Unregistered Carriers on 9/22/2009 - 1968
Unregistered Carriers on 9/24/2009 - 1983
I'll tell you how crazy it's getting in Illinois. So far this week, we have registered about 200 UCR carriers and, as you can see, we are going a little backwards in our unregistered total. Plus, as you can see, I have to write my blog at some insane hour of the morning! Why is this happening? Because we have also been issuing DOT numbers in droves and getting people signed up with FMCSA at a clip of about 60-70 per day! It appears that we are getting a lot of farmers (again, formerly exempt) because it's harvest time ... and the cops have written a few tickets ... and people are calling or coming in and saying "We need to get in compliance!".
Folks, that's exactly what UCR is supposed to be doing! I can't say it enough times - we are identifying THOUSANDS of interstate commercial vehicle operators that were never identified or recognized by FMCSA prior to UCR.
Motor carrier safety is not just abot crawling around under trucks --- although that's also vitally important! Let's face it - we inspect some tiny fraction of all the trucks that are operating through our states. That's not an opinion - that's a fact! We also need to know who's out there....and that's exactly what UCR is doing.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
What A Day Yesterday Was!
Unregistered Carriers on 9/21/2009 - 2024
Unregistered Carriers on 9/22/2009 - 1968
Yesterday, we did 82 registrations ... and added 50 new USDOT numbers! That's more than some jurisdictions have added all year! It's actually good news, but it really kept us hopping! Which leads me to this: I can't tell you the number of times we have heard the question from farmers (who are, for the most part, exempt from federal authority), "I've been driving this truck for 20 years and nobody has ever told me I needed a DOT number. When in the "h!@#" did that requirement come about?" To the best of my knowledge, the answer to that question is "about the mid-80's!" Over the past three UCR registration years, we have helped literally - and I do mean literally - thousands of farmers get USDOT numbers because that's a requirement of UCR registration. I don't know that answer to why they've never been told they need a USDOT number, but I do know that without UCR, they never would have gotten a USDOT number and the Feds would continue to be clueless about several thousand entities operating commercial vehicles in interstate commerce right here in our own state. And that's a fact!
Unregistered Carriers on 9/22/2009 - 1968
Yesterday, we did 82 registrations ... and added 50 new USDOT numbers! That's more than some jurisdictions have added all year! It's actually good news, but it really kept us hopping! Which leads me to this: I can't tell you the number of times we have heard the question from farmers (who are, for the most part, exempt from federal authority), "I've been driving this truck for 20 years and nobody has ever told me I needed a DOT number. When in the "h!@#" did that requirement come about?" To the best of my knowledge, the answer to that question is "about the mid-80's!" Over the past three UCR registration years, we have helped literally - and I do mean literally - thousands of farmers get USDOT numbers because that's a requirement of UCR registration. I don't know that answer to why they've never been told they need a USDOT number, but I do know that without UCR, they never would have gotten a USDOT number and the Feds would continue to be clueless about several thousand entities operating commercial vehicles in interstate commerce right here in our own state. And that's a fact!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Iteris' New UCR-Link Mail Merge Functionality
Unregistered Carriers on 9/17/2009 - 2000
Unregistered Carriers on 9/18/2009 - 2003
I have to tell you about some modifications we have just made to Iteris' mail merge report/spreadsheet that make it, in my opinion, a killer product!
The idea behind the Mail Merge "report" is to create an on-demand spreadsheet product that has mailing information for all the carriers in your state. But what does that really mean? It could mean 1) all of the carriers in your state who registered last year, 2) all of the carriers that MCMIS shows as active, interstate carriers regardless of whether or not they registered last year or 3) all of the carriers who meet the UCR Universe criteria, whether or not they registered last year. Depending on your perspective - and, perhaps, your resources - any of those answers might be appropriate for the upcoming renewal mailing.
So what did we create? We created a spreadsheet that goes out and gets all of the "active interstate carriers" from MCMIS, regardless of their UCR Universe or 2009 registration status. Then we included columns for 1) whether or not the carrier registered under UCR in 2009 2) whether or not the carrier is in the UCR Universe and 3) whether or not the carrier has an email address.
This report seems like a must-have to me. It gives a state wide latitude and much flexibility as to how they will handle renewal mailing(s). In fact, I may ask Iteris to do some kind of Webinar or phone conference to show it to folks.
Unregistered Carriers on 9/18/2009 - 2003
I have to tell you about some modifications we have just made to Iteris' mail merge report/spreadsheet that make it, in my opinion, a killer product!
