Hazmat renewal waiver extended through 12/31

Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020:

Hazmat endorsement renewal waiver extended through Dec. 31
Truck drivers whose hazardous materials endorsements have expired since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic may now have through the end of the year, at least, to renew the endorsement.

The Transportation Security Administration published a notice Wednesday, Oct. 28, extending the renewal exemption through Dec. 31. It was previously set to expire Oct. 31 when it was extended at the end of July.

“Federal partners, state licensing agencies and related associations report ongoing difficulties in timely renewal of expiring HMEs and asked TSA to consider extending the exemption until the end of calendar year 2020,” TSA said of its decision to extend the waiver.

The waiver gives states the ability to extend the expiration date of hazmat endorsements that expire on or after March 1, 2020. If a state grants the extension, drivers with an expired hazmat endorsement must initiate the process of renewing their security threat assessment for the endorsement no later than 60 days before the end of the state-granted extension, TSA added.

NEW DRIVER-FACING CAMERA ADD-ON | Verizon Connect’s new driver-facing camera extends its “Integrated Video for Reveal” solution, initially announced with road-facing views only. The new options captures the in-cab perspective. Features include (as shown) on-demand or downloadable access to in-cab footage; integration with the rest of the Integrated Video for Reveal platform; easy video download or on-demand access; and near-real-time notifications of on-highway events, as shown in the image, among others. More about the Reveal platform via this link.

Rhode Island small fleet owner admits to falsifying logs
Damir Sisic, the owner of now defunct Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based Sisic Transportation Service (STS), admitted the he “altered thousands of electronic entries in service logbooks for approximately 20 drivers in order to conceal the actual drive time and on-duty time of drivers,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.

Sisic owned approximately 11 tractors and 10 van trailers and employed between seven and 10 drivers at a time. Each truck was equipped with an ELD.

According to court documents, Sisic provided altered driving records to a state trooper investigating the fatality of an STS driver who was driving an STS truck in Oklahoma in April 2018. Additionally, Sisic provided altered driving records for numerous STS drivers to an FMCSA investigator during a compliance review.

Sisic pleaded guilty to conspiracy to falsify records, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7.

Rand McNally releases next-gen Overdryve Pro navigation device
Rand McNally is launching its OverDryve 8 Pro II, the next generation of the company’s multi-purpose navigation device.

Rand McNally introduced Thursday its new OverDryve 8 Pro II device.

The new device features an updated design that is three times faster than first-generation devices. It’s also powered by Rand Navigation 2.0, the company’s new navigation that debuted earlier this year.

“What we’ve done with this next generation is upgrade and improve upon the most valuable features of our OverDryve Pro devices,” said Stephen Fletcher, CEO of Rand McNally. “Rand Navigation 2.0 on its own brings OverDryve Pro to a whole new level of technological sophistication for professional drivers. The new navigation significantly improves usability with truly remarkable, glanceable graphics and provides access to advanced features like weather and traffic overlays that give current conditions and those down the road.”

In addition to navigation, the OverDryve 8 Pro II also features an adjustable built-in dash cam; SiriusXM satellite radio with the first three months of service free; an upgraded and stronger magnetic mount that supports tethering to enable playing audio from the device through any Bluetooth speaker; live traffic, current fuel prices and weather conditions; ELD-readiness with the Rand McNally DriverConnect app on board and more.