Hours of Service rules are the rules set forth by the US Department of Transportation’s division of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) governing the working hours of anyone operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). This includes truck drivers and bus drivers. These rules limit the number of (daily and weekly) hours spent driving, and regulate the minimum amount of time drivers must spend resting between driving shifts. A driver of a CMV is also required to keep a record of working hours using a log book, outlining the total number of hours spent driving and resting, as well as the time at which the change of duty status occurred.

A driver’s hours of service are regulated by both federal and state agencies. On the federal level, hours of service of drivers are part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). They are issued and enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

If you are a truck driver who operates a commercial motor vehicle, you should know the basics of Hours of Service, and if you are an aspiring truck driver, or just someone who yearns for knowledge, here are a few basics to a truck drivers Hours of Service Rules:

11 Hour Driving Rule: All time spent behind the wheel is considered driving time. After 11 hours of driving time, you must have 10 consecutive hours off duty before you can drive again.

14 Consecutive Hours on Duty: A commercial motor vehicle driver cannot drive a commercial vehicle after 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty. A driver cannot drive again until they have 10 consecutive hours of rest. Lunch breaks or other off-duty time do not extend the 14-hour period. The 14 hours are consecutive from the time a driver starts their tour of duty.

60/70 Hours of Service Rule: Drivers working for a company that does not operate motor vehicles every day of the week must not drive after accumulating 60 hours on duty during any 7 consecutive days. If your company operates vehicles every day of the week, you must not drive after accumulating 70 hours on-duty time in any 8 consecutive days. You may, however, continue to perform non-driving duties after reaching these limits and not be in violation. (On-duty time is defined as all time from the time you begin work or are required to be ready for work until you are relieved from work and all responsibility for doing work).

34-Hour Restart: The regulations include an optional “restart” provision. This allows you to “restart” your 60 or 70 hour clock after having at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.

Duty Status Record: In order to check your compliance with the above-stated rules, drivers must keep track of their hours of service. Your motor carrier has the option to select the format which best suits its operation. This is also known as a log book.

Driver fatigue is a serious problem. It is one of the leading causes of heavy truck crashes, and when you consider that thousands of deaths each year result from accidents involving commercial motor vehicles, you can see why there are regulations to keep tired drivers off the road. The hours of service regulations are based on the sensible idea that if you drive too long, you get tired… and dangerous.

Following the rules and keeping good records can help you avoid costly citations and fines, or even being placed out of service. Most importantly, following the rules may prevent an accident, possibly even save a life. -JJ Keller “Driver’s guide to hours of service”

These are just the basics of the Hours of Service rules. If you would like to find out more, please click here

Noah Ostroff

From all traffic light colors, yellow seems to be the most controversial. Some drivers say that it means stop, others say go, and the funny ones say “green means go, yellow means go faster”. The truth is that a yellow light gives the driver the decision whether to stop or go, and that decision must be made with the road situation in consideration. During a driving test, yellow lights can make the difference between passing and failing. Driving students make many mistakes when they see a yellow light, and some of them repeat more than others.

One very serious mistake is not stopping when possible. A yellow light requires drivers to stop if safe to do so. Some driving students, eager to get the test over with, accelerate when the light turns from green to yellow. If they are lucky, they will cross the intersection at yellow light. If they are unlucky and the light turns red, this foolish rush to the intersection will count as running a red light, a mistake that will lead to a failure for sure.

The opposite mistake to the one mentioned above is stopping when unsafe. If a driver can’t stop safely before the limit line, he should not try to stop. Many driving students are afraid to run a red light and stop at the moment they see a yellow light. Sometimes this is done when they are too close to the intersection, which causes them to stop inside the intersection. This is highly dangerous and could lead to a mark for unnecessary stop, or worse, the critical error of dangerous maneuver.

Left turns on traffic lights raise many issues when it comes to yellow lights. Some places require drivers to enter the intersection before turning left. Usually there is only a small number of cars allowed in the intersection at once. When the light turns yellow, some driving students don’t know how to react in this situation. Some students enter the intersection when they are outside of it, while others remain inside and don’t clear it. Both actions are wrong and can lead to failure.

