By Terry Scruton
senior writer
The Missouri Department of Transportation has become the first state agency to volunteer to participate in a security review pilot program in partnership with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Transportation Security Administration.
The program, which is designed to determine the security status and needs of the trucking industry, will kick off sometime in early 2006.
MoDOT Motor Carrier Services investigators will assess the security needs of trucking companies as they perform safety checks on companies and equipment.
Ben Goodin, motor carrier enforcement administrator with MoDOT, told Land Line that the program is going to examine a variety of security issues within the trucking industry.
"We're going to look at general security information of the motor carrier and offer recommendations for a security plan to be developed and implemented," he said.
Among the topics Goodin said inspectors will discuss with motor carriers are identification programs, driver background checks, facility security and in-route security.
Information collected under the program will be sent to the TSA, which will use it to monitor trends and develop plans to deal with potential safety issues.
Tom Weakley, of the OOIDA Foundation, said questions that are going to be used for the program are very similar to those already in use for hazmat security checks.
"For a hazmat hauler, I understand the concerns," he said. "But suppose I'm hauling wooden pallets, why would you ask me if I have a 24/7 call center in place? Of course I don't. I don't have a security plan; I've never had to have one in place. The questions aren't appropriate."
Weakley said the program came about after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a mandate asking for the state of security within the transportation industry.
"No one could give him a good answer," Weakley said. "So this became their project to find out the security status of the trucking industry."
If the program in Missouri is successful, similar programs in other states may follow. Goodin said Missouri is so far the only state that has volunteered.
‘Major’ offenses can mean major suspension time
By Jami Jones
senior editor
Truckers in most states are now subject to a list of “major” offenses that carry possible lifetime CDL suspensions.
The regulations designating these “major” offenses went into effect in September 2002. States had three years to get in compliance – or face losing some federal funding.
That three-year deadline passed the end of September, and all but a handful of states are on board with the new regs.
Just how many states are still not in compliance with the regulations was a toss-up at press time.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, it was four states. A spokesman for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators said the number of non-compliant states was 11.
Any state not in compliance with the regulations now lose federal funding.
Nevertheless, truckers in most states now have nine offenses that, no matter if they commit them in their truck or personal vehicle, carry some hefty suspension time.
Some of those “major” offenses include: being under the influence of alcohol; being under the influence of a controlled substance; having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater while operating a CMV; refusing to take an alcohol test; leaving the scene of an accident; and causing a fatality through the negligent operation of a CMV.
And, you do not have to be in your truck and committing one of these offenses to face CDL suspension. Offenses in a personal vehicle count now, too.
All of the offenses, with exception of one, carry either a one-year or three-year suspension of the trucker’s CDL after the first offense – depending on what the trucker was hauling – and a possible life suspension of the CDL after the second.
FMCSA allows states to reinstate the trucker’s license after 10 years if the person has completed a state-approved rehabilitation program. That 10-year reinstatement provision is not mandated, it’s up to the individual states.
The one major offense that carries a mandatory life suspension with no chance of reinstatement after 10 years is using the vehicle in the commission of a felony involving manufacturing, distributing or dispensing a controlled substance.
For a complete list of the major offenses and suspension times, review 49 CFR 383.51, of your current green book.
