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As one spokesman for a U.S. manu- ported by the truck manufacturers and ing and speed adoption of environmen-
facturer said, “The lack of communica- dealers to boost sales as well as many in tally friendly technologies.
tion will not allow fleets to proactively the trucking industry who view a diesel “It is exactly the kind of pro-
and safely manage drivers based upon tax as less regressive than paying a sales growth, deficit-trimming legislation
gaining access to individual drivers in tax on trucks. that lawmakers should be looking at as
real time and to know their on-duty Bill Graves, president and CEO of they seek to address our nation’s eco-
status.” the American Trucking Associations, nomic woes,” Graves said.
made a public plea for swift action on The bill would eliminate the fed-
fmCSa CHaNgINg flaTbEd, H.R. 4321. He said the proposal would eral excise tax on heavy truck sales and
HazmaT rUlES reinforce the ailing Highway Trust Fund replace it with a 6.3-cent increase in the
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety and provide a boost to U.S. manufactur- federal diesel tax.
Administration (FMCSA) announced
a slate of changes to its safety rating
system designed to ratchet up enforce-
ment of hazardous materials carriers
and mitigate an inspection bias against
flatbed haulers.
“Motor carrier industry and
enforcement stakeholders have noted
that motor carriers predominantly oper-
ating open deck trailers (e.g., flatbeds)
have significantly higher Cargo-Related
BASIC percentiles than those for other
groups of operators, because load
securement issues for these types of car-
riers are more readily apparent during
roadside inspections,” the agency said in
a posting in the Federal Register.
As a result, the agency said it was
strengthening the Compliance-Safety-
Accountability (CSA) program’s Vehicle
Maintenance BASIC by moving cargo/
load securement violations from the
Cargo-Related BASIC to the Vehicle Bet it’s too much.
Maintenance BASIC.
The agency also said it was renam- Whether it’s in cab or in a hotel you’re probably spending too
ing the Cargo-Related BASIC the much on where your drivers sleep.
Hazardous Materials BASIC, which will
better identify hazmat-related safety At MSI Lodging, hospitality solutions are our job! You owe it to
problems and change how hazmat car- your bottom line to see if we can help you with how you
riers are classified to allow for increased overnight your drivers.
intervention scrutiny. MSI Lodging specializes in the transportation industry and has
“The presence of [hazmat] can been helping companies in Arkansas and across North America
greatly exacerbate the consequences of for more than 40 years with their lodging needs. We would love
crashes and cargo spills,” FMCSA said. the opportunity to show you what we can do for you.

a Tax for a Tax
Repealing the federal 12 percent
excise tax on trucks could be replaced Please contact Missy Penor
with an increase in the federal diesel at MSI Lodging Inc.
tax. That is, if Congress approves leg- mpenor@catlettcorp.com
islation introduced by U.S. Reps. Jim 501-666-4800, Ext. 117
Gerlach (R-Penn.) and Earl Blumenauer www.msilodging.com
(D-Ore.). The measure is strongly sup-

ArkAnSAS trucking report | issue 2 2012 15