I had the opportunity to attend a Leadership seminar at Great West Casualty Company last week.  One of the topics was indemnification wording in shipper contracts and discussion on the states that presently have anti-indemnification law, those states working on anti-indemnification law and the states not presently on board.... Read More

Safety has always been a huge factor when it comes to determining how an insurance carrier will rate a trucking company. With the new CSA criteria, not only will motor carrier rates be based on additional safety criteria, but now individual driver's ratings and scores will also be considered. As companies and drivers alike prepare to adopt the guidelines, our industry is also preparing for a driver shortage. What can you expect the combined impact of the CSA mandate and a driver shortage to have on your business? What, if anything, should you do to prepare your business for the inevitable during 2011?... Read More

During a recent conversation with a long standing trucking client I learned of a recent audit he had gone through with the federal DOT in regards to CSA. This particular client was not in an "Alert" status concerning any of the BASICS; however he had been close in the past and the DOT just wanted to make sure he was in compliance. "Just a friendly visit", they assured him.... Read More

While CSA (f.k.a CSA 2010) has changed its name to Compliance Safety Accountability from Comprehensive Safety Analysis, it has created no new federal trucking regulations. It did produce a new safety management system (SMS). The SMS will analyze all safety-based violations from inspections and crash data to determine a commercial motor carrier's on-road performance. The overarching goal of CSA is to improve safety, reduce commercial vehicle related crashes and ultimately save lives.... Read More