Fire Prevention Week

National Fire Prevention Week (October 8-14) is coming, and it is an excellent time to review with your drivers how to prevent fires and react to a fire that occurs in their commercial motor vehicle.

Fire extinguisher inspection is vital to a driver's daily vehicle inspection process. It amazes me how often I look at a truck and find the fire extinguisher has lost its pressure due to a leak or was used and returned to the truck without recharging. A driver's actions at the time of a fire are crucial in saving lives and controlling the amount of loss.

When a fire occurs in a commercial motor vehicle, the driver must know two things:

1. Knowledge about fires.
2. How to operate a fire extinguisher.

Fire safety and fire extinguisher operation should be part of every new driver's orientation program.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations require that all commercial motor vehicles have a fire extinguisher on board that is of the correct size and type and properly secured and labeled. Did you know a CMV with hazardous materials must have a different size extinguisher than those without hazardous materials?

Here are the requirements for §393.95 Emergency equipment on all power units:

Each truck, truck tractor, and bus (except those towed in driveaway-towaway operations) need the following equipment:

• Fire Extinguishers.
  • Minimum ratings:

A power unit used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placarding must have a fire extinguisher with an Underwriters' Laboratories rating of 10 B: C or more.

A power unit not used to transport hazardous materials must be equipped with either:

• A fire extinguisher with an Underwriters' Laboratories rating of 5 B: C or more.

Labeling and marketing

• Each fire extinguisher required by this section must be labeled or marked by the manufacturer with its Underwriters' Laboratories rating.

Visual Indicators

• The fire extinguisher must have a visual indicator to know it is charged.

Condition, location, and Mounting

• The fire extinguisher(s) must be filled and located so that it is readily accessible for use. The extinguisher(s) must be securely mounted to prevent sliding, rolling, or vertical movement relative to the motor vehicle.

When a fire occurs in a Commercial Motor Vehicle, the driver should take the following actions:

1. Get the truck off the roadway and into an open area if possible. Park away from buildings, trees, vehicles, or anything else that may catch fire.
2. Call 911 on your cell phone to report the fire and location.
3. If the fire size cannot be extinguished, get away from the truck. Your life and the life of the public is your first responsibility.
4. If you are operating a tractor trailer and can safely disconnect the trailer from the tractor, do so as not to damage both units and cargo in the fire.
5. If the engine is on fire, turn off the engine as soon as possible.
6. Do not open the hood if possible, and try extinguishing the fire from the truck's louvers, radiator, or underside. Opening the hood will provide additional oxygen to the fire, and it will increase at a more rapid rate.
7. Keep the doors shut if the fire is in your trailer or truck's cargo box. Here again, additional oxygen will increase the intensity of the fire.
8. A fire extinguisher will likely not extinguish a tire fire. Try throwing dirt or sand on the tire to smother the fire.

What you can do to prevent the likelihood of a fire starting in your Commercial Motor Vehicle:

1. Complete a thorough pre and post-trip inspection of your truck's fuel, electrical, exhaust systems, tires, and cargo daily.
2. Keep the unit clean from excess grease, fuel, and oil.
3. Monitor your dash gauges while in operation for signs of overheating.
4. Utilize your mirrors for signs of smoke or flames.
5. With new Post Emission 2007 and newer units, be aware of regeneration of the after-treatment program and where the regeneration occurs as exhaust temperatures reach high heat levels.
6. Know the cargo that you have on board and its fire potential.

Is your company an active member of a trucking association such as the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), State Trucking Association, American Trucking Association (ATA), or another national trucking association?

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released foundational new research that statistically corroborates that motor carriers active in state and national membership associations are safer than former association members and carriers who have never been association members.

An assumption is that association membership supports safety through various association services and resources. Still, the necessary industry safety data and methodology had never before been assessed. This new empirical research processed public safety data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) through statistical tools to confirm the relationship between association membership and safety performance.

More specifically, the research compared motor carrier MCMIS crash and violation data for trucking fleets with a membership status of either Current, Former, or Never members. Carrier status data came from a geographically representative sample of state trucking associations and the American Trucking Associations.

The Welch's Two-Sample T-Test outputs confirm that Current members have fewer overall crashes and violations among the three carrier groups than Former members, who also had more occasional crashes and violations than Never members. Almost all results were significant at the 95 percent or 99 percent confidence levels. Due to the rarity of fatal truck crashes among all carriers, this specific crash type was insignificant for state or national membership.

"All safety stakeholders in the trucking industry are looking for strategies and solutions for improving large-truck safety," noted Dr. Brenda Lantz, Associate Director of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute. "This new ATRI research confirms that association membership is another important and proven safety tool for trucking companies."

The ATRI Association safety research also guides how the findings might apply to commercial transportation insurers, enforcement agencies, and academic researchers.

ATRI is the trucking industry's 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research on freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure, and efficient transportation system.

What is a USDOT Number?

Companies operating commercial vehicles transporting passengers or hauling cargo in interstate commerce must be registered with the FMCSA and have a USDOT Number. Also, commercial INTRAstate hazardous materials carriers who haul types and quantities requiring a safety permit must register for a USDOT Number.

The USDOT Number is a unique identifier when collecting and monitoring a company's safety information acquired during audits, compliance reviews, crash investigations, and inspections.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU NEED A USDOT NUMBER:

Registration is open online for the 2023 Idealease/ NPTC Safety Seminars!

Idealease and the National Private Truck Council NPTC will again be hosting safety seminars in 2023.  The one-day seminar this year will focus on data available from trucks today with regard to safety, basic safety and compliance, regulation changes, and CSA. The seminars will be provided to all Idealease customers, potential customers, and NPTC members at no charge.   The seminar provides essential information applicable to both novice and experienced transportation professionals.  Seminars currently available for registration have their venues secured.  If you are not able to register for the seminar in your area, check back, as registration availability will be added as the venues are secured.  This information will be updated weekly in this bulletin.  To register for an upcoming seminar in 2023, click on the following link: http://www.idealease.com/safety-seminar-registration    

FALL SEMINARS (Sept-Oct)

Do I need a USDOT Number?

This question comes up frequently from our customers and thought that this week we will address this.  This question usually is raised when we have a customer that is an INTRAstate carrier not subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) INTERstate regulations rather their own state regulations.  The following thirty-eight states and Puerto Rico require a USDOT number for INTRAstate operations.

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Jersey
• New York
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Utah
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

*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 standard.