There is one solution to these yellow light mistakes: a guide that shows how to behave with traffic lights and yellow lights in particular. A guide like this can show driving students the right way to react to different situations, something that is essential in order to pass a driving test.

Unfortunately. too many of the U.S. drivers in Mexico put off the purchase of Mexican auto insurance. They do not see why they would need it. They do not feel that they lack the ability to avoid an accident while driving in Mexico. Insurance appears to them like an unneeded expense.

Such drivers fail to realize that Mexican law differs markedly from U.S. law. In the United States, a driver involved in an automobile accident is not held responsible for that accident while at the scene of the accident. In the U.S., a person receives a presumption of innocence, until he or she can be proven guilty. Mexican auto insurance is needed in Mexico because the reverse is true; a driver involved in an accident is considered guilty of causing that accident, until he or she can be proven innocent.

In the United States, the authorities who arrive at the scene of an accident do not have the ability to prosecute any of the drivers involved in that accident. Sometimes, a driver can be given an alcohol breath test. If the test were to yield a positive result, then that driver could be charged with a crime.

In Mexico the law gives the law enforcement officers greater authority at the scene of a car accident. Those officers can hold each person involved in the accident responsible for the resulting damages. Each driver must exhibit proof of the ability to cover those damages. Auto insurance in Mexico can protect you from being detained.

If a driver can not demonstrate the ability to access enough money to cover the accident damages, then that driver can be hit with a steep fine. If authorities do not issue a fine, then they have a right to demand that the driver be jailed for a short time. Either of those fates can be avoided through purchase of Mexican auto insurance.

If the reader now sees the need for Mexican insurance, that reader probably wants to know the easiest way to obtain it. Does someone have to drive into Mexico in order to purchase Mexican insurance?

The answer is “no.” Several U.S. companies have been licensed to sell Mexican auto insurance in the U.S. Such companies provide drivers with a way to obtain insurance before venturing south of the Rio Grande River. Those companies allow drivers to secure insurance for their vehicles well before actually driving into Mexico.

Updating your system’s motherboard drivers can be very difficult when you do it manually. This is because, the motherboard has several drivers. In most cases, you may not be able to locate the exact driver that needs to be updated. Hence, the best way to update the drivers is to do it in an automatic way.

There are basically two ways of updating motherboard drivers automatically. Let’s examine them.

1. By Using the original motherboard CD

When you purchase a brand new system, there’s always an original motherboard CD that comes with it. The CD contains all the motherboard drivers. You can always use it to update the system’s drivers from time to time. If there’s any need to search for updates online, the CD will also guide you in the process.

2. By using a Driver Software

Oftentimes, some systems don’t come with their motherboard CDs. Most computer users also misplace the board CD after many years of using their computers. If you’re among such group of individuals, you can still update your system’s motherboard drivers by using good driver software. There are different kinds of such driver software programs available online. They are usually sold at affordable prices. You have to create time to search for the right software through a reliable software dealer online. You can easily download the software and also use it to update all the drivers on your system’s motherboard.

There are benefits you’ll gain when you use good driver software to update your system’s motherboard. In the first place, you don’t need to worry about getting any technical information about your system before you use the software. There’s no need to get the system’s model number or other technical specifications before you use the software. It simply scans your system and also determines the possible drivers that can be updated. It also goes ahead to carry out the update task if you press the right button.

Again, your system will always get the latest driver update when you use reliable driver software to run the updates. Normally, different models of motherboard do have multiple revisions of features and chipset. Each one of them requires a specific driver to work. You can only get the latest driver when you use quality driver software.

Furthermore, you’ll always be informed about the latest motherboard updates when you use the right driver software. Most motherboard manufacturers are always in the habit of furnishing the computer world with new updates. You’ll not miss out from such updates if you’re using reliable driver software. In most cases, the software searches the website of your system’s motherboard manufacturer for updates. It will also go ahead to download and install such updates to make your system more stable.

In all, you’ll always update your system’s motherboard drivers when you follow the steps discussed above. If you run into problems, make sure you consult an expert computer repairer to help you out.

Now you can save your car and save the environment at the same time! With a process known as “paintless” dent repair (PDR), skilled technicians remove dents from a vehicle without the use of body fillers or painting. More than ever, consumers, as well as auto insurance companies, are realizing the benefits of this revolutionary process.

