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Make the most of your training dollars
Given the increased complexity of today's vehicles, training has become even more important than it was in the past. And the cost for it has skyrocketed. Some service providers have seen their spending on training triple in the last several years.
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ATA Safety Council Honors Fleets, Safety Director, Drivers
The American Trucking Associations' Safety Management Council recognized fleets, drivers and safety directors for their contributions to fleet safety at the Safety, Security and Human Resources National Conference and Exhibition in Oklahoma City.
ATA honored three companies who exhibited safety excellence in their daily operations with the President's Award in three categories based on total fleet miles driven:
Gorski Bulk Transport, Detroit, Michigan, for fleets under 25 million milesTCW Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, for fleets between 25 million and 100 million milesOld Dominion Freight Line, Thomasville, North Carolina, for fleets with more than 100 million miles"Awards like these are the trucking industry's acknowledgment of worthwhile effort applied to the area that matters most to our industry – safety," said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. "Whether you're a million mile accident-free driver or an executive that dedicates resources to safety investments, we want you to know that you're making a difference on the highways."
Frank Calvert, a driver for AAA Cooper, was honored as National Truck Driver of the Year. He's in the 60th year of his driving career and was also named the Alabama Driver of the Year in April.
ATA also recognized Lisa Gonnerman of Ruan Transportation with the 2016 National Safety Director Award. Gonnerman is recognized for creating a safety training program titled MegaSafe7 that reinvigorated the company's safety culture. According to Ruan's leadership team, the program empowered Ruan employees to take ownership of their safe driving behaviors and spread safety messages throughout the company.
“By establishing strong safety cultures throughout her career in trucking, Lisa has made a significant impact on highway safety and undoubtedly saved lives,” said Spear. “The trucking industry is fortunate to have committed safety leaders, like Lisa, and ATA is proud to recognize individuals who make safety their top priority.”
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Fleets Seek Immediate Hair-Testing Action by FMCSA
<img width="150" src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/news/m-j-b-huntdcsdriverdrivewyze-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
J.B. Hunt is one of several carriers petitioning the FMCSA to allow hair-testing results in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers. Photo: Drivewyze
">J.B. Hunt is one of several carriers petitioning the FMCSA to allow hair-testing results in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers. Photo: Drivewyze
">Rather than wait for a rulemaking, several major motor carriers have petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for exemptions that would allow them to use hair-testing in lieu of urinalysis to comply with pre-employment drug testing regulations for truck drivers.
The petitioners are Maverick Transportation, Knight Transportation, J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Dupré Logistics, all members of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (aka Trucking Alliance), along with two unaffiliated companies. While all of these businesses use hair-testing protocols, the Trucking Alliance estimates that fewer than 30 U.S. transportation/logistics firms employ hair testing for pre-employment drug testing.
The petitioners contend that if FMCSA grants exemptions to these companies, drug users could be “more readily identified” because these transport/logistics companies could then share failed hair-test results with other firms when they inquire about former drivers and applicants. Currently, federal regulations do not allow transportation companies to share these results.
While the FAST Act highway bill passed last year includes a pathway to permitting hair-testing, it is a winding and potentially long one. The provision authorizes hair-testing as an acceptable alternative to urinalysis in pre-employment screening for use of controlled substances and when conducting random testing for use of controlled substances if the operator was subject to hair-testing during pre-employment testing.
However, as the conference committee that signed off on the FAST Act stated at the time, “FMCSA has informed the conferees and the conferees agree that nothing in section 5402 authorizes the use of hair testing as an alternative to urine tests until the Department of Health and Human Services establishes federal standards for hair testing.”
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