Slip/Trip and Fall injuries are drivers’ most common type of injury. Most of them occur during the winter months. Thousands of professional drivers are seriously injured annually due to not paying attention to winter conditions. Working on the ice and snow requires your full attention and awareness.
- Remember, it is our primary goal that you go home to your family and friends the way you came to work today, safe and healthy.
- Always wear proper footwear. A full-support leather shoe with a rugged non-slip sole. Use non-slip covers on shoes (Yak Trax, etc.)
- SLOW DOWN. Never be in a hurry.
- Always watch where you walk. Snow can accumulate on top of ice in and around truck parking areas.
- Take small steps and check your footing with each step.
- Look for ice on all handrails and hand grabs before using them.
- ALWAYS use gloves for better grip.
- ALWAYS use three contact points when exiting/entering your tractor or trailer or getting on the catwalk behind the cab.
- Always use your seat belt.
- SLOW DOWN!
- Slow Down in winter!
Preparing for the Cold Weather Ahead!
We are in Fall, and now is the time to prepare your operation for the cold weather. Your drivers should know what is required to keep their trucks running in winter.
Fuel Additive Use during Cold Weather Conditions
Fuel additives to prevent jelling should be added anytime the ambient temperature is below 32. Power Service and Penray are popular manufacturers of fuel additives, and both companies have two different products available through Navistar and Idealease locations.
Power Service:
- The "Red Bottle" is Power Service 911 and is to be used ONLY when the fuel in a unit has been jelled.
- 911 is NOT to be used as a fuel additive that you would regularly put in the fuel tank to keep the fuel from jelling.
- Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement + Cetane "White Bottle" will be added to the fuel at each fill when the ambient temperature is < 30 degrees F.
- This is the additive you should regularly use during the winter months.
Penray:
Winter Thaw Emergency Diesel Fuel Supplement
- Dissolves already gelled fuel fast and reduces clogging of fuel filters.
- Prevents ice crystal build-up in fuel lines and filters by disbursing moisture.
- Eliminates hard starting, pounding, and excessive smoking and helps improve combustion.
- 100% compatible with low sulfur fuel and fuel blends.
Winter Pow-R Plus Diesel Fuel Supplement
- ULSD compliant. Prevents gelling of diesel fuel.
- Prevents ice crystal formation.
- Reduces cold filter plug point b as much as 30ºF.
- Helps enhance cetane.
- Helps improve fuel economy.
- Utilizes HAFI® technology.
- Improves cold weather starting.
- Stabilizes and prevents corrosion.
- Helps reduce emissions.
- Helps improve lubricity
Labor Department Proposes New Test for Employee Designation
The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has issued a proposed rule to redefine who is an employee as opposed to an independent contractor. The proposed rule would apply to those legal areas where DOL has jurisdiction, such as minimum wage and overtime (only employees are entitled to these benefits). Federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the National Labor Relations Board, have their tests for employee status.
The DOL proposal would not affect the exemption from overtime for drivers subject to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s driver’s hours of service rules, as that provision is mandated by statute in the Fair Labor Standards Act and may not be changed by agency rulemaking.
In January 2021, the Labor Department, in the last days of the Trump Administration, issued an independent contractor classification rule that included a five-factor test but noted that the employer’s degree of control over the work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss were designated as “core factors” are the most probative and carry greater weight in the analysis.
The Biden Administration first delayed the implementation of the Trump Administration rule and then withdrew the rule on May 6, 2021.
The new Wage and Hour Division proposal states that to determine employee status, DOL will inquire whether, as a matter of economic reality, the worker is either economically dependent on the employer for work (and is thus an employee) or is in business for themselves (and is thus an independent contractor). To answer this ultimate inquiry of economic dependence, DOL asserts that the courts and the Department have historically conducted a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis, considering multiple factors to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the FLSA.
These factors generally include the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss, investment, permanency, the degree of control by the employer over the worker, whether the work is an integral part of the employer’s business, and skill and initiative. The new proposal would not assign any predetermined weight to any factors.
Got Chains?
If you are operating in a state that requires chains to be on board, ensure the chains are the correct size, adequately secured, clean, and not broken to be easily applied when necessary.
Not sure what your states chain laws are going to be:
