Announced this morning from the Center for Disease Control, "Today, CDC is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday at a White House COVID-19 briefing. "Anyone who is fully vaccinated, can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic."
During the COVID-19 pandemic many times I have asked myself the question…Where would we been in this pandemic if trucks stopped delivering goods and services the first week of March 2020? I envision if that would have happened that the death toll would be a least a hundred times worse and the economy would have been completely shut down with only hope that it would recover in decades from now. Drivers in to delivering the goods and services as well as PPE, Medical supplies, and services are exposing themselves to the possibility of contracting the virus from the people they encounter while performing their job.
I am not trying to take away the importance that the front-line medical workers performed and the need for their recognition. I am just saying that without drivers the situation would have been drastically different, and the front line workers jobs would have been taxed even more.
Now is the time to show drivers just how valuable they were and are today and recognize them for their performance in keeping the supply chain intact by providing the goods and services to society daily.
There are many ways of recognizing employees.
In this situation I would recommend Micro recognition, also known as day-to-day recognition, is more frequent and ongoing. This may include a note on a steering wheel, card in their mailbox, a text, communication over your ELD/Telematics, or anything that you can do to recognize employees quickly and quite easily. Micro recognition is the perfect way to support organizational values on a regular basis and make employees feel valued.
Thank you, drivers, for all you do!
Stay safe and take care,
Dave Helge and the Idealease team
Do You Have a Driver with Other Outside Compensated Work?
With ELD’s now in full swing, motor carriers feel that their hours-of-service violations have now been completely taken care of. However, there is one area of compliance that the ELD does NOT address, and that's a driver with other compensated work. A driver with other compensated work outside of your employment could have a significant impact on your company's liability exposure and compliance! A dangerous liability situation that carriers can find themselves in is when a driver operating a commercial motor vehicle has another part-time job unbeknownst to the motor carrier. It is not until there is an accident or an on-site compliance review that the motor carrier becomes aware of the situation and finds that the driver is in noncompliance with the hours-of-service regulations placing the motor carrier in a grave liability situation as the outside part-time work is compensated. As defined in CFR 395.2 (9) under definition of “On duty time”, performing any compensated work for a person who is not a motor carrier. How does the motor carrier protect itself from this exposure? Consider this. Have all of your drivers signed a statement upon hire indicating that they do not currently have any other employment that they are being compensated for? Also, include in the statement that if they incur compensation for any work outside of their employment with your company that they will immediately inform their supervisor and will be required to document the hours on their hours-of-service documentation, either a grid log or time record as “On Duty” time. Have the driver sign and date the statement and maintain in the driver’s qualification file. Below is an example of the “Driver’s Certification of other Compensated Work Statement”. You can find the downloadable pdf document at the bottom of the page.
CDL and Medical Certification Exemption Expires May 31st
If you have any drivers that were utilizing the COVID exemption for renewal of their CDL or medical recertification they need to renew them by May 31st as the exemption will expire.
FMCSA Medical Review Board to Meet
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Medical Review Board will meet via videoconference on May 19-20, 2021. 86 Fed. Reg. 23780 (May 4, 2021). The MRB is an advisory committee to the FMCSA and provides the agency with input on current medical issues affecting commercial motor vehicle driver qualification and wellness.
At the meeting, the agenda will cover the following topics:
- Finalize recommendations from the MRB’s April 2020 meeting on updates to the Medical Examiner Handbook;
- Conduct a review of the medical assessment form for CMV drivers with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; and
- Evaluate comments and the vision assessment form from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) ‘‘Qualifications of Drivers; Vision Standard’’ (86 FR 2344, January 12, 2021) for medical sufficiency to assist FMCSA in preparing its final rule to amend the vision standard for CMV drivers.
The meeting is open to the public, and there will be opportunity for public comment on the proceedings.
