Straight From the Horses Mouth

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County February 11, 2011 Edition In this column, a couple of weeks ago, I put in a blurb about some new regulations that came into effect at the end of December 2010, concerning a new thrust by the Nebraska State Patrol that I feel could have an effect on our area farmers. I explained that there were several meetings in Nebraska that were set to explain what the Nebraska State Patrol's Carrier Enforcement Division is calling the "biggest changes to affect motor carrier enforcement in decades." I have had several phone calls and emails concerning these classes and who has to go, so I checked it out further. New Nebraska Truck Regulations: The Nebraska State Patrol says a “compliance, safety and accountability program”, implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the basis for the changes that have been made to the regulations that cover vehicles including farm trucks, trailers and even pickups. Basically, in December 2010, the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA 2010) program will increase the monitoring of motor carrier on-the-road performance, and implement new penalties for unsafe driving behaviors. Area farmers may want to check on this! The patrol says the meetings should be attended by those who operate any of the following vehicles in Nebraska: Any farm truck displaying farm plates and registered for more than 16 tons; pickup pulling a trailer of more than 10,000 pounds combined weight or gross combination of weight rating; a pickup or truck weighing more than 10,000 pounds; and any pickup, trailer, truck or semi requiring a class A, B or C commercial driver's license. It also applies to any motor vehicle transporting hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placards; any passenger carrying vehicle designed or used to transport 8 or more passengers, including the driver, for compensation; and any passenger carrying vehicle designed or used to transport 15 passengers, including the driver and not used to transport passengers for compensation Due to overwhelming interest (or perhaps fear of the unknown), the Nebraska State Patrol Carrier Enforcement Division has scheduled several more additional town meetings to the original sites which included the closest to our area at Lexington. The additional meetings in fairly close locations will be held in Lincoln, Columbus and Grand Island. The Grand Island meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 29 from 7:00 pm- 10:00 pm at the Howard Johnson Motel which is located at corner of S. Locust Street and Hwy 34 in Grand Island. More meeting places and an explanation can be found on the internet at: http://statepatrol.nebraska.gov/stageArchive.aspx?articleId=2803 I contacted the Nebraska State Patrol Carrier Enforcement Division and they gave me some further information on the program. If you want more information, you can contact Gary Bergmeier with the NSP-CED at 402-326-3470. According to Bergmeier and the NSP, these meetings are set up to offer an explanation of the federal regulations that apply to any one who is operating a CMV (commercial motor vehicle). The regulations apply to anyone operating a vehicle or combination of vehicles that is over 10,000 lbs in commerce both in interstate or intrastate traffic. This would include pickups and trailers, semi-trucks, dump trucks, etc. I pressed for some further information that may clear up some things. That information follows. Hopefully it may clear up some confusion – but then maybe not! These regulations are not just for commercial truckers or transporters, they also apply to farmers; although, the farmer does enjoy some exceptions – particularly if they stay in Nebraska. First, as I see it, the regulations only apply to farm vehicles that are farm plated for more than 16 tons; a pickup pulling a trailer of more than 10,000 pounds combined weight or gross combination of weight rating; or a pickup or truck weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The farm trucks can operate anywhere inside of Nebraska and do not fall under any regulations. I would assume it would be the same for the pickup pulling a trailer or weighing more than 10,000 pounds, but I am not completely sure on that. However, one thing is for sure, we do see a lot of farmers driving semi-trailer trucks and these vehicles do fall under some regulations --even if they stay in Nebraska. There are a couple of questions that commonly come up concerning truck and trailer regulations that affect farmers. (1) Yes, a farmer does need a Class A CDL license; (2) Yes, their unit does need to have annual inspections; and (3) Yes, the drivers need to be in a random drug testing program. If any of the vehicles cross the state line, then more regulations may apply, depending on which type of vehicle they are driving and how far they travel. These exceptions are too lengthy to explain in this column, so I would encourage everyone to attend one of the town hall meetings. I would also suggest that you download the “Nebraska Truck Information Guide.” It can be found at http://www.dor.state.ne.us/rpt/pdfs/netruckguide.pdf Private Applicator Training: I might suggest that if you have had previously, or need a new license to handle restricted use pesticides, that you check to see if you need to certify or re-certify your Private Applicator License. If you are not sure, you can call our office or simply look on the internet at: http://pested.unl.edu/private-license If you do need to do the training, I might remind you of 4 sessions that I will be conducting in the near future: February 22 in Blue Hill at Community Center @ 7:00 pm; March 9 in Bladen at Fire Hall @ 9:00 am; March 16 in Guide Rock @1:30 pm at City Hall (Old HS); and the final one on March 23 in Red Cloud at the Webster County Museum Exhibit Hall starting at 1:30 pm. I suggest getting those on your calendar as the time will really pass fast! Here’s wishing for an early Spring! The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home