Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/911782
20 | Overdrive | December 2017 Logbook The U.S. Department of Transportation is amending its drug testing panel to add four commonly abused opioids to meet new Health and Human Services drug testing guidelines. The new testing stan- dards will go into effect Jan. 1. New drugs that drivers will be tested for include hydrocodone, hydromor- phone, oxymorphone and oxycodone. The drugs usually are taken as pills. Also, DOT will remove methylenedioxyeth- ylamphetamine from the existing drug testing panel and add methylenedioxyam- phetamine. The rulemaking also clarifies that only urine testing is allowed for DOT drug tests. Point-of-collection urine testing or instant tests are not allowed, as the tests have to be screened and confirmed at HHS labs. – Matt Cole Four opioids added to drug testing list Few Overdrive readers — 3 percent, ac- cording to poll results from earlier in the year — truck solely within the borders of California, thus subject to the state's intrastate trucking regulations. For hours of service, such operators enjoy a slightly more liberal approach to hours limita- tions – 12 hours of driving in a 16-hour on-duty window, amid a variety of Cali- fornia-specific exemptions for particular commodities. A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol said that the CHP is planning to seek an intrastate adoption of the electronic logging device mandate that is likely to impose a deadline of Dec. 31, 2020, for intrastate carriers to use ELDs. The date, mentioned in a series of slides that were part of a presentation delivered at CHP's Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit in late October, was confirmed by Fran Clader, CHP director of communications, who added that nothing is set in stone at this point. If it stands, it would be the latest intrastate compliance date that has been determined, in a state with one of two of the most significant intrastate truck- ing markets nationwide. Texas' Decem- ber 2019 intrastate ELD compliance date previously was the latest known. In Oregon, David McKane, safety programs manager for the state Depart- ment of Transportation's Motor Carrier Transportation Division, also put to rest any question of whether a delay may be in the offing there for intrastate truckers. "We have now determined we will be enforcing the ELD requirement on in- trastate motor carriers on December 18, 2017," McKane said – the same timeline imposed by the federal rule for interstate truckers. Intrastate haulers in Oregon also enjoy a slightly more liberal approach to hours of service limits than that taken by the federal rule for interstate driv- ers. It's similar to California's 12-drive in a 16-hour-window approach, with differences. – Todd Dills California eyes 2020 deadline for intrastate ELD New drugs that drivers will be tested for include hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone and oxycodone. THE ANNUAL TRUCK CONVOY for Special Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, raised over $40,000 for Special Olympics Iowa and featured 145 regis- tered trucks. TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA'S annual "Band Together for SCF" fund-raising campaign for the St. Christopher Truck- ers Relief Fund raised $241,311 in tandem with various raffles and other events. The campaign ran at TA and Petro locations, where drivers made $1 and $5 donations and received wristbands for showing their support. PILOT FLYING J recog- nized military veterans for Veterans Day by donating $125,000 to help the nationwide expansion of Bunker Labs, a nonprof- it organization built by veterans that aims to help other veterans start and grow businesses. THE IOWA 80 TRUCK- STOP in Walcott is getting a $10 million makeover, adding an extra 23,000 square feet to its existing 100,000-square-foot building. Iowa 80 plans to remain open during construction, which is expected to be completed by late 2018. RHODE ISLAND OFFICIALS announced the state's Rhodeworks trucks-only toll plan won't get underway until after Christmas to allow suffi- cient time for comment on the environmental impact of initiating tolling at the first two of 14 locations where gantries will be built.