The Snack Food Association and the American Institute of Baking are offering SFA members in-plant food safety training sessions especially tailored for the snack food industry. These customized training sessions will be conducted by AIB auditors and are composed of three different training options that can be conducted at individual company manufacturing plants:

Option 1: Conduct an AIB inspection without assigning a rating, making a useful training exercise.

Option 2: Spend half of a day educating you in a classroom on food safety, AIB standards and how to inspect a snack food plant. Then spend the other half of a day putting those skills to use in your plant.

Option 3: Complete a variation of the above, or simply evaluate something specific in your plant.

These training sessions are being offered at a special rate to SFA members and include travel and expenses. The rates are for a single day and are $1,350.00 for the U.S. and Canada plants, and $1,850.00 for international facilities.

For more information and registration, please contact one of the following:

• Judi A. Lazaro, director, customer Relations, AIB International, 1213 Bakers Way, Manhattan, KS 66502. Phone: 1-800-633-5137, ext. 254. E-mail: jlazaro@aibonline.org

• Christopher T. Melchert, Snack Food Association, 1600 Wilson Blvd., Suite 650, Arlington, VA 22209. Phone: 1-703-836-4500, ext. 211. E-mail: cmelchert@sfa.org

Three major developments that can significantly affect snack food company transportation operations have occurred in Washington, D.C., potentially impacting the cost of drivers as well as fuel.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals denied a petition by Public Citizen and the Teamsters Union to invalidate an interim hours of service rule for commercial drivers that had been announced last December by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Under the interim rule, commercial motor vehicle drivers would be allowed up to 11 hours of driving time with a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the workday following 10 consecutive hours off duty. The rule also allows motor carriers and drivers to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty time limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.

Those provisions were previously vacated by the same court last July. FMCSA said the interim regulation will provide a familiar and uniform set of national rules for motor carrier transportation while it considers an appropriate final rule that addresses issues raised by the court.

“We will continue to fight this dangerous rule, though the court refused to intervene this time,” says Teamsters president Jim Hoffa. “This was a procedural ruling that does nothing to support the Bush administration’s justification for letting tired truck drivers spend more time behind the wheel.”

Meanwhile, the FMCSA has proposed a new rule that would require individuals seeking new commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) to complete both classroom and behind-the-wheel training from an accredited educational program or institution.

“This proposed rule will give truck drivers additional skills to keep our roads safe,” says FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill.

Beginning three years after the effective date, all CDL applicants would be required to provide a valid certificate from a truck driving program or institution accredited by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. Current CDL holders would not be affected.

For a Class A CDL (tractor-trailers), the rule would require a minimum of 76 hours of classroom instruction and 44 hours of behind-the-wheel training. For Class B (large box or van trucks), 58 hours of classroom and 32 hours of behind-the-wheel training would be required. Public comments are being accepted by the agency until March 25.

Finally, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has recommended a restructuring of all federal highway, transit and rail infrastructure programs, including a new process to make it easier to raise tax revenue. Analysts say this could result in a doubling of existing federal fuel taxes over the next eight years.

The report estimates that an additional $155 to $200 billion in combined federal, state and local spending will be needed through 2020.