FMCSA Improves SMS with ASPEN Enhancements
- Details
- Parent Category: Safety
- Category: Driver Safety
- Published on Saturday, 11 August 2012 17:38
- Written by Editor
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FMCSA Improves SMS with ASPEN Enhancements
In July 2012, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in conjunction with its State Partners and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, refined the roadside inspection system, ASPEN, to improve the Safety Measurement System (SMS). SMS uses roadside inspections, reported through ASPEN, and crash data to prioritize motor carriers for interventions.
This action is in response to stakeholder feedback that indicated that some commercial driver violations in SMS are a result of license suspensions for non-safety related reasons, such as failing to pay a parking ticket. Motor carriers often cannot detect these suspensions when doing required background or annual checks of a driver’s driving record.
The refinement to ASPEN will collect more precise data about drivers operating commercial motor vehicles (CMV) while disqualified to improve the Agency’s ability to identify non-compliant and unsafe motor carriers. Specifically, the enhancement will allow roadside inspectors to classify disqualified driver violations into different categories depending on whether the driver’s license is:
Suspended by the driver’s license-issuing State or another State; and
Suspended for a safety-related (e.g., speeding or false logs violations) or non-safety related (e.g., failure to pay parking tickets) reason.
This additional data will strengthen the effectiveness and accuracy of the Driver Fitness Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) of the SMS. More importantly, it will hold motor carriers accountable for using a driver with a license that has been suspended for safety-related reasons by the driver’s license-issuing State.
The table below shows the definitions and severity weights assigned to the updated violations in ASPEN effective July 20, 2012. In order to ensure uniform implementation, these changes are not applied retroactively.
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Violation Before ASPEN Enhancement (Severity Weight) |
Violations After ASPEN Enhancement (Severity Weight) |
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383.51(a) Driving a CMV (CDL) while disqualified (8) |
Driving a CMV (CDL) while disqualified (Safety/State of Record) (8) |
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Driving a CMV (CDL) while disqualified (Safety/Not State of Record) (5) |
|
|
Driving a CMV (CDL) while disqualified (Non-Safety/State of Record) (5) |
|
|
Driving a CMV (CDL) while disqualified (Non-Safety/Not State of Record) (1) |
|
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391.15(a) Driving a CMV while disqualified (8) |
Driving a CMV while disqualified (Safety/State of Record) (8) |
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Driving a CMV while disqualified (Safety/Not State of Record) (5) |
|
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Driving a CMV while disqualified (Non-Safety/State of Record) (5) |
|
|
Driving a CMV while disqualified (Non-Safety/Not State of Record) (1) |
For more information about CSA, visit the CSA website: http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov.
Eaton to Develop Affordable Home Refueling Station for Natural Gas Vehicles; Project Complements Eaton Advancements in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
- Details
- Parent Category: Industry
- Category: Industry Products
- Published on Thursday, 09 August 2012 13:38
- Written by Editor
- Hits: 116
Eaton to Develop Affordable Home Refueling Station for Natural Gas Vehicles; Project Complements Eaton Advancements in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
CLEVELAND - Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced today it will develop an affordable home refueling station for natural gas vehicles, utilizing existing natural gas sources in the home and innovative compressor technology to deliver the alternative fuel source safely and efficiently to vehicles.
The effort is funded in part by a $3.4 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). The goal is to develop a production prototype for refueling stations that will retail for about one tenth of the cost of currently available systems.
The development project will be led by Eaton’s InnovationCenter teams inSouthfield,Mich., andMilwaukee and the Advanced Hydraulics group inEden Prairie,Minn. Teams will draw on Eaton’s expertise in hydraulic component and systems design and experience gained through development and installation of thousands of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in public and residential spaces across the country.
Atro Engineered Systems Publishes New Catalog
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- Parent Category: Industry
- Category: Industry Products
- Published on Thursday, 09 August 2012 13:20
- Written by Editor
- Hits: 104
Atro Engineered Systems Publishes New Catalog
Atro Engineered Systems has published a new product catalog with nearly 800 part numbers that adds 161 part numbers since the publication of its previous catalog.
Included in the catalog is a reference guide explaining Atro’s part numbering system. With the expansion of the torque rod line, a chart has been added to assist customers in locating specific aftermarket replacement torque rods.
Atro’s catalog is available for download by going to www.atrobushing.com/atro-catalog.php. Upon completing the requested information, you will be e-mailed a link to download the catalog.
Xata Turnpike Announces Integration with TMWSuite® to Drive Efficiency, Productivity and Convenience for Both Drivers and Fleet Managers
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- Parent Category: Industry
- Category: Industry Products
- Published on Thursday, 09 August 2012 13:02
- Written by Editor
- Hits: 107
Xata Turnpike Announces Integration with TMWSuite® to Drive Efficiency, Productivity and Convenience for Both Drivers and Fleet Managers
Integration provides cost-effective driver and fleet management tools to automate critical business processes and improve productivity
MINNEAPOLIS— Xata Corporation (NASDAQ: XATA), the leader in fleet optimization software, announces its award-winning Xata Turnpike fleet management software is now integrated with TMWSuite® transportation management software from TMW Systems, driving efficiency, productivity and convenience for both drivers and fleet managers by automating key functions throughout the load planning and back-end processes. The Xata Turnpike integration with TMWSuite provides a cost-effective solution that uniquely combines both driver and fleet management tools in one. The integration provides fleets all the functions and services for the end-to-end transportation process, and is scalable for a wide range of customers, from regional brokers and 3PLs to national carriers with fleets ranging from 50 to 15,000.
CSA’s New Crash Weighting Research Plan
- Details
- Parent Category: ROOT
- Category: Safety
- Published on Thursday, 09 August 2012 12:08
- Written by Editor
- Hits: 144
CSA’s New Crash Weighting Research Plan
FMCSA’s top priority is safety. Over the past two years, the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program has been working successfully to make the Nation’s roads safer. CSA aims to identify motor carrier safety problems earlier through better use of data, with the end goal of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
As part of this commitment to safety, FMCSA continually identifies ways to advance the efficiency and effectiveness of its safety programs, including CSA. In this spirit FMCSA is announcing a focused initiative to analyze a process for updating the 100,000 annual State-reported crash records to include a determination of a motor carrier’s role in a crash.
