At the CCJ Summer Symposium in LaJolla, Cali., Jeff Davis, principle officer for Fleet Safety Services, warned of an onslaught of add-on CSA regulations and requirements about to hit the trucking industry.
We’ve come through Phase 1 of the CSA, Davis explained, which was the actual launch of the program and understanding how it would work. For better or worse, we now have that information. Now we’re entering Phase 2, which is the actual intervention phase which CSA was all about in the first place.
FMCSA now requires fleets to use doctors with a Medical Providers Certification to gauge the health of their drivers.
You have to place a note in the driver’s file that the doctor who passed him or her as fit for duty is government certified, he explained. You have to go to the FMCSA website and verify they are certified. This regulation crept up on us and I have no idea it was even being considered until I ran up on it last week.
Additionally, Davis believes that hair testing for the newly founded driver drug and alcohol clearinghouse may soon be required.
My advice to fleets is to be proactive on this front now, he stresses. I recommend checking your database on every driver to ascertain whether they’ve had a prior drug or alcohol violation and follow up to make certain they are in compliance now.
Finally, Davis said fleets can expect a sleep apnea test to round out the medical certification process for drivers.
The bottom line is that fleets are simply going to have to be more hands-on in helping their drivers get and keep their medical cards, Davis added. It’s going to take more time, more resources and more people to do so.
