Reminder: Chains Required on I-70

Colorado State law requires that trucks traveling on I-70 through the mountains between Dotsero (MP 133) and Morrison (MP 259) must  carry chains beginning on September  1.  CMCA strongly encourages all commercial carriers to comply with this law.   

The State maintains several chain up areas and Autosock is legal as an alternative to chains in Colorado.

Truckers Credited With Mobilizing Against Child Trafficking

Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) a non-profit organization is mobiizing truck drivers against sex-trafficking and providing the information they need to read the telltale signs of human trafficking.  The organization has recently partnered with Colorado motor carriers, truck stop operators and the Colorado Motor Carriers Association to provide critical information on any trafficking signs in Coloardo.

It's not a hypothetical issue.  Last month ABC New 7 (TV) presented a story on the issue after a a major child sex-trafficking ring was busted in Colorado.  Johnson's Corner, a well known Colorado Truckstop on I-25 is leading the effort to increase trucker awareness to this problem. 

Truck drivers are in a excellent position to observe things that the general public doesn't notice, according to the group's national director, Kendis Paris.  Truckers Against Trafficking has created a video to help educate drivers of the telltale signs of human trafficking.  There have already been several trafficking cases resolved, thanks to alert drivers.

Check out the ABC video clip for more information and visit the "Truckers Against Trafficking website". TAT maintains a hotline for reporting suspected incidents.  You can download a wallet card with the number from their website. 

Highway Reauthorization Update

On January 31, John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, (T&I), formally introduced HR 7, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.” The proposal would:

• Stabilize the Highway Trust Fund by providing a new, long-term source of revenue from royalties generated from new oil and gas leases in the Gulf and Alaska;
• Maintain the current level of funding for highways (approximately $41 billion/year) for 5 years;
• Fund non-user programs, namely transit, the $2 billion Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program, and several smaller programs out of a new “Alternative Transportation Account”;
• Prohibit tolling on existing, free Interstate capacity;
• Allow states to authorize the operation of 6-axle, 97,000 pound tractor trailer combinations on the Interstate System, allow states that currently have the authority to operate longer combination vehicles in their state to expand LCV operations to other routes, increase the minimum single trailer length limit states must permit on the National Network from 48 to 53 feet, and the minimum length trailer length limit for doubles from 28 to 33 feet, and require states to allow auto haulers a maximum gross weight of 88,000 pounds and a maximum overall length limit of 80 feet;
• Dedicate 50% of all highway funding to the Interstate System and other critical highways that make up the National Highway System;
• Require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to complete a study on the restart provision in the new Hours of Service rule by March 31, 2013;
• Require the establishment of a clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results;
• Require the establishment of a National Registry of Medical Examiners;
• Require research on crashworthiness standards for large trucks;
• Require that new entrants pass a written proficiency exam;
• Prohibit the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) from issuing a final rule on “wetlines”;
• Prohibit transporters of hazardous materials from being held responsible for pre-transportation requirements that are the responsibility of the shipper;
• Streamline environmental approvals for highway projects.

On February 1, following a marathon 18-hour markup that began at 9:00 a.m. and ended near 3:00 a.m. after the consideration of some 90 amendments, the House T&I Committee reported the highway policy provisions of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act by a vote of 29-24. The study calls for a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts on safety and highway and pavement damage of:

• 88,000 5-axles single combinations;
• 6-axle 97,000 single combinations; longer combination vehicles; and

any other truck configuration the Secretary determines appropriate.
The legislation still includes several important productivity increases, including an increase in the minimum trailer length for single combinations from 48 to 53 feet; an increase in the minimum trailer length for doubles from 28 to 33 feet; and an increase in the overall length for auto haulers from 75 to 80 feet. Courtesy of Idaho Transport News.

ATA Files Petition on HOS Changes

American Trucking Associations has filed a petition with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asking the court to review the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recently published final rule changing the hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

“We regret that FMCSA and the Obama administration have put ATA and its member companies in a position to take this legal action,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. “The rules that have been in place since 2004 have contributed to unprecedented improvement in highway safety.  The law is clear about what steps FMCSA must undertake to change the rules and we cannot allow this rulemaking, which was fueled by changed assumptions and analyses that do not meet the required legal standards, to remain unchallenged.”

“FMCSA’s own analyses show that even when they overstate the safety benefits of these changes, the costs created by their rule still outweigh those benefits. We need this issue to be resolved in a credible manner, taking into account the undisputed crash reduction since 2004, so we can focus limited government and industry resources on safety initiatives that will have a far greater impact on highway safety,” Graves said.

“FMCSA’s own analyses show that even when they overstate the safety benefits of these changes, the costs created by their rule still outweigh those benefits.

As it has for many years, ATA will continue to work with FMCSA to implement rules and programs that are based on sound research, and that will have a meaningful, demonstrated impact on highway safety.  
As such, ATA will support FMCSA’s move toward mandated electronic on-board recorders to ensure greater compliance with the current, effective HOS rules, and to facilitate better enforcement of those effective rules. 

Since operating speed and “traveling too fast for conditions” in particular is, according to FMCSA’s own data, a far greater highway safety concern than fatigue, ATA supports a new government requirement for large trucks to be electronically speed limited; a return to a national maximum speed limit of 65 mph for all vehicles to avoid safety consequences of car-truck speed differentials; and greater deployment of automated speed and traffic enforcement technologies.

ATA will also continue to push for greater deployment of active safety technologies to change specific, unsafe driver behaviors and aid specific crash avoidance responses; as well as industry and government programs to address distracted and inattentive driving since that unsafe behavior is at or near the top of the list of crash causes for both commercial and non-commercial drivers.

“Improving highway and truck safety is about understanding the behaviors and events that precipitate crashes, and about implementing programs and countermeasures that truly address those causes. We trust FMCSA will be a partner with ATA in implementing meaningful countermeasures aimed at the biggest causes of crashes.” said ATA Chairman, Dan England, chairman of C.R. England, Inc., Salt Lake City.