January 18, 2016:  MCM Weekly Newsletter
 

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Jan 21            
Missoula Chapter Safety Meeting
Perkins Restaurant, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Speaker:  Paul Holmes, Kenworth
Topic:  Changes in the manufacturing of the newer KW trucks coming down the pike. 
MCM New Members
 
Lisac's Tire started 1953 in Butte, Mt. by Ed Lisac in a small gas station.  Ed Lisac always liked to sell tires and became a tire distributor for the state of Montana. Lisac Tire  offer  Goodyear, Kelly, Dunlap. Hankook, Mastercraft/Roadmaster, Michelin, Firestone, Bridestone,Yokohama,  Tires.  We also have Retreads.  Family owned business Lisac's Tire have locations in Butte ,Anaconda, and  Billings Montana. Lisac's Tire also sell Tire Chains, Wheels, Tire equipment  and supplies.  Lisac's Tire is also a member of Tire Supply Service Centers witch offers Warranties and Services Nationwide. Lisac's Tire just completed construction of a new 72,000  sq foot warehouse in Butte to Supply Tires to the State of Montana. At a ripe old age of 93, Ed Lisac is still involved in the Tire Business.  

 
Roundup Trucking started business in 2011. Brice Nations currently is pulling a dry van. However, they own flatbeds and that is the majority of the loads they haul. They currently run two trucks.
 
Brice Nations
Roundup Trucking
495 El Paso St.
Billings, MT
406-320-0758
 
 
Election Season Returns to Montana
Although the Montana Legislature does not meet this year the race has begun as Wednesday was the first day candidates could file for office. According to the Secretary of State over 150 people had signed up either in person or online.

Important races for MCM members other than local legislative races are statewide contests for Governor, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner, Attorney General and Office of Public Instruction. In addition to these there are 100 House Seats and 25 Senate seats up for grabs.

If you are interested in running and would like to know more please give our office a call, or if you have information good or bad on a candidate in your area please let us know. It is up to MCM and its members to help educate these candidates on the importance of the trucking industry to Montana and the U.S. This information is available from MCM and published in this week's edition of the On The Horizon.  Remember the world is run by those who show up. Get involved today.
New Data Confirms Improvement in Trucking Industry Safety
Recently Released Federal Crash and Mileage Data Show Reductions in Crash Rates

Arlington, Va. -
An analysis of data from the Department of Transportation done by the American Trucking Associations shows over both the long- and short-term that the rate of truck-involved fatalities is declining.
 
"America's trucking industry has invested billions to improve safety and that commitment is paying off," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves.
 
According to ATA's analysis of miles traveled data from the Federal Highway Administration and highway fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the truck-involved fatality rate fell for the second straight year to 1.40 per 100 million miles traveled.
 
Per NHTSA, there were 3,903 truck-involved fatalities in 2014, a decline of 61 total from the previous year. At the same time, the number of miles traveled by large trucks rose to more than 279 billion. Of note, these figures only represent fatalities where a large truck was involved in the crash and do not reflect causation. Numerous studies have found that trucks are responsible for initiating less than a third of all fatal car-truck crashes, which is why ATA supports aggressive traffic enforcement and education programs aimed at changing the unsafe behaviors of all motorists.
 
The fatality rate dipped 2.78% from 2013 and has fallen 4.76% over the past two years. More importantly, it has fallen an impressive 40.6% over the past decade.
 
"The short-term decline is welcome news, but the important figure is the long-term trend," Graves said. "Short-term changes, whether they're increases or declines, can be blips - and just like you shouldn't track your 401k on a daily basis, they shouldn't be the primary lens truck safety is viewed through. The long-term trend - in this case, a more than 40% improvement - is of paramount importance."
 
"Our industry has worked hard, and invested in technology and training to improve highway safety not just for our drivers, but for all motorists," said ATA Executive Vice President for National Advocacy Dave Osiecki. "And while there is more work to do, it is gratifying to see those efforts paying off in safer roads for all of us."
FMCSA Seeks Feedback on Carrier Safety Fitness Determination Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced a rulemaking proposal designed to enhance the Agency's ability to identify non-compliant motor carriers. The Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), to be published in the Federal Register, would update FMCSA's safety fitness rating methodology by integrating on-road safety data from inspections, along with the results of carrier investigations and crash reports, to determine a motor carrier's overall safety fitness on a monthly basis.
The proposed SFD rule would replace the current three-tier federal rating system of "satisfactory-conditional-unsatisfactory" for federally regulated commercial motor carriers (in place since 1982) with a single determination of "unfit," which would require the carrier to either improve its operations or cease operations. 
Once in place, the SFD rule will permit FMCSA to assess the safety fitness of approximately 75,000 companies a month. By comparison, the agency is only able to investigate 15,000 motor carriers annually - with less than half of those companies receiving a safety rating.
The proposed methodology would determine when a carrier is not fit to operate commercial motor vehicles in or affecting interstate commerce based on
 
  1. the carrier's performance in relation to a fixed failure threshold established in the rule for five of the agency's Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs);
  2. investigation results; or
  3. a combination of on-road safety data and investigation information.
The proposed rule further incorporates rigorous data sufficiency standards and would require that a significant pattern of non-compliance be documented in order for a carrier to fail a BASIC.
When assessing roadside inspection data results, the proposal uses a minimum of 11 inspections with violations in a single BASIC within a 24-month period before a motor carrier could be eligible to be identified as "unfit." If a carrier's individual performance meets or exceeds the failure standards in the rule, it would then fail that BASIC.  The failure standard will be fixed by the rule. A carrier's status in relation to that fixed measure would not be affected by other carriers' performance.
Failure of a BASIC based on either crash data or compliance with drug and alcohol requirements would only occur following a comprehensive investigation.  
FMCSA estimates that under this proposal, less than 300 motor carriers each year would be proposed as "unfit" solely as a result of on-road safety violations. Further, the agency's analysis has shown that the carriers identified through this on-road safety data have crash rates of almost four times the national average. 
FMCSA encourages the public to review the NPRM and to submit comments and evidentiary materials to the docket following its publication in the Federal Register. The public comment period will be open for 60 days. FMCSA will also be providing a reply comment period allowing for an additional 30 days for commenters to respond to the initial comments. 
The Agency is requesting specific comments and data in the NPRM including, but not limited to,
  • Moving to dynamic safety event groups
  • Moving to low, medium, and high severity weightings
  • Removing English Language Proficiency violations from the SFD process
  • Establishing lower failure standards for Passenger and Hazardous Materials carriers
  • Additional critical and acute regulations
  • Implementation impacts to States
For more information on FMCSA's Safety Fitness Determination proposed rule, including a full copy of the NPRM, an instructional webinar, and a Safety Fitness Determination Calculator, visit www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sfd. To comment on the rule once it is published in the Federal Register, please use www.regulations.gov and docket number FMCSA-2015-0001.
Montana Fast Facts

January Driver of the Month Nominations
We are now accepting driver of the month applications for January 2016. An application is attached, and you may also download an application from our webpage at www.mttrucking.org on our Home Page under the Driver of the Month tab.
All applications must be in by Friday, January 29 at 8:00 a.m.
SafetyFestMT: Missoula 2016
February 8 - 12 2016
Hilton Garden Inn Missoula

3720 North Reserve St.
Missoula, MT 59808

Don't miss this opportunity to take advantage of the fantastic line up of FREE classes available at the Missoula 2016 SafetyFestMT.
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To register as an exhibitor please use the contact information below.  Spaces are limited so don't wait!
Please contact:
Casey Kyler-West at 406.444.5267 or [email protected] 
Thank you for your support of SafetyFestMT!