News and Alerts from Mike Byrnes & Assoc., Inc.

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Happy New Year!
Hope 2012 has been good to you so far. This is a banner year for us — it's our 25th year! Yes, we first hung out our shingle on Jan. 5, 1987. Lots of things have changed since then but one thing remains the same: the need for a solid education to get new drivers off to a good start and a promising career. Let us know what we can do to help provide that.

Hang on to that paper
Starting Jan. 30 and no later than Jan. 30, 2014, all commercial driver’s license holders must provide information to their state driver’s license agency regarding the type of commercial motor vehicle operation they drive in or expect to drive in with their CDL. Drivers operating in certain types of commerce will be required to submit a current medical examiner’s certificate to their state licensing agency to obtain a “certified” medical status as part of their driving record. CDL holders required to have a "certified" medical status who fail to provide and or update their medical examiner’s certificate will become “not-certified” and may lose their CDL. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has a helpful link on their Web site about this.

Play Time
If there's drilling operations going on in your area, you know that a shale "play" means a geographic area which has been targeted for exploration due to favorable geoseismic survey results. There are plays all over the US but here in south Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale play is big news. It's created challenges in lots of industries, not the least of which is commercial motor vehicle driving, training and safety. Our Education Coordinator, John Rojas, is a member of the Eagle Ford Consortium. He recently participated in the Eagle Ford Shale Job and Vendor Fair held January 13, 2012 at the Laredo Energy Arena and is spearheading the meeting scheduled for the March 1-2, 2012 in San Antonio. He's the go-to guy if you've got questions about what all this drilling means to you and your enterprise.

We've Got an App for That!
If you've got an iPhone, iTouch or iPad, check out our latest app: BUMPER TO BUMPER ® Easy CDL for Hot Shot Trucking. Our first two apps, BUMPERTOBUMPER® Easy CDL and Easy CDL Hazardous Materials Endorsement Review were so well received they've earned a Five Star rating. Easy CDL for Hot Shot Trucking will help operators of heavy duty pickups study for and pass the CDL tests, get a license and be able to drive a commercial motor vehicle truck-and-trailer combination with a gross combined weight rating in excess of 26,000 pounds. Eight "lectures" cover the information that CDL applicants must know and the audio feature makes reading more enjoyable. Over 200 multiple-choice test questions give the student lots of practice. There's even a bonus vehicle inspection video.

Look for these apps in the iTunes store or go to Study By App on the Internet. We'd love to hear your reactions. You can also leave your comments right on the iTunes Easy CDL pages.

And yes, we've started working on our fourth app. Look for a Spring 2012 launch. It's on a topic that people have been asking us to write about for decades!

Interested in a custom app for your program, like an orientation or safety session? We can do that. Give us a call at 361-749-4007 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
We've Got a Map for That!
trucking school mapCheck out our blog at www.cdlbookblog.com where we've added an interactive map. Clicking on the different maptacks links to the Web sites of truck driving schools in the US and Canada. We hope that makes finding a good training program easier. Contact John Rojas to find out about getting your school on the map. Phone 361-442-9552 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Like Us on Facebook
Did you know that Mike Byrnes & Assoc., Inc. now has its own Facebook page? We invite you to Like us on Facebook.

"How to..."
Don't forget to check out our short "how to" pieces on the Internet:

Just click on the links to view the stories. You can easily email them and share them. If you want to print them to use as handouts, there's a button for that at the top right of the Web pages.

And now, for something completely different!
This has nothing to do with trucking or training, but you might find it of interest. For decades, people (including Mike Byrnes) have been telling Devorah Fox that she should write a novel. She finally did. You can find "The Lost King" as a print book in the createspace.com e-store or on www.amazon.com where it has a Five Star Rating! You can even read the first chapter for free. It's also available as in e-book in Kindle format. Don't have a Kindle e-book reader? No problem. You can download a free Kindle for PC app and read Kindle books on your computer. You can also download free apps to read Kindle books on your iPhone or iPad.

Check our Web site www.bumper2bumpertruckbook.com, or our blog at www.cdlbookblog.com. Just click on the orange-and-white RSS Feed logo to subscribe. You can leave comments or suggestions on the blog as well. And, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/redwritertx for updates. Questions? Suggestions? Give us a call at 361-749-4007 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .