Looking back from CSA 2010

Let's Take a Look Back at the Trucking Industry (from the driver's standpoint)


During the 1970s, over-the-road truckers made a great deal of money. They were mostly independent truckers, and many made $50,000 or more each year (keep in mind that $50,000 in in 1975 was comparable to $196,720 in 2009). Many of those truckers carried multiple licenses from different states, and they frequently drove very fast. Cheating on log books was very common. (If they got a ticket, they put it on the license with the fewest tickets against it and were back on the road. Many small jurisdictions came to depend on the revenue generated by tickets given to speeding truckers, sometimes with little regard for whether the driver was innocent or guilty.

In 1980 the Federal Motor Carrier Act deregulated the industry. This act allowed companies to compete on price, and resulted in taking a lot of profit out of the industry, and subsequently drivers' income decreased greatly. Because drivers are paid by the mile, they have an economic incentive to drive fast and violate HOS (Hours of Service). Then the FMCSA of 1986 (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act) changed a lot of this. Drivers were required to have only one license, called a Commercial Drivers License (CDL). For the first time the Federal Government required the states to comply with this law, under the penalty of loss of highway funds...at the same time a national system of reciprocity was established. Before this, a ticket given out of state, might not show up on a driver's Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) in his home state.

This system of reciprocity required that all tickets be reported to a national system, which eventually reported it to the home state...in addition this act defined 5 "Serious Violations" which were later expanded to 8.

Things just kept getting worse for the truckers.

In 1999 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act was passed and in 2000 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was created. This new agency was responsible with overseeing the motor carrier industry and with amending the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. These new regulations now defined 8 "serious" violations in Section 383.5. Prior to 10/1/02 only violations which occurred during the operation of the commercial vehicle were "serious". Following that date the FMCSA held the driver accountable, even if he is driving hos personal vehicle. Those 8 "serious" violations are:

Speeding 15, or more, mph over the posted speed limit
Reckless driving, as defined by state or local governments
Following too closely
Improper or erratic lane change (not using a signal)
Any violation issued in conjunction with a fatal accident
Driving a commercial without a CDL
Driving a commercial without a CDL in your possession
Driving Hazardous Materials without the proper endorsements on your license



Section 383.51 provides the penalties for violations 1 through 8...if drivers are convicted of two of these violations in a 3 year period, their license is suspended for 60 days. If they receive a 3rd violation within that same period they are suspended for an additional 120 days.

Another development that resulted from the Safety Improvement Act, was the addition of Section 384.226, which prohibited masking convictions. The state must not "mask", defer imposition of judgment, or allow an individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CDL driver's conviction for any violation, in any type of motor vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law from appearing on the driver's record. Whether the driver was convicted for an offense committed in the State where the driver is licensed or another State.

The states were given 3 years to stop "masking" tickets given to commercial drivers. Any state failing to comply risked loss of Federal Highway funds.

So, this begs the question: What is masking?

Prior to 9/30/05, in too many jurisdictions, a moving violation was a main revenue source for small municipalities. Innocence or guilt was frequently not the issue. The driver was presumed guilty unless there was overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and even then the driver was sometimes found guilty.

There were several ways the local jurisdictions were able to get the revenue for the violation, without getting the driver suspended.

1. Deferred Adjudications (Deferred Sentence, Prayer for Judgment, in some states.

Some states, allowed drivers to plead guilty to the charge, and pay the fine. The ticket was held in that jurisdiction for a period of time (often 6 months) and if there was no additional charges during that period, the ticket was never reported to the central system. Pretty neat...the jurisdiction got it's money and the driver got to keep his license.

2. Defensive Driving School


Some states allowed a commercial driver who received a moving violation to attend a defensive driving school. This was usually limited once every 18 months.

Both of these solutions are considered "masking" in nearly all states.

3. The third method was a plea bargain.


The driver was allowed to plead guilty to an equipment violation (sometimes with an increased fine) instead of the moving violation. Some Attorneys General define this as "masking", others do not.

Recently, the FMCSA issued a clarification, stating that plea bargains are NOT considered "masking".

Since Section 384.226 prohibits the states from "masking", there are 2 consequences of this change.

1. More drivers than ever are losing their ability to earn a living. Unfortunately, some of the most experienced drivers are among the casualties. We are not improving safety by replacing experienced drivers with rookies (some of whom have only limited ability to speak and read English)

2. Some insurance companies are tightening their underwriting requirements, and in some cases they may refuse to insure a driver with a single serious violation...The result of this is that a single serious violation can cause a driver to lose his or her job.

If anyone finds this blog informative, helpful or a waste of time, let me know and I'll find time to write more...or not.

 

RickG Wrote: "Most tickets can be reduced to nonmoving violations if the driver doesn't have too many priors .
Drivers that don't speed or violate other laws and regulations don't have anything to worry about .
You think it was better when drivers cheated on their logs more ? If they made such great money why did they cheat to get more hours ?"

Rick, thank you for your reply...first I want to say that my thread was not much about my opinion, but a very short synopsis of the history of this industry since 1970.

In regards to your first statement...yes you are correct the tickets can sometimes be reduced to "non-serious" violations...am I correct that this generally is going to require an attorney to get this accomplished? At what cost?

I also agree with your second statement about those that don't violate not having anything to worry about...but we don't live in a perfect world and sometimes bad things happen to good people...and sometimes those bad things happen because of bad people viewing the good people as potential victims...or simply because they are having a bad day.

Your third point. I can only say that I hope I didn't give the impression that I was justifying cheating on the logbooks...I actually think that a lot it occurred because the driver was more focused on his driving than he was the record keeping. My intent was to briefly state what the history.

Thank you for your response.

Purc

 

responding to "Truckerx1"...Thank you! If I could edit my original post I would encorporate several of the points you mad into it. I would start out with aletering my second sentence to read: "many of the over-the-road truckers at that time were independents and small start-up trucking companies"

I appreciate you taking the time to expand my knowledge of this industry. And I agree that the roads weren't anything like they are today. The "Interstate Highway System" was less than 20 years old at that time and it has reduced the driving time from Chicago to Miami by days, not just hours.

I also agree about the picture...perhaps when I finish my next thread..."Looking back from CMA 2010, the company's viewpoint' You will be able to offer insight on my blog then as well.

Thanks
Purc