A state patrol agent gave his first-hand account of reasons why commercial truck drivers are pulled over. 

Here’s what made the list, most of which are in the FMCSA’s (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) safety measurement system.

1. Following Too Close

If a truck driver is less than one truck length from the vehicle in front of it, it is following too close.

2. Speeding

Speeding is a very common reason truck drivers are pulled over, which often is followed up by a more thorough look into other areas such as registration.

3. Lane Deviations

Lane deviations can raise concerns about a truck driver’s illness, fatigue or impairment. Stops for lane deviations will also result in law enforcement to look at driver distractions.

4. Inattentiveness

Like lane deviations, inattentiveness can be seen as a sign of truck driver illness or fatigue.

5. Improper Load Securement 

Load securement has been an area of concern for law enforcement, even being the focus of 2017’s safety blitz.

6. Use of Handheld Phone

Like driver attentiveness, use of handheld phone by a truck driver is an obvious reason for law enforcement to make a stop.

7. Lighting Violations

Staying up-to-date with pre and post-trip inspections can eliminate any future stops for lighting violations such as an inoperative headlamp.

8. Improper Registration or Credential Display

If credentials and registration are not displayed correctly, a law enforcement officer has a clear reason to make a stop.

9. Weight Compliance

Any overweight or over-dimensional load without a proper permit is cause for a citation.

10. Failure to Abide by Traffic Signs

Ignoring traffic signs doesn’t make them go away. Lots of CMVs cannot drive on certain roads, clear some bridges, etc. due to the load dimensions. Taking a chance and ignoring traffic signs in this insistences is not worth it. Most of the time, oversize load permits will be approved based on a route that can sustain dimensions such as weight, width and height.

Medallion Transport is Here to Help

Medallion’s Safety Team is committed to driver education and training to ensure all drivers are always safe on the road. For questions about safety, violations and how Medallion works with its freight agents and owner-operators, give us a call at 704-235-0460 or send an email to info@medalliontrans.com.

Just before the beginning of the new year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) finalized United Carrier Registration (UCR) fees for 2018 and 2019.

There will be minor decreases in fees from 2017 in 2018 and 2019, an approximate 9.10 percent reduction in 2018 and a 4.55 percent reduction in 2019, in comparison to 2017.

The 2018 fees:

Fees for 2019:

The rules have been officially published and fees can start being collected.

How Fee Changes Came About

Since 2016, motor carriers paying into the UCR program have overpaid the revenue due to the 41 participating states. As a result, the UCR board recommended reducing the fees for 2018 in March 2017. However, the agency did not finalize and publish the recommended reduction a lawsuit was filed in late 2017, and the state of Texas made claims of being owed money.

The final rule distributed to UCR board members says the lawsuit did not cite any statute – because there isn’t one according to FMCSA – that restricts the agency from moving forward with finalizing the fees. The agency also summarized that Texas’ claims would be sorted out later. In short, the fees had to be set which is done.

Medallion Transport is Here to Help

Medallion’s Safety Team is committed to helping clients understand the latest industry laws and trends. For questions about trucking fees, truck safety and how Medallion works with its freight agents and owner-operators, give us a call at 704-235-0460 or send an email to info@medalliontrans.com.

In early November, and after lots of support via crowd-funding, we (Medallion Transport Holdings, NHH Services, Medallion Transport & Logistics, ACE Heavy Haul and friends and family) helped five families in the Crosby, TX community repair their homes from damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. These five families were hand-picked by community leaders not only because of the extensive damage to their homes, but because of their triumphs during times of diversity and continued service to their communities. 

With such severe structural damage and lost items amounting to thousands of dollars, these families would not have been able to recover without this help. We can never thank all those who donated to the crowd-funding campaign enough, in a few short months the total raised exceeded $13,000. 

We put the money to work in November during a community clean-up day and helped put some of the pieces back together, but it has remained hard as each family has had to rebuild their normal lives. This project would not have been possible without the volunteers who donated their weekends and saved thousands in labor costs to stretch our $13,000 far enough to rebuild rooms and porches, replace appliances, repair electrical and more.

Let’s Continue to Help

We can’t stop there! To help each family have a good Christmas during tough times, we are collecting donations to buy gift cards that we will drop off to the families on Monday, Dec. 18, so all donations must be made online by Sunday, Dec. 17. 

Here’s How You Can Get Involved:

• Pledge your donation amount on our YouCaring crowd-funding page, which gift cards will be purchased with. 
• Forward this email to as many people as possible, the more we can spread the word, the more we can help families in need. 
• Remind everyone to make their donation by Sunday, Dec. 17!

