Trucks World News

Dec 3, 2016

New transport technologies * Australia: Can reduce crashes

* Queensland - Australia’s 'largest' automated vehicle trial announced

--- Queensland has announced plans to host the biggest automated vehicle pilot program that will see around 500 fleet and public vehicles test the concept of connected and automated driving (C-ITS) technology in Ipswich... The four-year Cooperative and Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI) project will be funded by the state government, and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and supported by Bosch Australia, Ipswich City Council and Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q)... The state government plans to engage with transport industry members and other relevant stakeholders to adapt the existing systems, infrastructure and data to innovative transport technologies... The on-road testing phase of the project is expected to kick off in 2019...
(Photo: QLD to host Australia's largest intelligent vehicle trial) -- Brisbane, QLD, Australia - Prime Mover - 30 Nov 2016

Labels: safety trucks, trucking industry news Australia

Apr 13, 2016

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The ROADCHECK 2016

* Maryland - International Roadcheck set for June 7-9 with special emphasis on tire safety

-- The date for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 29th annual International Roadcheck has been confirmed... This year’s International Roadcheck is set to take place June 7-9 – when approximately 10,000 CVSA-certified local, state, provincial, territorial and federal inspectors in jurisdictions across North America perform large truck and bus safety inspections... Roadcheck is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial motor vehicles globally, with nearly 17 trucks or buses inspected, on average, every minute in Canada, the United States and Mexico during the three-day period... For the most part, during International Roadcheck, inspectors conduct a Standard Level I Inspection, which is the most thorough roadside inspection. It is a 37-step procedure that includes an examination of both the driver and vehicle... Each year, the officers place special emphasis on a category of violations. The special emphasis for the 2016 International Roadcheck is tire safety (i.e., measuring the tire tread depth, checking the tire pressure, checking to make sure no items are lodged between dual tires, and examining the overall condition of the tire to ensure no deep cuts or bulges exist in the sidewalls of the tire). While checking a vehicle’s tires is always part of roadside inspections, CVSA is highlighting tire safety as a reminder to drivers and carriers in 2016...
(Photo by CVSA: Members of law enforcement conduct commercial vehicle inspections) -- Greenbelt, MAR, USA - Truck News - April 12, 2016

Labels: road safety campaigns, safety trucks, trucking industry news USA

Feb 7, 2016

SAMSUNG's Safety Truck Concept, introduced in * Argentina

* Buenos Aires Province - Samsung starts testing Safety Truck Concept in Argentina

... A truck, which is currently being tested on roads in Argentina, has a built-in wireless camera on the front and four monitors on the back to assist other drivers when attempting to overtake... The South Korean company, Samsung has announced that it will begin supplying its “Safety Truck” worldwide after four months of reliability testing... While the tech company showed off the first commercial version of the vehicle to the public at a recent press event in La Plata, Argentina, the idea was conceptualised and revealed by Samsung in a blog post last year... In order to assist drivers while attempting to overtake, the company has come up with a neat “video wall” that live-feeds the view ahead of the truck for cars behind. A huge panel that is made of 4 TVs is installed on the back of trucks, so that the drivers behind can see what’s in front of the large vehicle and making it a lot safer for them to pass...
(Photo: Samsung testing giant screen-equipped secure trucks in Argentina, worldwide rollout to follow) -- La Plata, Prov. Buenos Aires, ARG - TechWorm, by KAVITA IYER - FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Labels: safety trucks, technology, trucking industry news worldwide

Jan 16, 2016

SAFETY ISSUES * USA, by NTSB: Latest list of top transportation

* DC - All but three can apply to trucking: NTSB's 2016 'Most Wanted' list

-- National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Christopher Hart Wednesday morning, Jan. 13, discussed the agency's 2016 "Most Wanted" list of improvements... Certainly a majority of NTSB's top issues can be applied to trucking and highway transportation, with fatigue-related crashes making a prominent appearance and issues like distracted driving and medical fitness of safety-critical personnel — including truck drivers — carrying over from last year...
NTSB's 2016 list of safety improvements includes:
• Reduce fatigue-related accidents.
• Promote availability of collision avoidance technology in highway vehicles.
• Strengthen occupant protection.
• Expand use of recorders to enhance transportation safety. With this new issue, NTSB calls attention to including info/data recording devices mainly on vehicles other than heavy trucks.
• Disconnect from deadly distractions.
• End substance impairment in transportation.
• Require medical fitness for duty...
The agency recommends "comprehensive medical certification systems for safety-critical transportation personnel to ensure that these professionals are medically fit for duty before operating a vehicle."
(Photo: Traffic on eastbound Interstate 10 in Metairie backed up for miles) -- Washington, DC. USA - Fleet Owner, by Aaron Marsh - Jan 13, 2016

Labels: safety trucks

Nov 2, 2015

TRUCKS SAFETY REGULATIONS * USA: Longer and heavy trucks plus young drivers: Alloweds?

