Many changes are coming this year for the fleet management and trucking industry. CSA Regulations have already caused a great deal of uncertainty and fear for many fleet operators, but do not fret. Based on our research, the actual impact is expected to be less than the potential and most feared impact. New fleet management legislation is always daunting, but the doom-and-gloom scenarios you may have been hearing are really not worth losing sleep over.
In the short term, until it becomes clear what the roadside inspectors are going to do differently, how the scoring systems are going to work, and what the auditors will do if and when they visit – there’s definitely going to be some confusion . This uncertainty puts fleet operators on edge and can make it more difficult to make your next business decision. Because of CSA companies may start to freeze their processes, to pull back from expansion plans, or to delay on hiring new truck drivers. If enough fleet operators take this cautious stance, in the short term, it will produce a real constraint on trucking capacity, which will in turn increase the upward pressure on truck driver pay and freight rates.
Because of this, being overly cautious may not necessarily be the right position to take. This as a time where there are some opportunities for the fleet managers that are willing to be proactive. Companies that have been reasonably well-managed in the past will realize that it’s not that hard to comply with the new CSA regulations. While economic conditions may not indicate a lot of market opportunity for broad expansion plans, it may be possible to find ways to expand your business with your best customers. It may even be a good idea to look for opportunities to expand precisely in those areas where your competitors are showing reticence.
For companies who need to ensure they meet the new CSA Regulations, investing in a GPS fleet management system is a wise investment. FieldLogix Fleet Management System gives fleet managers the ability to track and maintain electronic driver records. This critical information is stored in your fleet tracking system gives you the added advantage you need to meet the tough CSA 2010 requirements set forth by the U.S. Government. With the built in maintenance module, you can track DOT information and Safety Inspections, all in one convenient location. Track any infraction your driver may have or your fleet may have within the system.
3 Comments
I am a long haul truck driver hauling refrigerated freight I would like to know who came up with these CSA rules? They probable never drove truck before in their life in my opinion. I do think increasing the speed limits in some of these states over 55mph on interstates was a plus. Now instead of coming up with new point rules to penalize drivers in my opinion you definitely need to do something about texting and cell phones in cars. I don’t talk on my phone while driving, it is a distraction. You need a device that would diable all cell phone service while in a vehicle while it is running. My son went to Montana with me my last trip, he did a survey of people talking or texting while driving. If we wrote tickets we could have bailed out the national debt. And you are worried about truck drivers making mistakes on their logs and fining them ridiculous amounts of money. Most of the truck drivers are out there trying to make a living for their families, being away from home all the time. Personally after being gone for 3 weeks if my logs say I am out of hours and I’m 2 hours from the house, I’m going home and you would to. The people coming up with these rules should live in the truck drivers shoes for a month. You must remember that this country needs trucks and truck drivers. Truck drivers are highly under paid and are just bad mouthed if they are ever involved in an accident, when they have more saftly driven miles than any person in a car. You are making it very hard for a working man to make a living.
