Lawsuit Against a Trucking Company. A First Hand Account. Part 1

I was a manager at a trucking company when a lawsuit landed on my desk. 2 years prior, a group of college kids, traveling between rival schools hit the back of our trailer. The driver was putting on snow chains. The lawsuit, and subsequent deposition, taught me a lot about following procedures and record keeping; specifically the Driver Qualification File.

The lawsuit against the trucking company was 15 years ago.
I have continued my management career in the trucking industry. I have shared the deposition with every new safety manager that I hire. No matter how much experience they have: they always come back wide-eyed.  I want to share the transcripts from the deposition.

Reading these posts will bring the Driver Qualification File to life. You get to see it in action. It is not merely a checklist or a file sitting in a cabinet.

I have disguised the names of companies and individuals. I hope that you learn something. The deposition is long. I will split the submissions into several posts.

Page 1
1.WHEREUPON, the following proceedings were taken
2.pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure.
3. *****
4.LAWRENCE ROBINSON,
5.having been first duly sworn to state the whole truth,
6.testified as follows:
7.EXAMINATION
8.BY MR.CHAPMAN:
9.Q:Would you tell us your name and address, please,
10.sir.
11.A: Lawrence— excuse me — Robinson, 12985 Baker Dr.
12.Kansas City, MO
13.Q: Mr. Robinson, I understand you've been elected to serve as a 30(b)(6) witness or a witness 14.that's familiar with and able to testify about certain matters that we have identified that we want to 15.talk to you about.
16.A: Correct.
18.Q:Have you read or reviewed anything in preparation for today's deposition?
19.A:I've reviewed with Katherine.
20.Q:Well, okay. Tell me what materials you've reviewed.
21.A:The list of questions.
22.Q: Okay. Did you look at any documents or files?
23.A:I looked at the driver qualification file.
24.Q:Is that the same as a personnel file?
25.A:The DOT -- there's two separate files you have to maintain. One's driving — driver qualification 26.and personnel file. They're two separate things. personnel file.
27.Q: Okay. And we asked you to prepare yourself to come here to talk about Mr. Bennington's 28.personnel file. First of all, do you know Mr. Bennington?
29.A:Yes, I do.
30.Q:And how do you know Mr. Bennington?
31.A:He was employed with Sky Ways Transportation, and 11.I was operations manager at the time.
32.Q Is that a company that your family owns?
33.A: Yes.
35.Q:When you say you're operations manager, were you
36..then Mr. Bennington's immediate supervisor?
37.A: Yes.
38.Q: So did you dispatch the vehicles, then?
39.A:Yes.
40.Q: And did you maintain two files with respect to Mr.
41.Bennington, then, that you just talked about, a driver
42..qualification file and a personnel file?
43.A:Correct.
44.Q: And have you provided both of those files to us in
45.discovery?
46.A:I don't know which files you have. Personnel file
47.was just payroll records and maintenance, and the driver
48.qualification file is laid out by the federal motor carrier
49.safety, and it's with respect to his qualifications.
50.Q: By "his," you mean Mr. Bennington's?
51.A: Correct. .
52.Q: Okay. And so as we sit here today, do you know if
53.you've provided us with both the driver's qualification file
54.and Mr. Bennington's personnel file?
55.A:I don't know what we're --I looked at the driver
56.qualification file.
57.MS. HARVEY: If I could interject, we have
58.provided both those files, or he gave them to us to give to
59.you.
60.Q:(BY MR. CHAPMAN) Okay. Well, let's - in my
61.request for production No. 10,I asked you to produce the
62.entire personnel file of Defendant Bennington and — including
63.but not limited to a certain list of things, and what you
64.provided us was identified as being Bates-stamp Nos. CD 20
65.through CD 237, and I'm going to have that marked by the
66.reporter now.
67.(Deposition Exhibit 1 was marked.)
68.Q:Sir, I’m going to hand you what's been marked as
69.Defendants' — excuse me, Plaintiffs Exhibit 1, and can you
70.tell me if that is the personnel file or the driver
71.qualification file?

This is the end of today's deposition. Check out part 2 to continue.

FMCSA Compliance Now Requires a CDLIS MVR

FMCSA Compliance Now Requires a CDLIS MVR

FMCSA will now be looking for MVR (Motor Vehicle Reports) from the CDLIS (Commercial Driver License Data Base)in the driver qualification file. The CDLIS is the complete driving record from all states where the driver was previously licensed in the past 10 years. In the past, we only had to have an MVR from the driver's home state.

The CDLIS MVR contains the DOT Medical Card information for the driver.

To Order a report from the State of Colorado call 303-205-5823.

Online orders coming soon. Please ask about online ordering with each phone call.

DRIVERS MUST STILL KEEP A COPY OF THEIR DOT MEDICAL CARD AT ALL TIMES.

Important dates: May 21, 2014; all medical certificates issued on or after this date must be issued by examiners on the National Registry.

Important websites: nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov - where doctors need to go to get registered.

DOT Medical Frequently Asked Questions

LCV Trainer or Instructor Requirements

The first thing to consider is the type of LCV instructor.


 


 There are two types of LCV instructors; classroom and skills.

 1. A classroom instructor may administer only instruction that does not involve the operation of an LCV or one of its components. Our training courses at http://safetyasaservice.com will assist you with the classroom portion.

 2. A skills instructor may administer behind-the-wheel training but they must meet the specific requirements. To qualify as an LCV skills instructor, a person shall:

 (1) Provide evidence of successful completion of an LCV Driver-Training Program requirements. The Driver-Training Program must be for the operation of CMVs representative of the subject matter that he/she will teach. CDL College can help you with this portion.
(2) Possess a valid Class A CDL with all endorsements necessary to operate an LCV Doubles and/or LCV Triples.
(3) Have at least 2 years' driving experience, in the same type of vehicle, that you will be teaching.
(4) If the driver has less than 2 years operating a representative vehicle: Has taught the operation of an LCV within the previous 2 years.

Edit: More Clarification is Here.

The driving requirements are easy enough to fulfill. The trouble comes with the teaching requirements in number 4.

FMCSA does not define what that teaching experience means. The teaching requirement is over a two year period. You can make the determination, as to, what constitutes teaching. The train-trainer course at CDL College  will afford you some training, by default, to other people.

And the last requirements have to do with your motor vehicle record. An individual must certify that, during the 2-year period immediately preceding the date of application for a Certificate of Grandfathering, he/she had:

(1) A valid Class A CDL with a “double/triple trailers” endorsement;
(2) No more than one driver's license;
(3) No suspension, revocation, or cancellation of his/her CDL;
(4) No convictions for a major offense while operating a CMV as defined in §383.51(b) of this subchapter; (5) No convictions for a railroad-highway grade crossing offense while operating a CMV as defined in §383.51(d) of this subchapter;
(6) No convictions for violating an out-of-service order as defined in §383.51(e) of this subchapter;
(7) No more than one conviction for a serious traffic violation, as defined in §383.5 of this subchapter, while operating a CMV; and
(8) No convictions for a violation of State or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control arising in connection with any traffic crash while operating a CMV.
(9) An individual must certify and provide evidence that he/she:
   (a) Is regularly employed in a job requiring the operation of a CMV that requires a CDL with a double/triple trailers endorsement; and
  (b) Has operated, during the 2 years immediately preceding the date of application for a Certificate of Grandfathering, vehicles representative of the type of LCV that he/she seeks to continue operating.