November 16, 2015: MCM Weekly Newsletter |
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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Nov 16-20 SafetyFestMT: Billings Billings Hotel & Convention Center
1223 Mullowney Lane, Billings, MT
Nov 18 Bridger Career Fair 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. MSU- Billings Alterowitz Gym 1500 University Dr., Billings, MT
Nov 19 Missoula Chapter Safety Meeting 12:00 p.m. -1:00 pm. Location, Speaker & Topic TBA
Nov 27 MCM Office Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
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California's Truck Engine Deadline Approaches
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California's five-year phase out schedule for most Class 7 & 8 trucks not equipped with diesel particulate filters will reach completion at year's end. After this time, only trucks with model-year 2007 or newer engines or retrofitted with diesel particulate filters can legally operate in the state. Fleets that elected to phase in DPF compliance under the state's optional reporting system also need to bring all of their affected trucks into compliance by year's end. Some exemptions remain, including provisions for 2 and 3 truck fleets, agricultural, logging, and work trucks, and fleets operating exclusively in the state's rural areas. The U.S. EPA recently announced its first federal enforcement action against a non-California-based carrier for operating trucks without DPFs in the state. Carriers who operate in California should ensure they meet the requirements of the regulation, perform due diligence when contracting for transportation services, and maintain compliance records in case of audit. For more information, contact Mike Tunnell at mtunnell@trucking.org.
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New ATRI Research Quantifies Impact of Non-Preventable Crashes on CSA Scores
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ATRI released its latest CSA research, "Assessing the Impact of Non-Preventable Crashes on CSA Scores" investigating the impact that excluding non-preventable crashes would have on motor carrier CSA Crash Indicator BASIC measures. Among the more than one dozen carriers in ATRI's analysis, the Crash Indicator BASIC decreased nearly 15 percent once the non-preventable crashes were removed.
"ATRI's latest analysis, using a very conservative definition of non-preventable crashes, demonstrates just how skewed FMCSA's BASIC calculations can be," said Scott Mugno, a member of ATRI's Research Advisory Committee as well as Vice President of Safety and Maintenance for FedEx Ground.
A copy of this report is available here. For more information, contact Dan Murray atdmurray@trucking.org.
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Heavy Truck Definition Survey
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The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is sponsoring a research project to investigate disparities in the definitions of heavy trucks to help the trucking industry and enforcement officials to understand pertinent regulations and to assist with future legislature to clarify these definitions and language. This project aims to uncover ambiguity and discrepancies existent in the federal and state level rules, laws, and regulations regarding heavy trucks. For that purpose, the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University is developing a survey in order to:
- Collect and document comments from commercial vehicle operators, practitioners, and law enforcement regarding Montana state and federal regulations on heavy truck operation, safety, and registration.
- Use the information to identify ambiguity existent in regulations and improve clarity and cohesion.
We would like to have your inputs on this survey by November 28th, 2015 to collect issues that enforcement officials and the trucking industry have interpreting different definitions of large trucks in rules, laws, and regulations. Thank you for your input.
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Free Safety Workshops
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Montana's workers are exposed to a range of workplace hazards on a daily basis. But how do we keep these exposures to a minimum? Join us this December as we help you and your co-workers stay injury free as we present Working Together for a Safer Montana.
We All Share the Responsibility - Let's face it; no matter what you do for work, on the job safety is always a concern. But the question remains, who is responsible for the safety of an employee? We contend everyone in your workplace must play a part. In this session we'll help you break down the roles and responsibilities of each of your employees so you get everyone in your organization working together for safety.
Not Only for Office Workers - Ergonomics are one of the most overlooked issues in workplace safety, yet they affect everyone from the receptionist to the traveling salesman to a line worker at a manufacturing facility. Simply put, ergonomics has to do with proper posture, managing forces and an excessive repetitive motion. In this section of the workshop we'll give you the tips you need to tackle everyday ergonomic issues, as well as open the floor for discussion to for participants to share their ergonomic challenges and solutions.
Dates and Locations December 1 - Kalispell - Hampton Inn December 2 - Missoula - Best Western Grant Creek Inn December 3 - Helena - Holiday Inn Express December 4 - Great Falls - Holiday Inn December 8 - Butte - La Quinta Inn December 10 - Miles City - Sleep Inn & Suites December 11 - Billings - Big Horn Resort December 15 - Bozeman - Holiday Inn
Interested? Register Now. The free trainings take place from 8:30 am - Noon. If you have questions, call 800-332-6102 extension 5361 (Kirk Smith).
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November Driver of the Month Nominations |
We are now accepting driver of the month applications for November 2015. An application is attached, and you may also download an application from our home page at www.mttrucking.org under the Driver of the Month tab.
All applications must be in by Monday, November 30 at 8:00 a.m.
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