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Transportation Monthly Round Up - September 2026
In this September 2026 round up video, we'll review the most impactful safety news.
In this September 2026 round up, we will discuss the results from this year’s CVSA International Roadcheck, UCR fee increases, and fraudulent activity in trucking.
This year’s International Roadcheck results have been officially released. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA’s) three-day event from May 12–14, 2026, yielded 54,575 total inspections across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.
The areas of focus for this year’s event included an examination of cargo securement and ELD tampering. Approximately 81 percent of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and 94.2 percent of CMV drivers got through the inspection without any out-of-service (OOS) violations.
In contrast, In contrast, 19 percent (10,350) of inspected vehicles were placed out of service, and 5.8 percent (3,184) CMV drivers were placed out of service.
The Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Board of Directors proposed a fee increase of 20 percent for the 2027 registration year and for the years following.
Fee increases will vary from $9–$9,329 per entity depending on the tax bracket and must be paid by motor carriers, motor private carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies.
The FMCSA notes that despite the increased costs, the fees for registration year 2027 are less than they were from 2019–2022. Collections are expected to begin October 2026.
Federal officials recently announced their interagency effort to identify and eliminate fraud in the trucking industry, reduce roadway fatalities, and protect the nation’s highway safety.
Through the actions of the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), these agencies have pooled their recourses together to enact widespread change. The DOT removed over 28,000 unqualified drivers from roadways, removed over 110 entry-level driver trainers from the Registry, and plans to further investigate training compliance.
The DHS has launched a widespread investigation of over 200 commercial driver's license schools and continues to investigate potential fraudulent activities related to commercial licensing and employment.
That’s it for this month’s round up. Stay safe, and thanks for watching.
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HR Monthly Round Up - September 2026
In this September 2026 roundup video, we’ll review the most impactful HR news.
Welcome, everyone! In the next few minutes, we’ll review the latest HR news. Let’s get started.
On August 26th, the U.S. Department of Labor and two other federal agencies issued new guidance on workplace wellness programs following a wave of lawsuits challenging tobacco-related health insurance surcharges.
The guidance is expected to give employers greater clarity as they continue offering wellness initiatives, including tobacco cessation programs, while legal challenges over premium surcharges continue to work their way through the courts.
In other news, the DOL released the latest versions of its notices and forms related to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The forms have a new expiration date of 8/31/29.
These forms don’t really expire. The date is an internal government date for checks and balances. The DOL has to review these documents every 3 years, even if they don’t make any changes. Beyond the date, the DOL made no changes.
Speaking of the FMLA, a bill was introduced on August 31st that would expand this federal leave law. If passed, the Family Leave for Parental Involvement in Education Act would amend the federal FMLA to allow employees to participate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s educational and extracurricular activities.
Time off for these types of reasons doesn’t typically count as traditional FMLA leave. However, like the current FMLA provisions, employees could use their paid time off for such activities, and employers could require that they do so.
And, finally, on September 7th, the DOL issued three new opinion letters that apply the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to certain workplace scenarios regarding lunch breaks, employee volunteers, and supervisors dipping into tip pools.
Opinion letters answer a detailed question on a particular employment scenario and provide guidance for other employers to consider when complying with federal wage and hour laws.
That’s all the HR news we have time for today. Thanks for watching. See you next month!
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EHS Monthly Round Up - September 2026
In this September 2026 roundup video, we'll review the most impactful environmental, health, and safety news.
Hi everyone! Welcome to the monthly news roundup video, where we’ll review the most impactful environmental health and safety news. Let’s take a look at what happened over the past month.
For the 16th consecutive year, fall protection for construction topped OSHA’s list of most frequently cited standards. Preliminary inspection data for fiscal year 2026 show that OSHA recorded just over 4,000 fall protection construction violations, down from nearly 6,000 in FY 2025. The standards rounding out the Top 10 list remain unchanged from previous years, though some rankings have shifted.
The next HazCom compliance deadline is coming up on November 20. Employers who purchase substances that are aerosols, desensitized explosives, and flammable gases will receive – or may already have received – revised safety data sheets and see updated labels with their shipments. In addition, all employers must, as necessary, update any alternative workplace labeling, update their HazCom training program, and provide additional employee training for any newly identified hazards. Employers also must retain any new SDSs they receive.
California's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board released a revised discussion draft of its proposed workplace violence prevention rule for general industry. The draft better defines employer responsibilities under the state’s workplace violence prevention law.
