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Aug 4, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKER * USA: Spends 27 years behind wheel incident-free

* Illinois - FedEx driver headed to national competition


-- Truck driver Joe Carson of Strasburg has never in his life been in an accident — even after logging 2.7 million miles... Carson's incident-free driving record hasn't come easy. While driving for the FedEx location in Effingham, he routinely navigates a 48-foot trailer through cramped car dealerships and backs his trailer along long, unpaved country driveways... Besides being able to claim he's never had an accident, Carson also took first place in the tank truck class at the state competition this year. He'll be joining more than 400 of the nation's best drivers at the National Truck Driving Championships in St. Louis Aug. 11 to 15... At the national competition in a couple weeks, Carson will show his trucking wit on a written test, diagnose possible problems in a pretrip analysis, and then hop in a truck to drive and handle simulated enroute scenarios... Carson talked about what has helped him avoid accidents since he became a trucker in 1988, he said "I'm always paying attention to my surroundings" ... 
(Photo: Joe Carson smiles before leaving the Effingham FedEx location Friday)  --   Effingham, ILL, USA - The Effingham Daily News, by Stan Polanski - August 2, 2015

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Jun 9, 2010

Trained Drivers * Europe - Save lives and money

"Generally speaking the proficiency level is low,” says Vladimir Myslik at Volvo Trucks in the Czech Republic. “We have a major shortage of drivers and many of them are young and lack experience. The older drivers can also be suspicious as they think they know it all already, but quickly change when they have done a course"

Gothenburg,Sweden -Fleet Directory (UK), by Lee Sibbald - June 7, 2010: -- A poorly secured load can cause major financial losses and every year people die on Europe’s roads due to inadequate driver training... To improve the skills of truck drivers, including in areas such as the securing of loads, Volvo Trucks is the first vehicle manufacturer to roll out an extensive programme of driver training throughout Europe... The requirement for further training is only one of a series of measures adopted in recent years to make the requirements on professional drivers more stringent, and this is something that is changing the role of the professional. The digital tachograph, on-board computers, telematics and the development of the sector as such are some examples... An Paepen, Manager of Volvo Trucks Driver Development programme, explains that load securing training normally takes just over a morning and the afternoon is spent on transport security; that is to say how the driver can protect himself and his load against crime. In addition to load securing and transport security Volvo’s courses for profession... (Photo: The incline gradually approaches 60 degrees. On the cargo bed is a two-tonne heat exchanger, strapped down with tensioning straps and restrained with a wooden beam secured by four nails. The heavy heat exchanger does not move an inch. We are at the Volvo Truck Corporation’s facility in Gothenburg, Sweden where load safety training is in progress. Another practical exercise is to see if the weight of the load has any effect on how easily it starts to slide)

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Oct 23, 2009

SAFETY * Sweden - Volvo made it a priority long before other automakers

Volvo Sets Zero Serious Injury Goal with New Collision Warning System



Stockholm,Sweden -The New York Times (USA) -October 14, 2009: -- Volvo it's preparing to introduce new S60 in US next year. Will feature new collision warning system w/ full auto brake and pedestrian detection. Radar, camera and computer enable warning system... Volvo's collision warning system warns driver, then takes over. Driver gets a flashing warning light and audible warning. If driver doesn't respond, the computer can fully apply brakes... Thomas Broberg, senior safety adviser, Volvo said "Active brake deployment requires that the object is confirmed by both the radar and the camera. Thanks to state-of-the-art sensor technology, it is now possible to engage full braking power"...
(Video from YouTube, by automotoportal - 10 Jun 2006: Volvo previews new generation collision warning system)


* USA - NHTSA foresees big savings with ESC



Washinbgton,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -October 22, 2009: -- The days of electronic stability systems being merely optional technology for tractor-trailer fleets might well be numbered following a new study conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) under a cooperative agreement between NHTSA and Meritor WABCO, the study examines the performance of electronic stability control (ESC) systems and roll stability control (RSC) systems for tractor-trailers... The Safety Benefits of Stability Control Systems For Tractor-Semitrailers report contains some powerful data... The findings are extremely interesting:

• Assuming that all existing 5-axle tractor-trailers operating on U.S. roads were fitted with RSC, the expected annual rollover relevant safety benefit is a reduction of 3,489 crashes, 106 fatalities, and 4,384 injuries.

• Alternatively, assuming that all existing 5-axle tractor-trailers operating on U.S. roads were fitted with ESC, the expected annual combined rollover and directional (yaw) instability relevant safety benefit is a reduction of 4,659 crashes, 126 fatalities, and 5,909 injuries.

• Because ESC addresses both rollover and yaw instability crashes and it is more effective in mitigating rollover crashes (through additional braking capabilities over RSC), the net annual expected benefit for an ESC system was found to be greater than for RSC.

• The study found that ESC provided more overall safety benefit than RSC, though the difference between the estimated effectiveness of RSC and ESC varied among crash scenarios.

• Assuming ESC was fitted to all tractor-trailers, savings from rollovers prevented by ESC are estimated at $1.527 billion annually, and from LOC [loss-of-control] crashes prevented at $210 million annually, for a total of $1.738 billion annually.

• Assuming RSC was fitted to all tractor-semitrailers, savings from rollovers prevented at estimated at $1.409 billion annually, and from LOC crashes prevented at $47 million annually, for a total estimated benefit of $1.456 billion annually.

