Below is the listing for “OPEN” transportation classes through November 2010.

Current "OPEN" classes include:

• Sept. 3             9:00 AM – 4:00 PM                  Train-the-Trainer (START)

• Sept. 13           10:00 AM – 1:00 PM                Supervisor Drug & Alcohol Training

• Sept. 16           9:00 AM – 4:00 PM                  DHS/DDS Transportation Training

• Nov. 8              10:00 AM – 3:00 PM                Child Passenger Safety

• Nov. 15            10:00 AM – 1:00 PM                Coaching the Van Driver 3

• Nov. 18            9:00 AM – 4:00 PM                  DHS/DDS Transportation Training

All "OPEN" classes will be held at the Arkansas Public Transit Safety and Resource Center in North Little Rock.

Please register for classes on our website.  Click on the “Open Class Registration” link at the lower right side of the home page.

You can also check out the descriptions of all classes (http://www.arkansastransit.com/course-description_5067_ct.aspx) or see if and when the Training Coordinator is in your part of the state by clicking on the Calendar (http://www.arkansastransit.com/training-classes.aspx).

Effective March 2, 2009, ATA has implemented a new invoicing policy for all “open” classes.  Agencies will now be invoiced for ALL employees registered for such classes.  Exceptions will be made when a representative from the organization calls to cancel the registration BEFORE the class begins.

Remember that ATA also maintains a lending library of videos and DVDs on topics such as defensive driving, preventive maintenance, child car seat safety and assisting passengers with disabilities.  Check out our updated list of titles at http://www.arkansastransit.com/library_5086_ct.aspx.

Contact Russ if you have questions. russ@arktransit.org

2010 Arkansas Public Transportation Conference Preliminary Agenda Holiday Inn Airport and Conference Center, Little Rock, AR
MONDAY – October 18, 2010
7:30 AM – 3:30 PM	Registration
8:30 AM – 3:00 PM	Mark Taylor - Generation Next (Lunch Included)
4:30 - 7:30 PM	Welcome Reception and Fish Fry – ATA Offices and Training Center, NLR
TUESDAY – October 19, 2010
7:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Registration
8:00 - 8:45 AM	Continental Breakfast and Vendor Expo
8:45 - 9:00 AM	Welcome
9:00 - 11:15 AM	Bruce Cross - Employment Law (Break Included)
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM	Morning Vendor Expo
12:00 - 1:30 PM	Luncheon and ATA Annual Membership Meeting – Keynote Speaker
1:30 - 2:15 PM	Afternoon Vendor Expo
2:15 - 3:30 PM	AHTD and TranSystems – Transportation Programs and Needs Assessment
3:30 - 5:00 PM	Vendor Reception and Door Prize Drawings
6:00 - 8:30 PM	Reception, Tour and Dinner – Heifer Village
WEDNESDAY – October 20, 2010
7:30 - 8:30 AM	Buffet Breakfast
8:45 - 9:45 AM	Steve Mosley - Time Management
10:00 - 11:30 AM	Rebecca Pace – “Gotta Go” Motivating Leadership

  

Interest in the Driver and Dispatcher Training being offered in Little Rock is HIGH! We are offering a one-day special rate for Monday, August 9, 8:30 – 4:30, so that more drivers, dispatchers and supervisors can attend the hands-on training. The rate of $99 includes lunch, instruction and all course materials. For Drivers: NTI Training – Advanced Mobility Device Securement

Instructors: Michael Noel, Lazaro & Noel and Russ Parish, Arkansas Transit Association

Description: The goal of this workshop is to present demonstrate, and practice problem-solving skills for assisting with multiple mobility devices.

 For Dispatchers: Demand Response Dispatching for the 21st Century

Instructor: Ken Hosen, KFH Group

Description: This course will help demand response dispatchers understand dispatch function and will teach management and dispatchers how to set up their dispatch office, manage a dispatch operation and to control the vehicle operators, with or without technology.  

Please contact Kristen Joyner at SWTA for more information. 512-237-9733 or kjoyner@swta.org.

Today is the LAST day to register early to enjoy a 30% discount.  This very special rate of $140 will be available for the remainder of the day and tomorrow the cost for a full registration will be $200. 

To register, please log on to our website http://www.arkansastransit.com and click register. You will have the option to pay by credit card or invoice.  We are excited to have this option for convenience for our members and we hope that if you have not already registered that you enjoy this process. 

Call the Holiday Inn Airport Conference Center at 501.490.1000 or 1.800.HOLIDAY to reserve your room.   The conference rate is $88.00 for a standard room.  There is another property on location that has the same rate but has smoking rooms, the Holiday Inn Express 501.490.4000 or 1.800.HOLIDAY. 

We are currently developing the agenda, and it already includes presentations on Time Management and Generation Next. 

We look forward to seeing you at the 2010 Arkansas Public Transportation Conference as we celebrate ATA’s 30th Anniversary! 

We appreciate your early registration. 

This workshop will address policy issues and provide hands-on learning for policy-makers, managers, supervisors, drivers and dispatchers. Topics of general interest to be presented will feature the most current information about mobility management, serving passengers traveling with service animals, the cost of providing excellent service and building accessible livable communities. 

Learning tracks will feature:

-  Policy-making forums for Transit Directors, ADA and mobility management managers and transit professionals
-  NTI’s Advanced Mobility Device Securement for Drivers and Supervisors
-  Demand Response Dispatching for the 21st Century for Dispatchers and Supervisors

See a complete agenda and register today at www.swta.org. Click the EVENTS tab. If you have questions, please contact SWTA at 512-237-9733 or swta@swta.org.