Paintless Dent Repair preserves the vehicle’s value, saves money by eliminating the cost of paint supplies, and saves the environment by reducing the amount of harmful vapors and toxic paint waste which are introduced into the environment.

The Paintless Dent Repair method was originally used by Mercedes Benz in Germany and is the most cost effective and time saving way to have your vehicle restored to its pre-damaged condition. It also allows you to restore your vehicle’s value and appearance while preserving the earth’s ecosystem. Since the repair of your dent will not require any auto paint, body fillers, or sanding work, paintless dent removal is one of the most environmentally sound options currently available in the auto repair industry. By using the paintless system for dent removal, you can get your car back to its original shape without worrying about adding any more harmful chemicals into the environment or using more energy than is necessary.

With the guaranteed workmanship of an approved paintless dent repair technician, you can expect your car to return to its former condition and stay that way. You will also have peace of mind knowing that you preserved your vehicle’s value as well as the environment.

If you’re considering taking on owner driver jobs to make a living yet aren’t quite brave enough to take that leap, here are three strong reasons why you’re considering the right career choice. The job presents its own set of challenges but, for the right person, such challenges easily become opportunities-and fulfilling, lucrative opportunities at that.

It Fills an Important Community Need

Owner driver jobs are not only about earning money-they actually perform a much-needed service that benefits the entire community. To illustrate: couriers help local businesses and other companies operate smoothly and glitch-free-they allow these businesses to focus on their core strengths and not on the little hassles. At its most basic, a courier’s job is quite simply about getting one item delivered to a recipient-in most instances, it’s a two-way process. Imagine a law firm needing a legal document to be delivered to a court house, have it signed, then returned back to the law firm’s office. That’s a courier’s job, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Organisations, individuals or companies can make special arrangements regarding errands that can be best accomplished by specialists.

Relative Freedom

Those who take on owner driver jobs are not at the mercy of the tyrannical Bundy clock. They can perform their jobs on their own schedule-they don’t have to wait idly for the clock to strike five to go home, have a beer and be with the family. The self employed driver enjoys a certain amount of freedom that others can only envy. You hate Mondays? You can choose to just stay at home and watch a movie on Mondays! You hate working in the mornings? It’s your call-you have total control of your own schedule. A couriers’ clock only starts to run once they take on a delivery job, and even that is easy, too-delivering a parcel does not take a day, and delivering multiple parcels in a few hours means a fulfilling day’s work, with much extra time to be spent on other things you love doing.

A Good Income Source

Most people who take on owner driver jobs, and do so regularly, are actually enjoying a good, steady stream of income-especially if they establish a reputation for reliability. That means you can make the money come to you, and not the other way around. As for figures, currently, the national average for couriers is fairly competitive. If you can manage to work even eight hours a week, you’ll create a solid income stream to supplement your regular wage. Of course, the more hours you work in a week, the higher is your earning. A sought-after delivery person can easily fill up their day with jobs, clocking thirty or forty hours a week and earning a very respectable pay.

If you run a fleet management company, you will have drivers who work for your company. In this case, it is the employers responsibility to make sure that their employees hold a valid UK driving licence. A Driving licence validation can help protect employers from having to pay unnecessary penalties.

The status of a driving licence may change many times for a number of reasons. In some cases a driver may not even know about the status change. After the first validation of a licence has been done, the next validation is automatically scheduled. However, the frequency of this licence checking process is usually based on a driver’s risk profile. If the licence gets disqualified during the validation process, then the employer will be notified immediately.

Third-party licence checking services conduct the driving licence validation process using the Access to Driver Data (ADD) service. ADD gives real-time driving licence information through a business-to-business interface. ADD includes all the necessary information needed such as driver’s name, date of birth, address, and other driving details such as entitlement, disqualifications, and penalties. ADD provides 24/7 real-time driving licence data. ADD gives you a quick response with accurate licence/driver information. If there is no information available, it returns a simple response saying driver’s information is not available.

What Is Driver and Vehicle Information Solution (Davis)?

