Overdrive

November 2018

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1044881

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 31 of 67

30 | Overdrive | November 2018 CSA'S DATA TRAIL an above-average (and rising) ranking among states for its focus on moving violations and its violations-per-inspec- tion average. It's 14th highest nationally in both categories. The trends reflect Hallahan's observations and could point the way toward a broader reality. After its overreach with the fatigue checklist, perhaps enforcement in the state has gone back to brass-tacks enforcement of on-highway infractions, boosting moving-violations numbers since 2014 by more than 50 percent as of last year, as other violation categories remained rela- tively stable or on the decline. Moving violations percentage 5.7 2014 2015 2016 2017 Minnesota National average 6.8 4.5 4.6 10.2 5 9.8 5 Category Maintenance Lights Brakes Tires Moving violations Hours of service Percentage of all violations 57% 13.7% 10.9% 4.4% 9.8% 9.5% National rank of percentage 38 31 36 27 14 30 MOVING VIOLATIONS: 1.7 Minnesota's average viola- tions issued per individual inspection, ranking the state 14th among those with the high- est VPI measure. That's a fair amount above the 1.4 VPI national average. VIOLATION PROFILE Source: Unless otherwise noted, all numbers based on 2017 federal data analyzed by RigDig Business Intelligence (rigdig.com/bi). Minnesota's use of a fatigue checklist was an attempt to beef up enforcement of the federal code's 392.3 prohibition on oper- ating a truck while ill or fatigued. The checklist was deemed a violation of truckers' Fourth Amendment rights in part due to the intrusive nature of its ques- tions after an Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association lawsuit was decided in 2011. Since then, as operators inter- viewed for this piece note, such intrusive aspects of roadside stops there seem to have fallen by the wayside. Considered nationally, 392.3 violations issued appear to have reverted since that time to how they were intended to be used, accord- ing to regulators and industry watchers: cases where illness or fatigue is so extreme to any objective observer that they warrant an out-of-service order. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and OOIDA in 2014 peti- tioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to modify the 392.3 regulation itself to offer "more clarity and objectivi- ty as to what is considered to be a fatigued condition, such that the driver cannot safely perform the driving task," CVSA says. Two years later, FMCSA denied the petition, even as CVSA adopted new clarified guidance on enforcement of out-of-service orders associated with it. According to Overdrive reporting on the 2015 guidance, "A violation of the rule should only be issued when fatigue is so obvious and severe that it rises to the levels of necessitating an out-of-service order." That would RESULTS OF THE FATIGUE CHECKLIST BLOWBACK 14 Minnesota's national ranking for the almost 10 percent of violations written for traffic-enforcement-type infractions, or moving violations, statewide. That's in the upper tier of states for that driver-focused catego- ry of violations. However, in the other major driver-related category – hours of service violations – Minnesota is in the bottom half of ranked states. 1. Delaware 25.5% 2. Indiana 23.1% 3. Oklahoma 14.7% 4. Louisiana 14.2% 5. West Virginia 14.1% 6. North Dakota 13.8% 7. Illinois 13.1% 8. Idaho 12.3% 9. Vermont 11.3% 10. Michigan 11.1% 11. Nebraska 10.9% 12. Massachusetts 10.3% 13. New Mexico 10.2% 14. Minnesota 9.8% 15. Ohio 9.8% mean situations, said Western States Trucking Association representative Joe Rajkovacz at the time, such as where a driver "can barely stand up" or "falls asleep in the squad car." Enforcement of the regulation has been rising a bit in recent years but remains low relative to the high rates of 2011-12. The toughest 15 states for moving violations The Midwest regional focus on traffic enforcement | Minnesota's moving violations as a percentage of all issued violations nearly doubled between 2014 and 2016 before dropping a hair in 2017 (see graph to the left). The state's 9.8 percent measure, still, is almost double the national average for moving violations marked on inspection reports, which make up just 5 percent of violations nationally. However, Minnesota is typical in its region and is one of seven Midwest states in the top 15. 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 National violations of ill/fatigued operator regulation 392.3, by year

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Overdrive - November 2018