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August 7th - Idealease Safety Bulletin - 'Thanks be to Truckers!'

Aug. 7 2020 Miscellaneous By McCandless Idealease

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The August 7th edition of the weekly Idealease Safety Bulletin has arrived! Find useful safety tips for all transportation professionals and stay up-to-date on recent updates and changes to industry regulations.  Be sure to sign up to receive our timely tips straight to your inbox each week! 

View the entire bulletin here or click the image below to access all content. 

In this important issue, find information on the following items: 

1. National Truck Driver Appreciation Week - September 13-19, 2020

  • Nearly every aspect of daily life is made possible because a truck driver delivered the goods and resources people need
  • 3.5 million men and women truck drivers across the country
  • Have played an increasingly crucial role during COVID-19 pandemic

Driver Recognition Awards:

  • Great time to review reward and recognition programs in place
  • Safe driving awards; driver incentive awards

2. CVSA- Brake Safety Week: August 23-29th

  • When roadside inspectors identify critical out-of-service brake violations, the vehicle cannot be operated until the defects are repaired. During last year's Brake Safety Week, officers placed 13.5 percent of the CMVs they inspected out of service due to brake-related vehicle violations

3. Idealease New Safety Webinar Series in place of on-site safety seminars: LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

4. TSA Extends Hazardous Materials Endorsement Exemption for an Additional 90 Days

  • The agency’s decision to extend the exemption is based on the continued challenges faced by state drivers licensing centers due to public health emergency and the inability to predict how or where the virus may spread in the future. The extension will help ensure that drivers can continue to perform critical services during the pandemic.
  • TSA will continue to recurrently vet drivers with expired HMEs against federal terrorism and national security-related watch lists and databases during the period of the extensions and retain its full authority to immediately
  • Which drivers qualify for the exemption?
    1. An eligible individual is defined as someone who held a valid, unexpired HME with an STA (Determination of No Security Threat) on or after March 1, 2020, and the endorsement expired or is due to expire in the date range of the exemption.

5. Trucking Industry Pushes Back on Proposal to Raise Insurance Minimums

  • Representatives of the trucking industry have voiced opposition to legislative proposals to increase the federal minimum financial responsibility requirements for motor carriers
  • The current requirements are $750,000 in coverage for for-hire carriers and $1 million or $5 million hazardous materials carriers. These minimum requirements have not changed since 1985.
  • The National Private Truck Council (NPTC) policy is to accept the current liability coverage minimums for private fleets in the same amount as for-hire carriers ($750,000), but without having to file evidence of insurance with FMCSA. Instead, private fleets would keep evidence of coverage at their principal place of business, like hazmat carriers are currently required to do.
  • The INVEST in America Act, an infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 1, 2020, includes a provision that would mandate increasing the for-hire carrier minimum financial responsibility to $2 million. This provision is not in the Senate version of the bill.

    ELEVATE YOUR DRIVER'S PERFORMANCE - SIGN UP FOR THE TIP OF THE WEEK! 

*The Idealease Safety Bulletin is provided for Idealease locations and their customers and is not to be construed as a complete or exhaustive source of compliance or safety information. The Idealease Safety Bulletin is advisory in nature and does not warrant, guarantee, or otherwise certify compliance with laws, regulations, requirements, or guidelines of any local, state, or Federal agency and/or governing body, or industry standards.