Davis is an expanded brand, which includes some additional information about the driver and vehicle. It is a cloud-based solution, which enables customers to add or remove various optional modules. It mainly covers four areas: the vehicle, its driver, Policies/Guidelines and driver/vehicle related services. The modular structure of Davis allows customers to utilize either a single service or a mixture of several services. This mix-and-match approach is highly beneficial to a business in that it allows them to add or remove modules when they want. Davis helps organizations to meet the regulations needed to avoid them receiving any unnecessary penalties.

Significance of the Licence Card Data Reader

Another service provided by a third-party licence checking service is a Card Reader (CDR). It captures all the licence/driver data in a single pass. Both sides can be read simultaneously. It just requires the software to be installed on a local PC to drive the reader. Using CDR, forged data can be detected easily. CDR is very user-friendly, and requires minimal training. Once the data is read, it is directly uploaded into the software. The CDR helps to speed the process up as it can read large amount of data in a short time.

Benefits of Driving Licence Checking and Validation

Driving licence validation can offer a lot of advantages to your company, some of them are listed below:

1. Helps identify misinterpreted information and reduce the risk of forged documentation.
2. Saves you time, because e-consent is valid for three years.
3. Using the card data reader can validate international licences.
4. Companies can avoid potential penalties.
5. Business owners can have peace of mind. They can be confident about their employees driving licence and insurance information.
6. Improves travel/road safety for everyone, including company, customer, and the driver.

Personal injury attorneys and safety groups work to heavily promote the dangers that the big 18-wheeler trucks create on our highways and interstates. Major news outlets do their part in this promotion as well.

Safety organizations calling for more federal regulations to be placed on truck drivers, state that fatigue is a contributing factor in as many as 30-40% of all heavy truck crashes. The problem with this statement is that it is false.

Commercial trucks are involved in 2.4% of all car accidents and more than 80% of those accidents are the fault of the non-commercial driver. Furthermore, only 16% of all truck driving accidents are due to the truck driver’s fault and of those death related accidents, only 4% of trucks are fatigue related.

The truth as it relates to car and truck crashes, is that the driver of the car is at fault over 80% of the time. This is all the more reason that driver education should include training in how to drive around big trucks and parents should help educate their coming-of-driving-age kids on the major driving habits that are the cause of car and truck crashes.

The most serious problem that non-commercial drivers face is the misunderstanding of the mechanics of truck driving. Other factors include basic safe driving skills such as obeying the speed limit, lane changing and respect for other drivers.

The most common causes of car crashes with semi-trucks are:

• Driving in the truck’s “No-Zones” – All 18-wheelers have “blind spots” where the driver can not see the car due to the size of the commercial vehicle. These “blind spots” include directly behind the truck, in front of the truck which includes the lane that the truck is in as well as one lane to the right and a “blind spot” beside the truck’s right door. In addition, there is a “no zone” on each side of the truck that can span for several lanes.
• Pulling out in front of a truck without proper acceleration – It takes an 18-wheeler a longer distance to stop. As a rule of thumb, it takes a semi tractor-trailer 40% longer to come to a stop than it does a car. Depending on road conditions, loaded weight and other such factors, it can even take longer. For example, the stopping distance for a tractor-trailer that is fully loaded on dry pavement going at 60 mph is approximately 335 feet, nearly the length of a football field.
• Driving between or along-side big trucks – This is one of the most dangerous habits one can do as large trucks create an air flow which can pull the car into the rig. If necessary, increase your speed in order to get past the truck as soon as possible to avoid any possible air turbulence.
• Maneuvering to the right of a truck that is making a right turn – When you do this, the driver of the rig at some point, can not see you due to the “blind spot” that this maneuver creates.
• Changing lanes abruptly in front of a truck – Again, due to the size and weight of these large vehicles, their stopping or slowing down process is greater and simply through inertia and the laws of physics, will not be able to stop in time to prevent a crash.
• Misjudging an approaching truck’s speed at an intersection – Many crashes between cars and trucks occur at intersections while the truck is approaching for a turn. Due to the size of the commercial vehicle, its speed can appear to be much slower than it is actually moving; much like a large airliner flying through the sky; it appears to be moving very slowly, while we all know that this is not the case.