Turning to environmental news, EPA repealed the majority of the greenhouse gas emission standards established by the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants. The agency also proposes to remove the remaining GHG emission requirements for these plants.
And finally, EPA extended the Renewable Fuel Standard compliance deadline from September 1 to October 1. The extension gave parties more time to assess the impact of EPA’s small refinery exemption decisions and adjust their strategies before completing their 2025 reporting obligations.
Thanks for tuning in to the monthly news roundup. We’ll see you next month!
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2026-10-09T05:00:00Z
NewsEmergency Planning - OSHAIndustry NewsSafety & HealthConstruction SafetyEmergency PreparednessGeneral Industry SafetyIn-Depth ArticleEnglishFocus AreaUSA
How well do first responders know your facility?
Organizations spend a lot of time and resources preparing for emergencies. Local fire departments, EMS providers, and hazmat teams do too. But here’s a question that isn’t asked very often: How much preparation have they done together?
When a serious incident occurs, organizations often rely on outside responders to help protect employees, property, and the surrounding community. These responders bring valuable expertise and resources, but they may not know the facility, its hazards, or its operations as well as the people who work there every day.
That's why emergency preparedness should be viewed as a partnership, not a handoff. The strongest emergency responses occur when organizations and first responders build relationships, share information, and understand each other's expectations long before an incident occurs.
Build the relationship before it's needed
The best time for organizations to meet with local responders isn’t during an emergency. Facility tours, pre-incident planning meetings, and joint exercises allow both sides to learn from one another. Responders can become familiar with facility layouts, hazards, and access procedures. Facility personnel can better understand responder capabilities, equipment, and response expectations.
These conversations also help identify potential issues before they become problems. Questions about after-hours access, communication protocols, command structure, specialized hazards, or monitoring capabilities are much easier to answer during a planning meeting than during an active emergency.
Perhaps most importantly, these interactions build trust and familiarity, both of which can improve communication when pressure is high.
Why familiarity matters
When responders arrive, they often need information quickly to make critical decisions. The more they know beforehand, the more effectively they can respond. During an emergency, responders don't have time to learn the facility from scratch.
Consider some of the questions they may need answered:
- Are there gates, badge-controlled doors, or other security measures?
- Are there any areas with restricted access?
- What hazardous materials are onsite, and where are they located?
- Which utilities, fire department connections (FDCs), or processes may need to be shut down?
- Who has authority to make decisions during the incident?
- Which employees have specialized knowledge of equipment, chemicals, or operations?
- How can responders access the facility after normal business hours?
Without those answers, valuable time can be spent gathering information instead of managing the emergency.
The relationship goes both ways
Organizations sometimes assume responders have every resource they might need. In reality, responder capabilities can vary by jurisdiction, equipment availability, and specialized training.
For example, a local department may have standard atmospheric monitoring equipment but may not carry instruments designed to detect every chemical present at a facility. Certain incidents may require additional resources, technical expertise, or support from a regional hazmat team.
Understanding those capabilities and limitations before an emergency occurs helps both organizations and responders establish realistic expectations, identify resource gaps, and avoid surprises when an incident occurs.
Don't rely on paperwork alone
Many organizations already share hazard information through regulatory programs. Facilities subject to EPCRA requirements may provide chemical inventory information that helps emergency planners understand potential community hazards, but that information doesn't replace direct conversations and site familiarity.
Responders also benefit from information such as facility maps, building access points, utility shutoff locations, hazardous material storage areas, emergency contacts, and site-specific response considerations.
Responders don't need every document an organization has ever produced. What helps most is having key information organized, accessible, and available before an emergency occurs.
Strengthen the partnership
To strengthen relationships with local emergency responders:
- Arrange facility tours to familiarize responders with the site;
- Review emergency plans, major hazards, and available resources together;
- Confirm after-hours access procedures;
- Identify primary and backup emergency contacts;
- Provide updates when processes, layouts, or chemical inventories change; and
- Conduct joint drills or exercises.
Key to remember: First responders shouldn't be learning about a facility during an emergency. The best emergency responses are built on relationships, communication, and shared understanding long before 911 is called.
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2026-10-09T05:00:00Z
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Expert Insights: How to handle workplace conflict
I have a childhood memory of my grandparents having minor disagreements in which both people were saying the same thing, but in a different way. These arguments would usually be resolved quickly when miscommunication was realized. I’ve seen coworkers have the same type of conflicts. “It’s A+B,” says one. “No, it’s B+A,” says another.
