Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339482
36 | Overdrive | July 2014 TRAPPED IN A CSA NIGHTMARE to "jump through the hoops," White says today. Adopting e-logs certainly didn't hurt the company's chances. Without all of it "and a great insurance provider who made that happen," he adds, "we might not be where we are today." It took only two months for re- instatement of Old Time Express' Satisfactory rating to take "some of the heat off of us" from increasingly concerned shippers, White says. "One very large shipper that had ap- proached us" when Old Time Express was Conditional and then backed off has now "finished the new-carrier setup process," White says. As for the brokers whose knee-jerk reaction was to pull away from the company, Old Time Express has taken note: "We won't be doing business with them again." Today, while a carrier's Compliance, Safety, Accountability Safety Measurement System profi le front page shows its investigation history, it does not list any safety rating information from the SafeStat system. Following recommendations from industry stakeholders in 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra- tion introduced a proposed revamp of the online dis- play that, front and center of a carrier's front page, includes that carrier's current safety rating. During the February 2013 meeting of FMCSA's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, As- sociate Administrator for Enforcement Bill Quade said changes he described as "tweaks" could be implemented as early as May. As of press time, however, those changes had not been made. Among those no doubt to be unhappy with the display changes is Rick Gobbell, formerly of FMC- SA's Tennessee division and currently a regulato- ry consultant to industry operating near Nashville, Tenn. In his prior role as the National Associ- ation of Small Trucking Companies' vice president of safety and compli- ance, Gobbell submitted comments to the federal docket on the display changes that excoriated the agency over its public display of CSA scoring metrics. Gobbell argued the bell-curve nature of the SMS BASIC scores "demonizes … 35 percent of carriers all the time," thus providing convenient statistical justifi cation for FMCSA budget requests. "It challenges our faith in our federal govern- ment," he wrote, "when one of our agencies, without going through a Rulemaking proceed- ing, decides that it is acceptable to damage good people in order to get to the 5-8 percent of our industry that are truly 'bad actors.' … This type of mindset creates collat- eral damage to someone incidental of the intended target. This happens every day with CSA/SMS displays." PUBLIC SCRUTINY OF SAFETY RATINGS IN CSA SMS REMAINS UNCERTAIN Advisory Committee, As- sociate Administrator for Enforcement Bill Quade changes that excoriated target. This happens every day with CSA/SMS displays." OLD TIME EXPRESS' TWO-YEAR ODYSSEY IN THE REGULATORY LABYRINTH MARCH 2012 Fleet exceeds intervention threshold in Hours of Service Compliance BASIC. An inspector does onsite audit and issues Conditional safety rating. SHORTLY THEREAFTER … Larger brokers begin to break ties. "Alert" status in Hours BASIC causes spike in roadside inspections, leading to maintenance violations, which push Vehicle Maintenance score up. TWO TO THREE MONTHS AFTER CONDITIONAL RATING The carrier initiates log-auditing ser- vice, more emphasis on logbook compli- ance. FMCSA rejects corrective action plan and declines follow-up review. JUNE 2012-APRIL 2013 With Conditional rating combined with a BASIC alert and rising scores in other categories, Old Time Express sees more brokered business dry up and is forced to address more direct customers' concerns. MAY 2013 OId Time Express invests in electronic logs and beefs up back-offi ce operation to take pressure off drivers. MARCH 2014 FMCSA reinstates Old Time Express' prior Satisfactory rating. CSA2_0714.indd 36 6/26/14 9:20 PM