Berrier Insurance: New Commercial Truck Saftey Standards

Berrier Insurance, commercial truck insurance specialists, reports on more requirements being imposed upon the trucking industry.  It seems that regardless of how new a rig is the government continues to want the latest and greatest technology added despite costs to owners. Should the NHTSA allow either system to be installed?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing a safety standard that requires all commercial trucks and buses be upgraded with electronic stability control (ESC).  This new rule is the first of its kind and is targeted at all vehicles with a gross weight of more than 26,000 pounds.

It is anticipated that this new rule would go into effect as early as two years after legislation is signed.  That would mean that, in addition to new regulations already requiring upgrades, owners/operators may be looking at additional expenses and/or return visits to the shop in order to meet these new standards.  Additionally, the proposal for the new standards includes the addition of performance testing the new technology.  Many truck manufacturers are currently installing this additional piece of equipment on new rigs; however, there are actually two types in use and the choice between systems has yet to be decided:

• ESC (electronic stability control) $1800-$2300: A system triggered when it detects roll instability that often occurs when trucks take turns too fast or maneuver too quickly plus reacts to both roll and yaw instability, this often occurs during skidding that could result in a jackknife.

•  RSC (roll stability control) $800-$1600: This system is already installed in 25% of newer models and is similar in nature to ESC. However the RSC is less expensive and is only triggered when the system detects roll instability.

University of Michigan Transportation Institute study of 5-axle tractor trailers is swaying many toward the ESC.  It was found that the RSC resulted in 3,489 fewer crashes and 106 fewer deaths than trucks without stabilizers of any kind.  However, it was also found that with the ESC, 4,659 fewer crashes and 126 fewer deaths resulted.

Fortunately, members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal after it has been published in the Federal Register or during public hearings held by the NHTSA, which has yet to be determined.  For those that have a vested interest in the outcome, now is the time to make sure your voice is heard!

Free insurance quotes for your big rig with Berrier Insurance!!

Stronger Emission Regulations On Commercial Trucking

Uh-oh sorry guys, we hate to be the bearer of bad news but Berrier Insurance, commercial truck insurance specialists, just had to share the latest news about the EPA granting the federal government the ability to tighten emission regulations.

Federal government now wants to regulate commercial trucks and RV's in a similar way to passenger cars in attempt to decrease emissions. Commercial trucks and buses must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent and overhaul engine design starting with models built in 2014. Most operators will need to spend thousands upgrading their rigs or buying new vehicles, as you can imagine not everyone is happy about this. With thousands already invested into their trucks, most owner operators fear that they won’t be on the roads much longer. In recent years the trucking industry has been feeling the chains of regulation tightening around them making business harder to manage and keep afloat financially. A group of California truckers contending the regulations has filed suit to block them. Even so, these regulations have the support of the large and powerful American Trucking Association.

Attention Commercial Truckers!: Important Change in CDL Requirements

Have a Commercial Driver License? Doesn’t matter if you are currently operating or not, this new law applies to you. If you have not self-certified as an "interstate" or "intrastate" driver by 2014 you could be pulled off the road and have your CDL revoked. How do you know which one to register as? If you plan on trucking outside of your state or if the load you are hauling originated out of state or is headed out of state, then you will be required to self-certify as an interstate commerce driver. If you do self-certify that you’re operating as interstate commerce, then your medical data, or medical examiners certificate, will become part of your driver record. If you self-certify as an intrastate driver, no medical records are required and you will simply receive a "U" restriction on your license. Either way you are required to go into a DMV office after January 30th 2012 and register as one or the other. The following video further clarifies this new Federal requirement.

Ban On Handheld Phone Use For Truckers-Violation Could Effect Your Ability to Get Commercial Truck Insurance at an Affordable Price!

New news! Berrier Insurance, commercial truck insurance specialists, just heard about the latest announcement by FMCSA and we thought you should know because if you're caught violating this new law it could effect your ability to get commercial truck insurance at an affordable price!

Wednesday, Nov. 23 it was announced that effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, a rule prohibiting interstate commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while operating their vehicles will go into effect.

Drivers who violate the restriction will face federal civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense and disqualification from operating a commercial motor vehicle for multiple offenses. Additionally, states will suspend a driver’s commercial driver’s license after two or more serious traffic violations. Commercial truck and bus companies that allow their drivers to use handheld cell phones while driving will face a maximum penalty of $11,000.

To view the final rule, go to www.regulations.gov; the docket numbers are FMCSA–2010-0096 and PHMSA-2010-0227.

Driver Monitoring Systems?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking a close look at whether on board driver monitoring systems are an effective way to improve safety.

The agency is mid-way through a multi-year research project designed to measure how well drivers respond to feedback from systems that track lane departures, impending collisions and fatigue, among other indicators. The research also will produce the largest continuous collection of naturalistic driving data ever undertaken, said Olu Ajayi, a research statistician at the agency, in an article describing the effort.

