Overdrive

18 | Overdrive | August 2018 Logbook The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting comments through Sept. 4 on a pilot program that would allow military-trained under-21 drivers to drive across state lines. Currently, drivers under the age of 21 are restricted to drive only intrastate. The 2015 FAST Act high- way bill, however, requires FMCSA to establish the under-21 pilot program for military veterans, potential- ly as a means to opening the door for nonmilitary veteran under-21 drivers to operate interstate. The agency first proposed the three-year pilot program in August 2016 and collected com- ments on whether there were any additional safe- guards needed to ensure safety with the program. The notice published July 6 in the Federal Register seeks comments on the pilot program as a whole before it is submitted to the White House Office of Man- agement and Budget for approval. FMCSA says a pilot program would allow it to determine if the safety outcomes of drivers under the age of 21 with military experience driving heavy-duty trucks are sim- ilar to the safety outcomes of all truckers between the ages of 21 and 24. To come to fruition, OMB must approve the program, and FMCSA must publish a final rule establishing it. The agency says the plan is to have about 50 partic- ipating fleets that will hire a combined 200 current or former members of the armed forces or reserve and National Guard components between the ages of 18 and 20 per year. These carriers also will need a combined 200 under-21 intrastate drivers and a combined 200 drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 as a control group to compare safety data. Drivers participating in the program will not be allowed to transport hazardous materials or drive trucks with special configurations. Comments can be made and viewed at Regulations. gov by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0196. – Matt Cole Younger interstate driver pilot proposal advances FMCSA is seeking public comment on a program that would allow 18-20-year-old, military-trained drivers to drive interstate. Medical examiner registry functions improve Greater search functionality has returned to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's National Regis- try of Certified Medical Examiners, the list of U.S. Department of Transpor- tation-approved examiners from which drivers must receive their biannual DOT physicals. The return of the more extensive search options comes amid the agency's work to restore the NRCME website since being taken offline in Decem- ber after an unidentified source tried to plant malicious software (malware) in the system. For nearly three months, drivers were unable to use the system to search for a certified medical examiner, though in March the agency added a limited search tool that allowed drivers to search for examiners via ZIP code. Now, driv- ers can search via an examiner's registry number, name of examiner and business and ZIP code. The ongoing technical issues prompt- ed the agency to delay the enactment of a system meant to combine drivers' commercial driver's licenses and medical certificates by three years — to June 2021. FMCSA also has restored function- ality to allow medical examiners to upload the results of DOT physicals to the agency. The agency is "diligently working to return full functionality" to the website, said FMCSA spokesperson Duane DeBruyne. – James Jaillet RUSH ENTERPRISES launched a new website for its House of Trucks used trucks outlets in Chicago and Dallas. HotTrucks.com has a large inventory of Class 8 tractors, box trucks, flatbeds, refuse trucks, trailers and more from all major manufacturers. URGENTCARETRAVEL, a medical clinic network partnered with Pilot Flying J, opened new locations at PFJ travel centers in Baytown, Texas; Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and West Memphis, Arkansas. The three locations bring UCT's total to nine, with seven more planned this year. The clinics offer a walk-in service for drivers, as well as a monthly, all-inclusive benefits package.

• Cover
• Remember relationships when talking rates.
• Pulse: Driving skills for tomorrow’s trucks.
• Making a health case for hours change.
• Podcasts on broken ELDs, reefer washouts.
• Readers mixed on tariff freight impacts.
• Ruling keeps restrictions on glider kits.
• FMCSA denies e-log exemption request.
• FMCSA to test new CSA scoring system.
• Younger driver pilot proposal advances.
• Medical examiner registry functions improve.
• Putting old-school Pete in the new school.
• Bright orange W9 grabs attention.
• Morgan, Ball pick up first Bandit wins of ’18.
• Reader Rigs: ’13 389 all in the family; ’15 389 is Louisiana blue; ’06 379 beats the heat; ’16 Western Star 5700 lives on the road; ’16 VNL 780 a Peach State Volvo.
• EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT CBs and accessories.
• GEAR GUIDE Prefilter, tires, suspension, more.
• FLEET NEWS A. Duie Pyle opens Bronx service center.
• BETTER HEALTH Prostate health can decline with aging.
• UNFORGIVING CLOCK | For all the attention on hours reform, it’s ELDs that still stir the most ire.
• Business: Flatbed leads broader gains in owner-op income Net income for leased owner-operators and independents in the first three months of 2018 continued to march upward. Operators across all three segments took home more in 2018’s first quarter on a
• COVER STORY: Some pain amidst the gains Overdrive’s annual CSA’s Data Trail update of national enforcement trends shows that it’s the smallest carriers that are catching the brunt of issues arising from ELD malfunctions and user errors. They’re also get
• Today’s flatbeds lighter, stronger The newest flatbed trailers, if spec’d properly, are more productive, require less maintenance, are safer and are built to last longer. Aluminum alloys offer the durability of high tensile-strength steel at less than ha
• Combating heat’s toll on batteries Winter weather takes a lot of blame for battery failures, but the damage caused by hot-weather driving is often the primary culprit. Battery wear can go undetected for months, but routine checks can head off potential f