TRANSTRENDS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER- September 2005
09/09/2005

The Translaw Group, Inc.
Editor: James M. Burns
If you wish to end your subscription to Transtrends, simply send an email requesting a cancellation to: jburnransregs.com

IN THIS ISSUE:

FUEL SURCHARGE ISSUE
HOURS OF SERVICE RULES
TURNPIKE FOR SALE
CDL RULES
VERMONT CORN POWER
INTERMODAL CHASSIS RULE
GOT AUTHORITY?
POPPY SEED URBAN LEGEND

FUEL LINE
Each issue we will feature as the first item the FUEL LINE which will alert you to those states that are planning tax increases, toll hikes and other fees.

DON’T WAIT FOR THE MANDATORY FUEL SURCHARGES:
If you are counting on the Feds to “allow” for a mandatory fuel surcharge, don’t hold your breath.

It is irresponsible for a carrier to forgo a fuel surcharge particularly in view of the after effect of Hurricane Katrina. Each carrier had better put a fuel surcharge into effect without delay! All carriers have the authority to institute fuel surcharge programs and those carriers that fail to take advantage of the process are putting themselves in jeopardy.

Your fuel costs are going up as you read this newsletter. Whether there is a shortage or not, perceived or not, the reality is that fuel prices are going up on a daily basis. Call the office for more details on setting up a manageable surcharge program.

NEW YORK
The 19th series New York Highway Use Tax NYHUT permits are due for renewal. The Department of Taxation and Finance will not issue the 19th series if there are any outstanding reports that are missing. It has been our experience that even though carriers have filed the required reports the state of New York’s records are not as complete.

This office has copies of all acknowledgements and reports for those clients on TAXTRAKtm fuel tax reporting service. If you are notified that you did not file a particular report we may have the proof of filing in this office.

Please make sure that you address the issue of non-filing without delay. You do not want to be faced with a denial of the issuance of the 19th series permits that must be displayed on January 1, 2006.

IFTA FUEL DECAL RENEWALS
Each state will be sending out renewals for IFTA credentials within the next 30 days. Please make sure that you do not “sit” on the renewals otherwise you may find yourself without the required credentials on January 1st. Simply send your renewals to this office and we will process them without delay.

SINGLE STATE REGISTRATION SYSTEM
You will be receiving your SSRS renewal forms within the next 30 days. Please send them to this office for processing in order to obtain the required credentials on time.

FMCSA ISSUES NEW HOS RULES
Annette Sandberg, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, unveiled a new, slightly revised driver hours-of-service rule on Aug. 19. The new rule does little to change the existing regulation, maintaining the current rule’s limits on driving, work and rest hours. Drivers may spend 11 hours behind the wheel in a 14-hour work day but then must rest for 10 hours.

Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, one of several safety groups that sued to have the rules overturned, said the new regulation was "a disappointment."

The regulation does change the "sleeper berth" provision and eases restrictions for some short-haul drivers.

In the new rule, which goes into effect Oct. 1, drivers may use sleeper berths for two rest periods, of which one must be at least eight hours long. The current rule allows drivers to take two rest breaks of at least two hours. Short-haul drivers, defined as drivers who do not need a commercial driving license and who operate within a 150-mile radius their normal reporting location, must follow the hours rules, but are not required to keep a log book and two days a week may work 16 hours rather than 14.

The new rule kept the 34-hour “restart” provision, which allows drivers to refresh their weekly work periods by taking 34 consecutive hours off duty.
The rule allows drivers to work 60 hours in a seven-day period or 70 hours in an eight-day period.

The agency's new rule is 387 pages long and focuses on the regulations' impact on the health of drivers. In July 2004, a federal court threw out the rules for failing to consider driver health. The agency will conduct a transitional period of ‘relaxed enforcement’ until Dec. 31, so fleets and enforcement officials can update employees.

