New regulations take bad drivers off road

al PECIAL commercial driver's D li..nt"t will be required of a// commercial drivers by April 1,1992.

Mandated by the Federal Highway Authority in 1986 to imProve highway safety, the Commercial Drivers License (CDL) is issued by individual states in compliance with the FHWA standards including connection with the Commercial Drivers License Information System, a national computer system with the ability to spot frequent safety violations.

Story at a Glance

Lumber trucks and drivers must meet new federal regulations states in gear to administer Commercial Drivers License. truck inspections and drug testing requircd.

Knowledge and skills tests to qualify drivers are conducted by the states. All western states now administer these tests with all states issuing the CDLs with the exception of New Mexico, which willbegin in September.

So far about 500,000 truck drivers and bus drivers have received the new national drivers license. About 4.4 million truck drivers still have to get the license before the deadline.

Once the new licenses are required, the national computer system will keep track of drivers who in the past have escaped detection by using multiple state licenses. Excessive violations will result in the loss of the national license.

The American Trucking Associations estimates that about 800/o of the drivers taking the written portion of the CDL test are passing the first time. However, some states report failure rates of less than 10%.

Two other federal regulations also affect any business with truck drivers. U.S. Department of Transpor- tation regulations effective Dec. 21, 1990, mandate that employers with 50 or fewer employees and utilizing trucks of 26,000 lbs. or more that cross state lines are required to administer three types of drug testing. This regulation applies to any company with delivery from one state to another. For example, a Southern California lumber company delivering materials to Las Vegas, Nv., would have to abide by this law.

Testing must be done prior to hiring and bi-annually or when there is reasonable cause. Currently, two cases involving random and postaccident drug testing are pending in California courts. If a ruling in favor of random testing is rendered, federal law will then require random testing instead of bi-annualtesting. If a ruling in favor of post-accident testing is rendered, this will be required by federal law as a fourth type of testing.

The third federal regulation regarding trucks is the ruling issued by the Federal Highway Authority in 1988 requiring all commercial motor vehicles (10,001 or more pounds) to pass an annual inspection based on federal standards. Sections 396.17 through 396.23 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations contain the annual inspection requirements. Many states also have legislation requiring periodic safety inspections and maintenance of safety records.

Two types of inspections are used. A roadside inspection verifies the safety of the vehicle being inspected. A terminal inspection is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the company's preventive maintenance program.

Drivers in many states are being stopped and cited for not complying with the inspection rules. The North American Uniform Vehicle Out-OfService Criteria adopted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is used by all states belonging to the alliance. When a vehicle passes a cri- tical item inspection or a terminal inspection, it receives a CVSA sticker. Vehicles with current CVSA stickers are not exempt from inspections, but they are usually excluded. Current regulations, insPection forms, posters, decals and information programs for each state are available from the Lumber Association of Southern California, Lumber Merchants Association of Northern California, Western Building Materials Association and the Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association or state police.

Regs Cut Supdy Of Ddvers

Tougher standards for truck drivers will eventually reduce the supply of drivers by 5o/o to 7o/0, according to Tom Donohue, president of the American Trucking Associations.

However, he sees long term benefits for the industry. The new requirements "will improve the quality of drivers, enhance safetY on the highwaYs and imProve the image of the trucking business," he said.

Industry executives feel that the drivers who operate their vehicles recklessly are detrimental to the profession. "Truckers used to be considered the knights of the highways, but todaY theY are considered killer trucks," said William Atkinson, Commercial Testing and Training Services, Inc., a company that helps drivers Prepare for the commercial drivers license tests.

The American Trucking Associations warns drivers that "being a professional is doing your best to ensure safe highways - even now more than ever. it's time 'to watch out for the other guy."' ATA also supports action to eliminate the sale ofalcoholic beverages at truck stops.

n O YOU rhink rhe cost of fuel in I recent months has been killins you? Read on.

The current Persian Gulf crisis has precipitated pump price increases of about 30% across the country. This has caught the attention of dealers everywhere. If you're an average dealer, you spend about 5% of your delivered sales for delivery services to your customers. This means that for every $2,000,000 in sales, $100,000 is consumed for delivery. Of this $100,000 expense, historically approximately l0% or $10,000 covers the cost of fuel.

When you pay 300/o more for gasoline or diesel, your annual fuel bill becomes $13.000. an annual increase of $3,000 or $250 per month. Total delivery costs increase to $103,000 annually. Percentage wise expense rises from 5o/o of sales to 5.150/0. By either measurement, such increases can hardly be considered death knells.

If delivery expense is killing you, look beyond the cost of fuel for the reasons. Here are some rocks we've looked under in the past 15 years that may be helpful to you.