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Jul 25, 2015

TRUCKS SAFETY STANDARDS * USA: Two senators propose to increase the size of trucks

* Wiscosin - Don’t force states to allow monster trucks


-- Truck safety standards have been delayed for decades under pressure from trucking companies... On highways across the country, large truck crashes continue their mayhem, one crash at a time, community by community. Officials and trucking companies pay little heed — it’s business as usual... Some 330 people are being killed each month, and almost 8,000 more are suffering excruciating injuries, in accidents involving trucks. Truckers aren’t always to blame, but the National Transportation Safety Board says as many as one-third of these crashes involve tired truckers... On Capitol Hill, leaders don’t seem concerned. In fact, Congress is listening to trucking industry lobbyists pressing for larger trucks to carry more cargo and further undercut safety on the nation’s highways, as well as degrade bridges and roadways... Senators pushing bigger trucks know that truck crash fatalities have increased 17 percent and injuries 28 percent in the past four years. They know that more than 75 percent of the public oppose larger trucks and longer working and driving hours for truck drivers (who now can be required to drive and work up to 82 hours a week). But they work hand in glove with trucking lobbyists and hope their constituents aren’t looking... Trucking companies, particularly FedEx and UPS, give large amounts of campaign money to Congress and spend tens of millions of dollars on lobbying. Unless individual citizens, who pay the price with their lives and wallets, demand safer trucks, not bigger trucks, even the current opposition of the White House won’t be enough to stop this dangerous legislation. Let’s make highway safety our first goal... 
(Photo: Getty Images - A truck driver navigates a rain-covered highway on the outskirts of Chicago on June 10, 2014, in Hinsdale, Illinois. Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate that would ease restrictions on the number of hours truckers can drive each week is being questioned following a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in which an allegedly sleep-deprived truck driver crashed into a limo, seriously injuring comedian Tracy Morgan and killing Morgan's friend, fellow comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair)  --  Oshkosh, WIS, USA - The Northwestern, by Joan Claybrook (The former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and president emeritus of Public Citizen) - July 22, 2015 


* Georgia - UPS takes leadership role for commercial trucking safety

-- UPS is making collision mitigation technology standard equipment on every new Class 8 tractor the company orders. Each of the more than 2,600 new Class 8 tractors that UPS takes delivery of in 2015 will feature this accident mitigation technology, which alerts drivers to moving and stationary objects in front of the tractor and moving objects surrounding the vehicle... The collision mitigation systems on UPS’s new Class 8 tractors feature lane departure warnings, electronic stability control, and anti-lock air disc brakes. Stability control monitors the tractor trailer’s motions and, especially during turns and slick conditions, automatically distributes braking power to each wheel for a more precise control, according to United Parcel Service of America... Each new UPS Class 8 tractor since 2012 has featured stability control, a foundational technology for collision mitigation systems, for more stable turning, shorter stopping distances, and reduced buffeting. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandated on June 3, 2015, that all Class 8 tractors utilize electronic stability control within the next two years... UPS’s Class 8 tractors that pull multiple trailers also may utilize a telescoping t-dolly that automatically reduces the space between the trailers from 40 inches to 12 inches at highway speeds (45mph or more). Reducing the distance between the tandem trailers decreases buffeting, increases stability, and improves fuel economy 2.5 to 3.5 percent... 
(Photo by Dave Markvart - New UPS Freight Volvo tractors)  --  Atlanta, GA, USA - The Financial (Rep. Georgia/Europe) --23 July 2015

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