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has released the data from the 2017 Operation Safe Driver Week, and the data shows the number of violations nearly doubled from 2016. The 2017 warnings and citations totaled more than 59,000 and Medallion Transport & Logistics and its sister companies, NHH Services, Ace Heavy Haul and Medallion International, is proud to have tallied zero during this week-long safety sting.

Safe Driver Week 2017

Held from Oct. 15 – 21, 2017, law enforcement agencies across North America checked commercial vehicles for violations related mostly to load securement, but also looked for safety violations relating to brakes and tires, while also watching for driving behaviors such as speeding.

59,193 warnings and citations were issued this year, of which 38,878 citations and warnings were issued to Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) drivers according to the CVSA’s Safe Driver Week news release. 

The 38,878 citations and warnings broke down to 30,714 warnings and 8,164 citations for CMV drivers.

Some notable areas relating to CMV drivers include:

• 7.4 percent of the total warnings/citations for speeding were issued to CMV drivers
• 2.6 percent of violations for CMV drivers were for failure to wear a seat belt
• A small percent of violations including careless driving and driving while ill or fatigued

From the Past

In 2016, enforcement officers issued 20,548 citations and warnings to CMV drivers. Of those numbers, 11,183 citations were given to CMV drivers.

In 2015, law enforcement officers pulled over 21,012 commercial motor vehicle drivers.

Medallion – Violation Free

While the increase in this year’s violation during Operation Safe Driver Week was so significant, Medallion Transport & Logistics is proud of all drivers for totaling zero violations. Medallion drivers include freight agents owner-operators who are on the go and moving cargo nationwide. Medallion’s Safety Team is committed to driver education and training to ensure drivers are continuously safe on the road. Medallion’s Owner Operator Program includes a roadside inspection bonus and more to ensure safety.

With several wildfires burning in California there are many highway closures to be aware of, and Governor Jerry Brown also issued a state of emergency for Ventura County, CA, suspending hours-of-service regulations for some drivers.

The wildfire in Ventura has burned over 90,000 acres, according to the Los Angeles Times, and any drivers aiding in the removal or disposal of waste and debris caused by the fire will be able to operate under suspended hours rules. The fire also resulted in mandatory evacuations for many in the cities of Santa Paula and Ventura. California Highway 150 (from Ojai Valley School Road to Stonegate Road in Santa Paula, and from Telegraph Road to Richmond Road in Santa Paula) and California Highway 33 are also closed in certain areas as are many city and county roads.

The state has not only been affected by this Ventura County fire and road closures, but fires driven by a series of Santa Ana winds, are also burning in Sylmar, CA (Creek Fire), Bel-Air, CA (Skirball Fire), Santa Clarita, CA (Rye Fire) and San Bernardino County (Little Mountain Fire and Meyers Fire).

The Creek Fire has burned over 12,000 acres and like the Thomas Fire, has destroyed several homes.

Major California freeway and road closures throughout Los Angeles has resulted in a traffic nightmare for commuters and truck drivers. The California Department of Transportation is doing its part to keep drivers informed via its emergency website page and social media channels. A significant part of the 405 freeway is closed in both directions from US-101 to I-10 including all on – and off-ramps and transition roads between US-101 to southbound I-405 to I-10 to northbound I-405, according to the California Highway Patrol Southern Division.

More fire related closures, include:

Los Angeles County

• Eastbound  AND westbound Foothill Freeway (I-210)  Sunland Boulevard, Wheatland Avenue, Osborne Street and Paxton Street off-ramps remain closed for the protection and safety of emergency responders
• Northbound San Diego Freeway (I-405) Moraga Drive, Getty Center Drive and Skirball Center Drive off-ramps

Ventura County

• State Route 150 from Santa Ana Road in Ventura to Casitas Pass Road (State Route 192) near Carpinteria
• State Route 150 from Reeves Road in Ojai to Stonegate Road in Santa Paula

Management, employees and vendors of Medallion Transport & Logistics will work alongside Crosby, Texas residents to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in a cleanup day organized to help families who are either still displaced or are in need of major repairs after the hurricane hit Texas in September.

The clean-up day will take place Saturday, Nov. 11 and volunteers will work together to repair structural damage to properties so families can move back into their homes or begin to live comfortably again.

Immediately following the storm, Medallion Transport & Logistics’ holdings company, Medallion Transport Holdings, created an online crowd-funding campaign and began raising money for Harvey victims. Medallion Transport and sister companies, ACE Heavy Haul and NHH Services, raised over $11,000 which will be used during the clean-up efforts in Crosby. During this time, management also delivered several truck loads of supplies, including packaged food, water and clothing. Immediately following, some hurricane victims were without drinking water or clothing.