* DC - Trucking fights rev up as House preps highway bill

-- Fights over a host of proposed changes to truck safety regulations are heating up as the House is preparing to move a long-term highway funding bill next week... Truck companies are pushing saetyCongress to increase a current limit of 28-foot trailers on trucks that carry two loads to rigs that are 33 feet long apiece in an upcoming highway funding bill. They are also asking lawmakers to increase the cap on the weight of trucks from 80,000 to 91,000 pounds... Other proposals include a move to lower the minimum age of trucks drivers from 21 years of age to 18 and tweaks to trucker work scheduling rules... Safety groups are opposing all the moves, arguing that longer and heavier trucks and young drivers who are allowed to work more hours will make U.S. roads less safe... The House is expected to vote on the highway bill as early as Tuesday once it clears the Rules Committee on Monday...
Washington, DC, USA - The Hill, by Keith Laing - 30 Oct 2015

Labels: safety trucks

Oct 17, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The most important aspect of the trukers' job

* Minnesota - New technology promises to make trucking safer

-- Ask truck drivers about the most important aspect of their job and chances are you will get the same answer: safety... Last year, about 78,000 total crashes were reported to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Of those reported, just over 5,000 – or 6 percent – were truck-involved crashes. That is a 6 percent year-over-year increase compared to 2013... Freightliner of St. Cloud made a $145,000 investment in a new Freightliner Cascadia semi cab outfitted with the Detroit Assurance Safety System in order to give trucking company owners and independent owner/operators the chance to get behind the wheel and feel for themselves the difference... Using a windshield mounted camera system and a front-mounted radar system, the technology provides active brake assist, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warnings to help curb accidents... The entire suite of systems can cost about $3,000 to install in a truck, provided the semi cab already has technology that would be compatible with the system... The commitment of the team at Freightliner of St. Cloud to provide the consumer with a hands-on sales pitch versus a verbal-only demonstration that was driving force behind the project...
(Photo: Freightliner - Cascadia Detroit Assurance Integrated Safety System) -- St. Cloud, MINN, USA - St. Cloud Times/Claims Journal, by VICKI IKEOGU - October 16, 2015

Labels: safety trucks

Oct 14, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The Safety Measurement System (SMS) sufficient to identify high-risk trucks

* DC - FMCSA: SMS data sufficient to target at-risk carriers

-- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a Congressionally-directed report that the agency says confirms that the amount of data used in the agency’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) is clearly sufficient to allow FMCSA to identify high-risk truck and bus companies... The report found that SMS effectively identifies the truck and bus companies involved in 90 percent of the more than 100,000 crashes that occur each year, and those that are identified as high-risk carriers continue to have crash rates that are twice the national average... Under current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), a carrier’s safety fitness can only be assigned following an on-site investigation; SMS is a tool to prioritize high-risk truck and bus companies for enforcement interventions... The agency said the report underscores the critical importance of considering carriers of all sizes in the agency’s continuing efforts to remove unsafe carriers and commercial drivers from the nation’s roadways and protecting travelers everywhere...
(Photo from Overdriveonline: Truck crash) -- Washington, DC, USA - The Trucker News Services - 12 Oct 2015

Labels: roads safety, safety trucks

Oct 9, 2015

CYCLISTS and LORRIES * UK: New law will make cyclists safer

* England - London trucks get an upgrade to be slightly less deadly to cyclists. But still won't replace better bike lanes

-- New laws will force London truck drivers to outfit their vehicles with safety equipment designed to protect cyclists. All trucks, including those that are exempt from national laws, will be required to retrofit the gear... The Safer Lorry Scheme requires two additions to all vehicles over 3.5 tons: special blind-spot mirrors so they can see cyclists currently hidden from view, and "side guards to protect cyclists from being dragged under the wheels in the event of a collision" ... The rules came into force on September 1 this year... The fines for noncompliance are a little lame. The £50 ($77) fixed penalty is less than buying and fitting the new equipment. Companies that repeatedly breach the rules, though, could have their operating license suspended... But better infrastructure is very important to cyclists. It doesn’t matter how well a truck is outfitted with safety features if the driver can swing over and crush a cyclist in a moment of distraction...
(Image: Any Heavy Goods Vehicle over 3.5 tonnes driven in London must now be fitted with side guards and improved mirrors) -- London, ENG, UK - Fast Co. Exist, by Charlie Sorrel - 7 Ocr 2015

Labels: safety trucks

Sep 24, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Mandatory side guards

* New York - City made side guards on trucks mandatory

-- In New York City, trucks make up just 3.6 percent of vehicles on New York City streets, according to U.S. DOT, but are involved in 12.3 percent of pedestrian fatalities and 32 percent of bicyclist deaths. As part of its Vision Zero drive, Mayor De Blasio signed a bill making side guards mandatory on all trucks by 2024. This is longer than it should be, being based on the average life cycle of a truck, but an important step... It's nuts that side guards aren't mandatory on trucks in North America. They are in Britain, most of Europe, Brazil and China and don't add much to the cost of trucks if they are designed as part of the truck in the first place. According to a study done for New York by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, when side guards were mandated in Britain, cyclist deaths dropped 61 percent and pedestrian deaths 20 percent...
(Photo via Streetsblog: Public Domain City of Boston) -- NY, USA - The Treehugger, by Lloyd Alter - September 21, 2015

Labels: safety trucks, trucking industry news USA

Sep 14, 2015

BRAKING STANDARD * USA: Auto makers back automatic braking

* Florida - Technology uses sensors to detect imminent crashes, warn drivers, engage brakes

-- Nearly a dozen top auto makers pledged to make automatic emergency brakes standard on future vehicles, adding to safety breakthroughs, such as air bags and electronic stability control, that have become mainstays in cars and trucks... Auto makers representing 57% of U.S. car sales in 2014 have pledged to make the technology available, the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and federal Transportation Department said Friday. The companies haven’t yet set a model year for implementing the pledge. Automatic emergency braking technology uses vehicle sensors, such as cameras, radar or lasers, to detect imminent crashes, warn drivers and engage the brakes if a motorist doesn’t do so quickly enough...
(Photo: Automakers will make automatic braking systems standard in new cars) -- Fort Lauderdale, FLA, USA - The WSJ, by MIKE SPECTOR - Sept. 11, 2015

Labels: safety trucks

Sep 2, 2015

TRUCK SAFETY BATTLE USA: * The DRIVE Act - ** What really happens on the roads

* New York - The appalling rollback of truck safety provisions in the DRIVE Act

-- A battle is brewing over the Senate transportation bill’s approach to truck safety. Though large trucks are involved in crashes that kill nearly 4,000 people a year — a number that has grown by 17 percent over the past five years — the DRIVE Act actually rolls back what few protections exist... The bill would allow longer and heavier tractor-trailers... Also cut down on mandated rest periods for truckers, a long-simmering question. The Senate bill would allow truckers to work 82 hours a week with less rest... Perhaps most appalling, the DRIVE Act would let teenagers drive commercial trucks... The bill would allow 18-year-olds to drive commercial trucks, despite the elevated crash risk of teenage drivers... Safety groups and newspaper editorial pages are slamming these proposals as concessions to the trucking lobby that completely disregard public safety. Even a retired executive from the American Trucking Associations, an industry lobbying group, was recently moved to speak out against the changes, noting in the New York Times that while heavy trucks account for less than 10 percent of total miles traveled, they are involved in one in eight of all fatal crashes and about one-quarter of all fatal crashes in work zones...
(Cartoon from Host Madison) -- New York, NY, USA - Street Blog, by Tanya Snyder - August 28, 2015

* New York - Underage, unlicensed truck driver reveals what really happens on the roads

-- American Trucking Associations executive Howard Abramson recently made a case in the New York Times for higher safety standards for trucks. It’s not hard to understand why: Large trucks were involved in at least 327,000 traffic accidents in 2013, killing almost 4,000 and injuring 95,000... Size matters. According to the Utah Department of Transportation, “a fully loaded tractor-trailer weighing 80,000 pounds traveling under ideal conditions at a speed of 65 miles per hour will take 525 feet to stop (almost the length of two football fields)” ... Long hours are a constant point of contention between trucking companies (and owner-operators), who want to maximize profit, and regulators, who want to increase safety. In implementing a new policy in 2013, which reduced truckers’ maximum average work week from 82 hours a week to 70 hours, the U.S. Department of Transportation stated: “Working long daily and weekly hours on a continuing basis is associated with chronic fatigue, a high risk of crashes, and a number of serious chronic health conditions in drivers” ... I didn’t know a lot of drivers when I was on the road. But those I met seemed to take ridiculous hours for granted. Drivers are required to keep log books, which they show to police or state authorities at weigh stations, documenting their hours. But these were often exercises in narrative fiction. Drivers doctored the numbers or kept two sets of books. Meanwhile, to stay awake on long hauls, or through a series of them, amphetamines were a common resort, as was marijuana, often to take the edge off the amphetamines... I skipped that stuff, but I rarely drove without fatigue. Never a good sleeper, I worked all day, stayed awake riding shotgun during my boss’s time behind the wheel, then drove myself when he got tired and wanted to sleep. Since I’d never learned to drive properly, I only knew how to shift through the lower register and higher register of the truck’s 13 gears. The middle gears, roughly six through 10, remained a mystery. Rather than pull over, my boss vacated the driver’s seat, and I moved in, as we rolled down the highway at high speed. After that, fear of the destructive power of the rig, and a cherished music tape, kept me going through the night. It didn’t seem insane at the time... Truckers have family obligations, hobbies, money troubles, love affairs. There’s no way to guarantee that they’re getting sleep when they’re not on the job, or that they’re alert and paying attention when they are. The best we can hope is that drivers are mindful of the enormous responsibility they carry along with their freight. And it probably helps if they have a license...
(Photo: Truck stop) -- New York, NY, USA - Bloomberg/Claims Journal, by Francis Wilkinson - August 31, 2015

Labels: safety roads, safety trucks

SAFETY TECHNOLOGY * Australia: New braking technology

* Victoria - New braking technology to be added to VicRoads fleet

-- VicRoads hopes new reversing technology to be fitted to its trucks will help avoid accidents... Victoria's transport authority will update its road maintenance fleet with radar-based reverse braking technology in an effort to stamp out employee injuries... The automated technology from Reverse Smart senses when an object is behind the vehicle and, if reverse is initiated, automatically applies airbrakes... VicRoads decided to adopt the technology after trialing it on a patrol truck and tip truck for six months... Between 2003 and 2012, Safe Work Australia says 18 workers were killed in incidents involving reversing trucks in the workplace... VicRoads CEO John Merritt believes incidents of this nature can be avoided with the technology, which is standard in new vehicles in Europe, Japan and the USA...
(Photo: New safety technology will help prevent incidents involving reversing trucks in the workplace) Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Owner Driver - 24 Aug 2015

Labels: safety trucks, technology

Aug 12, 2015

HIGHWAY TRUCK ACCIDENTS * USA: Who Is To Blame?

* California - Liability with focus of the Truck Safety Act

-- Truck accidents on U.S. highways frequently result in life-threatening and fatal injuries. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) emphasizes that the sheer weight of most big rigs—often 10,000 pounds or more—can lead to devastating traffic collisions. When these accidents do happen, who is to blame? Depending on the facts of your case, personal injury law might allow you to file a claim against several different parties... According to a recent article in the Commercial Carrier Journal, a Senate bill known as the Truck Safety Act aims to help alleviate the underlying reason for dangerous truck driving: the fact that truckers currently are only paid per mile of driving. If passed, the law would “require employers to pay truck operators for all hours worked, rather than solely per-mile pay.” The law would also require motor carriers to have double the current minimum amount of liability insurance... The Truck Safety Act has been in the works for a long time, particularly the provision that would require employers to pay by the hour rather than by the mile. How might such a provision help to prevent a dangerous truck accident? Many safety advocates report that drowsy driving is a leading cause of truck crashes, and paying truckers by the hour could help to eradicate this problem. Currently, truck drivers must abide by federal Hours of Service regulations, which detail the maximum number of hours a driver can be behind the wheel without resting. However, because truckers tend to be paid by the mile, it is not uncommon to find that the regulations have not been properly followed...
(Photo: Federal rules last year reduced the maximum workweek for truckers to 70 hours, from 82 hours) -- Sausalito, CAL, USA - JDSupra, by The Rothenberg Law Firm LLP - 10 Aug 2015

