Are You Ready For The Motor Carrier Safety Regulations Shift?

Motor carriers across the United States are getting ready for a change

. There have been improvements made to the federal Department of Transportations safety measurement system for trucking. Drivers in the transportation world should know that the DOTare changing some aspects of how it measures drivers safety based on feedback from those in the intermodal trucking and motor carrier industry.

If youre a motor carrier, you should already know this information, but, if you dont, here are the basics of the changes that should go into effect at the beginning of December 2010. The Safety Status (SafeStat) measurement system, which is the DOTs Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations (or FMCSA), tool for identifying which are the high-risk motor carriers who require an intervention in order to keep the countrys roads safe.

The SMS will use all of the roadside inspection violations, which are safety based, and state reported crashed within a 24-month period in order to evaluate drivers. And it will assess each motor carriers safety performance based on whats called the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs. That includes fatigued or unsafe driving, vehicle maintenance, controlled substances/alcohol use, driver fitness, cargo related, and crash indicator. The SMS will calculate a measure for each BASIC by adding together the time and severity weighted violations and crashes with the most recent violations being weighted more heavily.

The departments Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, also known as FMCSA, plans to roll out the new Safety Measurement System in the next with the revisions as follows:

- The SMS BASIC results presentation will be modified. No longer will the term deficient be used in scoring a motor carriers score. Drivers who would have received a deficient will now get an alert label. The color used to categorize these motor carriers will also be changed from red to an orange. The language used to explain the BASIC results has also been clarified so that it is clear that the carrier is on priority for an intervention by FMCSA.

- The Cargo-Related BASIC results have been modified. These results have been recalibrated to improve the severity weightings on cargo securing violations based on input from SMEs, or subject matter experts. And the department will display for the public only the SMS Cargo- Related BASIC violations. The intervention status and percentiles will not be on public display.

The reason for this modification was because some who gave feedback during the data review period were concerned that the BASIC results were possibly creating a safety alert warning that is misleading. Because of this feedback, the agency conducted further analysis and concluded that SMEs input should be included in the severity weights for cargo securement. The agency plans to continue its analysis so that it can understand the impact on the different industrys segments of a motor carriers exposure in this particular BASIC.

There have been many changes where it comes to the supply chain in the Midwest and throughout the world. Those motor carriers who work within the international freight and drayage industries will have to obey these rules too. To see specific changes to such things likes chassis and container carriers or the logistics for these new rules, please read up on the website put out by U.S. Department of Transportation.

Or you can go to the website of one of todays most trusted shipping companies. Universal Transportation Services Group, or UTS Group, can provide you all the information you will need to stay in compliance as a motor carrier or as a customer who wants the lowest shipping prices with the most trusted company. Through its websitewww.utsgrp.comyou can learn all about how the company conducts its business and how the new regulations and rules are affecting the shipping business today.

While the changes havent gone into effect yet, you shouldnt wait to catch up on all of the changes. Should you want to do a little more research, you can always check out the information on the U.S. Department of Transportations website.

by:Brent Bois

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