Workplace conflict is inevitable. While a simple disagreement where two people are saying the same thing differently may not require a manager’s intervention, repeated or escalating conflict does.
An article in Negotiation Journal, published by MIT Press in collaboration with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, identifies three types of workplace conflict:
- Process conflict involves how work gets done, including delegation, procedures, and decision-making. For example, employees may disagree about task assignments, who records meeting minutes, or who has final approval.
- Task conflict involves the content or desired outcome of the work. For example, members of a marketing team may disagree about how to allocate a client’s advertising budget.
- Relationship conflict stems from interpersonal friction rather than the work itself. Personality differences or disputes about opinions, hobbies, or social events may be involved. Unresolved process or task conflict can also become personal.
How to address conflict in the workplace
Use the following steps to address conflict before it disrupts the team:
- Identify the pattern and its impact. Suppose two experienced, high-performing employees regularly argue or avoid one another. Coworkers have noticed, and the behavior is beginning to interfere with communication and work. Document specific examples and explain how their conduct affects the team rather than focusing on personalities.
- Determine what’s driving the conflict. Don’t assume the problem is personal. A disagreement about assignments, expectations, or communication may have developed into relationship conflict. Addressing the original issue can keep the situation from worsening.
- Meet with each employee separately. Try to understand that person’s perspective. Ask for specific examples, what the employee believes is causing the problem, and what resolution would look like. Listen without taking sides. One employee may believe the other doesn’t support the team, while the other may not realize that their behavior is being interpreted that way.
- Bring the employees together and agree on next steps. Set ground rules for a respectful discussion and summarize the shared concerns. Agree on specific behaviors, such as raising concerns directly, confirming responsibilities, and scheduling check-ins to address issues before they escalate.
- Reinforce positive teamwork. Use team meetings to recognize accomplishments and invite employees to acknowledge a coworker’s contribution. Team-building activities may also help, but they should support — not replace — resolving the conflict.
- Follow up. Check in with both employees after an agreed period. Note whether communication and work have improved and address any remaining concerns. Consistent follow-ups help ensure that employees understand one another better and that the conflict doesn’t resurface.
Workplace conflict is common and should be addressed early before the argument over whether it’s “A+B” or “B+A” becomes “your team-1.”
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EHS Monthly Round Up - January 2023
In this monthly roundup video, we’ll review the most impactful environmental, safety, and health news.
Hi everyone! Welcome to the monthly roundup video, where we’ll review the most impactful environmental, safety, and health news. First, let’s take a look at what’s happening in safety and health.
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to post your OSHA 300A Summary. Employers are required to post the Summary in a conspicuous place from February 1st through April 30th.
As required by law, OSHA increased its penalties for inflation in mid-January. Penalties went up 7.7 percent, effective January 17th.
Also in January, OSHA released its long-awaited Fall 2022 regulatory agenda. Along with numerous proposed rules in the works, three major final rules are slated for 2023 – COVID-19 in healthcare, Injury and Illness tracking, and an update to the hazard communication standard.
OSHA recently released two new letters of interpretation, which address exit signs and lockout/tagout. Specifically, OSHA states that the International Standards Organization emergency exit symbol can be located beside the mandatory EXIT text on an existing sign.
The second letter addresses the applicability of lockout/tagout and the maintenance and operations of cathodic protection rectifiers when working on pipelines.
New York’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act was signed into law in December and takes effect in late February. It protects warehouse distribution workers from undisclosed or unlawful work speed quotas and includes protections for workers who fail to meet these quotas.
In 2021, a worker died every 101 minutes from a work-related injury, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A total of 5,190 fatal work injuries was recorded in the U.S. in 2021, an 8.9 percent increase over 2020.
Turning to environmental news, EPA automatically added nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, to the Toxics Release Inventory, or TRI, list. Four PFAS were added since they are no longer claimed as confidential business information.
EPA released its Fall 2022 regulatory agenda in early January. Included are major regulations impacting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, waters of the United States, and modifications to the Risk Management Program under the Clean Air Act.
There are also a number of rules related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants in various rule stages.
And finally, beginning with model year 2027, heavy-duty trucks will be required to meet clean air standards that are 80 percent more stringent than current requirements.
EPA says this final rule is aimed at reducing smog- and soot-forming emissions, increasing the life of governed vehicles by up to 250 percent, and increasing emissions warranty periods up to 450 percent.
Thanks for tuning in to the monthly news roundup!
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Copyright 2026 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.