* Nebraska - Texting drivers continue to frustrate Nebraska advocates

-- Five years after lawmakers approved a texting-while-driving ban, advocates say Nebraska's roads are still populated with motorists who glance down at their phones while behind the wheel... Law enforcement, lawmakers and highway safety officials still consider it a problem in Nebraska, according to the Lincoln Journal Star... Nebraska's ban doesn't allow authorities to pull drivers over for texting alone, because the offense is considered secondary. Officers can only stop vehicles for primary offenses, such as speeding or running a traffic light...
(Photo: AMAZING !!!: Texting driving trucker, with his son next) -- LINCOLN, NEB, USA - The Associated Press/The Trucker —10 Aug 2015

Labels: safety trucks, trucks accidents

Jul 27, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Trucking Group vs. CARB: About diesel truck filters

* California - Group blames ‘dangerous’ diesel filters for truck fires

-- A group representing California truckers, farmers and business owners is claiming the state attorney general’s office is ignoring a rash of recent truck fires it claims were sparked by faulty diesel particulate filters... The Alliance for California Business, a Chico-based nonprofit with more than 400 members, is blasting both the attorney general and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for “refusing to investigate” the truck fires — and attempting “to block others from doing so... These diesel particulate filters [DPFs] are "the most dangerous pieces of equipment ever put on a truck,” said Alliance President Bud Caldwell, 65, a former “kingpin” for the California Truckers Association and owner of Northgate Petroleum in Chico... Caldwell said he formed the Alliance in 2013 “to lead the charge” against mandatory DPF laws in California, the only state in the country that currently requires them... But Karen Caesar, an information officer for CARB did forward a CARB report claiming DPFs are “effective and reliable” in removing 98 percent of toxic diesel emissions. The filters, the 56-page study concluded, “do not increase the likelihood of truck fires and are manufactured in accordance with federal and state safety requirements” ... The Alliance continues to dispute those conclusions and is now taking depositions of key CARB executive staff responsible for approving the DPFs... The Alliance plans to conduct its own investigation, he said, and “bring forth the experts required to prove that the DPF device should not be allowed on California highways” ...
(This 2013 photo from TV station KTLA shows a big-rig fire in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. A group is claiming that diesel particulate filters are to blame for a rash of California truck fires) -- Chico, CAL, USA - The Business Journal, by George Lurie - 24 July 2015

Labels: bureaucracy affairs, burned trucks, safety trucks

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

Labels: safety trucks

Jul 22, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS & ROADS ? * USA: A Senate Bill

* DC - That makes roads and railroads less safe

-- Last month the House passed an appropriations bill that would put bigger trucks with overworked drivers behind the wheel on the nation’s highways. If that weren’t irresponsible enough, the Senate is now considering legislation that would allow trucking companies to hire 18-year-old drivers for interstate routes and undermine safety on roads and railroads in numerous other ways... Even by the low standards of the current Congress, these bills are egregious examples of faithfully saying yes to everything industry wants, in this case the transportation companies. The Senate is expected to take up its disingenuously named Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Protection Act of 2015 this week as part of a larger transportation package that reauthorizes federal agencies and programs.
° One of the measure’s worst provisions would lower the minimum age for interstate truck drivers to 18, from 21, in a misguided attempt to help the industry recruit more drivers.
° Another provision would eviscerate federal rules on how much rest truckers must get.
° The Senate bill would also forbid the department to publish safety ratings of trucking and bus companies, which it currently does on a website.
° The bill would delay an end-of-year deadline for railroads to install positive-train control technology to help prevent accidents like the Amtrak crash in Philadelphia in May that killed eight people and injured more than 200. It would also delay a federal rule that requires trains carrying crude oil to have brakes that can stop all cars at the same time, rather than sequentially.
° The Senate bill also falls well short of addressing important issues raised by recent scandals involving defects in General Motors’ ignition switches and Takata airbags. While it would raise the maximum fine that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can levy against automakers that do not promptly disclose defects to $70 million from $35 million, that increase is a pittance for companies that make billions in profits. And by not proposing criminal liability for executives who knowingly hide the life-threatening dangers of their products, the bill simply sidesteps the issue of individual accountability... During hearings about auto defects in recent months, lawmakers from both parties spoke forcefully about safety failures and the need to make driving less dangerous. This legislation does not come close to matching their words. Unless this bill is fixed on the Senate floor, it will lead to more accidents, deaths and injuries on American roads...
(Photo Credit Tim Lahan) -- NY, USA - The NYTimes - July 21, 2015

Labels: road safety, safety trucks

Jul 20, 2015

SAFETY PICKUP TRUCKS * USA: How safe are pickups, really?

