National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is September 15-21, 2024 Americans and Canadians have taken extraordinary steps to show their appreciation for the important work that professional truck drivers have done. From children handing out lunches...
Truck Driver Safety : Articles
Labor Day Driving Tips
Labor Day Driving Tips from America's Road Team The first step towards a safe trip begins in the driveway. Plan Ahead and Expect Delays: With increased traffic, allow extra time for your trip. Use navigation apps to stay informed about real-time...
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
The 2024 national enforcement mobilization "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" went into effect across the country on August 16 and will conclude on September 2, 2024. Impaired driving, one of the deadliest and most frequently committed—yet...
Winter Driving Tips for Driver and the Vehicle – Prepare for winter driving conditions
With fall here, it is time to talk to your drivers about winter driving conditions! Winter Driving Tips for the Driver and the Vehicle - Proper steps to take in preparation for winter driving conditions: Step 1: Make sure that your truck is...
CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Scheduled for Aug. 20-26
CVSA’s Brake Safety Week Scheduled for Aug. 20-26 The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has scheduled this year’s Brake Safety Week for Aug. 20-26 with a focus on brake lining/pad violations. During Brake Safety Week, commercial motor...
Proactive vs. Reactive Safety and Loss Control Programs
Which One Do You Have? At the end of the year you should be evaluating your safety and loss control program to determine your performance over the year. Where do you stand compared to last year and the year before? Ongoing analysis programs are...
Hypertension and Drivers
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that 26% of truck drivers say they have hypertension. Even with high blood pressure, you may still be able to drive. Truck drivers with high blood pressure must take steps to lower...
Clearinghouse Return-to-Duty Process for CDL Drivers
A driver with a drug and alcohol program violation is prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions, including operating commercial motor vehicles, for any DOT-regulated employer until the driver has completed the return-to-duty (RTD)...
Do I need a USDOT Number?
This question comes up frequently from our customers and thought that this week we will address this. This question usually is raised when we have a customer that is an INTRAstate carrier not subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety...
Idealease Safety Seminars
Idealease Will Present a Limited Number of Safety Seminars this Fall Idealease and the National Private Truck Council NPTC will again be hosting a limited number of safety seminars in the fall of 2022. The one-day seminar this year will focus on...
Brake Safety Week is Aug 21 – 27th
CVSA-certified enforcement personnel will conduct roadside inspections on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Week, Aug 21-27, to identify and remove CMVs with critical brake...
Driver Shortage Remains A Concern
The pressure on the trucking industry to help satisfy America’s growing consumption increases every year. Between now and 2027, the amount of freight moved by trucks is expected to jump by 27 percent.
Brake Safety Week is Aug. 21-27
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced Aug. 21-27 as the dates for this year’s Brake Safety Week. Brake Safety Week is an annual commercial motor vehicle brake-safety inspection, enforcement and education initiative conducted by law enforcement jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. During Brake Safety Week, inspectors will conduct their usual North American Standard Level I and V Inspections and capture and report brake-related data to CVSA. The results will be released in the fall.
The Heat is On!
This crazy weather continues this year, and the Heat is setting record temperatures across North America. Last week we discussed how the heat was impacting your trucks, today we will look at the impact to your drivers. What are you doing to...
CVSA Operation Safe Driver Week Set for July 10-16, 2022
Operation Safe Driver Week Operation Safe Driver Week is a safe-driving awareness and outreach initiative aimed at improving the driving behaviors of passenger vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers through educational and traffic...
House Holds Hearing on Electric Grid Resilience & Reliability
On February 15, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis conducted a hearing on Strategies for Electric Grid Resilience and Reliability. One of the witnesses was Mark Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute;...
Mobile 3G Shutdown Might Affect ELD Compliance
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is warning motor carriers that mobile telecommunications carriers are scheduling shutdown of their 3G mobile service networks to make room for more advanced 5G networks. As a result, many older cell...
CVSA Schedules Road Check for May 17th-19th
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has announced this year’s International Roadcheck dates as May 17th-19th with a focus on wheel ends. Roadcheck is a 72-hour high-visibility, high-volume commercial motor vehicle inspection, and enforcement...
FSMA and the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food
FSMA rules only apply to foods regulated by the FDA. Granted, this is a significant chunk of the U.S. food supply, about 75%. The other 25% is regulated by other agencies, such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees...
Food Safety and Temperature Controlled Transportation
Poison control centers receive thousands of calls about suspected food poisoning each year. As the holiday seasons approach, it can be especially risky as people head to the grocery stores to prepare special meals for their loved ones. Although 14%...
Cargo Securement Regulations
Anything and everything carried on a truck must be properly secured to prevent loss of control or falling cargo from injuring drivers, passengers, or pedestrians. While safe cargo securement principles (and of course regulations) apply to every...
Driver Safety Exercise
Safety Meeting Exercise As part of your next driver safety meeting have a driver get into the cab of a unit with the engine shut off and key removed and sit in the proper driving position with the seat belt fastened. Tell the driver that you are...
Mirrors: A Reflection of Safety
The mirrors on your vehicles provide your driver with real-time information so they can operate the unit safely. If the mirrors are in poor condition and or out of adjustment the lack of the information that they provide can contribute to or be the...
FMCSA Issues Final Rule on Driver Vision Standards
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a final rule to permit individuals who do not satisfy, with the worse eye, either the existing distant visual acuity standard with corrective lenses or the field of vision standard or...
Are You Driving with “Tunnel Vision” this Winter?
Tunnel vision occurs when a driver scrapes off only a small area of ice and/or snow on their vehicle windshield to allow just enough space to see through a small hole as they drive. This practice significantly reduces a driver’s field of vision and...
What size do the letters and numbers need to be on the placard or marking on the side of my commercial vehicle
How to Properly Mark a Commercial Motor Vehicle A common question from customers is “What size do the letters and numbers need to be on the placard or marking on the side of my commercial vehicle?” Ironically, there is NO size designation by...
Protecting Your Truck During Cold Weather
Protecting Your Truck During Cold Weather Diesel Supplement should be added to the ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. Engine Block Heater - If you truck is equipped with an engine block heater it should be plugged...
Preventing a Single Vehicle Accident
A single-vehicle accident is any driving mishap where only one vehicle is involved. This can include veering off the road and hitting a tree, a rollover crash, or damage caused by animals or debris on the road. Bad weather, poor visibility and...
FMCSA Releases Details of 18–20-Year-Old Driver Apprenticeship Program
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released the details of its apprenticeship program for 18–20-year-old drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. The notice is an Information Collection Request seeking...
What do the FMCSA regulations say about my driver who has a current medical certificate but has developed a medical condition that would make the operation of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) questionable and possibly unsafe?
What do the FMCSA regulations say about my driver who has a current medical certificate but has developed a medical condition that would make the operation of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) questionable and possibly unsafe? FMCSA regulations...