The idea behind the Mail Merge "report" is to create an on-demand spreadsheet product that has mailing information for all the carriers in your state. But what does that really mean? It could mean 1) all of the carriers in your state who registered last year, 2) all of the carriers that MCMIS shows as active, interstate carriers regardless of whether or not they registered last year or 3) all of the carriers who meet the UCR Universe criteria, whether or not they registered last year. Depending on your perspective - and, perhaps, your resources - any of those answers might be appropriate for the upcoming renewal mailing.
So what did we create? We created a spreadsheet that goes out and gets all of the "active interstate carriers" from MCMIS, regardless of their UCR Universe or 2009 registration status. Then we included columns for 1) whether or not the carrier registered under UCR in 2009 2) whether or not the carrier is in the UCR Universe and 3) whether or not the carrier has an email address.
This report seems like a must-have to me. It gives a state wide latitude and much flexibility as to how they will handle renewal mailing(s). In fact, I may ask Iteris to do some kind of Webinar or phone conference to show it to folks.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
2000 and Beyond (Lower)!
Unregistered Carriers on 9/16/2009 - 2014
Unregistered Carriers on 9/17/2009 - 2000
As of this morning, Iteris shows that we have registered 17,615 Illinois carriers and that we have exactly 2,000 unregistered carriers left for a registration percentage of 89.8%.
Here's how that puts us with regard to a couple of my "stretch goals":
We are now 10.2% from 100% registration
We are now exactly 1,250 registrations behind CA.
We are 2.76% behind Maine for top registration percentage.
And, as long as we are recapping, here are the in-house numbers for September-to-date registrations:
401 registrations / $36,666 / $91.50 per registration
Lest I sound like I'm harping again, new registrations - even at this late date - are still averaging closer to $100 than to $39....and we only had two $806 registrations.
Unregistered Carriers on 9/17/2009 - 2000
As of this morning, Iteris shows that we have registered 17,615 Illinois carriers and that we have exactly 2,000 unregistered carriers left for a registration percentage of 89.8%.
Here's how that puts us with regard to a couple of my "stretch goals":
We are now 10.2% from 100% registration
We are now exactly 1,250 registrations behind CA.
We are 2.76% behind Maine for top registration percentage.
And, as long as we are recapping, here are the in-house numbers for September-to-date registrations:
401 registrations / $36,666 / $91.50 per registration
Lest I sound like I'm harping again, new registrations - even at this late date - are still averaging closer to $100 than to $39....and we only had two $806 registrations.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
An Odd Thing About UCR Registration Percentages
Unregistered Carriers on 9/15/2009 - 2037
Unregistered Carriers on 9/16/2009 - 2014
There's a lot of preoccupation about registration percentages and their significance to the UCR program. As with most issues in life, I think we need a little more perspective about registration percentages before we draw too many conclusions. Here's a little anomaly I noticed today.
Maine is the highest percentage registration state and we are #2. I know, I know, you're going to say that I'm competing with them for the top spot. Why would you even contemplate such a thing??? Anyway, take a look at the numbers below. It's hard to format stuff in this blog, so work with me here.
17,523 17,565
IL 2,037 2,014
89.59% 89.71%
2,773 2,773
ME 221 225
92.62% 92.49%
Yesterday's registration percentage report showed that IL had registered 17,523 carriers in 2009 and had 2,037 unregistered carriers for an 89.59% registration rate. Today's report showed that we registered 42 carriers yesterday and removed 23 from our unregistered list for a new registration percentage of 89.71%, an increase of .12%
Meanwhile, our friends in Maine started the day yesterday with 2,773 carriers registered and 221 unregistered for a registration percentage of 92.62%. This morning, we see that they didn't register anybody yesterday but added four carriers - possibly new USDOT numbers - to their unregistered list for a new registration percentage of 92.49%.
So Maine effectively went down more than we went up, and the activity wasn't even similar. You can be sitting there, minding your own business, and WHAM - your registration percentage can go down! What kind of world are we living in?!?
Anyway, you get the idea. Things aren't always exactly the way they seem.
Unregistered Carriers on 9/16/2009 - 2014
There's a lot of preoccupation about registration percentages and their significance to the UCR program. As with most issues in life, I think we need a little more perspective about registration percentages before we draw too many conclusions. Here's a little anomaly I noticed today.