* New York - Why pickup trucks aren’t as safe as cars ?

-- The safety standards of pickup trucks have changed a lot in the last fifteen years, making them much safer for passengers, but pickups still differ from other passenger vehicles (cars, SUVs) in some important ways. Trucks certainly feel safer: Riding in one puts you above almost every other vehicle on the road, including many SUVs, and their large size also offers a sense of security—like a suit of armor. But how safe are pickups, really?... In 1999: that model year marked the first that federal regulations held all light pickups (trucks under 8,5000 lbs) to the same major safety standards as passenger cars. These standards meant pickups had to have dual front airbags and they had to meet side-impact crash standards, too... Today, the safety features of pickup trucks vary widely. Many have four-wheel anti-lock brakes and some models either include or offer roof-mounted side-curtain airbags. Even though heavy-duty trucks are exempt from many federal safety regulations, some makes and models still offer important safety features, like dual airbags... The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates pickups by crashworthiness standards which include how the vehicles fair in front-end collisions and side collisions. They also assess roof strength and head and seat restraints. Finally, the IIHS assesses each vehicle’s front crash prevention... While trucks may not be the safest type of vehicle on the road, they are certainly the most rugged, and people who drive them usually rely on their strength and power daily. Because safety features vary so widely (and because many safety features aren’t standard) it’s important that current and potential pickup truck drivers know what they’ve got in terms of protection. If you’re in the market for a new pickup, Kelley Blue Book has a list of the safest picks from 2015...
(Photo: International pickup truck) -- NY, USA - The Zebra, by Julia Eddington - July 16, 2015

Labels: safety trucks

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: To stop retaliating against truck drivers

* Washington - OSHA orders trucking company to stop retaliating against sick, tired drivers

-- Oak Harbor Freight Lines has been ordered to comply with federal safety rules... OSHA has ordered Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc. to stop retaliating against truck drivers who refuse to drive while sick and tired for the second time, according to an agency news release... This comes after Oak Harbor suspended a truck operator without pay at its Portland, Ore., terminal after he did not feel well enough to drive. The driver then filed a whistleblower complaint, citing violations of the Surface Transportation Safety Act... "Forcing ill or tired drivers behind the wheel puts their lives and the lives of others at risk," said Ken Atha, OSHA regional administrator in Seattle. "Oak Harbor's continued refusal to revise its attendance policy shows a reckless and callous indifference to employees' rights and public safety" ... (Photo) -- Auburn, WASH, USA - OHS - Jul 18, 2015

Labels: safety trucks

Jul 8, 2015

DOT Study * USA: Heavier US trucks won’t hurt intermodal rail

* DC - Study couldn’t conclude whether heavier trucks impact highway safety

-- A U.S. Department of Transportation study couldn’t conclude whether heavier trucks impact highway safety, but it did find they would not significantly impact intermodal conversions... Proponents for raising the weight and size restrictions on trucks have heralded the finding, despite the DOT’s claims that the evidence behind their own report proved insufficient... According to Peter M. Rogoff, undersecretary of transportation, there wasn't enough data available from crash reporting statistics to determine a vehicle's weight at the time of collision. Moreover, the DOT could not determine from the available data whether trucks, prior to a crash, were fully loaded, running overweight, at legal capacity for their axle configurations or had unevenly distributed weight... In a letter to Congress, the Coalition for Transportation Productivity, a group of 200 shippers and allied associations, urged lawmakers to reconsider the study’s findings... The group points out that, according to the DOT’s own numbers in their report, six-axle vehicles weighing 97,000 pounds and 91,000 pounds would divert $562 million and $196 million, respectively, from rail — an industry worth $70 billion... It’s a fraction of the total industry that would be overwhelmingly offset by overall freight growth over the next 25 years. Freight is projected to grow at nearly 2 percent each year, 45 percent by 2040... A longtime opponent of increasing trailer sizes, the American Association of Railroads, has declined to comment on the study’s findings since they were published in June...
(Photo/Diagram: From the Federal Highway Administration shows the different in a five-axle versus six-axle tractor trailer. The Coalition for Transportation Productivity wants member of Congress to review data from a recent size and weight limits study and then take action to reform weight limits for six-axle trucks) Washington, DC, USA - JOC - Jul 06, 2015

