It’s a new year, and the most pressing order of business for fleet managers right now is making the January 5 deadline for submitting your annual DOT Clearinghouse queries. You’re required to run a query on each CDL driver you employ (including yourself if you’re an owner/operator) by this date. And to make life easier down the road (pun intended), make sure you have a pre-employment query on file for every new CDL driver you have employed since the Clearinghouse went into effect.
Employers and fleet managers have to run Clearinghouse queries at least once every 12 months on CDL drivers. You have the option of running either a full or a limited query. Failure to run these queries annually could end up costing you as much $2,500 per driver in fines, and a driver can be pulled from safety-sensitive functions until the full query is submitted.
A number of events coming up around the country this month are sure to be of interest to fleet managers and safety professionals.
This year’s Transportation Research Board Conference is expected to attract thousands of transportation professionals from around the world to Washington, D.C. from January 9-13 with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as guest speaker at TRB’s 101st (yes, 101!) annual meet. The theme is formidable: Innovating an Equitable, Resilient, Sustainable, and Safe Transportation System.
Meanwhile, responding effectively in a post-COVID transportation and logistics environment should provide invaluable tools and information at the Fleet Management Institute’s annual event, PFMI 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. For five days beginning January 15, attendees will have a chance to participate in intensive educational programs and courses in fleet finance, operations, legal, regulatory, and safety compliance, human resources, maintenance, and equipment.
The highly-anticipated annual SAE Government/Industry conference several days later from January 17-19 in Washington, D.C. will provide government, regulatory and policy makers in the automotive industry a neutral forum to discuss the effects of government regulations, new and forthcoming technologies, and consumer expectations on vehicle design. Meanwhile, the largest gathering of independent heavy-duty aftermarket industry professionals in North America will take place January 24 – 27 in Grapevine, Texas, outside of Dallas. Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week ’22 is created by the industry’s leading trade associations and marketing groups, and this high-profile event draws more than 2,500 executives and managers – including distributors, suppliers, service providers, educators, and industry media from the U.S., Canada and six other countries. Geared toward helping aftermarket professionals anticipate changes coming down the pike, the weeklong conference offers invaluable networking opportunities with top industry executives of all major heavy-duty supplier manufacturers and distributors, a range of sessions feature industry experts, and Product Expo, which gives an exclusive view of the latest products in the heavy-duty aftermarket.
The supply chain, always in the news these days, will also be the hot topic at JumpStart, a three-day supply chain event that targets carriers, shippers, logistics service providers and technology providers. Set to take place January 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia, this is the definitive intelligence-gathering event and offers “unrivaled networking opportunities” to kick off a new year.
And during the same time, from January 24-28, the Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Conference in San Diego, California, is a chance for hazmat professionals to discuss concerns and perspectives on hazmat enforcement and regulations.
Finally, as a reminder, National 4th Quarter IFTA fuel taxes are due on January 31.
That’s it for January 2022. Happy New Year!