Safety: FMCSA OKs Massachusetts inspections
32 Commercial Carrier Journal December 2008 safety T he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in late October announced that it had accepted the State of Massachusetts' periodic inspection (PI) program for commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). After reviewing the state's program, FMCSA said it has determined it to be comparable to, or as effective as, the federal PI requirements contained in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The state requires CMVs to be inspected annually or within seven days of registration for newly acquired vehicles. With the addition of Massachusetts, 22 states and the District of Columbia maintain PI programs accepted by FMCSA. In addition, the Alabama Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board, 10 Canadian provinces and one Canadian territory have approved PI programs. Two states have been removed from the previous list of approved programs: Arkansas no longer has a periodic inspection program for buses comparable to, or as effective as, the federal PI program; and Oklahoma has repealed its inspection requirements. DriveCam Inc. (www.drivecam.com) has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for an exemption to allow it to place video event recorders at the top of the windshields on commercial motor vehicles. The exemption would allow any motor carrier using DriveCam devices to mount the recorders lower in the wind-shield than what is currently permitted by the agency's regulations. Such placement would give the video recorder the best view of the driver, passengers or outside area, maximizing the ability to improve driver behavior and understand the root causes of collisions, DriveCam says. For more information, go to www.regulations. gov and search FMCSA-2008-0312. J.J. Keller & Associates has redesigned its KellerOnline (www.kelleronline. com) online safety management tool to provide subscribers with new features. A Search Box has been added to help sub-scribers quickly find what they are seek-ing, and a new navigation feature helps subscribers keep track of their location during their visit to KellerOnline. Based on feedback, the Safety Management Process within KellerOnline has been renamed My Safety Program. It continues to provide customers with tools to create their own programs for managing safety and health, developing and setting measur-able safety goals, building action plans and comparing their safety efforts with other companies, J.J. Keller says. KellerOnline also has enhanced exist-ing features, which include improved recordkeeping functionality and more reporting options, the company says; safety professionals now have the ability to quickly enroll employees in training classes and share their data with other KellerOnline users from their company. Several training topics also have been added to the service, along with real-life training stories. FMCSA OKs Massachusetts inspections State is latest to join agency's approved list n C.R. England selected Mobileye's (www.mobileye.com) AWS-4000 cam-era-based driver assistance system for its entire fleet. The system includes lane departure warning, forward col-lision warning and headway monitor-ing and warning functionality. n Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics as its sleep apnea treatment provider. PPD says its program is aimed at identifying and treating drivers with a high probability of sleep apnea, lead-ing to improved driver health and enhanced highway safety. n Transportation awarded nearly $3.4 million to eight states to improve safety and reduce congestion during bad weather through more timely information about road conditions. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Minnesota will receive DOT funds. n limit from 75 to 65 mph through April 15, 2009, for all traffic on Interstate 80 from Laramie to Rawlins because the 52-mile stretch is prone to winter blizzard conditions. Officials also are installing variable speed limit mes-sage boards along the stretch; during hazardous weather, the speed limit could go as low as 35 mph. n Gene Bortniker received the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's Saved by the Belt Award, which recognizes CMV drivers whose lives were saved or injuries reduced as a result of wearing a safety belt. in brief DriveCam seeks windshield exemption KellerOnline debuts new look