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July / August 2022

August 31 Deadline for ICSA Membership Renewals

Last week ICSA members received a notice with a link to renew their ICSA annual membership for the July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 period and providing a grace period through August 31, 2022. Our records show that many members have not yet renewed their ICSA membership even though this is a requirement to retain insurance coverage.

This is a friendly reminder for those who have not renewed to click on the link below and renew by August 31. After that deadline, ICSA must notify members’ insurance agencies of those that have not met this requirement of the Terms and Conditions of Membership. Don’t let that happen! Members must log in and renew no later than August 31 to continue insurance coverage.

We thank those that have renewed and hope all members will take advantage of the many other services ICSA offers beyond discounted insurance coverage.

ICSA Launches New Driver and Fleet Legal Services

We are proud to announce new driver and fleet legal services for ICSA members through a new partnership with U.S. Legal Services (USL). USL is well known throughout the trucking industry for the safety and business tools they provide for the single-truck professional driver and small fleets.

USL understands the individual needs of both single-truck operators and small fleets, including the regulations they face, and has developed the CDL Defender specifically for this segment of the trucking industry. This includes the Professional Driver Business Advantage at no additional cost to the driver. USL’s success in assisting drivers and small fleets has resulted in an average 88% reduction in violation severity points and therefore lower SMS scores of drivers USL has represented. USL also has achieved a 95% success rate in winning DataQ challenges, helping keep both driver and fleet CSA scores down.

What this means for ICSA members is that USL will represent members who sign up for USL services and their drivers for all moving, non-moving, and DOT violations, all the way up to and including potential trials, using properly licensed and credentialed, local attorneys. USL’s data shows local attorneys who are familiar with the local jurisdiction, prosecutors, and judges obtain better results. Its nationwide network of attorneys is experienced in working with professional drivers and go the extra mile to find supporting evidence to better represent the driver’s side of the case.

Latest ICSA Safety Awards

Independent Carrier Safety Association recognizes its safest members with quarterly safety awards for the top three single-truck operators and the top three small fleets. We are pleased to congratulate these winners for the second quarter of 2022:

Fleets

• 1st Place: The Josiah Co., Richmond, TX

• 2nd Place: ASAP Trucking, LLC, Atlanta, TX

• 3rd Place: Shana Investments, LLC, Moreno Valley, CA

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Single-Truck Operators

• 1st Place: EJH Logistics, LLC, Southfield, MI

• 2nd Place: MDS Enterprise, Inc., Charlotte, NC

• 3rd Place: Lysander Transport, Homestead, FL

COACHING CORNER

By Mike Hitchcock, ICSA Safety Consultant

How to Prepare for Brake Safety Week

Commercial enforcement personnel throughout the U.S. will be conducting brake inspections at roadside and in weigh and inspection stations August 21-27. Enforcement officers inspected nearly 35,000 trucks during Brake Safety Week in 2021. Over 12% of those vehicles were placed out of service for critical brake-related conditions. During last year’s RoadCheck, brake systems and brake adjustment violations accounted for 38.9% of all vehicle out-of-service violations.

Do you know how to adjust self-adjusting brakes? Most people I ask do not.

Understanding how the average self-adjusting slack adjuster works can go a long way in helping drivers keep them adjusted. Having all your brakes working together ensures that no one brake is doing all the work and overheating. In normal use the driver uses 5-10psi of air application. This may not be enough application pressure to push the yoke far enough to adjust up a notch for all your brakes at the same time. That will leave them uneven and cause some to work harder than others, leading to uneven heat and wear and less braking power when you need it.

New First Gear™ Driver Training Now Open

Several weeks ago, we informed our members that we would be making available to you the First Gear™ commercial vehicle driver online training curriculum at no cost. That day has arrived! Watch for an email from the email account admin@firstgear.server.tracorp.com titled “New ICSA Account Created.” The email will contain the link to the training program, your administrator username and password, and a link you can provide your employees so that they can register themselves. If you do not receive the email, please check your junk or spam folder and make sure to mark an email from Tracorp as not spam or junk.

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week Coming September 11-17

We think truck drivers should be appreciated every week all year long! However, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is an important time for the rest of America to pay respect and thank professional truck drivers for their hard work and commitment to one of our economy's most demanding and important jobs.

ICSA will recognize its members who participate in a short survey on industry issues with the gift of a great new ICSA hat! Complete the survey to throw your name in the hat (pun intended) for a chance to also win a $500 gift card. Watch for an ICSA email just after Labor Day with the survey link and instructions on how to participate. Thank you, ICSA truckers!