From Bizzare
 

The CDL program was supposed to end this.........

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_ne...91311-04.shtml

New York arrests 51 drivers for multiple CDLs

By Charlie Morasch, Land Line staff writer
Drivers like David Larry, aka Lawrence Lipkin, and Muhammad Tariq, aka Tariq Hussain, are among hundreds of individuals recently arrested for holding multiple commercial drivers’ licenses under different identities.
The investigation, which seems to reveal a major gap in licensing procedures, is being publicized as a major coup for law enforcement and immigration authorities in New York.
New York State recently arrested 51 commercial drivers after facial recognition software identified dozens of truck and bus drivers who held multiple commercial drivers licenses.
New York reviewed records of 600,000 CDL holders in the state by using facial recognition software, which allegedly recognized the same faces for drivers who held at least two CDLs under different identities.
In addition to the 51, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in news release from his office that more than 70 other CDL drivers have been arrested for having multiple CDLS this year. Cuomo reported that 800 drivers have been arrested for having two or more licenses under different aliases since February 2010.
“With some high-tech help, the state can now quickly find drivers who think it’s acceptable to use an alias to illegally get more than one license,” Cuomo said in the written statement.
The case apparently involved a partnership between New York and immigration authorities. Several prosecutors and investigators said the multiple CDLs were likely sought by drivers who either had suspended licenses, or were concealing a lack of training or safe driving record.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton was quoted in the same press statement saying that the recent CDL investigation is “the beginning of an important partnership between ICE and the New York Department of Motor Vehicles.”
“It will allow our agencies to combine resources to facilitate the arrest of criminals who endanger public safety by obtaining legitimate documents through fraudulent means,” Morton said.
For more information, and a complete list of individuals charged, click here.

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To the surreal.......


http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_ne...91311-05.shtml


One of the largest petroleum tank truck transporters in the country, KAG West, has agreed to pay $14 million to drivers in California to settle a Fair Labor Standards Act class action lawsuit.
According to Business Wire, drivers for KAG West said they were forced to work “off the clock” and were not paid time-and-a-half for overtime work. The settlement ends a five-year FLSA court battle after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the case class-action status in 2008.
According to a Law360 article about the case on Sept. 7, KAG argued that they did not have to pay drivers time-and-a-half for overtime “under the Motor Carrier Act exemption because its workers drive across state lines or carry products in a continuous stream of interstate commerce.”

Class members will receive settlements based on the "number of shifts worked during the class period," the news report stated.


NTSB recommends complete phone ban for CMV drivers

By David Tanner, Land Line associate editor
The National Transportation Safety Board does not have rulemaking powers, but the agency is making recommendations to the FMCSA to ban the use of handheld and hands-free cellphones by commercial drivers while driving.
NTSB officials issued the recommendation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in response to probable cause findings from a high-profile crash that led to 11 deaths in March 2010. Investigators determined that a 45-year-old truck driver was distracted by a cellphone leading up to a crash with a passenger van on Interstate 65 near Munford, KY.
Among the recommendations to various agencies on Tuesday, Sept. 13, is one to FMCSA and the governments of all 50 states and the District of Columbia to: “Prohibit the use of both handheld and hands-free cellular telephones by all commercial driver’s license holders while driving in commercial operations, except in emergencies.”
It is already illegal for a commercial vehicle operator to send text messages or emails while operating a truck, bus or train.
The FMCSA has a number of proposed regulatory actions in the pipeline that address handheld use of phones and other wireless communication devices. So far, hands-free technology has not been regulated by FMCSA.
In its report released Tuesday, NTSB officials issued additional recommendations to various agencies including one to the Federal Highway Administration to install median barriers in areas where crossover crashes are prone to occur.

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To the "It's about TIME!!" surreal.........

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_ne...91311-07.shtml


Community struggles to balance industrial growth, truck parking

By Clarissa Kell-Holland, Land Line staff writer
As the city of Sumner, WA, continues its industrial park expansion, it is faced with a growing truck parking problem.
Sumner City Administrator Diane Supler told Land Line on Sept. 8 that there has been a renewed “conversation” about truck parking on the 90 acres in their interchange commercial area, and she and council members have been meeting with property owners about developing the area.
“The lack of truck parking is a regional problem in this area. We realize that we have a heavy industrial area, and we need to find some solutions to address this,” Supler said. “We are trying to think long term about ways that will help the property owners develop their property.”
She said the city council has clarified some of the zoning issues and has added some additional zoning that is more “truck-related.”
“We recognize the federal regulations for people that are truck drivers and their need to rest,” Supler said. “We are also trying to see if there is an opportunity to do some type of development that is truck-related that provides them with amenities and the necessary things they need when they have downtime, like haircuts, laundry, the dentist or medical exams.
She said council members in Sumner have been asking for examples of how other communities balance industrial growth and added truck parking. The Mustard Seed Truck Stop in Sumner has been trying to expand for years in Sumner and currently charges for truck parking.
“Earlier, I hired a facilitator. Interested property owners met with the city, and we had a conversation about how we can develop a progressive place – because the examples we have around here are 30 years old,” she said.
She said one of the hangups to developing a travel plaza with amenities is that Sumner would receive very little money from the travel-related industry.
“All of the fuel taxes are just simply redistributed in the state of Washington based on population, so if we had all the diesel (pumps) in the world, we don’t get any additional revenue,” Supler said. “The money goes into a pot and gets redistributed.”
Another meeting on this issue is scheduled for Sept. 23.
Copyright © OOIDA

I'm betting that the Corliss family there in Sumner has a lot to do with the discussion moving forward......IF SO........Good for them for being so "Driver Friendly"!! (It helps that they own a very very large Sand, Gravel and Concrete business, based in Sumner, with several dozen drivers, equipment operators and mechanics employed!)