Motor Carrier Safety

What is Interstate Operating Authority?

Anyone operating a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise is a motor carrier. Motor carriers that transport their own goods or passengers, not for-hire are known as private motor carriers. An example of this would be a manufacturer transporting its own goods or a company transporting its own personnel.

Private motor carriers transporting their goods are not required to have interstate (or intrastate authority) to transport their goods from one state to another (or from points and places within a given state). However, motor carriers that transport goods or passengers for compensation are for-hire motor carriers.

For-hire motor carriers are required to have operating authority to cover the type of operation they are involved in. If a for-hire motor carrier is transporting goods or passengers from one state to another state, it is required to have interstate operating authority. This operating authority is issued by the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). There are several types of Interstate Operating Authority available to carriers. Knowing which one to get and how to get it can be very confusing and time consuming.

How can Bravo Zulu help me get my Operating Authority?

Let Bravo Zulu help you secure your Interstate Operating Authority. We'll assess your needs, file all the necessary paperwork electronically with the FMCSA and get you up and running quickly and easily.

Bravo Zulu will secure your Interstate Operating Authority for as low as $425.00

Why stress over getting your authority? Leave it to us to get it done right!

Call (888) BRAVOZULU or email us for more information!

19a Certified Examiner Services

Bravo Zulu uses experienced examiners to assist
carriers of passengers in New York State to comply with
Article 19-A related laws and regulations.

What is Article 19A?

Article 19-A was enacted to further highway safety by creating standards for the qualification of bus drivers and bus companies in New York State. All persons and companies engaged in the transportation of passengers in buses in New York State must be qualified to do so through several regulations. Failure to comply with these regulations will result in enforcement of civil penalties and often suspension or revocation of transportation privileges by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

In summary, bus companies that transport passengers for hire (including school buses) and their drivers MUST comply with the Article 19A (and its associated laws and regulations). Compliance with these regulations can be rather confusing and complicated. And failure to comply can be very costly to transportation companies.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles certifies 19A Certified Examiners to assist companies in their compliance efforts. Certified examiner duties include the testing and evaluation of drivers as required by the biennial written/oral examination as well as the biennial behind the wheel road test and the annual defensive driving performance procedures set forth in the relevant regulation. However, in addition to those duties, 19A Certified Examiners have the experience, training and background to help transportation companies file the necessary paperwork and maintain the appropriate records to comply with these regulations.

DOT Compliance Consultation

The FMCSA regulations are complex, difficult to interpret, and even more difficult to follow. Non-compliance, however, could cost you thousands of dollars in fines or even shut your transportation operations down completely. Let Bravo Zulu help you meet your DOT compliance needs. We will assess your compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) in these following critical areas:

Accidents
Driver qualifications
Alcohol and drug testing
Parts, inspection, repair and maintenance of vehicles
Hours of service
Financial responsibility
Hazardous materials

Our staff will determine your company's needs and design a compliance program that will take the stress out of your compliance efforts, leaving you more time and resources to do business and make money. We'll even help you initiate it and manage it.

WHY STRIVE FOR COMPLIANCE?

Improves the condition of your commercial vehicle fleet operating on the highways by detecting vehicle safety related defects/violations prior to the vehicle operating on the highway
$aves money by reducing the number of critical out-of-service defects/violations discovered during roadside inspections and the costly fines imposed by enforcement agencies
Reduces the number of violations discovered by enforcement agencies during Compliance Audits by state or federal agencies
Cuts down on expensive vehicle downtime
Prevents the establishment of adverse safety records related to your operation
Reduces the likelihood of commercial vehicle involvement in highway crashes
$aves on legal fees associated with response to enforcement
Helps protect the motoring public

WHAT BRAVO ZULU CAN DO

Mock inspections
- Terminal
- Roadside
- Driver credential
- Mock compliance reviews
  - Review major compliance areas
    - Driver qualification (DQ) records
    - Hours of Service records/driver’s daily logs/time records
    - Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports
    - Alcohol/controlled substance testing records
    - Vehicle maintenance records

Bravo Zulu uses experienced motor carrier safety specialists to truck and bus companies large and small (we specialize in owner-operators) in their DOT compliance efforts. Let Bravo Zulu’s experienced staff get your operation into compliance quickly, efficiently and effectively. Don’t trust your DOT compliance matters to anyone else. Call Bravo Zulu today for more information and a free estimate.

