We read somewhere that the phrase "April fool" started out back in the 1500's as a way to ridicule those who refused to change with the times, now it's a way to share a little humor with family, friends and colleagues. Do us a favor this year and play at least one April Fool's joke on someone you know.
Do us another favor and be a good sport when someone plays an April Fool's joke on you. Remember, if you can laugh at yourself, you're not really a fool, regardless of what day or month it is.
Happy April Fool's Day!
Trucker Buddy International
Trucker Buddy of the Month January 2010
Mike Schultz ~ Q Carriers
Ms. Darlene Thrall, fifth grade teacher at Mooresville Intermedia School, in Mooresville, NC nominated Mike Schultz for Trucker Buddy of the Month. "Mike has been a tremendous asset to my classroom this year. He has taken the time to send biweekly Newsletters that let us know where he has been, which we plot on a map, what his loads have been, and how they might impact us, and he includes pictures of the landscapes, including interesting tidbits of information about the area, and our favorite—pictures of his dog, Pilot."
Mike takes the time to write to all the students individually and answers all their questions. He tells the student about his racing hobby, which they love, his horses, and what he does in his free time. Ms. Thrall says, "The kids look forward to his letters and are always anxious to write to him! What an accomplishment—kids wanting to write!"
The students were thrilled when Mike brought his truck and his dog, Pilot to their school. The also like wanted him to become the Trucker Buddy of the Month because he sends letters to Ms. Thrall for each of the children.
Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, often called the number one trucking image campaign in North America, has helped educate schoolchildren and introduce educators to the trucking industry. This gives them the world through the eyes of a professional truck driver. The Trucker Buddy program helps to educate and mentor schoolchildren via a pen pal relationship between professional truck drivers and children in grades 2-8 as supervised by their teachers.
After an extensive screening process, the professional truck drivers are matched with a class and as directed by the teacher, drivers share news about their travels with their class. Students write letters and send pictures to their drivers. Students' skills in reading, writing, geography, mathematics, social studies, and history are enhanced and learning is fun.
Since 1992, Trucker Buddy International has helped educate over a million schoolchildren and introduced them to caring, compassionate men and women, professional truck drivers. The on going success of the program is due to driver volunteers, participating teachers and the contributions of sponsors. There is no cost to the drivers or teachers to participate in the program. The Trucker Buddy program is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations.
CSA 2010. Oops, what was that I stepped in?
Derek Hinton - dotjobhistory.com
About a month ago I wrote an article in part about CSA 2010. In that article, I wrote:
“Under CSA 2010, all carriers--and in the future all drivers--with sufficient safety data available will receive a safety rating that will be periodically updated. Currently, FMCSA is able to provide safety ratings for relatively few carriers and for no drivers.”
I received several calls and emails that disputed that, and in fact, on the FMCSA website under Frequently Asked Questions (http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/FAQs.aspx?role=MC) it says this:
Do individual CMV drivers get an individual driver safety rating under CSA 2010?
No. Under the new program, as it is currently constructed in the Operational Model test and planned for implementation, FMCSA will not rate or determine the safety fitness of individual CMV drivers beyond what is currently defined in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. This does not preclude FMCSA from developing a driver rating or safety fitness determination process at some time in the future.
Given what I wrote above, it looks like the old smart aleck word merchant stepped in it doesn’t it? But I don’t know: if something waddles like a duck, has webbed feet like a duck and quacks like a duck, it may be a horse, but it’s probably a duck.
And with CSA 2010, there will be a Safety Measurement System (SMS). SMS includes two distinct safety measurement systems:
- One for carriers [Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS)]
- One for drivers [Driver Safety Measurement Systems (DSMS)].
So what does this Driver Safety Measurement system do?
The DSMS assesses both the Fatigued Driving BASIC and Driver Fitness BASIC using relevant violations recorded during roadside inspections to calculate a measure in each BASIC for individual drivers. These measures are used to generate percentile ranks that reflect drivers’ safety postures relative to their peers. http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMSMethodology.pdf page 23.
Is it just me or does “These measures are used to generate percentile ranks that reflect drivers’ safety postures relative to their peers” sound kinda like a driver safety rating? How does it relate to “FMCSA will not rate or determine the safety fitness of individual CMV drivers beyond what is currently defined in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations”?
It looks like drivers will not be rated or have safety fitness scores assigned by FMCSA, but measures will be used to generate a percentile rank of a driver’s safety posture as compared to peers. The following BASICS (this stands for Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories) are used “to calculate the driver measures and percentiles for each BASIC and the Crash Indicator for individual CMV drivers.”
- Unsafe Driving BASIC and Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC
- Fatigued Driving BASIC and Driver Fitness BASIC
- Vehicle Maintenance BASIC and Improper Loading/Cargo Securement BASIC
- Crash Indicator
Regardless of the terminology used, I think all would agree that drivers behaviors are going to be monitored, judged as to severity and frequency and then used to compare one driver’s safety “posture” to another and it would be unwise for drivers to assume their safety fitness will not be judged beyond current FMCSA regulations.
It appears most of you were not afflicted with Trucking March Madness this year. Here are the results of the TruckDriver.com March Madness Survey.
Will you be attending the Mid-America Trucking Show this year?
Yes - 22%
No - 59%
Maybe - 19%
According to one of our recent surveys, nearly 75% of you reported that the cell phone/telephone was your preferred method of communicating with the folks back home. While we didn't limit the category specifically to cell phones, we're guessing nearly everyone owns a cell phone these days. So, we were wondering how many of you own a smartphone. A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities with PC-like functionality. Take the TruckDriver.com Smarter Phones, Smarter Drivers Survey and let us know.
By the way, drop us line if you used your smartphone to take the survey.
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
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