When Medallion’s affiliate heavy haul company, NHH Services saw their Baytown office flood during the hurricane, the company also saw the direct impact the storm had on families, especially children. That’s when management connected with Barrett Elementary School in Crosby to help some of the families and children in the area. Through coordinating with Barrett, Medallion and NHH were able to disburse the money from the crowd funding campaign and worked toward being involved in the clean-up day.

Medallion and some of its vendors are not the only volunteers coming out for the clean-up day. A Crosby area contractor is accessing the properties of the houses with the most severe damage so the money can be used toward buying the most needed supplies to make the necessary repairs.

Medallion Transport & Logistics’ corporate Olive Branch, MS office has announced the winners of its Halloween work station decorating contest. 

While each staff member pieced together their most creative and festive display, it was up to Medallion Transport & Logistics’ Facebook fans to name the winner.

For a week, company Facebook page visitors were able to vote for their favorite photo of each decorated work station.

The station with the most likes won the grand prize, a $100 gift card. Second and third place won the largest and smallest pumpkins management could find, and the entire office received pumpkin carving kits.

The competition was tough, but the winners – decided by the most votes – are:

First Place

Work Station #6 by Kristen Blout. Blout’s work station lead the pack in votes. She is a LTL customer service specialist for Medallion and handles day-to-day pick-ups and deliveries. She won a $100 gift card.

Second Place

Work Station # 5 by Tonya Streight. Tonya is also a customer service specialist. She received the largest pumpkin from the office management staff.

Third Place

Donna Ward took third and won the “smallest pumpkin” award. Donna has been with the company for over 17 years.

Medallion’s Olive Branch office took the opportunity to add a little fun and humor and break up the day-to-day work routine.

“For those of you that have visited our office you know we work hard, but we also try to have a little fun at the same time.  We find it helps to build teamwork and instills a sense of corporate pride you can’t put a price tag on,” said Medallion VP of Strategic Accounts, Don Davis. 

Medallion Transport & Logistics, a leader in logistics project management in North America, is looking for an experienced Flatbed Broker to work with its corporate Olive Branch, MS office.

We are specifically looking for a Flatbed Broker with a solid foundation of flatbed business, who is self-starting and motivated to achieve success, and enjoys working with customers.

Medallion is driven by its core values: safety, integrity, accountability, communication and stability, and through its excellent leadership, strives to develop excellent company employees, agents and partners.

The company has built a solid network of freight agents and owner-operators nationwide and offers competitive salaries and full benefits in a great working environment.

Qualified candidates for this position can send resumes to mindy.davis@medtransvc.com or inquire by calling 901-508-6129.

Medallion Transport Holdings, Inc., a leader in logistics project management services, is pleased to announce the addition of Chris Blum as Vice President of Business Development. Chris has over 15 years of management experience in the transportation industry in both operations and business development, and is based in Jacksonville, FL.

Chris is now responsible for procuring national accounts and working with Medallion freight agents to grow their customer base. He will also be recruiting new agents and capacity while supporting operations and safety at Medallion.

“We are very excited about Chris joining the Medallion team as his operational and sales experience will greatly enhance Medallion’s growth and market positioning,” said Richard Panuski, Medallion Transport Holdings Executive Vice President. “Chris shares our core values and his drive coupled with experience and proven success in the industry will make him an extraordinary leader for our company.”

All freight agents, employees and owner operators will not only work with Chris to improve their economic success and growth, but will turn to him for new ideas and strategy for implementation.

“I am looking forward to combining my experience with Medallion’s innovation as we look to help our clients increase efficiency,” said Chris.

Medallion Transport Holdings provides transportation and logistics solutions through its operating subsidiaries and has built a superior network of freight agents, owner operators and carriers dedicated to providing the highest level of service and safety.

Medallion Transport & Logistics’ corporate Olive Branch, MS office looks a lot like Halloween. 

A work station decorating contest is underway, and the office staff got a little creative.

While each staff member pieced together their most creative and festive display, it’s up to Medallion Transport & Logistics’ Facebook fans to name the winner.

For a week, one picture of each work station will be up on the company Facebook page for all to vote. The photo of the work station with the most likes wins $100 gift card. Second and third place win the largest and smallest pumpkins management can find respectively, and the entire office gets pumpkin carving kits for participating.

Voting ends on Monday, October 30 at midnight, and the winners will be announced during business hours on Halloween.

“For those of you that have visited our office you know we work hard, but we also try to have a little fun at the same time.  We find it helps to build teamwork and instills a sense of corporate pride you can’t put a price tag on,” said Medallion VP of Strategic Accounts, Don Davis.