OTA Dispatch Issue 4, 2020

I’LL BEGIN MY article with a tip of my hat to Sister Francis Xavier whose two years of Latin classes almost fifty years ago enabled me to now competently declare that “Caveat Emptor” refers to the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. I recall enrolling in Latin classes at the time to further my goal of attending medical school before I subsequently learned in biology class that I was not very tolerant of the sight of blood. Now you know how I got into the transportation industry! I oftentimes look for inspiration when I sit down to write my quarterly article for this magazine by considering the subject matter of recent conversations I’ve had with motor carriers calling me for advice. On this occasion a motor carrier called the office and said, “I keep getting communications from a company saying that we are out of compliance on our VMT. Attached is what they mailed me, but I have also received several emails.” The letter from the company said: You currently are not compliant as your ‘carrier registration information is outdated’ as you will see from the FMCSA webiste. The information below reflects the content of the FMCSA management information systems as of 8/16/2020. Carrier Registration Information Outdated. Carrier VMT Outdated. Although motor carriers have to update their MCS-150 form every two years, motor carriers should understand that this is just the minimum requirment; motor carriers may update their (MCS-150 form at any time. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration enourages carriers to update their MCS-150 any time there is a change in their data. Since the Safety Measurment System (SMS) uses VMT and REGULATORY COMPLIANCE Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch 8 Caveat Emptor (or Buyer Beware) By Gregg Dal Ponte, OTA’s Director of Regulatory Compliance PU data, motor carriers should update their form at least once a year. Log onto www.dotservice.com to enter your DOT# to correct your VMT details with FMCSA. DOTservice.com Compliance Department DOTService (powered by DOT Compliance Group) 855-585-5005 Support@DotService.com In this instance I suggested to the inquiring motor carrier that this company was just trolling for business. This does not mean that your info doesn’t need updated, but they are probably a legitimate company that is automatically searching records and sending out an email as a result. The important thing to note is that you can check and update your record yourself, no third party needed for this. To do so, simply visit the following website: www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ registration/updating-your-registration The interesting thing to note here is the aggressive marketing tactics including written correspondence and multiple emails, the term “DOT” being included in the company name and the included instruction to log into their website to correct the issue. In fairness, the letter from this company did include the following information in the footer of the correspondence: “DOT Compliance Group provides compliance services required by the US Department of Transportation/FMCSA but it is not affiliated witht he US Department of Transportation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration nor any other government agency. However, I did discover another motor carrier offered a somewhat harsher assessment and wrote on the website RipOffReport.com —www.ripoffreport.com/ report/dot-compliance-group/irving- texas-misleading-1494052 “They send emails, many might I add, with the threatening language and the name of the business is very misleading and confusing which is how they stay in business, I’m sure. Don’t pay these people to file for you, just go to www.fmcsa.dot. gov to file yourself. The actual application on the government website was easier to fill out than using this service... and it was free. I wish I could get my $150 bucks back...” The point here is simple. If as a matter of convenience you prefer to use the services of a third-party provider and to pay a fee to do something that you could do for yourself, then there is nothing wrong with doing so. The suggestion is that you endeavor to ensure that you are fully informed about your options before you proceed. The trucking industry has been cautioned on this subject repeatedly in the past. I read a blog post by a motor carrier who shares a bad experience with a company offering drug and alcohol testing services for drivers. In her post, this motor carrier stated: “In 2017, I got a threatening letter from ‘xxx’ in the morning. It stated that we were not DOT Compliant and that we required to purchase their drug and alcohol testing program in order to get compliant with the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association) rules. They made it look as if it was from the DOT and we were not compliant. As I was new to the trucking industry and had little knowledge about it all, and of course it was all very alarming for me, so I just ended up paying them. In the end, I just want to say that (xxx) is a scam. Stay away from them and don’t pay them even a single penny. If you want to get enrolled