for a “yard move”? These would include a movement on a public road without the listed traffic control measures or “public rest areas”.  

The Takeaway–“Yard Moves” can a valuable resource in managing HOS. If this proposal goes through, stay off unrestricted public roads, and public rest areas, to preserve the status.

Hours of Service: California vs Federal

Overview of Difference Between Federal and California HOS Rules

Federal HOS Basics (49 CFR § 395)California HOS Basics (CCR Title 13, Division 2, Chapter 6.5, Article 3, Section 1212)
11 hours driving12 hours driving
14 hours total duty window16 hours total duty window
10 hours off-duty mandatory10 hours off-duty mandatory
70-hour maximum workweek (8 days)80-hour maximum workweek (8 days)
34-hour restart provision – general trucking34-hour restart provision – general trucking
24-hour restart provision – construction trucking24-hour restart provision – construction trucking
Short-haul exemption – 150 air miles, 14-hour day (effective 9/28/20)Short-haul exemption – 100 air miles, 12-hour day