It is not clear at this point what the agency might do with the information it gets from this study. Nothing in the record indicates it intends to write a rule concerning such technologies, and in any case it will be at least two years before the research produces any insights.

The Technology:

In the study, 270 trucks from three volunteer carriers will be equipped with an onboard monitoring system, DriveVision Pro by Transecurity. The system integrates safety technologies such as forward collision and lane departure warning with driver observation systems designed to detect fatigue or inattention, and provides immediate feedback if the truck is at risk. Data from the device also is fed into a management information system to help with driver coaching.
Transecurity is a commercial spin-off from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which conducts safety research for a number of clients, including FMCSA. It was created in 2006 by a team led by VTTI director Thomas Dingus.

Ajayi said in an interview that researchers will use the system to establish a baseline of the drivers' performance without any intervention, and then compare that to their performance while the system is responding. In a subsequent stage the researchers will see if any improvement can be sustained without the system responding.

Specifically, the study is intended to determine if driver performance improves with feedback from the system, and the comparative effectiveness of immediate versus management feedback. Researchers also want to know if they can use the system to determine a driver's risk potential.
Other goals are to see if any driver improvements can be sustained over time, and to gauge driver reaction to the system.

Potential Negatives:

An inkling of what some drivers will say came from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which said in comments to the agency that there are significant negatives attached to this kind of system.

Onboard monitoring systems can penalize drivers for defensive maneuvers, and they can be distracting, the association said.

On the other hand, the carriers that already use these kinds of systems have found significant benefits. C.R. England, for example, uses lane departure, forward collision and headway warning, as well as a stability control system that president Chad England described as "the biggest winner in safety technology as far as I am concerned."

At this point, the agency is preparing to gather information from the drivers who will participate in the 18-month field test. The agency last week asked for comments on this phase of the project (June 24 Federal Register). The study is scheduled to be completed by August 2013.

This was originally posted by Truckinginfo.com so what do you guys think? Is this going to be a good thing or a bad thing for trucking. We can certainly see how this may make an impact when shopping for insurance. Depending on how testing goes insurance companies may look at this as a way to save money both for them and for you.

An accident can happen anywhere and at any time. To make sure you are properly covered contact us at Berrier Insurance and we will review your commercial trucking insurance with you. We can offer you the best rates on commercial auto insurance and provide detailed answers to any of your questions about insurance. Call us today 888-472-4915.

Roadchecks

Truck and bus safety inspectors will be on the road night and day during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s 72-hour International Roadcheck on June 7-9, checking vehicles and their drivers at inspection sites along major highways across North America.

In addition, roving patrols will inspect vehicles and drivers traveling other roadways.

Since its inception in 1988, the roadside inspections conducted during the annual Roadcheck have numbered more than one million. It also has provided for the distribution of educational literature and safety events to educate industry and the general public about the importance of safe commercial vehicle operations and the roadside inspection program.

With the recent increased attention on driver hours of service and electronic on board recorders, this year’s Roadcheck will emphasize checking driver logbooks and underscore to drivers the importance of maintaining their logbooks, taking breaks, preventing fatigue, and driving without distractions. Also, Roadcheck 2011 will include added emphasis on finding carriers of household goods who may be operating under the radar by using improperly marked rental vehicles and/or operating as a property carrier rather than a HHG carrier.

First posted on TruckersNews.com

Get a free quote for commercial trucking at berrierinsurance.com or call one of our experts at 530-823-8000. We can offer you the lowest and most comprehensive coverage for your trucks, business, or personal autos!

Truckloads of migrants

X-ray machines at checkpoints in southern Mexico are capturing the ghostly outlines of a clandestine business worth billions a year, people packed tighter than cattle and transported like consumer goods in tractor-trailers to the United States.

The machines in place for less than two years at two state police checkpoints have led to the two largest hauls of migrants, who pay anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000 for passage, depending where they start.

The United Nations estimates that smuggling migrants across Mexico's border with the U.S. alone is a $6.6 billion business annually, compared to an estimated the $10 billion to $29 billion in illegal drug running. The migrant smuggling estimate doesn't include another $1 billion paid by thousands of non-Mexicans to cross from Guatemala and travel north, according to a 2010 U.N. report on transnational crime.

The 513 people apprehended Tuesday in two trailers in the state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, represented at least $3.5 million in cargo. Another trailer filled with 219 people was discovered in January.
Some suffered from dehydration after traveling for hours clinging to cargo ropes strung inside the containers to keep them upright, allowing more migrants to be crammed in.

Air holes had been punched in the tops of the containers, but migrants interviewed at the state prosecutor's office said they lacked air and water. The trucks were bound for the central city of Puebla, where the migrants said they had been told they would be loaded aboard a second set of vehicles for the trip to the U.S. border.

