Hurricane Harvey Could Disrupt Trucking for Some Time

Photo: Texas Army National Guard/ Lt. Zachary West

Hurricane Harvey, whose heavy rains brought devastating flooding to Houston and much of south Texas, may yet cause more trouble for the region-- the National Weather Service is predicting an additional 25 inches of rain through the end of the week in certain areas.

Some parts of Texas have already seen as much as 30 inches of rainfall, with flood waters covering freeways, homes, and neighborhoods across south Texas in an area the size of Lake Michigan, a Red Cross administrator told National Public Radio.

It will be a while before the totality of the damage is realized in the fourth largest city in the U.S., but some are estimating that 30,000 are currently without a home. Many key roads in the area are impassable or washed away and that is also impacting businesses, including trucking operations.

Trucking research and analysis firm FTR estimates that Hurricane Harvey could strongly affect over 7% of U.S. trucking with up to 10% of all U.S. trucking being affected during this first week.

FTR attributed this disruption to trucking to a few broad effects. Trucks will have to wait for the water to recede from roads and docks in the region before freight begins to move. Extra shipments of relief construction supplies will take precedence, so overall productivity could decrease due to out-of-cycle supply chain demands. Then, most obviously, there is the infrastructure nightmare due to congestion and backed up loading docks.

The hurricane will also have significant pricing effects on the spot market based on observations made after similar storms, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to FTR. Ports and railways are also jammed with traffic waiting just outside the affected area, falling behind schedule.

“Look for spot prices to jump over the next ...Read the rest of this story

CVSA to Take Phased-In Approach to ELD Mandate

The nation's commercial vehicle enforcement officials say there's no reason to delay the December start date for the electronic logging device mandate – but they will delay implementing out-of-service criteria related to ELDs until April 1, 2018, and say each jurisdiction will have discretion as to whether they actually issue citations in the beginning.

On Dec. 18, inspectors and roadside enforcement personnel will begin documenting violations on roadside inspection reports, according to an Aug. 28 announcement from the according to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. At the jurisdiction's discretion, inspectors will issue citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers operating vehicles without a compliant ELD.

Beginning April 1, 2018, inspectors will start placing commercial motor vehicle drivers out of service if their vehicle is not equipped with the required device.

Delaying the out-of-service aspects of the rule will “provide the motor carrier industry, shippers and the roadside enforcement community with time to adjust to the new requirement before vehicles are placed out of service for ELD violations,” CVSA said.

CVSA noted that member jurisdictions have used this phased-in approach in the past when implementing a significant change in regulatory requirements.

Opponents of the ELD rule, most notably the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, have been lobbying Congress to try to get a delay in the rule's implementation, at least for smaller carriers.

“Motor carriers have had two full years to prepare for the requirement and obtain devices for their vehicles,” wrote CVSA Executive Director Collin B. Mooney in a letter to FMCSA. “FMCSA's own research has found that the use of ELDs results in a reduction in a motor carrier's crash rate and hours-of-service violations. It is time to move forward with this regulation.”

One of the arguments for delay has been that enforcement officials are not ready. And at CVSA's recent North American Inspectors Championship, one ...Read the rest of this story

Building an apprenticeship program

The technician shortage has caused many fleets and service providers to come up with creative solutions to ensuring that their bays are staffed with qualified technicians.

Chris Disantis, director of training and field technical support at Aim NationaLease, developed a program to grow the company's own diesel technicians. He shared details of the program at a recent NationaLease member meeting.

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Help your drivers ensure a smooth weigh station inspection process

Professional drivers encounter law enforcement personnel when they are pulled into a weigh station for weighing and inspections. The driver plays a large role in how pleasant — or unpleasant — that interaction will be. Setting a professional, respectful tone right from the start will go a long way toward making any inspection faster and less stressful.

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CVSA commits to phased-in ELD enforcement process

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) said it will start “phasing-in” enforcement of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate requirements on December 18 this year, with plans to begin using the out-of-service criteria (OOSC) associated with the ELD mandate starting April 1 next year.

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Fleet Complete appoints Sandeep Kar as new CSO

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Full extent of damage from Hurricane Harvey remains unclear

With forecasts calling for several more days of heavy rain for the Gulf Coast of Texas, the full extent of the damage from Hurricane Harvey will not known for some time.

But there are already numerous signs that Harvey will leave a lasting reminder to the freight transportation community in Houston and other surrounding areas.

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