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R&R Insurance Blog

Trucking Tidbits: Driver Qualification File – 391.51

Posted by Lynn Reed

Are your driver qualification files ready for inspection? semi driving in mountains.jpgAre they meeting all federal regulations?

Each employee driver should have a two-sided file folder. The left side is for forms from the employee's initial hiring.These forms should be kept for the entire time he or she is employed and 3 years after the driver has left employment. The right side is for forms to be kept for 3 years reoccurring. See the example below:

trucking tidbit folder.png
Additional forms recommended to keep in the file:    

•    Alcohol & Drug Requirement Signature Page
•    Hazmat Training Certification
•    Signed Motor Vehicle Record Release

We advise to keep the items only as long as “legally” necessary and to implement a purging schedule.

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Topics: trucking, trucking compliance, trucking safety

Tidbits On Trucking

Posted by Lynn Reed

Trucking-Safety

Updates to the FMCSA

A motor carrier with a DOT number is required to update information with the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration) every two years. This is achieved by updating the MCS-150 information. The key is the last two digits of the motor carrier’s DOT number.

 

  • The last number is the month, with number one being January through zero being October. No one is required to update in November or December
  • The second number from the end is the year determination, even or odd. (ie: 1,3,5,7,9 are odd numbers)
  • Example: DOT #2260594 – to be updated April of every odd year

 

Two areas that must be updated are the number of power units and the annual miles. If a motor carrier has not done so, then they are “flagged”. This means they are now on the DOT Watch List, which could lead to a visit by the DOT.

 

Warning vs. Ticket

Did you know that receiving a warning instead of a ticket is not always the best? Both warnings and tickets show up on your CSA score, however, with a ticket you can go to court and if dismissed you can do a “dataQ” and it will be removed. A warning gives you nothing to fight but still shows on your score. http://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov

 

Intrastate vs. Interstate

Did you know that the freight dictates if you are intrastate or interstate? It is in the paperwork.

 

Example #1: If the pallet is processed in Wisconsin and delivered in Wisconsin but is for a company in another state, it is interstate.

 

Example #2: A widget comes from overseas – paper work is for delivery to a specific person/customer in Wisconsin - it is interstate. However, if the company buys to stock at their warehouse in Wisconsin and the specific person/customer buys from them later and is in Wisconsin – It is intrastate even though it came from overseas originally.

 

What is the advice? Motor Carriers should declare they are interstate so they are always in compliance.

 

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Topics: trucking, trucking compliance, Business Insurance, trucking safety