Smuggling in decades past was the business of small independent operators who helped migrants cross once they reached the U.S. border. But evading U.S. authorities has become much more difficult with increased border enforcement in recent years. At the same time, Mexico's migrant routes have become much more dangerous, controlled by drug gangs that see new moneymaking opportunities in kidnapping and extorting those who cross their territory.

In the case of Mexico's southern border, no one can say exactly who the organized smuggling groups are. Some say that large transport rings operate separately from Mexico's brutal drug gangs, such as the Zetas or the Gulf Cartel, who stick to kidnapping and extortion.

To Read more visit TheTrucker.com

Don't forget to check out our site, its just had a facelift! We specialize in commercial trucking insurance including tow truck insurance! That's not all we do though, we can also get you coverage for your motorcycle, ATVs, personal auto, and boats! Visit us at BerrierInsurance.com and call us for a quick free quote at 888-472-4915.

Lawmakers introduce a second Jason's Law bill for more truck parking

Two years after Schoharie County, N.Y., truck driver Jason Rivenburg was murdered at an abandoned South Carolina gas station, Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., Wednesday morning were joined by Jason’s widow Hope and members of the transportation industry at the House Triangle outside the Capitol Building Wednesday morning to announce the reintroduction of another Jason’s Law, a bill aimed at increasing truck parking facilities across the country. Hope will personally lobbying members of Congress to cosponsor the bill.

Rivenburg was murdered in March 2009 during a robbery attempt for a meager $7. A long haul trucker, he had stopped to rest. The case called attention to the nationwide shortage of safe, accessible rest stops for truckers and led Tonko to introduce a similar bill in the 111th Congress.

Jason’s Law would create a grant program that would help alleviate the parking shortages and help pay for expansion and safety improvements at existing rest areas.

The American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association immeidately reaffirmed there support for Jason’s Law. The ATA called it critical safety legislation that would take steps to address the shortage of truck parking on nation’s highways.

“America’s professional truck drivers need access to safe and legal parking in order to get the rest they need to safely transport the nation’s essential goods and comply with federal hours-of-service rules,” Mary Phillips, ATA senior vice president of legislative affairs said at a press conference here. “We applaud Rep. Tonko for again introducing this critical legislation, and hope Congress will act quickly to deliver for those who deliver America’s goods. Our drivers shouldn’t be forced into the ‘no-win’ situation of choosing between continuing to drive to find safe parking or parking on the shoulder or ramp or other location that puts themselves or other motorists at risk.”

Jason’s Law would provide $20 million annually for a number of initiatives to improve access to truck parking across the country, ranging from construction of new parking capacity and improvements to existing commercial parking areas, to technology to track open parking spaces and improvements to existing noncommercial parking facilities to accommodate large trucks.

“The fact that states have been considering closing existing parking facilities in order to address their budget shortfalls underscores the need for this legislation,” Phillips said. “If left unaddressed, the lack of truck parking will reach a crisis stage; over the next 9 years, we will add nearly 2 million more trucks to our roads to meet our nation’s freight demand.”

The creation of more long-term truck parking has been a longstanding issue for the trucking industry and is a key part of ATA’s progressive safety agenda.

“We would like to thank Mr. Tonko and Mr. Paulsen for their leadership and Hope for her tenacious dedication and courage,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. “The trucking industry faces a litany of issues, and the least we can do is to make sure drivers have a safe place to rest while delivering the nation’s goods.”

At Berrier Insurance, we love truckers. We specialize in commercial trucking insurance including tow trucks! That's not all we do though, we can also get you coverage for your motorcycle, ATVs, personal auto, and boats! Don't forget to check out our site, its just had a facelift! Visit us at BerrierInsurance.com and call us for a quick free quote at 888-472-4915.

New DOT Proposal Allows Mexican Trucks into the US

Obama plans to admit Mexican trucks to drive US highways and roads as a starting point for negotiations intended to resolve a longstanding dispute between the two nations. The proposal aims to satisfy the obligations of the US under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while also prioritizing the safety of products transported across the border.

In 2009 Congress blocked the cross border truck safety pilot program with the Omnibus Appropriation Act. Since the US is not currently meeting its NAFTA obligations to allow a pilot program of Mexican trucks to enter the US, Mexico has placed retaliatory tariffs on many US goods, including fresh produce items entering Mexico. Given the economic impact on the fresh produce industry and the damage caused to US-Mexico trade, United Fresh contends that the crisis must be resolved urgently.

However when the U.S. Department of Transportation's revealed its plans for opening American roads to Mexican trucking companies, the proposal met with the ire of U.S. truck drivers. Expressed concerns over jobs, safety and environmental regulations being met, and crime trafficking are being brought to light.

