The first proposed regulatory guidance clarifies the “agricultural commodity” exception to the Hours of Service regulations. Details and instructions are here.
Clarifies drivers operating unladen vehicles traveling either to pick up an agricultural commodity, trips beyond 150 air-miles from the source of the agricultural commodity, whether grain elevators and/or livestock sale barns should be considered a “source” of agricultural commodities.
The second proposed regulation clarifies the use of Personal Conveyance by commercial drivers. Details and instructions are here. Personal conveyance is the use of an unladen Commercial Motor Vehicle for commuting, and is considered an Off Duty status.
Having decided to grant part of a United Parcel Service request for a limited 5-year exemption from some provisions of the electronic logging device mandate, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will now allow all motor carriers—not just UPS– and drivers to make use of two new temporary exemptions from the ELD rule.
Source: FMCSA Issues Two Commonsensical ELD Exemptions
Amidst a show where major topics of conversation included electrification of commercial vehicles and the path to autonomous trucks, one industry exec said the digital supply chain will be the next big breakthrough in trucking productivity.
Source: Digital Supply Chain Offers Greater Potential Than Electric, Autonomous Trucks
Commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel in Canada and the United States conducted more than 62,000 driver and vehicle safety inspections on large trucks and buses during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 30th annual International Roadcheck, June 6-8, 2017. 23 percent of vehicles and 4.2 percent of drivers that received Level I Inspections were placed out of service.
International Roadcheck is a three-day enforcement event when CVSA-certified inspectors conduct high-volume, large-scale, high-visibility roadside inspections of large trucks and buses. Commercial motor vehicles and their drivers were checked at inspection sites, weigh stations and roving patrol locations along roadways in North America throughout the 72-hour enforcement initiative.
- A total of 62,013 Level I, II and III Inspections were conducted during 2017 International Roadcheck.
- 19.4 percent of commercial motor vehicles inspected (Level I, II or III Inspections) were placed out of service. 4.7 percent of all drivers inspected (Level I, II, and III Inspections) were placed out of service.
- 40,944 inspections were North American Standard (NAS) Level I Inspections. A Level I Inspection is a 37-step procedure that includes examination of both the driver and vehicle. Other inspections conducted included the NAS Level II Walk-Around Inspection (12,787) and the NAS Level III Driver-Only Inspection (8,282).
- 7,713 inspections were conducted in Canada; 54,300 were conducted in the United States.
Vehicle-related results are as follows:
- Of the 40,944 Level I Inspections conducted, 23 percent (9,398) percent were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
- The top three out-of-service vehicle violations were for brake systems (26.9 percent of vehicle out-of-service violations), cargo securement (15.7 percent) and tires/wheels (15.1 percent).
- Of the 2,267 vehicles carrying hazardous materials/dangerous goods that received a Level I Inspection, 12.8 percent were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
- The top three vehicle violations related to the transportation of hazardous materials/dangerous goods were for loading and securement (40.4 percent of all out-of-service hazardous materials/dangerous goods violations), shipping papers (22.7 percent) and placarding (20.8 percent).
- 398 motorcoaches received Level I Inspections; 10.1 percent (40) were placed out of service for vehicle-related violations.
- Of the vehicles placed out of service, brake adjustment and brake system violations combined to represent 41.4 percent (7,743) of all out-of-service vehicle violations.
Driver results are as follows:
- Of the 62,013 total Level I, II, and III Inspections conducted, 4.7 percent (2,940) of drivers were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
- Of Level I, II and III Inspections of vehicles carrying hazardous materials/dangerous goods, 1.9 percent were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
- Out of the 598 motorcoaches that received Level I, II or III Inspections, 3.8 percent (23) of drivers were placed out of service for driver-related violations.
- The top three driver-related violations were for hours of service (32.3 percent of driver out-of-service violations), wrong class license (14.9 percent) and false log book (11.3 percent).
- There were 710 safety belt violations.
Each year, International Roadcheck places special emphasis on a category of violations. This year’s focus was cargo securement. While checking for compliance with safe cargo securement regulations is always part of roadside inspections, CVSA highlighted proper cargo securement this year as a reminder of its importance. Cargo securement violations (not including hazardous materials/dangerous goods loading/securement) represented 15.7 percent of all vehicle out of service violations during 2017 International Roadcheck.
