Are You Aware of the Two SMS Improvements?

As a moving and storage company, it is crucial to stay informed on changes going on in the industry; whether a change in moving insurance policies or even a change in safety regulations. Recently, there have been improvements made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The Safety Measure System (SMS) is constantly improving in order to keep drivers safe on the road and as of last week, there have been changes concerning texting and hand held phones.

Commercial motor vehicle drivers may have noticed the following two changes:

#1: On January 3, 2012, the FMCSA made the decision to ban commercial drivers from using mobile phones while driving, including a ban on texting.  There are five new texting and cell phone violations. Each of these violations carries the maximum 10 points and they are as follows:

•    Texting while operating a CMV;

•    Using a mobile phone while operating a CMV;

•    Driving a CMV while texting;

•    Using a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a CMV;

•    Allowing or requiring drivers to use a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a CMV.

#2: There have been 22 violations derived from six current Vehicle Maintenance violations. These 22 provide much more descriptive and detailed information about compliance with existing brake, wheel and coupling regulations. This change is guaranteed to help clarify who the responsible is for the violations, the motor carrier or the Intermodal Equipment Provider.

As the owner of a moving and storage company, it is important to inform your drivers of these new violations. If not, you may find your company in trouble.

At Wolpert Insurance, we want to make sure your company is always protected from the worst case scenario. By offer insurance for moving and storage companies, we are able to protect your business from liability issues, injuries and even lawsuits. Some of our specialties include: automobile liability, motor truck cargo, commercial umbrella, warehouse liability, workers compensation and much more. Contact us for a free quote today!