The new DOT proposal includes a five-step process for any Mexican carrier seeking to operate inside the U.S. There will be an application process followed by a vetting procedure that would require both the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Dept. of Justice to sign off on the carrier.

Initially, a limited number of carriers would be allowed into the program, DOT said, to allow for proper program oversight. However there is still great concern that questionable trucks and sketchy wheel-men will slip through the cracks.

"It will take substantial effort on the part of the Obama Administration and Congress to work through the concepts in this proposal and create a final agreement acceptable to all parties," Director of International Trade Policy Doug Goudie said

Read more about the new DOT proposal in the New York Times and make sure you and your truck are properly insured. Berrier insurance offers the best rates on commercial truck insurance! Contact us and we will give you a free truck insurance quote over the phone at 888-472-4915.

Agency to Consider Speed Rule in 2012

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced it will launch a rule making on the issue in 2012 on requiring devices to limit speed in trucks.

According to a notice to be published in the Jan. 3 Federal Register, NHTSA is granting two separate petitions for rulemaking filed in 2006 – one by the American Trucking Associations and the other by safety advocacy group Road Safe America along with nine trucking companies -- Schneider National, C.R. England, H.O. Wolding, ATS Intermodal, Dart Transit, J.B. Hunt, U.S. Xpress, Covenant Transport and Jet Express.

Both petitions proposed installation of devices on new trucks that would limit top speed to 68 mph on trucks with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) greater than 26,000 pounds. The major difference between the petitions is that Road Safe America and its nine carrier allies also want speed limiters mandated on all existing trucks built after 1990.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is opposed, however. “Speed limiting a truck at 68 miles per hour, or at any other speed, will not improve highway safety,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA. “All credible highway research shows that highways are safest when all vehicles travel at the same speed and that different speeds for cars and trucks actually increase the likelihood of accidents.”

A study conducted by the University of Arkansas showed that speed limit differences between trucks and cars increase speed differentials, which create more dangerous interactions between trucks and cars, OOIDA said. Also, a study conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute shows that speed limited trucks are overrepresented in rear-end fatalities involving large trucks. Four percent of all trucks are speed limited, yet half of the rear-end fatalities involving trucks were with speed-limited trucks, the association pointed out.

NHTSA’s notice granting the petitions does not explain why it won’t begin the rulemaking for more than a year. The notice does mention, however, that NHTSA expects FMCSA to publish findings of a study on the safety impact and associated economic benefits of speed limiters in commercial motor vehicles.

The decision to grant the petitions from ATA and Road Safe America to conduct a rulemaking does not mean that a final rule will be issued, NHTSA said in its Federal Register notice. “The determination of whether to issue a rule is made after study of the requested action and the various alternatives in the course of the rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria.”

Even if NHTSA doesn’t ultimately adopt the specific rule ATA and Road Safe America seek, speed limiters would become more common under another rule NHTSA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency already propose related to heavy-truck fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Under the EPA/NHTSA proposal, truck manufacturers would face mandates to increase fuel efficiency of tractor-trailers though use of several technologies, including vehicle speed limiters.

More information on the petitions for rulemaking and comments on those petitions are available at http://www.regulations.gov/ by searching NHTSA-2007-26851.

Also if you are in need of affordable truck insurance, stop by at BerrierInsurance.com and ask for a fast, free quote. We have been specializing in trucking insurance in California, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona for almost 30 years. We give you the best protection with quality truck insurance and the lowest price possible and the friendliest staff.

National Texting Ban in Commercial Vehicles Now in Place

A new law recently passed has now placed a nation wide ban on texting while driving commercial vehicles. Made official Oct. 21 it includes penalties up to $2,750 and an $11,000 maximum for carriers, as well as sanctions including, for repeat offenders, disqualification from operating vehicles in interstate commerce. A texting conviction is now considered a serious traffic violation. Driver violators can be disqualified for 60 days if convicted of two separate violations in three years and 120 days if convicted of three or more violations in three years.

Under the new law texting includes a short message service, emailing, instant messaging, a request to access the Internet or any other form of electronic text retrieval or entry.

However, it does not include:

• Reading, selecting or entering a telephone or extension number, or voicemail retrieval codes and commands into an electronic device to make or receive a phone call or using voice commands to initiate or receive a phone call.

• Inputting, selecting, or reading a global positioning system or navigation system.

• Using fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, CBs or music players.

We are concerned about the safety of our drivers and ask that no one drive distracted. Accidents do happen and driving while texting increases those chances. We offer the best rates on commercial auto insurance to protect you in case of an accident. To make sure you are properly covered contact us at Berrier Insurance and we will review your commercial trucking insurance with you, providing detailed answers to any of your questions. Keep yourself safe, if you see a distracted driver stay clear of them! To read more of this article visit Truckers News.

Lisa Sherer, President

Berrier Insurance Agency, Inc.