Maine is the highest percentage registration state and we are #2. I know, I know, you're going to say that I'm competing with them for the top spot. Why would you even contemplate such a thing??? Anyway, take a look at the numbers below. It's hard to format stuff in this blog, so work with me here.
17,523 17,565
IL 2,037 2,014
89.59% 89.71%
2,773 2,773
ME 221 225
92.62% 92.49%
Yesterday's registration percentage report showed that IL had registered 17,523 carriers in 2009 and had 2,037 unregistered carriers for an 89.59% registration rate. Today's report showed that we registered 42 carriers yesterday and removed 23 from our unregistered list for a new registration percentage of 89.71%, an increase of .12%
Meanwhile, our friends in Maine started the day yesterday with 2,773 carriers registered and 221 unregistered for a registration percentage of 92.62%. This morning, we see that they didn't register anybody yesterday but added four carriers - possibly new USDOT numbers - to their unregistered list for a new registration percentage of 92.49%.
So Maine effectively went down more than we went up, and the activity wasn't even similar. You can be sitting there, minding your own business, and WHAM - your registration percentage can go down! What kind of world are we living in?!?
Anyway, you get the idea. Things aren't always exactly the way they seem.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
What A Day!
Unregistered Carriers on 9/14/2009 - 2068
Unregistered Carriers on 9/15/2009 - 2037
New Adds To Our Unregistered List - A bunch!
New Registrations - 62
Yesterday, we registered 62 carriers here in IL and deactivated quite a few more ... and still only managed to reduce our unregistered list by 31! Why? Because we got a bunch of additions to our unregistered list. And we got them in separate batches, reflecting, I believe, whatever is going on at Volpe regarding uploads / downloads / scheduling.
There's a lot of good news in what I just wrote. First, there's the influx of new carriers, that replenishing stream I'm always harping on. Second, 62 registrations is a nice day by anybody's standards in the middle of September. Third, we now only trail California by 1,291 registrations, which, while virtually insurmountable,is providing us - well, me, anyway - with a lot of amusement trying to catch them!
Two other goals are on the immediate horizon: hitting 90% registration and going below 2,000 unregistered carriers. 2,000 still seems like a ton of unregistered carriers - and it is a ton - but it used to 5,000, so there's much cause for celebration in that number. And we're doing it using only our daily routine, not special large mailings, so it's potentially sustainable.
Anybody who doesn't think we're working hard should come in and take a look. But don't come unless you're ready to pitch in and help!
Unregistered Carriers on 9/15/2009 - 2037
New Adds To Our Unregistered List - A bunch!
New Registrations - 62
Yesterday, we registered 62 carriers here in IL and deactivated quite a few more ... and still only managed to reduce our unregistered list by 31! Why? Because we got a bunch of additions to our unregistered list. And we got them in separate batches, reflecting, I believe, whatever is going on at Volpe regarding uploads / downloads / scheduling.
There's a lot of good news in what I just wrote. First, there's the influx of new carriers, that replenishing stream I'm always harping on. Second, 62 registrations is a nice day by anybody's standards in the middle of September. Third, we now only trail California by 1,291 registrations, which, while virtually insurmountable,is providing us - well, me, anyway - with a lot of amusement trying to catch them!
Two other goals are on the immediate horizon: hitting 90% registration and going below 2,000 unregistered carriers. 2,000 still seems like a ton of unregistered carriers - and it is a ton - but it used to 5,000, so there's much cause for celebration in that number. And we're doing it using only our daily routine, not special large mailings, so it's potentially sustainable.
Anybody who doesn't think we're working hard should come in and take a look. But don't come unless you're ready to pitch in and help!
Monday, September 14, 2009
UCR Enforcement Report
Unregistered Carriers on 9/11/2009 - 2097
Unregistered Carriers on 9/14/2009 - 2068
New Adds To Our Unregistered List - 30
New Registrations - 25
We are working on creating an automatic UCR enforcement report for our officers. The steps are as follows:
1) Run the overall Illinois unregistered carrier report
2) Assign each city to an officer
3) Create each officer's report for that day
I'll keep you posted on our progress.
Unregistered Carriers on 9/14/2009 - 2068
New Adds To Our Unregistered List - 30
New Registrations - 25
We are working on creating an automatic UCR enforcement report for our officers. The steps are as follows:
1) Run the overall Illinois unregistered carrier report
2) Assign each city to an officer
3) Create each officer's report for that day
I'll keep you posted on our progress.
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