Question Box
Bee-Line joins the State of Texas in transporting Hay to drought stricken areas
Drought has affected the entire State of Texas in a way that most of us are unaware of. Texas livestock, which in the past would graze freely on natural forage of grass in the pastures, are now relying on imported hay from the northern United States to survive. Due to lack of rain, these animals have no food and depend on their owners to provide food for them on a daily basis. The ranchers have to locate hay from 1,000+ miles away and bring in enough to feed through the winter. Bee-Line has been directing our database of qualified carriers to pick up and deliver this time sensitive freight to the worried ranchers. With the assistance of Lance Williams of the Texas Department of Agriculture, we have helped by transporting nearly 100 loads of hay to Texas just within the past month. Mr. Williams has created a Hay Hotline that people can locate hay sellers and hay transportation companies. Bee-Line is a Texas-based company and proud to help fellow Texans during this time of misfortune.
By: Joel Lopez (Bee-Line Logistics, Inc.)
Carrier Out-of-Service Rates Lowest Ever Recorded During 3-day Annual Roadcheck
Results from the CVSA’s Roadcheck 2011 (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance), a three-day campaign to enforce current safety standards for motor carriers, yielded the lowest amount of out-of-service violations in the campaign’s 23-year history.
During Roadcheck 2011 (Sponsored together with CVSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) approximately 16 trucks or buses were inspected, on average, every minute for the 72 hour campaign, from June 7-9. This totaled 70,712 inspections from 8,000 CVSA and FMCSA inspectors. Drivers were pulled over or directed into weigh stations or other inspection locations and asked to show their commercial driver’s license, medical examiner’s certificate and record of duty status. Brakes, tires, lights and every major safety component of the truck or bus, plus proper load securement were also examined during the campaign.
Results from Roadcheck 2011 show that overall vehicle/trailer compaliance to current safety standards was at 80.7 percent. (an increase from 80.0 percent in 2010). Driver compliance (hours of service, etc.) was at a rate of 95.8 percent (an increase from 95.6 percent in 2010). There were also 296 fewer safety belt violations for in 2011 compared to 2010.
According to the data, the safety programs at trucking companies are continuing to strengthen and play a more prominent role within the industry. This is not only a huge plus for the industry, but also a must to ensure the safety of fellow motorists.
What are your thoughts on the Campaign? Do you think it should be altered or changed in any way? How do you feel the safety aspect of the industry is performing?
FMCSA defends CSA 2010 in court
Claims that disclosure of data related to the Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 program will have disastrous consequences for many trucking companies fail to acknowledge that similar data has been available for more than a decade without causing such problems, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told a federal appeals court Monday, Dec. 6. Moreover, various arguments that the new data is misleading and inaccurate “do not withstand scrutiny,†the agency said. FMCSA was responding to a motion for an emergency stay filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last week by three trucking organizations. Read More…