HAVE YOU BEEN AUDITED BY DOT?

CALL US TODAY TO GET YOU IN COMPLIANCE QUICKLY AND PAINLESSLY!

Commercial Motor Vehicle Routing

Moving a load into or through New York City, Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island? Bravo Zulu can help!

Bravo Zulu will prepare a route for your truck or bus that will prevent you from accessing restricted highways, bridges, tunnels and streets as well as roadways with low overpasses or restricted bridges.

For as low as $9.99 you will receive customized turn by turn directions that will provide you with a route that complies with New York State Vehicle and Traffic Laws and New York City Traffic Rules, Including NYC DOT Authorized Truck Routes.

Put our extensive experience and knowledge to work for you today.

Call 888 272-8698 today
for your customized route

Motor vehicle accidents can be attributed to various causes, and often there are several factors that contribute to a single accident. For that reason, it can take time to establish fault for an accident. Bravo Zulu’s accident investigators have years of experience investigating motor vehicle accidents. Such expertise is vital if all parties responsible for a motor vehicle accident are going to be held accountable for the injuries and damages they caused.

The actions of a driver play a huge role in most motor vehicle accidents. About 40 percent of car accident fatalities occur because of a drunken driver. Another 30 percent of car accident fatalities can be attributed to driving above the speed limits and well over 33 percent occur because of reckless driving. Driver errors, such as failure to yield the right of way, following too closely, driving at excessive speeds, unsafe passing, and disregard of a traffic control device, also cause many accidents. Finally, distracted drivers - those who are talking on their cell phones, changing the radio, etc. - are responsible for many motor vehicle accidents.

Vehicle defects can also cause car accidents. Sometimes the injuries suffered in an accident will be made worse by a design or manufacturing defect, such as one which makes an SUV more susceptible to rolling over in an accident or a gas tank more likely to ignite in a collision, or a manufacturing defect which causes a seatbelt to fail or an airbag to deploy improperly.

Often poor road design causes motor vehicle accidents. A poorly designed roadway, intersection, or means of controlling traffic can at times cause or contribute to an accident. Poorly placed road signs or barriers can cause unnecessary injury when vehicles collide with them. At times, such defects will result in liability by the governmental agency responsible for the design and maintenance of the roadway.

Very often, two or more of the factors listed here combine to cause a motor vehicle accident. This is when it can be tricky to establish fault. Our accident investigators conduct thorough investigations in all cases and assist our clients in determining the factors that directly caused or contributed to a collision. This allows our clients to take the appropriate action as needed to recover losses or prevent future incidents.

Our accident investigation services include the following:

Visual inspection of vehicles involved in accident
- damage evaluations
- seat belt, headlamp and tire examination
- photograph vehicles

Crash data retrieval (included in hourly rate)
- download data and analyze
- written data summary

Inspection of scene
- photograph scene
- at-scene measurements
- document road type
- inspect positioning of road signs and/or signals
- identify possible visibility issues or restrictions on line of sight
- inspection and photos of other fixed objects involved such as bicycles, street signs, trees, buildings or poles
- inspection and photos of roadway evidence, such as skid marks or gouges
Witness/Driver Statements
- review recorded statements
- review depositions

Review police and/or accident reports

Data analysis and accident reconstruction
- compare all data collected
- summarize vehicle speeds, directions and actions both pre- and post-crash
- use occupant kinematics to explain injuries
- computer generated scale diagrams with aerial photo overlay
Cause analysis
- identify driver errors that influenced the accident such as excessive speed or failure to yield the right of way

Provide copy of reports, data and photos

Preparation of court trial materials
- complete accident investigation report
- photographic displays
- animated crash
- review reports of opposing expert