Sandberg said FMCSA did not address electronic onboard reporters in this rule, but said the agency would issue a separate rule in early 2006.

To receive a copy of our HANDYCHART and question and answer format simply email the office with the words, “hours of service”, in the subject line. There is no cost or obligation for this service.

NO SKID ZONE
Bill O’Reilly may have the “No Spin Zone” but the Translaw Group has the “No skid Zone”. Each issue will highlight the absurdity of a particular rule, regulation, law or government action that just doesn’t make common sense.

DELAWARE REPORTEDLY MAY SELL TOLL PORTION OF I-95
The state of Delaware may sell a 24-mile toll portion of Interstate 95 and two other highway sections to investors, Bloomberg News reported. The move would be to help reduce a $270 million gap at the Delaware Department of Transportation's trust fund, Bloomberg said, citing the Bond Buyer newspaper.

Such a sale could give the buyer rights to collect tolls on the highways for 99 years, the paper said. It would be used to reduce or retire $900 million in revenue bonds issued by DDOT, the newspaper said, citing a legislative analyst in the state controller's office, Bloomberg reported.

We think it might be a better investment for motor carriers to purchase the highway and charge tolls at will. We have often thought a good way to retire would be to “own” the rights to just one toll booth at Exit 6 of the MassPike in order to finance the golden years.

NHTSA RULE REQUIRES CHECKS BEFORE STATES ISSUE CDLS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a final rule mandating that before issuing or renewing a commercial driver’s license, states must verify a driver's eligibility through checks of both the National Driver Register and the Commercial Driver's License Information System. The final rule, effective Sept. 30, 2005 provides an updated listing of the NDR codes for states to record and report driver license denials, withdrawals and convictions of motor vehicle-related offenses. It further clarifies that pointer records containing driver history information reported to the NDR must only pertain to drivers who have been convicted or whose license has been denied, canceled, revoked or suspended for an offense.

Least Competent People
Citing the high quality of the workforce in Ontario, Toyota decided recently to build a second plant in the province (this time in Woodstock) even though Ontario was offering only about half the subsidy offered by Mississippi and Alabama to build the plant in one of those states. According to a July Canadian Press story, a Toyota spokesman said it had learned from Nissan and Honda, which had found the workforce in the U.S. South to be often untrained and illiterate, and that, in Alabama, trainers had to use pictorials to teach some workers how to use the equipment. If you have ever noticed, that’s how they ring up an order of fast food as well.

LANDSTAR CREATES INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS UNIT
Landstar System announced that it has created an international logistics subsidiary, Landstar Global Logistics. The unit joins Landstar Express America and Landstar Logistics as company units, Landstar said in a statement. Landstar said the new unit’s customers will benefit from existing domestic and international transportation and logistics services including ocean and air freight forwarding, intermodal, multimodal and expedited air and ground transportation and the company's planned expansion of its warehousing capabilities in 2006.

The company will use the same model it uses for its domestic operations, Chief Executive Officer Henry Gerkens said in a statement. “We have the right business model in the right place at the right time to take advantage of today's global opportunities and we plan to do just that,” he said.

Recurring Themes:
Incompetent Home Improvement: A bee-plagued homeowner in northwest Tucson, Ariz., attempting to "frighten the bees off" (according to a fire department spokesman) by lighting a small fire in the attic, inadvertently ignited insecticide vapor, with the resulting blaze causing about $100,000 damage to the roof. And a woman in Mecklenburg County, N.C., not to be outdone by the brainiac in Tucson attempted to chase snakes out of a couch on her front porch by dousing the nest with lighter fluid, but then an accidentally dropped match set a fire large enough that she had to jump out a window to safety. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

CORN POWER IN VERMONT
Green Mountain Power in Colchester, VT, has begun blending biodiesel fuel made from animal fat and vegetable oil in its trucks. Green Mountain began introducing the clean-burning, organically produced fuel to its more than 20 diesel-engine line trucks in Chittenden and Addison counties areas in early August.

The fuel mixture came about as a result of a new fuel arrangement with Champlain Oil Co., Green Mountain said. We're thrilled to be the first company to introduce and supply bulk quantities of biodiesel for commercial use in Chittenden County (Vt.),” said Tony Cairns, Champlain’s president. Green Mountain Power will use B20 biodiesel — a blend of 20% biomaterial and 80% conventional diesel. B20 biodiesel is the industry standard because it offers significant emission reductions at an affordable price and works with existing diesel engines, it said.

Use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine can result in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. In addition to its environmental benefits, it decreases dependence on foreign oil, Green Mountain said.

THINNING THE HERD:
The bodies of Kentucky State Reformatory inmates Avery C. Roland, 26, and Michael Talbot Jr., 24, were found in a nearby landfill the day after they went missing in July; a Department of Corrections official said they had probably hidden inside a garbage truck without realizing that, to prevent escapes, the prison requires that garbage be compacted twice before it leaves the grounds. We are sure that the families of these two men who were just turning their lives around will sue the state for not notifying the escapees of the double compaction rule.

And four days apart in July, two 19-year-old men (in Sheboygan, Wis., and Louisville, Ky.) fell to their deaths while car-surfing at high speeds. (According to a witness, the Sheboygan man's fatal fall came shortly after he yelled to his driver, "Is that all you got?") Well, apparently it wasn’t after the friend put the pedal to the metal.

ITS ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN:
The Massachusetts attorney general's office said in June that it was investigating whether longshoremen's unions (working the docks in Boston) have for years been putting some members' kids (as young as age 3) on their membership rolls so that they will accumulate seniority and thus be eligible for higher starting pay if and when they worked as longshoremen. (And in India, children as young as 5 are working for police departments, according to a June BBC dispatch, because among survivors' benefits for the family of a police employee killed on duty is that a family member is given a department job, with the workload tailored to his or her abilities.) And you know that its’ tough enough in India to get a five year old to sew on a good button.

FMCSA ORDERED TO ISSUE INTERMODAL CHASSIS RULE
Congress ordered federal regulators to issue a rule making owners of intermodal chassis responsible for their safety and for maintaining the equipment. The move addressed an issue that has been a longstanding problem for trucking.

The measure, part of the overall funding legislation Congress passed late last month, requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to begin its rulemaking process in four months and have a rule finalized within a year.

LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS OR “HOW DO I GET THIS JOB”
In June, Co-President Stephen S. Crawford of the financial giant Morgan Stanley (who was installed in the job in order to ensure management "stability" during the company's currently shaky status with investors) signed a two-year contract at $16 million a year which allowed him, if he changed his mind, to resign and promptly collect all $32 million. A few days later, he resigned. The "stability" was needed at faltering Morgan Stanley because longtime CEO Philip J. Purcell had just been eased out, but his contract called for $113 million in severance pay. How do we get a job like that!

NO AUTHORITY, YOU’RE OUT OF SERVICE
The North American Standard Out of Service Criteria that covers any truck either foreign or domestic that is being operated without authority issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or outside of the scope of such required authority will be put out of service. This is a big step in curbing competition that is not held to the same standard as a carrier that had met all of the regulatory requirements including the costs associated with full compliance.

NO POPPY FOR YOU
You just can’t make this stuff up!

There are a lot of stories floating around about the consumption of poppy seeded foods such as bagels, salad dressings and baked goods. The urban myth has always stated that enjoying those foods might make you experience a positive drug test. We have heard as many people and “authorities” state that it can’t happen as those who say it can happen.

According to the web sit www.snopes.com drug screens using urine or blood can indeed test positive for opiates after consumption of poppy seeded items. We at the Translaw Group have not seen this actually occur. Check out the web site for amusement in your spare time, not on the boss’s time!

Claim: The consumption of the poppy seeds used on bagels and muffins can cause positive results on drug screening tests.

Status: True.
Origins: Drug testing has become more and more prevalent in our society, and while urine or blood analysis is one of the best ways to do that, the tests themselves are not always infallible and can sometimes produce skewed results. Indeed, something as innocuous as the poppy seeds on a bagel or muffin or in a slice of cake can make the drug-free look like heroin users.

Opiates (morphine and codeine) can be detected in urine for at least 48 hours after one eats food containing poppy seeds. As little as a single bagel covered with poppy seeds could produce a false positive test for these drugs.

In 1990, a veteran St. Louis police officer was suspended for four months because his drug test showed positive for morphine after he'd eaten four poppy seed bagels the day before the urine sample was taken. He was reinstated with back pay after it was determined that poppy seeds and not drug use had produced those results. His case was especially puzzling to the department because the officer in question had a steady work record and demonstrated no indications of any problems before this incident was flagged during a random drug screen. The department performed an experiment by having another officer eat four poppy seed bagels and take a drug test. He, too, tested positive for morphine, confirming the poppy seed effect theory.

In 1999, a New Jersey prison guard was fired for the same reason: a poppy seed bagel he'd had produced a positive drug test. His case was subjected to further examination, and he was reinstated seven months later.

In 1997, a woman in Florida was awarded $859,000 in her lawsuit against Bankers Insurance Group because it had withdrawn a lucrative job offer to her on the basis of her poppy seed-influenced drug screen results.
In 1994, a Baltimore woman lost her chance for a job with an inner-city community health center because of her failed drug test, which was once again the result of the nefarious poppy seeds. In this case, the woman's fondness for lean corned beef and provolone on a poppy seed bagel cost her the job she wanted, because this prospective employer would not allow her a second urinalysis nor believe that her morning nosh had caused those suspicious test results.

Because of the possibility of poppy seeds' skewing drug test results, federal prison rules prohibit inmates from eating this ingestible. Moreover, inmates on furlough are enjoined from eating baked goods that incorporate poppy seeds because of the effect it has on their drug tests. (Without the poppy seed prohibition, anyone using opium derivatives recreationally could attribute his positive drug test results to a fondness for these seeds. The prohibition removes that possibility.)

It has been determined that consumption of poppy seeds may cause a positive drug test which may result in disciplinary action. As a condition of my participation in community programs, I will not consume any poppy seeds or items containing poppy seeds. As to how seriously the "no poppy seeds" injunction is taken, inmates in halfway houses have been returned to prison because they violated it and consequently failed their urine tests.

Because the drug screen for the presence of opiates is so sensitive, some agencies that rely on it have raised the cut off level for a positive to 2000 ng/mL, which eliminates many of the poppy seed false positives.

ATA SEEKING TRUCKER COMMENTS ON DIESEL PRICES
American Trucking Associations said it has launched a new Internet initiative on its Web site for truckers to share information about the effect of high fuel prices on their businesses. The new feature is part of ATA’s National Fuel Price Crisis Watch, said spokesman Mike Russell. Comments can be e-mailed to fuelcrisirucking.org, and responses would later be posted on ATA’s Web site, www.truckline.com. ATA has also set up a feature on its Web site, www.truckline.com/fuelpricecrisis, as part of its National Fuel Price Crisis Watch, an initiative designed to educate public officials on how fuel prices are hurting the trucking industry, and ultimately, the national economy.

Russell said ATA President Bill Graves decided earlier this year that “we needed a central place to gather real-time and anecdotal information about the effect that record fuel prices” are having on the trucking industry.

TRANSTRENDS is published monthly for friends and clients of the Translaw Group, Inc. The information provided in this newsletter is not intended as specific advice on a particular subject. Rather, the information is for general edification. Further, this information is time sensitive and may need to be revised and updated from time to time. Please feel free to call this office with your specific questions at 413 781 8205, or you may e-mail the office at jburnransregs.com