SCIENCEALERT.COM
A laser that detects if there’s alcohol vapour inside cars has the potential to reduce the numbers of road injuries related to irresponsible drinking.
Researchers in Poland have created a device that detects alcohol vapour inside moving cars, and it can help detect blood alcohol levels as low as 0.1% in drivers, reports The Verge. Read more
The California Construction Trucking Association and American Alliance Drug Testing were at the California Construction Expo in Long Beach held at the Long Beach convention center on July 31st. Lee Brown and my self spent the day meeting and greeting convention guests who stopped by the booth. Read more
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) recently released the California Workers’ Compensation Aggregate Medical Payment Trends report comparing medical payment transaction data from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2012.
WCIRB researchers used reported medical payment data representing more than 90 percent of the California insurance market and accounting for approximately $1.3 billion in payments annually. Read more
I believe the best word to describe Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) head, Anne Ferro’s July, would be – tumultuous! There was a pretty aggressive call for her resignation by a trucking association and tepid support for her from other “inside-the-beltway” transportation associations. On July 25th, Ms. Ferro announced her departure from the agency. Read more
Betty Plowman – Membership Services Director NorCal
My vacation back to Louisiana and the east in July was absolutely one of my life’s greatest experiences. I have put off for way too many years reconnecting with family members there. The “Cousins Reunion” in Baton Rouge cured that for now. Read more
This is a story that I know resonates with many today concerning the influence of CARB regulations on many members that are 60 years or older.
Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet a distant relative for the first time – an aunt. Always interested in my family history, I asked why they had left Oklahoma and came to California. She told me that her family had been able to make it through the “Great Depression” in the 1920’s because they lived on a farm and were able to raise chickens, had a garden and even a milk cow, so the family was always fed. While it was rough they managed to survive until the Dust-Bowl drought years hit in mid to late 1930’s, and that was the end. They packed up and headed for California, known to all back then as “The Land of Opportunity.” Read more
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS – LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
July 14, 2014
Department of Industrial Relations Office of Policy, Research, and Legislation (OPRL)
Re: Clarification a Registration Requirements Under SB 854
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing on behalf of our client, the California Construction Trucking Association (“CCTA”) regarding information being disseminated by DIR staff that does not appear to be consistent with the law. Specifically, DIR staff is advising our members that they need to register (and pay a $300 fee) as contractors in order to perform work on public works projects.By way of background, CCTA, formerly known as the California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA), is a 501(c)(6) trade association incorporated in 1941. CTTA represents over 1,000 construction industry related trucking compm1ies ranging in size from 1 truck to over 350 trucks whose business constitutes over 75% of the hauling of dirt, rock, sand, and gravel operations in the State. Read more
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) recently announced that they are establishing a new public works program to replace the Compliance Monitoring Unit and Labor Compliance Program requirements for bond-funded and other public works projects. The legislation became effective July 1st, of this year, it launched a new set of regulations for public works contractors and subcontractors, using the DIR’s new online application, and a new tax disguised as a fee of $300, “effective this year” and paid “thereafter.” Read more
By Pat Whalen, Legal Counsel to CCTA
A number of recent state law changes (legislation) and court cases in Sacramento have increased the potential exposure of trucking companies to liability for wage and hour claims, employee payment forms, and misclassifications of independent contractors. Read more
Employers in California are increasingly coming under attack on just about all fronts; taxes, energy costs, and growing employment liability of mammoth proportions. On the page across (CTN Aug 2014), Pat Whalen, who is part of our legal counsel team drafted a memo to our employer members that I hope all of you take the time and read. There are so many seemingly bad court decisions (in both state and federal court) and new regulations coming out of Sacramento that will have a very challenging effect on our employer members that one has to wonder when the end will come for small businesses here. Read more