Labels: intermodal services, safety studies, safety trucks

Jul 3, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * Europe & * Australia : "To make calls while driving, increased risk to the employee and other road users"

* Ireland - Business plays critical role in keeping roads safe

(Video from AustralianTrucking - Aug 21, 2013: Trucks are legally allowed to use both lanes while turning, so don't overtake a turning heavy vehicle - you might not have as much room as you thought)
-- Employers across Ireland have been urged to make road safety a ‘critical part’ of their business plans at a European conference organised by the European Transport Safety Council, the Road Safety Authority, the Health and Safety Authority and Garda Síochána... Superintendent Con O’Donohue, An Garda Síochána, spoke at the conference about driving for work from a policing perspective, “Last year, we estimate that as 23% of injury collisions on our roads involved someone who was working. This is particularly worrying for An Garda Síochána and all of the agencies working in road safety"... He added, “Employers and employees need to be mindful of their legal duty of care and this extends to any journey undertaken as part of work. I urge employers to ensure safe driving for work practices amongst their employees and not to put employees under pressure to meet deadlines or demands, or take or make calls while driving, all of which would result in increased risk to the employee and other road users” ...
Dublin, Ireland - Irish Trucker - 2 July 2015

* New South Wales / Australia - Toll embraces high-tech fatigue and distraction mitigation technology

-- The Toll Group has signed an agreement with US company Seeing Machines to upgrade its operational fleet of Driver Safety Systems (DSS) to the company’s recently launched ‘Fleet’ product... Seeing Machines builds image-processing technology that tracks the movement of a person’s eyes, face, head and facial expressions, providing truck drivers with “positive support” when drowsiness and inattention take hold, according to Seeing Machines...
(Photo: A driver state sensor at work) Homebush Bay, NSW, Australia - Prime Move - 2nd, July 2015

* Australia Capitol Territory - "Don't cut in front of trucks"

Video from Australia Trucking Ass. - National Circuit Forrest, ACT, Australia - Aug 19, 2013
-- This is the first of a series of animated videos designed to show motorists how to share the road safely with heavy vehicles... The video highlights the dangers of cutting in to the large space left between a truck and the vehicle in front, and explains that trucks need this extra space to stop safely if required... The videos feature the animated Safety Truck character from the ATA’s upgraded road safety exhibition, the $1.3 million Safety Truck...

Labels: road safety campaigns, safety trucks

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Dec 3, 2016

New transport technologies * Australia: Can reduce crashes

Apr 13, 2016

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The ROADCHECK 2016

Feb 7, 2016

SAMSUNG's Safety Truck Concept, introduced in * Argentina

Jan 16, 2016

SAFETY ISSUES * USA, by NTSB: Latest list of top transportation

Nov 2, 2015

TRUCKS SAFETY REGULATIONS * USA: Longer and heavy trucks plus young drivers: Alloweds?

Oct 17, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The most important aspect of the trukers' job

Oct 14, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: The Safety Measurement System (SMS) sufficient to identify high-risk trucks

Oct 9, 2015

CYCLISTS and LORRIES * UK: New law will make cyclists safer

Sep 24, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Mandatory side guards

Sep 14, 2015

BRAKING STANDARD * USA: Auto makers back automatic braking

Sep 2, 2015

TRUCK SAFETY BATTLE USA: * The DRIVE Act - ** What really happens on the roads

SAFETY TECHNOLOGY * Australia: New braking technology

Aug 12, 2015

HIGHWAY TRUCK ACCIDENTS * USA: Who Is To Blame?

Jul 27, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Trucking Group vs. CARB: About diesel truck filters

Jul 25, 2015

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

Jul 22, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS & ROADS ? * USA: A Senate Bill

Jul 20, 2015

SAFETY PICKUP TRUCKS * USA: How safe are pickups, really?

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: To stop retaliating against truck drivers

Jul 8, 2015

DOT Study * USA: Heavier US trucks won’t hurt intermodal rail

Jul 3, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKS * Europe & * Australia : "To make calls while driving, increased risk to the employee and other road users"