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Nov 23, 2016

TRUCKING SAFETY * USA: Cargo Transporters with Trucking Alliance

* DC - Cargo Transporters to join Trucking Alliance as group expands in 2017

---  Cargo Transporters has accepted an invitation to join The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (Trucking Alliance) in 2017... The Trucking Alliance noted that it asks its carrier members to adopt six operating standards that “exceed federal regulations and can ensure greater safety for their corporate drivers": 
 * Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) – Install ELDs in company owned interstate trucks to verify hour-of-service compliance. 
 * Truck Speed Limiters – Regulate trucks with speed limiters at a maximum speed of no more than 68mph. 
 * Hair Testing – Include hair testing as part of the commercial driver pre-employment drug testing process. 
 * Public Liability Insurance – Be sufficiently self-insured or if fully insured, carry a minimum of $5 million in public liability insurance. 
 * Onboard Truck Safety Technologies – Install Forward Collision Warning Systems technologies on all trucks purchased. 
 * Driver Hiring and Training Programs – Utilize the FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program and additional entry level and continuing driver training systems that exceed federal standards.
 ... The Trucking Alliance is a proponent of safety reforms in the freight transportation industry. Companies currently represented on the Alliance board of directors are Maverick USA, Knight Transportation, JB Hunt Transport Services, and Dupré Logistics... 
Washington, DC, USA - Truckinginfo, by David Cullen - November 21, 2016

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Jul 1, 2016

TRUCKING SAFETY * USA: 9,5 billions yearly invested by trucking industry

Industry invests at least $9.5 billion in safety each year, ATA report shows


--- A first-ever research initiative by the American Trucking Associations reveals that the trucking industry invests at least $9.5 billion in safety annually... Sean McNally, ATA vice president of public affairs and press secretary, said the genesis for the study was informal discussions within the ATA about how much had been invested in safety initiatives within the industry... So, he said, the ATA decided to quantify a dollar figure..
The $9.5 billion annual figure breaks down over four broad categories:
• On-board Technology: Collision avoidance and mitigation systems, blind spot warning systems, stability control, video event recorders, electronic logging devices and other safety technologies.
• Driver Training: Safety training, staff wages and consultants, safety retraining and coaching and hazardous materials training.
• Safety Pay: Awards and bonuses based on improved safety performance.
• Regulatory Compliance: Motor vehicle and driver record checks, drug and alcohol testing, voluntary safety audits, safety staff wages and benefits as well as safety consultants.
The $9.5 billion figure does not include general and routine maintenance costs such as purchasing new brakes, tires or trucks, which would increase the total significantly...  According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, from 1980 through 2014, the number of large truck-involved fatal crashes declined 32 percent while the large truck-involved fatal crash rate per 100 million miles dropped 74 percent. Trucks have an overall crash rate 28 percent lower than that of other vehicles...
(Photo from GAZETTE, by MARIA KACIK KULA - Joe Estepp, left, and Geert Kausch, mechanics for the Ohio Department of Transportation, watch as a driver tests the lights and blinkers on a snowplow Thursday at the District 3 garage in Montville Township) -- Arlington, VA, USA – The Trucker News Services - 29 June 2016

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Mar 12, 2016

TRUCKING & TRUCKERS SAFETY - USA * FMCSA Research: Drivers' fatigue

* DC - The available crash reporting databases often provide a paucity of information on sleep deficiency, fatigued driving, etc.

-- A new report prepared for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, argues that “the available crash reporting databases often provide a paucity of information on sleep deficiency in CMV drivers, their adherence to HOS rules, and their crash frequency as a result of fatigued driving. Therefore, research on the linkage among hours of service, fatigue, and accident frequency is hampered by imperfect knowledge of the three most central variables” ... That being said, the National Academies contends that any newly proposed changes to Hours of Service rules and those for the medical certification of CMV drivers as well as to the North American Fatigue Management Program (NAFMP) industry-wide educational effort “need to be based on research-supported understanding of the costs and benefits of such changes” ... That’s should make numerous improvements in data and research methods “to support a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between operator fatigue and highway safety and between fatigue and long-term health” ... 
(Photo: Alarm driver fatigue has been applied in the following areas: Logistics company; Aviation; 4S shop; insurance; mining industry, the oil company; army trucks; driver metro, public safety Government)   --   Wdashington, DC, USA - TruckingInfo - 10 March 2016

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Dec 17, 2015

TRUCKING SAFETY * New Zealand: Truck drivers should have to do something in return for getting an easier life

* Trucking changes should come with safety caveat, says AA

-- The government wants to increase the size of trucks on the roads... The proposals include raising the gross weight on eight-axle vehicles from 44 to 45 tonnes, and making it easier for trucks with more axles to carry up to 50 tonnes of weight... Car transporters will be allowed to increase from 36 to 38 tonnes all up. Trucks will also be allowed to be slightly higher and wider... The aim is to boost efficiency in the trucking sector... If truck drivers want to benefit from improved efficiencies they should be forced to improve the safety of their vehicles as a condition, the Automobile Association (AA) says... 
(Photo: Tree trunks on a logging truck on 29 August 2013 in Kaitaia, Northland)  --  Wellington, NZ - Radio New Zealand - 10 December 2015

