The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for Aug. 22-28, 2021. This annual event emphasizes the importance of ensuring sufficient brake systems in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Specifically, the event highlights the role that brake maintenance and efficiency play in reducing brake-related CMV accidents on the road.
Safety
We don’t have to tell you that trucking businesses face a lot of risks. The roads aren’t always the safest place, and that’s why it’s so important to take steps to emphasize and improve safety at your truck business. While this is beneficial because it will lessen the chance of your drivers and employees getting hurt, safety can also help you avoid truck insurance claims. In turn, that can help your truck insurance rates.
The following articles give suggestions and tips for improving different areas of safety at your business. Take some time to check out the various topics that we explore in the articles. We’ll explain the dangers of distracted driving, the importance of pre-trip vehicle inspections and preventive maintenance, why you should always wear a seatbelt, and more. Safety is an ongoing process, so it’s important to always be looking for ways to make your business a little safer. The following articles might help you think of ways to do that.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Introduces a New Alert System
The hi-tech in-cab trucking alert system piloted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation is gaining traction among truckers. The new technology plays an important role in reducing the risk of car accidents and crashes.
With a collaboration with the Intelligent Imaging System, the innovative pilot program offers a highly advanced truck messaging system that gives drivers real-time alerts about road conditions. The alerts aim to help truckers prepare for the events like slowdowns or stopped traffic.
The technology is Canada-based and plays an important role in maintaining road safety, and can become a great tool for law enforcement and transportation agencies. Moreover, as the crash rate of commercial vehicles is on the rise, new technologies may help truckers obtain quicker settlements on insurance claims.
Let’s delve into the details and find out how the new alert system could benefit trucking companies and truckers.
What is the CSA’s Point Breakdown for Violations
CSA scores are an important and critical aspect of a successful carrier. If a driver manages them well, the scores help them get access to not only preferred loads but also reduced insurance rates. However, if a driver fails to manage them well, the carrier’s CSA scores could hit them with things like an out of service order.
Keep reading if you’re new to commercial driving and interested in learning the CSA’s point breakdown for violations.
Can Technology Help You Lower Your Trucking Insurance Cost?
Did you know that litigation of truck accidents has increased significantly?
Whether you have a transportation company or a trucking fleet, managing insurance may be a daunting task. We say this because legal settlements are on the rise and premiums are increasing. Plus, the equipment has become more costly. The new legislation has drastically changed the way people measure and understand safety.
With the insurance landscape shifting, drivers are opting for new technologies to keep themselves safe and lower their insurance. Technology plays a key role in enabling technology adapters to decrease risks in the driver’s seat. Also, many auto insurance companies offer discounts to their policyholders for installing vehicle safety devices or demonstrating safe driving.
Who is impacted by the CSA?
As a motor carrier, you know that you need to pay attention to the FMCSA and their regulations. There are a few letters that you might have heard about — CSA, or Compliance, Safety, Accountability. What is the trucking CSA, and who is affected by it? (And why is there an FMCSA and a CSA? That’s just confusing.) Is it something that your motor carrier is subject to? We’ll explain.
A brief introduction to the trucking SMS
The trucking world is filled with confusing things. The regulations are many and the letters – FMCSA, CSA, SMS, DOT – can cause real befuddlement. Three letters in particular, SMS, are extremely important. They stand for Safety Measurement System. We’ll explain what the trucking SMS is all about by answering a few common questions about it.
FMCSA Military Driver Programs
If you’re a military personnel and you’re considering moving into a civilian career, don’t forget to consider trucking. Transportation can be a great career path. There’s always a need for experienced commercial truck drivers, and the FMCSA wants to fill the jobs with CMV drivers who have experience, who are safe drivers, and who are trustworthy. (That goes along with their goal of increasing CMV safety and lowering the number of crashes involving CMVS.) That’s why the FMCSA has various programs that make it easier for military personnel to get CDLs – not to mention quicker and cheaper. We’ll explain how you can find out if you’re eligible and go over the different FMCSA Military Driver programs.
Why didn’t my MCS-150 update show up in SMS?
The trucking world is full of paperwork and regulations. The MCS-150 is something that motor carriers need to be aware of and keep up with. (There are a lot of forms and such you have to keep up with, admittedly.) But even when you are on top of everything, you might wonder why the carefully reviewed update to your MCS-150 hasn’t shown up in the SMS. We’ll go over a few things about updating that, including when to update the MCS-150 and why you might not see the changes right away.
What and where are the Safety Measurement System severity tables?
Being a motor carrier is a lot of paying attention to regulations and inspections. You might be wondering what violation severity weight is and where one could find the severity tables for the SMS. Seems like that would be something helpful to know about. Well, it has to do with BASICs and such. Here is what you need to know.
7 things you need to know about Compliance, Safety, Accountability
The CSA, or Compliance, Safety, Accountability, is a big deal in the trucking world. It’s all about safety and prioritizing which carriers need intervention. There’s a lot to learn about the CSA. It’s helpful to have an understanding of what the CSA does and what you should expect. Here are a few things you should know about the CSA.