North Dakota Oil Field Truck Drivers

This is a great piece from the New York Times chronicling the life of a female truck driver in the oil fields of North Dakota. What a hard life for her? The things we do to make it in America today.

Thank god for the trucking and oil industries. They are replacing the manufacturing economy that we used to know. The difficulty of the work is comparable. At least we still have the opportunity to hustle and break our backs for a decent living.

http://nyti.ms/1aiYpeL

Driver Instructions for Safety as a Service.com

Print this guide and give it to your driver. It will walk them through signing in and taking the courses.

1. Go to www.safetyasaservice.com

2. Login with the E-Mail and Password supplied by your company. Your company might not have known your email address when they signed you up. Your personal email address may not work. Make sure you get the email address from the company. You can change it to your personal email address after you sign in.

3.  You will end up at the overview page after you sign in. You will see the courses assigned to you. Click "View".

4. The course will open in a new window. The Overview Page will still be in it's existing window. Make sure to leave the over page open while you watch the course.

5. Watch the course all of the way through. Take all of the quizzes. Close the window when you are complete.

6. Closing the course window after completing the class triggers the Overview Page (that you left open). This action will tell the system your status.

 7. The main trouble shooting step is with your company. Get with the person that assigned you the course they can help you trouble shoot any logging-in errors. Logging-in errors are usually a mis-typed email address.

Driver Recruiting-Let Your Next Driver Find You

Your Safety as a Service subscription comes with a cool new feature-drivers. You always had the ability to provide your driver's with online training, an online employment application and a driver management portal. Now you can find drivers too. 

Here's how it works. 

Check out the Driver Recruiting page from your portal.

In the past you could obtain the link to your employment application and place it on your website or craigslist. The driver's application would be delivered to your portal.  

Now we have started a Driver Match Making service. Fill out a Job Profile from the same Driver Recruiting tab.

The Job Profile will tell us the type and number of drivers that you are looking for. 

The Job Profile triggers our recruiter's into action.  They will find a driver that meets your requirements. 

Driver Recruiting is one of the services that we offer at  http://safetyasaservice.com. 

Let us know if you have any questions. 

Lawsuit Against a Trucking Company. Part 2

This is the continuation of part 1.  It starts to heat up in post 2. We have a new shocking revelation.  Read on:

22             Q. Sir, I’m going to hand you what's been marked as

23      Defendants' — excuse me, Plaintiffs Exhibit 1, and can you

24      tell me if that is the personnel file or the driver

25      qualification file?

Page 7

1             A. It looks like a combination of both. It has his

2       W-4 and wages and wage assignment. It looks like it's

3       combined.

4              Q. Is that file kept in the ordinary course of

5       business at Skyways Delivery?

6              A. Yes.

7              Q. Who is the person charged with maintaining that

8       file at that business?

9              A. Currently, it's Stephanie Molly.

10             Q. And who was responsible for keeping that file in

11      the year 2000?

12             A. Jean Hicks.

13             Q. And is that a true and correct copy of both the

14      personnel file and the driver qualification file for Mr.

15      Bennington that was kept at Sky Ways Transportation?

16             A. Yes.

17             Q. And is that a copy of the entire file?

18             A. Yes.

19             Q. Now, who was it that hired Mr. Bennington?

20              A. Mike Robinson.

21              Q. And that's your father?

22              A. Uncle.

23              Q. Your uncle. And what was his job there then?

24              A. Owner/vice president.

25              Q. Who are the other owners?

Page 8

1            A. Mike  Robinson, Larry Robinson, Joe Robinson; and at the time,

2      that was it.

3             Q. Do your records indicate whether you did any

4      background checks on Mr. Bennington at the time you hired him?

5            A. Yes.

6             Q. Okay. What background check did you do on him?

7             A. Motor vehicle, his driving record, and we pulled

8      his motor vehicle report. We have a statement of his

9      violations within the previous year.

10            Q. Is there any information in that driver's

11     qualification file from previous employers?

12            A. There is a list of previous employers.

13            Q. And did you make any inquiry with them as to Mr.

14     Bennington's character or qualifications as a driver?

15            A. I do not see a written record of that.

16            Q. Do you know if that's one of the requirements of

17     the federal motor carrier safety regulations?

118 A. Three years prior is required.

19            Q. And can you tell me from that file what efforts

20      were made to inquire for the three years prior regarding Mr.

21      Bennington at the time you hired him?

22            A. I don't see any written documentation.

23            Q. When did you first learn that Mr. Bennington was a

24      convicted methamphetamine dealer?

25            A. Yesterday.

Part 3 is coming soon.

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.