* North Carolina - Troopers ordered to catch truckers napping
-- Sleepy truck drivers who park for naps alongside interstate on-ramps can expect rude awakenings this summer from state troopers under orders to enforce an overlooked no-parking law... The first wake-up message was delivered in a May 26 “attention all truckers” memo from the Highway Patrol that focused on Interstate 77 in the western Piedmont. It spelled out a stern prohibition against parking on the shoulders, exit ramps and on-ramps of interstate highways and rest areas, and at weigh stations after hours. Col. Bill Grey, the Highway Patrol commander, called it a safety issue... Citing traffic statistics from the state Department of Transportation, Baker said parked vehicles were a factor in 101 out of the 512 deaths recorded in interstate highway crashes over the past five years... Truckers say the Highway Patrol may be missing the real safety issues raised by those naps on the freeway ramp. They stop there because they’ve run up against federal work limits – designed to reduce driver fatigue – or because they really do need some shut-eye... Hours of service rules require truckers to stop after they’ve worked 14 hours in 24, or have driven 11 of those hours. Company-employed drivers rely on their dispatchers to schedule their trips so they’ll be able to rest at a safe and legal spot, such as a truck stop. Independent drivers have more responsibility for their own schedules... So when that trooper rousts you from your nap and demands your license and registration, ask her if you can borrow her pen first...
(Photo by Harry Lynch/News Observer - Drivers approach their semi-truck while parked in a rest area of the Truckstops of America Travel Center at the Highway 61 exit in Guilford County, NC Friday, June 5, 2015. This popular truck stop is on the busy I-40/85 interstate corridor through North Carolina)
Raleigh, NC, USA - The News Observer - 8 June 2015
* California - New chassis inspection process draws complaints
-- Shipping ports throughout California have begun inspecting cargo container chassis as they leave port facilities... The process slows cargo turn times and adds a burden to truck drivers, according to one organization that represents 200 drayage companies and licensed motor carriers. A spokesman for one labor organization disagrees... One provision of the new labor contract called for container chassis to be inspected as they left ports, adding another step for truck drivers to endure after they wait to enter a port, pick up a cargo container, and leave for their freight’s destination... The Intermodal Conference of the California Trucking Association says the change is unnecessary and has added inefficiency to a delicate and important part of the economy: truckers... Couldn’t chassis be just as easily inspected on the front end of the cargo cycle before trucks are waiting to leave ports? ...
(Photo: CIMC Intermodal Equipment Services - All chassis receive verifiable testing and inspections prior to release to customers) -- Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Land Line, by Charlie Morasch - 8 June 2015
Labels: truckers complaints
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home