(Video from YouTube, by MFcoza - 10 April 2007: 5th Gear tests stability control and ABS and shows how much of a difference it can make on one of the worst surfaces we drive on - Ice)

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May 7, 2009

SAFETY DRIVING * USA - Can Technology Get Your Eyes Back on the Road?

Washington,DC,USA -Science (subscription), by John Lee -17 April 2009: -- Technology can aid or impair our ability to remain focused on the road when we are driving, and failures of attention have played an important role in most fatal accidents... A study finds that distracting tasks of increased complexity, such as dialing a phone, made crashes and near-crashes more probable, and the frequency with which motorists performed distracting activities had a close correlation with their involvement in attention-related crashes and near-crashes... Technology can serve to mediate driver attention to improve driving safety, for instance by alerting motorists away from distractions... Postdrive feedback has significant potential as a tool for enhancing driver performance, according to recent studies... (Photo from consumer affairs: cell traffic)

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May 23, 2008

SAFETY * USA - ATA Urges Congressional Action on Drug, Alcohol Testing

VA,USA -The Dallas Morning News/ Transport Topics -21 May 2008: -- American Trucking Associations Wednesday called on Congress to help the trucking industry to improve highway safety by supporting efforts to enhance drug and alcohol testing for the nation’s 3.4 million truck drivers... The move came in conjunction with the release of a 74-page Government Accountability Office report Wednesday, showing a flawed oversight system that allows truckers to fail a drug test and yet move on to driving for another company, reported... The report found that some trucking companies do not conduct required pre-employment and random drug tests and have limited incentives to do so, the paper said... Only about 2% of all trucking companies undergo checks each year by state agencies and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, GAO found... ATA is asking Congress to ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of products that help some drivers evade drug tests; for penalties for those who use them; and to provide the Transportation Department with additional authority to improve oversight of specimen collection facilities and practices... ATA also urged Congress to direct the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and DOT to allow the testing of alternative specimens such as hair, which allows illegal drug use to be detected for a longer period of time...

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Nov 18, 2007

Driving Rules * USA - New Jersey law toughens distracted drivers

NJ,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -November 16, 2007: -- In an effort to make New Jersey roadways safer, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill into law giving law enforcement greater authority to ticket drivers for being distracted... The new law, allows police to pull over drivers for typing, reading or sending text messages while at the wheel. The bill also allows primary enforcement of the state’s ban on using any cell phone that is not a “hands-free” device... Violators of the cell phone restriction in the Garden State would face $100 fines. “Texting” while driving would also result in $100 fines... Efforts to curb the practice of using electronic wireless devices, such as a BlackBerry device, while driving have picked up steam following the release of a Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey that found one in five drivers texting while driving. Nearly three-quarters of drivers use cell phones...

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May 8, 2007

Life-Saving Lessons * USA - Truckers Drive Home

"I check my mirrors every five to eight seconds, that way I'm constantly aware of what's around me," Adams said. Too often, however, drivers don't return the favor...

Charleston,VIR,USA -The State Journal, by Sara Gavin -May 7, 2007: -- Truckers like Albert Adams are professionally trained to share the roadways with other vehicles... As part of the national "Share the Road Safety Tour," truck drivers invited people to ride along with them through the Capitol City to see what it looks like from their point of view... National statistics show that three-quarters of fatal collisions involving trucks are caused by the driver of a car, and 35 percentage of those occur in a truck's blind spot... "The only way an accident, a collision accident can occur is if two or more vehicles occupy the same space at the same time," Adams said... Truckers insist there's plenty of room for everyone out on the roads...

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May 3, 2007

'How's my driving?' * USA - Driver safety sensitive subject in trucking industry

A long drive provides time for thinking. Among other things, I thought about trucks

Augusta,ME,USA -Central Maine Morning Sentinel, by David B. Offer (retired editor of the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel) -1 May 2007: -- I saw a lot of trucks on the road as I passed through 21 states. Almost all were driving safely, carefully, and courteously. That makes sense; truckers know the dangers of the highway. They are experienced drivers. Accidents eat into their livelihood... That came to mind as I saw signs on the back of many trucks:
* "How's my driving?" asks one sign. A phone number follows it.
* "Safety is our goal," says another. There's a phone number.
Another claims: * "Award winning drivers" and provides a phone number "for comments on my driving."... I called 10 of the numbers... Two refused to talk to me. Two talked a little but the person on the phone would not give her name. I left phone messages for four trucking executives; none returned my calls. Paul Milazzo, president of Drivers' Alert, was the exception... Milazzo said his operators handle about 1,000 calls a day. Most involve complaints that truckers are speeding, tailgating, improperly changing lanes or cutting off cars... Some of the complaints are not justified, Milazzo said. "Truckers are professionals. A lot of it is motorists who do not know how to drive around trucks. They (trucks) need some space," he said... Drivers' Alert also runs training programs for drivers to help trucking companies prevent complaints and accidents and has special programs for drivers who are identified as having caused problems on the road. A company might require a driver who has been the subject of a complaint to take an on-line course from Drivers' Alert... Trucking companies who embrace programs like this cut their accident rates by 10 percent, he said... The complaints tend to focus on a minority of drivers -- about 25 percent -- Milazzo said. Drivers with two or more complaints on their records are involved in more than half of all truck accidents...

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