Off to the green mountains of Vermont so I am finishing this month’s report a bit earlier.  Hope you to taking some time to enjoy summer, although with the heat we have seen here in the Northeast we seem to spend more time inside then normal for the summer months.

Just a reminder that the IMUA webinar on Truck Broker’s Legal Liability will be held on August 13, 2013. You can view the program and register at www.imua.org

CABs LABs – One of the popular features on the CAB Report, the interactive Radius Map tool provides users with a geographic view of where and when a motor carrier’s vehicles were inspected as well as the ability to confirm the true extent of the carrier’s operating radius. Until now, the map was limited to displaying the states in which the inspections occurred. This month we’ve rolled out the option to drill down into an individual state by clicking on the state’s truck icon to view the specific counties where the incidents took place. Users who would like to quickly view a detailed list of the occurrences can do so by clicking on the county markers. As an added benefit, for those users that have identified specific hot zone areas, the markers showing the location of the inspections or accidents will be red in cases a hot zone occurrence. As always, to learn more about these new features please download a copy of our new user guide or contact us.

This month we report:

DOT SECRETARY FOXX – Anthony Foxx, the former Mayor of Charlotte, N.C. is now the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.  Secretary Foxx has indicated that safety will remain the top priority of the department and indicated that he looks to improve the efficiency and performance of the current transportation system while building a better infrastructure. In other political news, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C., will take over for Peter DeFazio of Oregon as the ranking Democrat on a congressional subcommittee that oversees trucking and surface transportation in the U.S. House.

FILING LIMIT INCREASE? – Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Penn., has introduced legislation that would raise the required insurance minimum for motor carriers from $750,000 to $4,422,000 per truck, an increase of almost 500 percent. According to Rep. Cartwright the current minimum of $750,000 fails to perform the basic functions that Congress intended: to promote safe operations by holding insurers responsible for inspecting trucking operations prior to underwriting policies and to protect the public. He stated that a recent study conducted by the Trucking Alliance, showed that 42 percent of the dollar settlements paid by trucking companies between 2005 and 2011 for motor vehicle accidents exceeded the minimum insurance requirement.  The bill would also tie the future insurance minimum requirement to the cost of medical care inflation.

CARGO THEFT – FreightWatch International has updated its 2nd quarter report due to delays in incident reporting.  Totals for this quarter are expected to surpass those of the first quarter of 2013. In the second quarter of 2013, FreightWatch recorded a total of 194 thefts in the U.S., with 45 instances in April, 66 in May and 83 in June. The average loss value per incident during the quarter was $164,594, a 27 percent increase in value and a 12 percent decrease in volume, compared with the same timeframe in 2012. Compared with the first quarter of this year, it represents a 4 percent increase in value and a 15 percent decrease in volume.

Read More

Welcome summertime.  I hope you are all taking some time to enjoy the weather, although I must say it has been pretty hot up here in the East Coast where we have spent the week sweltering in a severe heat wave.  But at least it makes you slow down a bit – because it is too hot to move very fast.

This month we report:

OUT OF SERVICE REPORTS – Here is this month’s list of carriers identified as imminent hazards and put out of service by the FMCSA. The number is lower than last month but the focus continues to be on passenger carriers. These passenger carriers were put out of service: Advanced Ventures LLC of Springfield, VA as an imminent hazard to public safety, Lucky River Transportation Corp d/b/a Lucky Star of Boston, MA as an imminent hazard to public safety and Midnight Express, LLC of Olathe, KS because “company’s owners, Adam Breidenthal, Derrick Hansroth and Edward Goetz, were operating an unauthorized and unsafe commercial transportation service.” . There was one trucking company, E & K Trucking, Inc. of Commerce City, CO, which was declared an imminent hazard because it was still operating despite having it operating authority revoked for safety reasons in December 2012.

POLITICAL CHANGES – As of press time the DOT does not have their newest leader. Mr. Foxx is still awaiting the expected Senate nomination. With the recent passing of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, there was a space in the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security.  Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia will chair that subcommittee.

CARGO THEFT REPORT – Freightwatch has reported that cargo thefts from commercial trucks are down in the U.S. for the second quarter.  However, the average value of those losses has increased.  In the period from March through May 2013, FreightWatch recorded a total of 185 thefts in the United States, with 79 thefts in March, 44 in April and 62 in May, according to its latest report. The average loss value per incident during this period was $156,408. Compared with the previous quarter, thefts fell by 16 percent, although the average loss value increased by 9 percent. 

In the period from December 2012 through February 2013, FreightWatch recorded a total of 199 thefts in the U.S., with 77 thefts in December, 53 in January and 69 in February. The average loss value per incident during this period was $133,711. Compared with the previous quarter, thefts fell by 20 percent and average loss value dropped by 39 percent.

Food and drinks, were once again the most commonly stolen type of load, with 50 thefts reported in the quarter. These thefts composed 27 percent of all incidents from March to May. The pharmaceutical industry experienced 21 thefts, 11 percent of the total, and 19 thefts, 10 percent of all thefts, of electronics.

California remained the state with the most thefts, followed by Texas, Florida, Illinois and Georgia. The 49 thefts in California alone accounted for 26 percent of all thefts nationwide.

Unsecured parking was the most common spot targeted by cargo thieves in the incidents in which location types were recorded. Incidents involving theft of trailer, 126 in all, accounted for 68 percent of all thefts. The clothing/shoes category had the highest average loss value at $432,750.

Read More