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Mar 19, 2015

DANGEROUS TRUCKING Co. * USA: Fatal Pittsburg big-rig accident could have been prevented

* California - "In 42 years of working for trucking companies and being a driver, this company ranks as the worst"
-- Maintenance violations from a company connected to a fatal accident in which a big rig crashed into a restaurant at a strip mall in Pittsburg Monday... The California Highway Patrol says it has a list of violations that suggest the deadly accident could have been prevented... ABC7 News spent the day looking into the safety of that big rig and the company that owns it. It turns out, Roby Trucking has a dubious record. The California Highway Patrol provided a stack of violations, which included all sorts of problems that came as no surprise to present and former employees. For example, in one case a big rig was driven without a lug nut... Roby Trucking owns the big rig that crashed into a Pittsburg restaurant Monday, killing the driver...  Witnesses say the brakes failed, which is no surprise to Harvey, based on mechanical failures he says he has seen on trucks at the company. "Tires, brakes, drums, air lines, oil lines, water lines," he said... In a yard inspection last October, the CHP found Roby Trucking to be unsatisfactory in all categories, including record keeping... The most eye-popping violation was a roadside inspection that showed one big rig to be overloaded by 16,000 pounds... 
(Photo: Roby Trucking company connected to big-rig fatal accident in Pittsburg, could have been prevented)  --  Pittsburg, CAL, USA - KGO, by Wayne Freedman - March 17, 2015


* Texas -  Crashes leading on-the-job cause of death for US truck drivers

-- Vehicle crashes account for the overwhelming majority of on-the-job deaths for truck drivers nationwide, a recent Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows...  Overall, 317,000 motor vehicle crashes involving large trucks were reported to police in 2012, costing the US economy an estimated $99 billion that year. About 2.6 million workers in the US drive trucks that weigh over 10,000 pounds. After dropping to 35-year lows in 2009, the number of crash fatalities of truck drivers or their passengers increased between 2009 and 2012...  Approximately 700 drivers of large trucks or their passengers died in crashes in 2012, and an estimated 26,000 were injured. About 65 percent of on-the-job deaths of truck drivers in 2012 were the result of a motor vehicle crash...  More than a third of the drivers who died were not wearing a seat belt... This Vital Signs report includes data from the National Survey of US Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury, conducted by CDC at 32 truck stops along interstate highways across the United States in 2010...
(Photo by Cheyenne Benson)  --  San Angelo,TXS,USA -The San Angelo Live, by Chelsea Reinhard - Mar. 17, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 5:33 AM  0 comments

Sep 20, 2014

DANGEROUS TRUCKING * USA: Dispatchers vs. Truckers' Sleep

* Michigan - The danger of forcing truck drivers to drive sleep-deprived exposed

(Video from ABC News - 18/9/2014: Each year thousands of accident fatalities are attributed to truckers who may need more sleep before getting behind the wheel) 
Detroit,MICH,USA -ABC News, via 20/20, by JOSEPH RHEE and ALEXA VALIENTE -Sep 18, 2014: -- Out on the road, one trucker says many companies put unrelenting pressure on drivers to make sure loads are delivered on time... “Driving a semi-tractor like this, any small mistake can take a life,” Abe Attallah, 28, from the Detroit, Michigan area, told ABC News’ “20/20” ... Tight deadlines can mean more hours behind the wheel with fewer opportunities to rest, and drivers are only paid when the wheels are rolling... In the dead of night, Attallah was hauling a load of tomatoes to Wisconsin. About four hours into the nearly 400-mile run, Attallah said he started having trouble staying awake and was drifting into what truckers call, “microsleep” ... The dispatcher told him to drink some coffee and to go outside and walk around the truck, which Attallah had already done. He was then put on hold and transferred to another dispatcher, who also told him to get coffee and that no other trucker would be able to retrieve Attallah's load... Eventually, the company sent another driver to rescue his load of tomatoes to that he could get some rest, but the third dispatcher made sure Attallah knew there would be serious consequences for him making that phone call... A few months ago, Attallah quit his job at the trucking company and is now driving trucks between the oil shale fields of western Pennsylvania. He said he’s proud of exposing one of the industry’s biggest dangers...

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Sep 4, 2014

DANGEROUS TRUCKING FIRM * India: Sand Mafia against cops

* Karnakata - 'Trucker wanted to kill me'

(Photo from The Hindu: A file picture of sand laden trucks seized by the Hassan District officials. Photo: Prakash Hassan) Mysore,Karnakata,India -The Times of India/TNN, by Lawrence Milton -Sep 2, 2014: -- Savitha Hugar sensed trouble when she saw the 10-wheel truck, heavy with sand, trundling towards her. The deputy superintendent of police had been signalling the vehicle to stop but the driver clearly had no such intention. For his bosses had given him clear instructions: to mow down anyone who tried to intercept the truck carrying sand illegally. And if unable to do so, flee from the spot... When the truck was less than 15 feet away, the lady cop darted towards the left of the unasphalted road. The driver, seeing he had missed his quarry, moved on but not before dashing against the police vehicle parked on the right... "It was a narrow escape," said the brave police officer stationed at Nagamangala taluk, Mandya, recalling Friday's murderous bid on her life by the sand mafia... Savitha's fears were confirmed when the truck driver Madhu who was nabbed along with the vehicle owner Yogesh and cleaner Lokesh on Sunday, admitted that his intention was to run the truck over the officer...