The top five violations related to cargo securement (out of a total of 3,282) in the United States were:
- No or improper load securement (423)
- Failure to secure vehicle equipment (379)
- Leaking, spilling, blowing, falling cargo (281)
- Insufficient tiedowns to prevent forward movement for load not blocked by headerboard, bulkhead or cargo (256)
- Failure to secure load (178)
The specific out-of-service (OOS) violation percentage distributions (numbers indicate a percentage of the total out-of-service violations by category) from 2017 International Roadcheck are shown below:
| Vehicle OOS Violations Category |
Percentage of Vehicle OOS Violations |
Driver OOS Violation Category |
Percentage of Driver OOS Violations |
Hazmat OOS Violation Category |
Percentage of Hazmat OOS Violations |
| Brake Systems |
26.9% |
Hours of Service |
32.3% |
Loading/Securement |
40.4% |
| Cargo Securement |
15.7% |
Wrong Class License |
14.9% |
Shipping Papers |
22.7% |
| Tires/Wheels |
15.1% |
False Log Book |
11.3% |
Placarding |
20.8% |
| Brake Adjustment |
14.5% |
Suspended License |
3.4% |
Package Integrity |
4.3% |
| Lighting Devices |
11.6% |
Drugs/Alcohol |
1.6% |
Transport Vehicle Markings |
0.8% |
| Suspensions |
4.7% |
Driver’s Age |
0.4% |
|
|
| Steering Mechanisms |
2.3% |
|
|
|
|
| Frames |
1.0% |
|
|
|
|
| Coupling Devices |
0.8% |
|
|
|
|
| Fuel Systems |
0.6% |
|
|
|
|
| Driveline/Driveshaft |
0.2% |
|
|
|
|
| Exhaust Systems |
0.2% |
|
|
|
|
James Jaillet August 28, 2017
Inspectors will, at their discretion, begin issuing citations for non-compliance with the federal electronic logging device mandate on the Dec. 18 deadline for adoption, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced Monday. However, the 10-hour out-of-service order associated with non-compliance with the mandate will begin April 1, 2018, CVSA also announced.
CVSA, which is made up of enforcement officials and meant to provide uniformity in enforcement of trucking and bus regulations, says it has notified FMCSA of its plan to begin citation enforcement Dec. 18 and out-of-service enforcement in April.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration confirmed CVSA’s enforcement plans. FMCSA also confirmed that the delay in out-of-service enforcement does not affect the the date by which truckers must adopt an automatic onboard recording device (AOBRD — a form of electronic logging system with more limited functionality than an ELD) if they want to extend their ELD compliance to December 2019.
“After Dec. 18, 2017, if you don’t have an AOBRD or ELD the violation will be cited, and a driver could be fined, but they won’t be put out of service. Companies that continually violate the rule could be subject to federal investigation as well,” says FMCSA spokesperson Duane DeBruyne.
The slight delay in the enforcement of the out-of-service criteria “will provide the motor carrier industry, shippers and roadside enforcement community with time to adjust to the new requirement before vehicles are placed out of service for ELD violations,” CVSA said in its announcement. This strategy is in line with how CVSA has handled enforcement of other major trucking regulations, the group said.
Inspectors and roadside officers will begin documenting ELD violations on the Dec. 18 deadline, and citations will be issued to drivers “at the jurisdiction’s discretion,” CVSA says.
Violations related to ELDs will, in a way, be considered hours of service violations for purposes of the out of service criteria. Various ELD-related violations will ultimately come with the out-of-service equivalent of not having a logbook, having false logs and not maintaining previous seven days of duty status. For instance, a driver or carrier not using a logging device that fits with federal requirements will be “considered to have no record of duty status,” according to updated out-of-service criteria issued by CVSA earlier this year.
Read more on the out-of-service details at this link.
The Monday announcement confirms what two FMCSA representatives hinted at last week in a special ELD seminar held at the Great American Trucking Show.
Asked by an audience member about rumors of “soft enforcement” of the ELD mandate December deadline during the Thursday, Aug. 24, session, FMCSA representatives would say only that officers “may or may not” take enforcement action against drivers not utilizing ELDs. CVSA’s slight delay in the out of service criteria related to ELDs answers the trucker’s question, in part, delaying the perhaps most severe enforcement action that could be brought.
Reports have indicated CVSA’s approach will be “phased-in” enforcement, but the CVSA noted it will begin enforcement of the ELD mandate on the Dec. 18 compliance date.
