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CVSA Votes to Remove Requirement That Driver’s Speak English from OOS Criteria

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Alliance also petitions FMCSA for Standard Testing Procedure on Language Proficiency

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) member jurisdictions have voted to remove from the out-of-service (OOS) criteria violations of 49 C.F.R. § 391.11(b)(2) that generally states that a person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless that person “can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.” Read more

Publisher

A History Lesson in Not Getting Paid Transportation Charges

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It’s not every day I get a call from a member where I’m able to invoke 200+ years of American history to basically blame our member for his troubles. A recent late afternoon call left me and our member nearly in tears laughing at the underlying ironic truth to my response to his problem.

Unfortunately, it’s only a matter of “when” not “if” when a trucking company owner will get stiffed on a freight bill. While there are sometimes options such as hitting a brokers bond to get payment, if you are dealing shipper direct and have a signed contract and then get shorted on freight charges, your only option is to sue – and this just isn’t really a viable choice when you are talking about a few hundred dollars. Who wants to spend a buck trying to recover a penny? Read more

Publisher

The Last Mile – Port Drayage Truckers

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When importing a widget manufactured in China, the ocean voyage is typically 2+ weeks. With increasing satellite telematics capabilities, a container loaded with widgets can be tracked from the time the container arrives at the origin port awaiting the ocean vessel to be loaded for arrival at your requested port. What happens next is called the Last Mile, the most important leg of the trip.

As vessels get bigger and bigger along the companies that operate them (18,500 TEU super-container ship), the terminals get mega-sized too so they can handle the avalanche of containers offloaded from each vessel. Read more

Publisher

Another Request for Exemption From Half-hour Break Requirement

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The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SCRA) has submitted an application for exemption to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for an exemption from the 30-minute break requirement under the federal HOS regulations for drivers operating under permit loads (oversize/overweight). Read more

Publisher

The Never Ending Story

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At this time of year people reflect on what they should have done and what they will do in the New Year, so let’s look at what is and what is likely to come along.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has given final approval to their Truck and Bus Rule, which is now the law unless they decide to do something else, always a possibility.
This means is there are no reprieves, no pardons and no excuses. CARB will be cruising the truck scales and setting up roadside stops with the approval and assistance of the CHP. Read more

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California Bill Will Allow CDL Holders to Attend Traffic School

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Re-printed from September 2012 CTN Magazine

Bill Does Not Eliminate Threat of Disqualification for Major or Serious Traffic Offenses

A bill sponsored and supported by various trade associations and organized labor including the California Trucking Association (CTA) and the California Teamsters Union will give California commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders a minor break when it comes to keeping points off their licenses. Read more

Publisher

‘Tis the Season!

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Wishing All a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

With all that life throws at us throughout the year, it’s important to take a step back, relax, regroup and enjoy the little things in life especially during the holiday season. Read more

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Finally, We Have a Hearing Date – CCTA v. CARB

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Well……..shockingly, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has given us a hearing date of Feb. 9, 2015, a Monday.

On December 1, CCTA counsel received notice from the Ninth Circuit’s clerk that our case is set for oral argument on Feb. 9, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in San Francisco. Each side will have 15 minutes to present their case arguments. We are actually last on calendar that day, with five cases ahead of us. Assuming they follow that order, we likely will not get called until 11:00 or 11:30 a.m., either way we will be there when court begins at 9:30 a.m. Read more

Publisher

CCTA Magazine

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If you are a new member or seldom read your CTN magazine, and were wondering about the November issue of the magazine, we just want to remind you that two years ago the board agreed to allow the staff to publish only 9 issues of the magazine instead of 12 each year. October/November is one of those dual months, as is March/April and June/July. Read more

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CCTA Bylaw Changes And Revisions

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Because the October Annual Board Meeting fell during this period, we did not run an article about all the changes to the CCTA Bylaws that the board approved primarily dealing with CCTA Chapters or as they are now referred to within a new section “Subdivisions”.

It’s important to note that we did send a Meeting Notice Card out to all members 3 weeks before the annual meeting like the one below, explaining the bylaws changes and the opportunity to vote for those changes. Read more