The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced today that up to $3.1 million is available for the replacement of older drayage trucks operating at seaports and Class I rail yards in areas of Texas designated as nonattainment under the Federal Clean Air Act.
The primary purpose of the Drayage Truck Incentive Program, or DTIP, is to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and other pollutants, including particulate matter (PM). In many cases, vehicles used for drayage are older, higher-polluting vehicles that are no longer used for longer-haul operations. The concentration of these vehicles operating at seaports and rail yards warranted the establishment of this separate program specifically for replacement of older drayage vehicles with newer, less-polluting models.
DTIP grants are offered to eligible entities that have continuously owned or leased a drayage truck for the previous two years and have operated it at one or more of the eligible seaports or Class I rail yards for at least 200 visits per year for the past two years.
A drayage truck eligible for replacement must have an engine model year 2006 or earlier and must be:
a heavy-duty drayage truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 26,000 pounds; or
a yard truck with an engine rated at more than 125 horsepower
A drayage truck eligible for purchase must have an engine model year of 2010 or later and must be:
a heavy-duty drayage truck with a GVWR over 26,000 pounds with a daycab only; or
a yard truck with an engine rated at more than 125 horsepower.
The grants may reimburse up to 80 percent of the cost to purchase the new drayage truck. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until May 29, 2015, at 5:00 p.m., or until all funding is awarded, whichever occurs earlier.
For more information call 800-919-TERP (8377), visit www.terpgrants.org, or e-mail terp@tceq.texas.gov
Enhancements to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability public Safety Measurement System website have gone live.
The agency said the design changes are intended to provide more intuitive navigation, and user-friendly features and descriptions to clarify SMS’s role as FMCSA’s prioritization tool for interventions. They also will consolidate agency safety information so users do not have to go to multiple sites, and provide improved access to detailed information and new performance-monitoring tools.
SMS uses data collected from roadside inspections, state-reported crashes and investigations to quantify the relative safety performance of motor carriers. The agency uses the data to prioritize high-risk motor carriers, allocate its investigative resources and identify motor carriers for other actions such as a warning letter.
Together with the National Star Route Mail Contractors Association, we are seeking an exemption to some provisions of the Hours of Service regulations for transporting mail under contract with the United States Postal Service. The goal; to allow a single driver to complete both halves of a postal split shift operation.
We need your help, and we are conducting a survey of USPS HCR contractors.
If you are an NSRMCA member – you may participate here.
If you are not an NSRMCA member, but have 1 or more Highway Contract Route (HCR) with the USPS, you may contact Joel Beal here.
We propose that all drivers hauling US Mail under contract to the United States Postal Service be eligible for an exemption from 49 CFR §395.3(a)(2) of the hours of service regulations. We propose that a driver may not drive a US Mail-carrying commercial motor vehicle more than 10 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty; nor drive after having been on duty 15 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty.
To qualify for this exemption, a driver must have a rest opportunity. The NSRMCA proposes that this include a sleeper berth as defined in 49 CFR §395.2 and 383.76, or nearby rest facilities that would include a driver’s residence or commercial lodging facility.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces a package of enhancements to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) website. SMS is an automated system that quantifies the on-road safety performance of commercial truck and bus companies that is used to identify and prioritize high-risk carriers for enforcement interventions, including increased roadside inspections and compliance reviews.
The enhancements provide clearer descriptions and easier, more intuitive navigation features. The enhancements were derived from feedback solicited from motor carriers, law enforcement personnel, industry representatives and other stakeholders who were given an opportunity to critique various website enhancement proposals.
The changes to the SMS website do not alter the SMS methodology or affect a carrier’s safety rating, which is subject to 49 CFR part 385, Safety Fitness Procedures. The enhancements are a continuation of FMCSA’s efforts, first announced in April 2010, to provide the motor carrier industry and other safety stakeholders with more comprehensive, informative, and regularly updated safety performance data.
FMCSA will implement the SMS website enhancements by August 4, 2014. To assist users in adapting to the SMS website enhancements, FMCSA will hold three educational webinars, with two on August 20, 2014 (10:00-11:30 a.m. and 2:00-3:30 p.m.), and a third to be held on August 21, 2014 (2:00-3:30 p.m.). Webinar participants will be able to ask questions and receive real-time responses. Additionally during the webinars, FMCSA staff will discuss and answer questions on the Agency’s new adjudicated citations policy, which takes effect August 23, 2014. A full copy of the Federal Register notice is available here.
To register for one of the upcoming three educational webinars, visit:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/SMS_Display_Changes-New_Adjudicated_Citations_Policy_Webinar_2014.pdf
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced that up to $7.7 million in grants is being made available to encourage entities that operate large fleets of vehicles in Texas to replace diesel-powered vehicles with alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles.
The TCEQ Texas Clean Fleet Program (TCFP) grants are part of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, and are available to owners of fleets of 75 or more vehicles operated in Texas. Grant applicants must commit to replace at least 20 diesel-powered vehicles with hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.
Application deadline is October 3, 2014, 5:00 p.m. CST.
For more information on the grants, go to www.terpgrants.org or call 800-919-TERP (8377).
Hiring drivers and other employees is perhaps the most critical function of any fleet. You need to know that the rules have changed.
Individual assessment is the bottom line of the EEOC’s recently released “enforcement guidance”: Blanket policies that automatically reject job candidates with criminal records are illegal. Such policies have been found to have a disparate impact on minorities, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Employers have to make hiring decisions on applicants with criminal histories using three criteria.
They are:
1. The nature and gravity of the offense or conduct
2. The time that has passed since the offense or conduct and/or completion of the sentence
3. The nature of the specific position.
The agency “recommends” that employers go through an extensive “individual assessment” on each candidate.
Here’s a list of the things EEOC says you should consider:
1. The facts or circumstances surrounding the offense or conduct
2. The number of offenses for which the individual was convicted
3. Age at the time of conviction, or release from prison
4. Evidence that the individual performed the same type of work, post conviction, with the same or a different employer, with no known incidents of criminal conduct
5. The length and consistency of employment history before and after the offense or conduct
6. Rehabilitation efforts (such as education or training)
7. Employment or character references and any other information regarding fitness for the particular position
8. Whether the individual is bonded under a federal, state, or local bonding program.
If the applicant doesn’t cooperate by providing the background information the employer seeks, the company can make the hiring decision based on the information at hand.
The EEOC’s list of suggested best practices for employers using criminal background checks:
1. Eliminate policies or practices that exclude people from employment based on any criminal record.
2. Train managers, hiring officials, and decision makers about the federal prohibition on employment discrimination
3. Develop a narrowly tailored written policy and procedure for screening applicants and employees for criminal conduct.
4. Identify essential job requirements and the actual circumstances under which the jobs are performed.
5. Determine the specific offenses that may demonstrate unfitness for performing such jobs.
6. Identify the criminal offenses based on all available evidence.
7. Determine the duration of exclusions for criminal conduct based on all available evidence.
8. Include an individualized assessment.
9. Record the justification for the policy and procedures.
10. Note and keep a record of consultations and research considered in crafting the policy and procedures.
11. Train managers, hiring officials, and decision makers on how to implement the policy and procedures consistent with the law.
12. When asking questions about criminal records, limit inquiries to records for which exclusion would be job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.
13. Keep information about applicants’ and employees’ criminal records confidential. Only use it for the purpose for which it was intended.