 

Here's a Top Ten List from the City of Windsor:

10.  Health:  you get a fitness walk to and from the bus stop.

9.    Take a Time Out:  it’s precious, so enjoy doing nothing and re-charge your batteries.

8.    Power Naps:  sneak a few extra winks on your way to work or school.

7.    Time Management:  you can catch up on your reading or write out your grocery or to-do lists.

6.    Environment:  leaving your vehicle at home results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and a healthier community.

5.    Efficiency:  50 people riding one bus is better than each person in 50 separate cars.

4.    Relaxation:  ride relaxed, with a chauffeur you can trust.

3.    Comfort and Convenience:  a warm bus beats a cold car and icy windshield during Windsor (or Montreal) winters.

2.    Stress Release:  you don’t have to deal with road rage and impatient or unskillful drivers.

1.    Economy:  no parking fees or fuel costs (and your vehicle will last longer).

Read the full article here.

Our discussion with State Motor Vehicle Division administrators pertaining to exemptions from the URC fees identified three types of entities not subject to URC fees.  

The entities not subject are...

1) Entities that receive USDOT numbers under the PRISM program as “registrants” but have no interstate operating authority;

2)  purely intrastate carriers, that is, those who that do not handle interstate freight or make interstate movements, unless the State has elected to apply the provisions of the URC Agreement to such intrastate carries (Arkansas does not require this); and

3)  motor private carriers transporting only passengers.

If you have received an application, it was because you are registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and have a USDOT number.  These lists are sent to the appropriate state agency responsible for collection of the fees.  In Arkansas, it is the Director, Department of Finance and Administration.  These fees go to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Fund to pay for motor carrier law enforcement and safety operations. 

There is no process in place to request an exemption from fees even though the categories exist.  We have a preliminary agreement to create an exemption request form to be submitted along with your registration form.  If approved, your file would reflect that you are not subject to the URC fees.   I will point out that the law does not say you are exemption from filing a registration form, it stipulates you are not subject to the URC fees.   We are proposing that you file your registration form to include a form requesting an exemption from the fees based on one of the above three exemptions.   

It should be noted that all commercial motor vehicles operated by the federal, state, city, county governmental agencies, or an Indian tribe, are not required to be registered under the URC.   Vehicles designed to transport 10 passengers or less, including the driver, are not subject to URC fees.

We will keep you informed of our progress.  Question, call Jim Gilbert at 501-372-8900 or email jgilbert@arktransit.org.    

Where is the weakest link in your drug and alcohol testing program?  It’s a pretty safe bet to think that it is your collection facility.  FTA auditors and GAO (Government Accountability Office) investigators have found many incidences of error and oversight in the federally-regulated collection process.  The procedural errors found were in direct violation of 49 CFR Part 40.  Among the most significant mistakes found by the GAO were failure to restrict access to items that could be use as adulterants, such as soap, air fresheners or cleaners (75%), restricting access to running water (67%), failure to ask employees to empty pockets and display items (42%), failure to check temperature of specimen (19%) and failure to add bluing agent in the toilet or secure the tank with evidence tape (17%).

 

In order to address these and other significant issues that face the Drug and Alcohol Testing Program of transit, the Arkansas Transit Association will be hosting a MANDATORY training for all Drug and Alcohol Program Managers and Alternates at the ATA Training Center in North Little Rock on Wednesday, June 23, 2010.  The Training will begin at 9:00 AM and conclude by 5:00 PM.  Lunch and breaks will be provided.

The free training will be led by an FTA auditor with direct knowledge of collection site issues and errors.  The training will cover ways you can help insure collection site security and integrity.  You will learn ways to conduct mock collections and review documentation for errors.

 

To register for this class, click on the following link.

 

Contact Patrick Wright at our office if you have questions about lodging accommodations in the area.

NOTICE TO ALL ATA MEMBERS ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE RECEIVED A UNIFIED CARRIER REGISTRATION FORM FOR 2010 

It has been brought to our attention that some of our members who applied for FMCSA registration have received a notice from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration requiring a Unified Carrier Registration – 2010.   

The Federal Government has imposed this registration associated with FMCSA interstate registration which could result in your agency being assessed several hundred dollars and possibly in some cases, several thousands. 

If you have received this form, please contact Jim Gilbert, 501.372.8900 or jgilbert@arktransit.org.

DO NOT complete and return the form until we have an opportunity to look into potential exemptions for this. 

We will update the membership once we have more information.

In 2009 the ATAWCSIT issued a refund of surplus premiums in the amount of $500,000 to the 31 member organizations for the 2007 policy period.

In an effort to continue these good results, BancorpSouth Insurance Services is sponsoring the first workshop for ATAWCSIT members. This workshop will be an opportunity to discuss the following items:

• Tips for properly reporting Workers Compensations claims
• Medcorp / Nurse Triage reporting of Workers Compensation claims
• EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Workers Compensation and the ADA
• Job Accommodations for Return-to-Work
• Drug Testing for Workers Compensation claims

The workshop will be held May 25th from 1:30 to 3:30 at the Arkansas Transit Association building in North Little Rock. For directions go to the ATA website: www.arkansastransit.com. 

For more information or to RSVP for this workshop please contact Danny Farmer, Marketing Agent for the ATAWCSIT, office 501-614-1568 or cell 501-941-1419