January 2013
posted in Newsletter by Brian Gray
Happy New Year!
Just as the end of a year is a time of reflection and analysis of things past, the new year should begin with resolutions and goals to accomplish even more. We at Glostone have re-committed ourselves to you, our customers. We are committed to serve as your trusted Transportation Safety and Compliance Team with accuracy, advocacy, efficiency and integrity. We see 2013 as full of potential for the Trucking Industry and look forward to working hard to help you be a successful part of it. Your success is our success.
Our monthly newsletters are meant to bring you timely information that you can use to stay safe, be in compliance and improve your bottom line. To send a suggestion of a topic that you would like to see covered in an upcoming newsletter send your topic to daveg@glostone.com (mailto:daveg@glostone.com) . Should you wish to opt out of receiving our newsletter, you can easily do so by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. With this, our first newsletter of the year, we want to take the opportunity to wish you and your family a healthy, safe and prosperous new year. We look forward to working with you!
Operate a Reefer Trailer?
You May Have a Tax Deduction Coming!
The 18.3 cents federal tax you pay at the gas pump on every gallon of fuel only applies to self propelled vehicles. Carriers who purchase fuel to operate a Refrigerated Trailer or other non-road equipment may claim the total amount of taxes paid on these purchases as a deduction on their 2012 income tax using IRS form 4136. If you are a Glostone Trucking Solutions Fuel Tax Reporting customer and reported reefer fuel purchases to us, we will calculate your deduction and provide a completed form 4136 for you at no additional cost. If you have questions, give us a call at 503-607-1088.
2013 Licensing Checklist
Out with the old and in with the new certainly applies to interstate truck licensing and permits. Your January inventory of credentials, permits and fees paid should include:
2013 Registration Cab Card
2013 IFTA License
2013 Unified Carrier Registration Fees Paid
2012-2013 IRS Heavy Vehicle Use Tax paid
2013 Oregon Weight Certificate (if applicable)
2013 New Mexico permit (if applicable)
21st Series New York HUT permit and decal (if applicable)
2013 HazMat permits (if applicable)
Should you need any assistance with obtaining or have questions about any of these or other truck license or permit, give us a call at 503-607-1088.
Close One Company and Open Another? Not Anymore!
The airwaves around the trucking industry are full of stories of carriers with poor safety compliance management having a lot of bad things happen to them. Things like losing loads and facing higher insurance rates. Things like drivers quitting to work for more compliant carriers and the DOT auditing to force compliance or be shut down. And more.
It used to be that, as carriers with poor management control systems accumulated safety violations and the bad things started to happen, the answer was to simply open up a new company and start over. Clean the slate.
Closing the old company and opening the new to avoid safety compliance issues has never been legal within the regulations but, the FMCSA didn’t have the manpower to control it. If they did find a carrier doing it, they didn’t have the enforcement power to stop it. It was a loophole that worked.
Carriers wishing to reincarnate today are finding this loophole closed. Through the use of technology, applications for a new authority are going through a comprehensive vetting process by the FMCSA. Names, addresses, phone numbers, EIN numbers, bank accounts, driver names, CDL numbers, shop addresses are all being cross referenced against existing carrier information. When duplications are found, an investigation is conducted. If the FMCSA determines that the applicant is simply trying to close one company and open a new one to avoid safety compliance issues, the application is denied.
“Over the years, Glostone has helped many carriers apply for their Motor Carrier Authority. Until recently, very few were ever challenged. Recently, we are seeing more and more applications rejected” says Alex Vukonich, Compliance Specialist at Glostone Trucking Solutions.
In addition to strengthening the Motor Carrier Authority application process, the FMCSA is being granted new enforcement powers. If their investigation determines that a new company was opened to avoid dealing with regulatory compliance issues of an old company, the company can be shut down and the owners held liable. “We recently had an auditor tell us he imposed a $179,000 fine on a carrier who was caught reincarnating,” says Vukonich.
According to Vukonich, “carriers should know that they can no longer run from a poor safety record. The regulations are out there for all to see and comply with. Safety compliance issues can be fixed but that process takes time. The company’s willingness to comply, hold the entire organization accountable and make compliance management a part of their everyday operations is crucial.”
