Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our US Customer and Carrier Partners!!

We hope you have a great long weekend! In addition, we would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your business and support, and we look forward to continuing long term business relationships!

~~ Have a great turkey day!! ~~

Winter Driving and Mountain Passes

Some mountain passes are now experiencing winter weather conditions! Drivers: please be reminded to call ahead for current road conditions or contact the UWC Customer Service Department on our trucker dedicated line - 1.877.273.7400 - for up to the minute highway condition updates!!

Also, it is important to be prepared for winter driving. Below are some tips to help with winter driving this season:

1. Make sure to do a pre-trip inspection before each trip. Although this is a year round recommendation, this is even more important during the winter months. Remember to clear the snow and ice from your tractor and trailer to ensure good visibility, check tires, wiper blades, lights, and fluids.

2. Pack the winter essentials: flashlight, batteries, gloves, rain gear, first aid kit, extra fluids, windshield scraper/brush, jumper cables, and tire chains, to name a few.

3. Drive with caution - drive slower, give yourself time, allow for more space between other cars and trucks, accelerate and brake slowly, watch the road carefully for black ice and other winter conditions.

Also, below are the links to State websites that we monitor for mountain pass conditions:

• Washington: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/passes


• Oregon: http://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?mainNav=RoadConditions&curRegion=3

Preparedness is key!! Don't experience delays and time constraints due to winter weather road conditions on mountain passes.

More CSA 2010 -

CSA 2010 Countdown - Check your Score Today!!

The kickoff for CSA 2010 going live is now less than one month away!! Here is a quick review of what is going to happen:


Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce commercial vehicle (CMV)-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities. It introduces a new enforcement and compliance model that allows FMCSA and its State Partners to contact a larger number of carriers earlier in order to address safety problems before crashes occur. Rolling out the program by the end of 2010 will establish a new nationwide system for making the roads safer for motor carriers and the public.


The FMCSA uses Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories, also called BASICs, in order to measure motor carrier's on-road safety performance. The BASICs categories are as follows:

• Unsafe Driving


• Fatigued Driving (Hours of Service)


• Driver Fitness


• Controlled Substances/Alcohol


• Vehicle Maintenance


• Cargo-Related


• Crash Indicator

Motor Carriers can now view their BASICs Assessment, which includes on road performance and investigation results. Review your inspection and crash data, and identify and correct safety compliance problems today!! The FMCSA is tracking who has logged in to the FMCSA Data Preview site to see their status and scores and what particular pages they are looking at. It has been reported that fewer than 10% of registered trucking companies have accessed their data.

UWC encourages carrier companies to obtain a password and ID and log in to the system in order to understand what your status and scores are, and take corrective action immediately regarding any safety compliance issues.

To log in, go to https://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fDataPreview%2fDefault.aspx and follow the instructions. If you require any assistance or further information regarding CSA 2010, please feel free to contact UWC's Carrier Relations Department at toll free: 1.877.273.7400 or carriers@unitedworldcargo.com.

!!!Kick off date for CSA 2010 is slated for December 5th, 2010! Make sure you are well informed and prepared for the new system, and remember to log in to the Data Preview Site!!!

CSA 2010 - Dispelling Myths - Part 2

We are now in the countdown stages to CSA 2010, with one month to go until public launch date!!!

Similarly to our post from Sept 30th, 2010, this week's blog post will look at the CSA 2010 information titled CSA 2010: Just the Facts. UWC has picked out another 5 from this list that we find to be interesting and informative. They are listed below:

1. Carrier companies will not inherit any of a newly hired driver's past violations. Only those inspections that a driver receives while driving under a carrier's authority can be applied to a Carrier's Safety Measurement System Assessment.

2. Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) introduces a driver safety assessment tool to help enforcement staff evaluate driver's safety as part of motor carrier investigations. Using the new Safety Measurement System (SMS), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) continues to hold motor carriers responsible for the job performance of those who work for them. Therefore, motor carrier companies are held accountable for their drivers' errors, such as speeding. This is a longstanding FMCSA position and is not unique to CSA 2010 or the new SMS.

3. Potentially erroneous violations on carrier/driver records can be submitted for review. The DataQs system (https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov), which does not change under CSA 2010, allows motor carrier companies and drivers to make a Request for Data Review, or RDR, of information that resides in FMCSA databases such as crash and inspection reports.

4. The SMS assesses a carrier's safety performance on the basis of its roadside violations and crashes. The SMS uses a subset of these violations and crashes to evaluate an individual driver's safety performance across employers. Appendix A of the SMS Methodology shows a complete table of the violations that are used and indicates whether a given violation is used in the Driver SMS. Drivers and carrier companies authorized by a driver to conduct a pre-employment screening have the ability to view three years of inspection data and five years of crash data through the Pre-employement Screening Program (PSP). http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov/Pages/FAQ.aspx.

5. If a carrier company or commercial motor vehicle driver finds any violations in his or her crash or roadside inspection reports that are not listed in the SMS Methodology severity tables, then they do not count towards the carrier company's or driver's SMS data.

Stay tuned for additional info from UWC regarding CSA 2010, and please feel free to share any info you have also heard!!

References:

CSA 2010: Just the Facts. U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Http://CSA2010.FMCSA.dot.gov. July 2010.