The list of causes for car and truck accidents could very well be endless, but these are the top serious driving habits non-commercial drivers perform which result in the 80% of auto drivers being the direct cause of car and truck related crashes.

Other factors include:

• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Ignoring road conditions
• Talking on a cell phone and/or texting while driving
• Speeding
• Reckless driving/moving in and out of traffic
• Simply not paying attention

If the driver education course is going to fail to teach our kids how to drive around the big rigs, then the parents must take on this task because the life they save could be their very own children.

Error code 37 on Windows is what’s known as a “driver error” on your computer, and is caused because your hardware is damaged or the drivers on your system are corrupt. If you are seeing this error on your PC, it suggests that there are is something wrong with the way your computer is interacting with your hardware, and needs to be fixed.

This error will often show in this format:

• “Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)”

The error you’re seeing is actually caused by the way in which your computer handles the hardware on your system. Every piece of hardware that your system uses has to be controlled & accessed by using a piece of software called a “driver”. These software components basically allow your system to interact properly with all the hardware of your PC, and are therefore amongst the most important parts of your Windows system. If you’re seeing this error, it generally means that there is some sort of issue with the drivers of your computer – with them either being not installed correctly, or damaged and unreadable. 

The way to resolve this error is actually quite straightforward. The first step is to update any drivers which are damaged. This can be done by following the steps here:

• Click Start > Control Panel > Device Manager
• Upon loading Device Manager, locate the hardware component with the “Yellow Exclamation Mark” icon by it
• Right-click this device and then press “Uninstall”
• This will remove the hardware from Windows
• Momentarily, your PC will say it has found new hardware – let it install any new drivers it needs to run this hardware
• This should resolve most cases of the 37 error code

Performing the steps above will basically “reinstall” or “update” the driver on your system. It’s often the case that a hardware driver will either become damaged, corrupted or just unreliable – making it essential that you’re able to get Windows to update any of the issues it may have with it. 

You should also clean out the “Registry” of your computer by using a registry cleaner tool. Registry cleaners are software programs that are designed to scan through the registry database of your computer and fix any of the problematic files that are inside. The registry database is essentially a central storage facility which allows Windows to recall a huge number of different options, from your desktop wallpaper settings to your most recent emails. The registry is a major player in the installation of drivers & hardware on your system, and if you have any damaged elements inside it, the likelihood is that your computer will become damaged and erroneous as a result. You should use a registry cleaner to make sure that no further problems are causing the errors to show on your system, which can be done by downloading one of these tools from the Internet, installing it and then letting it fix any possible problems on your PC.

Nowadays, people like things and services to be fast, instant, and hassle-free such as in preparing food, getting their car washed in a speedy carwash, or even working at the comfort of their own homes. Thus, businessmen always try to innovate to take advantage of the people’s demand for instant stuff and also to make life more comfortable.

Among these handy things that people really love are laptop computers. Although laptops are already considered an “instant” commodity, there are still plenty of things you have to do manually to get it running, like installing additional software and updating drivers. Luckily, hardware manufacturers are already aware of this need for an automatic driver updater to make the job hassle-free for busy (or lazy) people. That’s why various driver updating software were invented. Some of these software are DriverMax, DriverCure, and DriverGenius. There are more brands available in stores or over the net in case you’re interested. Just make sure you check out reviews so that you’ll get the best one for your computer and your money.

Moving on, these driver update software, as mentioned above, makes updating your computer’s drivers hassle-free. Their job is to scan your computer for outdated drivers and browse credible websites and databases (usually your hardware manufacturer’s site) and create a list of available driver updates for you to download. This way, you don’t have to do all the surfing and scouting for driver updates online all by yourself. This also decreases the risk of downloading bad updates, viruses or worms that are spreading rampantly over the internet. With a driver updating software installed in your PC, all you have to do is click some driver updates that this software presents to you and automatically, it downloads and installs them in your computer. And now you have an updated driver! Isn’t that hassle-free enough?

If you wish to buy a driver updating software, just remember to read reviews and consumer feedback on different brands of these software so that you’ll make a well-informed choice on what brand to buy. This may cost you a certain amount of money, but the advantages will definitely outweigh the effects of an outdated driver or a bad update download to your computer.