well here we go again… another attempt of regulating the trucking industry in the name of saftey. why dont we stop kidding each other and say it like it is, its in the name of revenue $$$$$$$$. theres always some other entity, person , business or company that has thier hands in my money before i can get my hands on it. i cant understand why the trucking companys and the federal department of transportation refer to the truckers as proffessional drivers but in the same breath treat us like a bunch of children in a child care institution. who are these people that are making decisions about my my livelyhood? do they have any firsthand knowlege of this lifestyle? because thats what it is it is a lifestyle not just a job. they are making decisions about an industry that they apparently dont understand completly. has anyone of these people,whoever they are, considered that a log book or an electronic log dosent tell me when im tired and need to rest. that is a biological function. just because ive had a 10 hour break dosent mean that for the next 11 to 14 hours that im “good to go” like the Enegizer Bunny. and also in the same respect i am a “proffessional driver” i might be able to drive 18 hours before i need to stop after all this is what i do everyday. everytime i fill out another application for a truck driving job i feel like im applying for a job to guard the president or the FBI or mabe to guard the gold at ft knox only to show up at some trucking company to find out that they dont pay for orientation,they have chossen the sleeze bag motel for the drivers to stay at during thier introduction to the company and if that dosent take the cake they assign you a truck that looks like its on its last leg that apparently some animal lived in it with cum stains on the mattress. and i say to myself why did i have to go through all that magnifying glass inspection ,back ground check for this . its just plain stupid. now the dot wants to go to electronic logs , your mandatory “get your ass out there and work straight for 14 hours or lose money rule” when you do stop you cant use your truck to take care of personal needs or wants such as driving to walmart to stock up on supplies, driving to the movie theater to see a show while on a 34 hour reset, driving down the street to the steakhouse to grab a bite, driving to the local bass proshop to grab a few new lures so you can go fishing while on your break or mabe you might like to go to the local golf course for nine holes. nope they didnt consider that… they didnt even consider that when your not loged in driving that your a human being and you have needs and desires that they can satisfy after they get off from work but you as a “proffesional” cant do because you would be in violation of some stupid rules and regs that dont work anyway. i have an idea why dont you build some jails or mabe put bars in the trucks and lock us up when we are not on duty to have even more control over us in this “FREE COUNTRY”… i can see that this is going to work about as well as the DAC crap does where any old emplyee at a trucking company can take a disliking to a driver that stands up for themself ,can put a job altering , negative accusations on a driver and prevent them from being able to get a job driving. and this is done by someone that is not licencsed or qulified or tested or put through any evaluation and has no credentials to say that they have any of a sounder mind than that of the truck driver that they cause problems and prevent them from being able to work.some of these people dont even work in trucking anymore. after all DAC or HIRE RITE is paid for by the trucking companies so where do you think loyality falls. when negative info is false and you notify hie rite of that just see how long and how hard it is to get a copy of that info to show to an attorney without a supeana. im not sure where this trucking industry is headed but im not willing to be a “DOG ON A CHAIN ” for this kind of pay and regulation. ive been out here 17 years and i drove safe “not legal but safe”. that means when i got tired i stopped my truck and went to bed and when i felt ok to drive i drove…an appointment time and a log cant tell me when im safe and thats all there is to that. i cant be regulated to sleep and wake just because it looks good on paper. they can regulate and assume and study with all the harvard graduates they want but this old trucker will tell you there is no other way to do it safe. i guess if it were really about saftey things would be much different. IDEA: next time you guys that wear suits and have your ties around your necks so tight that blood cant get to your brains, why dont you invove us the drivers that havent taken a payoff in the decision making process why dont you get in my truck with me for a few months and see how things are out here in the real world. “you could learn a lot from a dummie”.
To Whomever It May Concern:
Yes, there are problems with the transportation industry. However, increasingly harsh regulations that diminish driver’s earning capacity is not the whole solution.
If you want us to drive less and exercise more, thereby addressing safety concerns that the bloated federal and state DOT bureaucracies and the public are so concerned with; then you need to increase the amount of money that truck drivers are paid.
Let’s take the example of a typical Wal-Mart Distribution “LIve Unload” as a “for instance”, they, Wal-Mart, are allowed four hours to unload the freight without penalty. The average driver is paid only for miles driven, not by the hour. So, a driver is losing hours out of their seventy hour allotment that they are allowed to drive for the week and receiving absolutely no compensation. In my opinion there needs to be a combination of pay, miles/hourly or an hourly pay scale that is an industry standard.
There need to be tradeoffs made regarding driver pay or drivers will be driven out of the industry because they are unable to make a living wage. Yes, this will cause an increase that is passed onto the consumer, but by increasing regulation and decreasing driver earning potential the industry and government bureaucracy are exacerbating the problem, not solving it. Drivers are away from home for extended periods of time in an extremely dangerous job that strains the bonds of marriage and parenting and when you break down their pay versus the hours and miles put in on the job, in many instances, the drivers aren’t even making minimum wage.
What are you going to do when drivers are either forced to go back to running illegally to make a living or just quit and go on welfare because most companies outside of the transportation industry refuse to even look at a driver when they apply to work for them due to a stereotype of truck drivers being ignorant, filthy savages?