User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News
Google
 
Loading

Oct 11, 2009

Safety Violations' Report * Canada & USA - Reveals the Pervasiveness of Trucking Company

When tractor-trailers are involved in an accident with a passenger vehicle, the passenger vehicle always loses

Canada -Hartley Hampton, P.C./PR Canada.net, by stoian2008 -10 October 2009: ... The sheer size and weight of semi-trucks makes them nearly indestructible... In 2007, more than 86,000 people in the US were seriously injured after being in an accident with a semi truck. More than 4800 people died as a result of one of these harrowing crashes. Nearly 500 of these deaths occurred in the state of Texas... A recent report issued by the American Association for Justice (AAJ) reveals that 28,000 motor carrier companies and more than 211,000 trucks were operating with federal safety violations as of April 2009. In "Warning! Safety Violations Ahead," the AAJ based its conclusions on data collected by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)... The FMCSA data included tractor trailers, cargo tank trucks, motor coaches, school buses and Hazmat vehicles. In addition to the motor carrier and truck safety violations, the report also found 28,616 buses and 2,226 Hazmat companies with safety violations... Of the 28,000 motor carrier companies listed, 77 of them are located in Houston, Texas. Of those located in Houston, 60 were given "conditional" status, meaning that the records showed the companies were out of compliance with one or more safety regulations. Seventeen companies were given "unsatisfactory" status based on records showing evidence of substantial noncompliance with federal safety regulations... The AAJ report found that defective brakes were the most common safety violation by motor carrier companies. Understandably, federal regulations mandate that all motor carriers must have working brake systems and prescribes the types of brakes and the safety features they must have... Federal law also requires trucking companies to maintain their vehicles, including their brake systems. Before each trip, the truck's driver is required to inspect the vehicle to make sure everything is in working order, including the brakes. The driver then must sign off on the inspection. Some drivers, however, may sign off on the inspection without actually completing it as required...

Other common safety violations include:

-Tire violations -- balding tires, retreaded tires
-Truck loads exceeding weight limits
-Inexperienced and untrained drivers
-Hours of service violations (i.e. drivers working more hours than permissible)
-Drivers with drug or alcohol dependencies
-Falsified trucking logs and other records

(Photo from i2.cdn.turner/cnn: Michigan tanker explosion)


* New U.S. Study Says Wetlines Incidents Led to 13 Deaths Over 10-Year Period

USA -Transport Topics (subscribers only) -10 Oct 2009: Damaged or ruptured tank-truck wetlines resulted in 13 fatalities and seven injuries over the past 10 years, according to a new analysis by federal regulators...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:56 AM  0 comments

Aug 11, 2007

Safety Violations * USA - 300 drivers out of service for

July truckers' inspection in Oregon

Salem,Ore,USA -The Trucker -10 Aug 2007: -- More than 23 percent of commercial vehicle drivers inspected by the Oregon Department of Transportation during a five-day inspection at the end of July were placed out of service for safety violations... ODOT inspectors checked drivers’ logbooks and qualifications to make sure they were complying with federal and state regulations... (OSP photo )
* Truck inspections save lives
Toledo,OH,USA -The Toledo Blade -10 Aug 2007: -- The Ohio Trucking Association is trying to foist off the idea that there is no direct link between defective motor vehicle equipment and accidents... But state inspectors know better, and in the interest of safety they are rightly slapping tickets on truckers and pulling violators off the road... The trucking association's short-sighted view is worry some, especially given that state inspectors found 10 percent more safety violations last year than in 2005. A check of more than 90,000 trucks by inspectors uncovered more than 230,000 violations last year... Nobody wants to share the road with trucks that could have safety problems. Anything could go wrong, and sometimes does, considering that Ohio ranked eighth in the nation in fatal truck accidents in 2005, the last year for which we have statistics...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 10:21 AM  0 comments

Jun 5, 2007

Unsafe lane changes * USA - Big factor in truck crashes

Know how to protect yourself on the highway

Tucson,AZ,USA -The Arizona Daily Star, by Enric Volante -3 June 2007: -- ... Hundreds of times each year, professional big-rig drivers cruising Arizona's desert highways change lanes when it is not safe to do so... An improper lane change involving a truck was a factor in about 1,100 crashes in 2005, the last year for which data were available from the Arizona Department of Transportation. About 275 people were injured and four died in those crashes... Driving too fast, fatigue and other factors cause more deaths and injuries, but truckers who make unsafe lane changes or simply drift out of their lanes may be the most intimidating to other motorists...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:37 AM  0 comments

Apr 19, 2007

Safety Violations * USA - 17% of drivers, 11% of trucks pulled off highway for

Bend,OR,USA -Bend Weekly News Sources -Apr 18,2007: -- According to preliminary statistics, 505 inspections resulted in 54 vehicles and 85 drivers placed out-of-service for equipment and driver-related safety violations during last week's three-day interagency commercial vehicle inspection at the Interstate 5 southbound Woodburn Port of Entry. This inspection and enforcement effort was the 12th truck check operation since the program began in 1998 targeting impairment and vehicle safety... (OSP photo: 11% of 505 commercial vehicles, and 17% of the truck drivers were placed out-of-service for equipment or driver safety violations during a three-day inspection period)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 1:04 PM  0 comments