36
ACT
NOVEMBER 2014
RISKMANAGEMENT
ROUND TABLE
thisdata canbeusedboth for andagainst
you. Informationavailable today canbe
used fordriverqualificationpurposes,
auditing, to improvedriverbehavior, to
proveordisprovenegligence as a result of
a claim, etc., etc.
Proos:
TheFederalMotorCarrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), alongwith
various stateDOTs areworking together to
reduceCommercialMotorVehicle (CMV)
crashes, injuries and fatalities. FMCSA’s
newCSAprogram isdesigned toprovide
anew enforcement and compliancemodel
that enablesFMCSA to identifyhigh risk
companies that areoperatingCMV’s as
well as individual drivers, and intervene
inamanner thatworks to reduce risky
behaviors that impact safetyand lead to
accidents. TheCSAprogramuses the
SafetyMeasurement System (SMS) to
analyzedata from inspections, violations
and crashes. Thedata is segmented into
sevendifferent categories for tracking.
Recently, insurance companies and
insurance companyunderwritershave
begun reviewingand incorporating
this information into theirpremium
calculations.Obviously, havingnegative
scoresunder anyof those seven categories
canhave anegative impact on rates
andpremiums.Crane and transport
companiesneed toproactivelymonitor
their SMS scores andaddressnegative
scores and reportedaccidentswell in
advanceof their insurancepolicy renewal
dates. Identifying these issues earlyand
addressing themwith safetyand loss
controlmeasures is thebestway toavoid
premium increases.
ARE THERE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES
REGARDINGCSAREQUIREMENTS FOR
CRANE-OWNINGCOMPANIESVERSUSPURE
TRANSPORTATIONCOMPANIES?WHAT ARE
THENEWCHALLENGESOWNERS FACE IN
MANAGINGRISK?
Nelson:
CSAwasdevelopedand rolled
out toultimately reduce crashes, injuries
and fatalities related to commercial
motor vehicles. That enforcement and
compliancemodel exists regardless
ofwhether you’re a crane and/or a
transportation company. Therewill
alwaysbedifferent challenges for
those companies that don’t consider
transportationaprimary focusof
operation,meaninga crane company that
hasbeenhired toutilize their craneona
jobsitewill havedifferent challenges versus
a transportation company that hasbeen
hired to transport goods.
Someof the challengesNBIShas
experiencedpertain tohowboth
crane and transportation companies
are educatedabout and interpret the
FederalMotorCarrier SafetyRegulations
(FMCSRs), including thedefinitionof
aCMV, hours-of-service (HOS), driver
qualification (DQ) andmaintenance files.
Just tobe clear,whether youare a crane
or a transportation company, youare
requiredbyFMCSA toobtainaUSDOT
Number and complywith the federal
regulations if youhave avehicle that
meets thedefinitionof aCMV: has agross
vehicleweight ratingor gross combination
weight rating, or gross vehicleweight
or gross combinationweight, of 4,536
kg (10,001pounds) ormore,whichever
is greater; and is involved in interstate
commerce.
Apart from federal regulations, some
states require commercialmotor vehicle
registrants toobtainaUSDOTNumber.
These states includeAlabama,Alaska,
Arizona,Colorado,Connecticut, Florida,
Georgia, Indiana, Iowa,Kansas,Kentucky,
Maine,Maryland,Michigan,Minnesota,
Missouri,Montana,New Jersey,New
York,Nebraska,NorthCarolina,Ohio,
Oklahoma,Oregon, Pennsylvania,
SouthCarolina, Tennessee, Texas,Utah,
Washington,WestVirginia,Wisconsin
andWyoming.Amyriadof problems
will arise if a company fails tounderstand
andproperlymaintain compliancewithin
DQ files,HOS records,maintenance and
inspection information.
Proos:
Transport companiesprobably
hadanadvantageover crane and rigging
companies in termsof awareness and
preparation. Craneand rigging companies
shouldunderstand thatmobile cranes fit
thedefinitionof aCommercialMotor
Vehicle andare subject to the same
requirements asother trucksoperatedby
transport companies. Some crane and
rigging companiesmistakenlybelieve
theyarenot subject to the requirements
if theyonlyoperate inan intrastatebasis
anddonot cross state lines. In fact, the
requirementspertain to cranes that fit the
CommercialMotorVehicledefinition.
If crane and rigging companies and
transport companies ignore interventions
ordonot complywithDOT regulations,
severeSMSalerts andwarning letters,
theDOT can issue fines and/or revoke a
company’s authority.Companies should
be awareofwhat the topviolations are
andmaintainaproactive approach to
ensure compliance.Crane companies
inparticularneed tobe awareof the
HOS regulations. While itwas common
place for transport companies to
maintaindrivershoursof service logs it
is a relativelynew requirement for crane
operators. Logsmust bemaintainedand
strict adherence to the rest requirements
is amust.Additionally, a company’s scores
arepublic information! Customers and
competitors canaccess themajorityof
those indicators.
WHATRESOUCESARE AVAILABLE TOOWNERS
OF CRANE AND TRANSPORT COMPANIES?
Nelson:
There aremany resources available
online, but be careful that thematerial
youuse isnot onlyaccurate, but also
current. There are twoplaces I canalways
count on tobe accurate and current.
TheFMCSACSAResourcepage can
be foundbyvisitinghttps://csa.fmcsa.
dot.gov/resources.aspx. TheNBISRisk
Management Support System (RMSS),
is available toNBIS insureds. It contains
resources suchas contract templates,
riskassessment tools andvariousdriver
andpersonnelmanual templates tohelp
manage compliance and risk.
Proos:
Beyond theFMSCA resourcepage
online,manyhaveused JJKeller as ago-to
transportation resource.
HiringaDOT consultant andhaving
themperforma “mock”DOTauditmay
provide awealthof knowledgeon the
requirements specificallyas theypertain
toyour companyand could saveyou fines
andheadaches at a laterdate.
■
”
‘‘
Some crane
and rigging companies
mistakenly believe they
are not subject to the
requirements if they only
operate in an intrastate
basis and do not cross
state lines.
RANDY PROOS, CIC,
CRIS, Vice President,
Heavy Equipment
Practice Group, USI
Insurance Services
