Monthly
Upcoming Dates
May 29 – Memorial Day, Thurcorp
closed
Jun 30 – End of 2nd quarter
July 10 – IFTA docs due to Thurcorp
July 31 – 2nd quarter IFTA due
July 31 – HVUT due ($550 per truck)
Aug 31 – HVUT extension expires
At a Glance
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Document retention
New hire drug testing
Drug Testing Reporting
Compliance Review Possibility
Legal Liability
Consulting
Electronic log books
Document retention
Under DOT regulations, you are
required to follow the listed basic
documentation:
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Log books for 6 months
AND supporting
documentation (BOLs, load
tickets, fuel receipts, toll
receipts, scale tickets, etc)
Daily vehicle inspection
reports for 90 days
Annual DOT inspections for
14 months (they are due
every 12 months)
Drug testing results for 1
year past the date of
termination (3 years for
positive test results)
Employee paperwork
(employment application,
125 East 1st North
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
-
May 2017
CDL, medical card, etc) for
1 year past termination
Roadside inspection
reports for 2 years
-
New Hire Drug Testing
When a driver is hired THEY
CANNOT DRIVE A TRUCK UNTIL
YOU RECEIVE THEIR NEGATIVE
PRE-EMPLOYMENT
DRUG/ALCOHOL TEST RESULTS!
These violations can cost up to
$4,440!
We cannot overemphasize enough
the need to not only send a new
hire in for pre-employment drug
testing but to not allow them to
drive until you have the test
results in hand or notification
through our office that we have
those results. This is a very, very
big deal.
Drug Testing Reporting
For years, DOT has been
mandated to put together a
database of positive and refusal to
test drug test results on drivers.
The MAP-21 rules from 2012
provide funding for this database
and DOT is on their way to
implementing it. We reported on
this a year ago and we’re still
confident it will happen. It is in
the early stages but it is coming.
What this means for you:
p: 208.372.8725
f: 208.372.0109
[email protected]
www.thurcorp.com
If you have a driver who
tests positive or refuses to
test, you’ll be required to
enter that information into
the database. You’ll also
be required to check the
database on new hires and
check it at least yearly for
your current drivers.
We’re here to help. You’ll want to
keep the list of drivers current in
our system. It’s easy to do by
looking over your dashboard
monthly and reporting any
changes to us. Included in our
new hire process, we’ll check the
database. You’ll want to use
Thurcorp in order to make sure all
of the checks are getting done.
Compliance Review Possibility
What can cause safety audits and
compliance reviews?
Safety audits are conducted on all
new entrants. They happen within
the first 12 months of business.
You can pass or fail these audits.
Failed audits can be corrected
fairly quickly and with minimal
pain and no fines (for the most
part).
Compliance reviews are not a pass
or fail. They may result in three
possible ratings:
-
Satisfactory
Conditional
Unsatisfactory
©2017 Thurcorp Inc.
Monthly
Satisfactory is the optimal rating.
The other two are problematic and
will almost always result in fines,
further intervention and likely
increase in the cost of insurance.
You want to avoid compliance
reviews at all costs. That being
said, there are some things that
can trigger a compliance review:
-
A history of very poor CSA
safety scores
A serious accident
A complaint from a state
agency, a private citizen or
a disgruntled employee
A disgruntled employee complaint
is much more common. When
Idaho, for instance, receives a
complaint from an employee, they
search diligently to confirm if
there is a real safety issue or not.
If they determine there may be a
problem, you’ll hear from them. If
they determine it’s a frivolous
complaint, they dismiss it. We
assume that other states do it the
same way.
The reality is that compliance
reviews are a very real possibility.
You need to be prepared. We’re
doing what we can on our end.
One thing you can do to make a
huge difference is to review the
information on our website for
your company. You have a
username and login password.
Very soon, we’ll be emailing these
reports out monthly as well. If
125 East 1st North
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
May 2017
there are problems, call us. If
documents are missing, contact us
and we can help you. If something
has expired, get the current
document to us.
Legal Liability
Legal liability cannot be
emphasized enough. The risk here
is VERY, VERY real. A couple of
absolutes:
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Set up an LLC or
corporation
Play by LLC or corporation
rules
Don’t commingle business
and personal funds
Have more than enough
insurance
Have a structured
procedure/policy manual
and follow it
Consulting
Consulting is an enormous part of
our business. We’re here for you.
If you have something come up
related to DOT or registrations,
PLEASE, PLEASE contact us! We
want to help. If you have
questions about something else,
feel free to call. We may be able
to help point you in the right
direction.
Electronic Log books
They are here. The
implementation date is December
18, 2017. That means that if
you’re required to have an
electronic log book attached
somehow to your equipment that
will be the date by which you must
have it implemented.
What are the exceptions?
We recommend using a good
attorney to set up or review your
current structure. Thurcorp can
do initial setups but we don’t do
by-laws or operating agreements.
We’re happy to recommend some
good attorneys and some who
even specialize in trucking.
First, if you’re not required to use
a log book, you’re not required to
do e-logs. An example is that if
you work 12 hours per day max
and don’t drive more than 100 air
miles (150 for ag-related), you can
use the 100-air mile timecard and
avoid the e-logs.
There are many insurance
agencies out there. The more they
know about trucking, the better
off you’ll be. We can recommend
a few agencies who we have
confidence in to understand the
trucking business.
Second, if your truck model year is
2000 or older, you’re exempt from
e-logs.
p: 208.372.8725
f: 208.372.0109
[email protected]
www.thurcorp.com
Other than that, you’re in. There
are a lot of options out there.
©2017 Thurcorp Inc.
Monthly
May 2017
Some are good, some are
questionable.
We’ve determined that a very
good option (and one of the least
expensive) is Keeptruckin. Email
us for more information.
Know that we recognize that this
will be a challenging change and
sometimes will make it more
difficult to operate. We
completely realize these are
challenges. We wish there was
some other solution but this is
now the law. There is a court
challenge to the law but we don’t
expect it to be successful.
Work to implement now. There is
a learning curve.
Thanks as Always!
We hope so much that you enjoy
this newsletter. We appreciate
your business. Our new website is
being beta tested right now and
we’re excited to launch VERY
soon.
125 East 1st North
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
p: 208.372.8725
f: 208.372.0109
[email protected]
www.thurcorp.com
©2017 Thurcorp Inc.