The Trucker Newspaper - December 15-31, 2015

Thetrucker.com
b Bill from page 16 b
Congress is notified. For each of the following
rulemakings, DOT must report to
Congress within 30 days — and every 180
days thereafter — with an explanation for
why the statutory deadline was not met (if
one was established) and with an expected
date of completion. The notification must
include an updated rulemaking timeline and
a list of factors causing delays.
The requirement to report on rulemakings
likely stems from the fact that the
agency repeatedly has missed deadlines for
moving mandates through the rulemaking
process.
For instance, MAP-21, the two-year
highway bill passed in mid-2012, required
the agency to issue a final rule on mandated
electronic logging devices for Hours of
Service by October 1, 2013, a deadline that
FMCSA said it was not be able to meet because
of the need for notice and comment.
Minimum insurance limits
If DOT chooses to proceed with a rulemaking
to adjust minimum financial responsibility
levels the act says the department
must first consider the rulemaking’s
impact on safety; the motor carrier industry;
the insurance industry’s ability to provide
required coverage; the extent to which
the current levels adequately cover medical
care and compensation; the frequency with
which claims resulting from fatal crashes
exceed the current insurance limits and the
potential impact on crash reduction.
The act also requires the DOT by January
1, 2017, to issue a report on insurance
levels, including the differences between
state and federal limits; the extent to which
the current levels adequately cover medical
care and compensation and the frequency
with which claims (for all crashes) exceed
the current insurance limits.
The debate over insurance minimums
has been an off-and-on topic since Rep.
Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., introduced legislation
that would raise the required insurance
minimum for motor carriers from $750,000
to $4,422,000 per truck, an increase of almost
500 percent.
The legislation died in committee. Some
studies have shown that the current limit of
$750,000 is adequate in the vast majority
of accidents; some stakeholders believe the
minimum should be raised, but perhaps only
double the $750,000.
Congress established the current insurance
minimum in 1980.
Before being elected to Congress last
year, Cartwright was a member of the law
firm of Munley, Munley and Cartwright, a
firm that specializes in accident and injury
claims. After Cartwright was elected, he
resigned from the firm, now called Munley
Law.
In present dollars, adjusted for the increases
in the cost of medical care, it takes
more than $4.4 million to provide for the
equivalent of the $750,000 in the original
law, Cartwright claimed when he introduced
the bill.
For the truckload sector, there are positives
for what’s not in the highway bill,
Heller said, citing the lack of a mandate to
require that twin 33-foot trailers be allowed
on the nation’s highways.
“We need a freight delivery system that
makes sense for the entire industry, specifically
the truckload segment of the industry,”
Heller said. “Since truckload represents
78 percent of the trucking delivery
system, to say we’re a majority would be
an understatement. Thirty-three-foot trailers
do not work for the truckload sector of
the industry. They just won’t. We’re not designed
that way; we’re not set up that way.
It makes our drivers less safe because of the
3,000-pound dolly that’s incorporated into
it. The fact that 33-foot trailers are not in
the highway bill is yet another reason why
this is a good bill.”
WAtkINS ShEPARD PAY$
WE OFFER dRIVERS:
• $20 a Stop Pay
• Regular Home Time
• Steady year round work
• Full Benefits Package
• Electronic logs with GPS mapping
WE OFFER gRadS:
OUR DIFFERENCE
Nation December 15-31, 2015 • 17
Twin 33-foot trailers have been a frontburner
issue since at least early 2014 when
Henry J. Maier, president and CEO of FedEx
Ground Package System, said based
on data supplied by FedEx, UPS and other
less-than-truckload carriers, the use of 33-
foot twin trailers would provide a carrier
the potential, in any given lane, to absorb
up to 18 percent of future growth without
traveling any additional miles or worsening
wear-and-tear on the country’s roadways.
Industry-wide, that equals up to 1.8 billion
fewer miles driven, more than 300 million
gallons of gasoline saved and $2.6 billion
in reduced costs annually, proponents maintain.
Language allowing twin 33-foot trailers
• Weekly Pay
• Paid Orientation
• NO Hazmat
• Safety Bonuses
• Layover Pay Breakdown Pay
• Two weeks onsite training, then you go solo.
• Our training is done in the classroom and with our trainers during the day.
If you are a proactive driver who wants to earn
a great living we’ll keep you moving when
you are on the road and get you home
when you want Our drivers average over
10,000 miles a month and get home.
Teams enjoy dedicated runs.
call recruiting today
1.800.548.8895
call recruiting today
1.800.392.2470
is still in the House version of the FY2016
Transportation Housing and Urban Development
and Other Agencies Appropriations
bill.
It was in the Senate version until taken
out last month on an amendment offered by
Sen. Rogers Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif.
The ATA, which supports the longer
trailers, expressed disappointment with the
action.
“It is unfortunate the Senate has chosen
to give up on what could be a very beneficial
change in policy,” Graves said. “This modest
increase in tandem trailer length would
reduce the number of truck trips needed to
See Bill on p18 m
COMPANY DRIVERS
apply online by clicking apply now
www.JOBS.WKSH.com
• Dispatchers who know you by
name!
• Fuel Bonuses! They continue to go
up with your fuel mileage.
We RequiRe:
Class A CDL, A good safety record
CDL-A get paid for
your experience! If you
want to take your career to
the next level give us a call.
apply online by clicking apply now
www.JOBS.WKSH.com