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May 24, 2013

DANGEROUS CO's and FREIGHT BROOKER * USA

* Arizona - OOIDA, stiffed truckers file class action against Pacific Financial Association

(Photo) 
Phoenix,AZ.,USA -Land Line, by Sandi Soendker -22 May 2013: -- Claiming broker trust agreement violations, OOIDA and three plaintiffs filed a class action complaint against Pacific Financial and Federal Service Corp. in the Superior Court of the state of Arizona in January. The complaint asks for declaratory relief, injunctive relief and damages... OOIDA members, Moore Transportation; Jasmine LLC; and K and S Trucking LLC,  all hauled loads for a California freight broker known as Alliance Transportation. When Alliance failed to pay, these companies made claims to the broker’s trust funds, which were held by Pacific Financial as trustee... OOIDA and the named plaintiffs claim that Pacific Financial failed in its job to protect the interests of motor carriers who are the beneficiaries of the broker’s trust. Plaintiffs claim it failed to pay trust claims promptly, favored some trust beneficiaries over others, engaged in conflicts of interest, and failed to terminate the trust when claims exceeded available funds... OOIDA and the plaintiffs are asking that the civil action be certified as a class action and for an award of compensatory damages to the plaintiffs and the class, plus punitive damages... 


* DC - FMCSA declares Colorado-based trucking company 'imminent hazard'

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line, by Greg Grisolano -24 May 2013: -- A Colorado trucking company has been declared an imminent hazard to public safety by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... GD Cars Inc., of Aurora, CO, was ordered to immediately cease all operations after a May 13 compliance review by FMCSA found the company to be in violation of numerous safety regulations. The company’s primary business is transporting used cars and trucks in interstate commerce... In addition to failing to ensure that its vehicles were properly and regularly inspected, repaired and maintained, FMCSA investigators found GD Cars to be in violation of federal regulations requiring random drug and alcohol testing of its drivers. The company also failed to monitor and ensure that its drivers complied with federal hours-of-service regulations. On occasion, the company dispatched a driver who did not possess a commercial driver’s license...

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posted by Unknown @ 8:33 AM  0 comments

Oct 24, 2007

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * UK - European truckers beg for enforcement in England

Ever been so exhausted that you wanted to be pulled over, arrested or thrown in jail, just so you could get some sleep?
London,UK -London Daily Mail/Land Line Magazine (USA) -October 23, 2007: -- ... A number of truckers from eastern European countries such as Romania are deliberately turning themselves in and going to jail once they get to Britain... The truckers dial emergency assistance and ask police to come and pick them up after driving for 30 hours or more at the insistence of their employers... A police chief told the Daily Mail his officers responded to one call and found a trucker sleeping so soundly that they couldn’t wake him up...

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posted by Unknown @ 5:28 AM  0 comments

Oct 22, 2007

In drive for profits * USA - Trucking company routinely puts overweight rigs on the road

Ocala,FL,USA -Ocala.com, by FRED HIERS -21 Oct 2007: -- Vivian Bernard wasn't surprised when one of the tires under his tractor-trailer finally blew... Working for Benton Express Inc.'s Ocala terminal, his company-owned truck was often over its legal weight coming back to Ocala, barreling down Interstate 75... He said he complained to his bosses about the weight problem, about the truck being harder to handle because of the extra freight, about the danger to himself and other motorists. But in the end, he said, they didn't care... Besides, he needed the job, so he kept quiet and kept driving... Lannen of the Truck Safety Coalition said Benton is typical of many trucking companies. He says that while some companies obey the law, the industry overall is arrogant, flaunts the law and thinks it knows better... "Every industry has its culture and that's just the trucking industry, and there's no sense of urgency to change, because they don't feel the pain when they break the law"... Florida, like most other states, doesn't put enough trucking inspectors on the road and its fines are inadequate, he said...

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Jun 29, 2007

Across the pond * UK - On-line safety audits

UK - Fleet Owner (USA), by Wendy Leavitt -Jun 28, 2007: -- A website for fleet managers in Great Britain has revealed that more than one-third (35%) of fleet operators there do not fully comply with all relevant corporate and regulatory requirements relating to fleet safety, according to a report issued by the Fleet Safety Forum in partnership with risk management specialists Interactive Driving Systems... Funded by the UK Department for Transport, the website allows companies to anonymously compare their fleet safety procedures and crash data with that of other companies to help them identify potentially life-saving improvements... The report’s findings also indicate:
* Only 44% of companies optimized work schedules and travel requirements to minimize road risks and to encourage compliance with speed limits, working time regulations, road safety laws and to avoid the times of day when falling asleep at the wheel is most likely.
* Just 54% of companies gave all new employees a formal induction, which covered policy, equipment familiarization, collision and fuel reporting, emergency procedures, vehicle checking/maintenance and the importance of safety for brand reputation.
* Only 58% of companies had a system in place to maintain driver records, including medical/health information, reference and license checks, training records and qualifications, collision history and fuel efficiency.

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posted by Unknown @ 10:34 AM  0 comments