McLeod Software announced it's working on new tools to support compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Administration's new Comprehensive Safety Analysis program, and unveiled its first app for iPhone and Droid smartphones, during its annual user's conference in Birmingham, Ala.


"CSA 2010 was predicted as the end of the world," said company founder and CEO Tom McLeod during the opening general session. "Car's won't start, water won't run. But of course, none of that happened. The general consensus is once the regulations are in effect, it will help improve safety. There is going to be a period of heartburn while everyone's getting adjusted. You're going ot have to learn to manage some new information. We're integrating the information into our system so you have a way to get the information to everyone in your company that needs to make use of it."

McLeod's LoadMaster Enterprise product, for instance, already includes core functionality to help customers manage safety and truck crashes. The company is designing enhancements for the safety module that will incorporate the FMCSA's new Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories under CSA 2010 (aka BASICS.) The next planned release of LoadMaster safety module will allow carriers to keep track of each driver's BASICS scores well ahead of federal database updates by allowing carriers to enter roadside inspection reports directly as they are received from drivers.

One of the most important abilities of the new safety module changes, McLeod said, will be the ability to document your actions. When it comes to managing CSA compliance, if you didn't document the measures you took in response to an "intervention," as far as FMCSA is concerned, it didn't happen. There will be an easy way to document corrective actions for each driver in the system. DocumentPower, McLeod's integrated workflow and document managing system, will help carriers capture and organize relevant documentation.

McLeod also announced the initial version of an app for iPhone and Droid customers. It will let carriers access their customer database and order information, updated live right from the carrier's management system, as a tool for salespeople. More functionality will be added to the app in the future.