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Sep 7, 2015

TRUCKING INDUSTRY USA: * Changing rules could drive many family firms out of business -- ** Trucking boosts its safety record

* California - Senate Bill 350 sets unclear pathway for moving goods

-- Changing rules on trucks could drive many family firms out of business... Since 2008, companies have spent $7 billion on new trucks.. Don’t let unelected regulators wipe out hard-won equity... Thousands of other California companies are working with the understanding that if they buy a new truck certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, even in 2015, they’ll have a certain number of years to recoup their investment costs because the technology was deemed compliant for sale by both state and federal governments... They take a moment to consider the ongoing sacrifices California truckers have already made and will continue to make in the coming years just to comply with existing emission rules. Our industry needs absolute assurance that the investments we’re making to support our families while serving our communities will not be wiped out by unelected regulatory bodies authorized to change the rules... SB 350 will pull the rug out from under truckers and allow the state’s unelected regulators to alter the path we’ve already been required to follow at great cost. This bill could unfairly move the goal posts in the middle of the game... California’s trucking industry wants our state to have sound environmental goals that are economically feasible. However, it’s our hope that legislative leaders work hand-in-hand with us to make these goals a reality by setting achievable targets in a manner that won’t jeopardize the sacrifices we’ve made to get into cleaner trucks... If the state government doesn’t take a moment to plan with our industry, we’ll have to ask ourselves if the price paid by companies like Doug Britton’s was all in vain... 
(Photo: Californians trucks on the highway)   --  Sacramento, CAL, USA - The Modesto Bees, Opinion by Shawn Yadon (CEO for the California Trucking Association) - 3 Sept 2015 


** Virginia - The number of truck-involved fatalities has fallen by 21%
-- One important fact is often lost when discussing trucking: With the exception of the Great Recession, when traffic volumes plummeted, the industry is as safe as it has ever been. Over the past decade, the number of truck-involved fatalities has fallen by 21%... This is a credit to our industry’s dedication to safety. Congress has an opportunity to do more this fall, and we encourage lawmakers to do just that... With common sense and Congress’ help, we can do more...
(Photo: Ralph Barrera/AP - Highway traffic) -- Arlington, VA, USA - USA Today, Opinion by Bill Graves (President and CEO of the American Trucking Association) - 3 Sept 2015

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Jul 20, 2015

TRUCKING SAFETY * USA: Meeting held to improve trucking safety

* Idaho - To bounce around solutions to safety issues to make roads safer
-- Truckers from across five states came to Idaho Falls this week for their “Trucker Rendezvous”. It’s an opportunity to bounce around solutions to safety issues to make roads safer... These fleet companies work hard to make sure their trucks are equipped with the best safety equipment, and that only qualified drivers are on the roads... When truckers from all over Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Utah come together, their main topic of discussion is how to keep the motoring public safe, which means educating how big rigs work... Their efforts include more intense training for drivers as well as required drug testing... Local company Doug Andrus Trucking was at these meeting. They monitor their equipment and drivers; which includes installing a device that keeps trucks from going more than 64 mph. The device also has an artificial eye to alert the driver of slower traffic... Doug Andrus Trucking also requires new drivers to pass a drug test and complete 12 weeks of intense training... The Department of Transportation only requires one inspection per year...
(Photo, from hankstruckforum - Doug Andrus' truck is on the Road I-80, Elko to Winnemucca, NV)  --  Idaho Falls, ID, USA - Local News 8/ ABC, by Hannah Miller - Jul 175

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Jun 2, 2015

Trucking Safety * USA: Demand for next generation of drivers fuels debate over training

* DC - Rebound of trucking industry puts focus on driver safety
-- Federal training requirements being developed for entry-level commercial vehicle jobs could help improve safety among inexperienced drivers, but it also could make it more difficult for trucking firms to recruit new hires during a nationwide truck driver shortage... The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration convened a 26-member advisory committee in February to develop safety regulations for entry-level professional truck and bus drivers. Recommendations developed this spring by the committee — including representatives of the trucking and insurance industries, as well as government and labor representatives — are expected to be reviewed by the FMCSA and published this fall as a notice of proposed rulemaking... Trucking industry companies agree that entry-level drivers should be trained to operate large commercial vehicles, Ms. Bendickson said... Additionally, Mr. Beard said larger trucking companies likely already have training programs that would meet any federal standards, leaving smaller firms with the task of developing new curricula in the wake of new federal training standards... While the FMCSA and the trucking advisory committee develop training requirements for newer commercial drivers, experts say trucking firms can take a proactive role in helping entry-level drivers stay safe...
Washington, DC, USA - Business Insurance, by Sheena Harrison - May 31, 2015

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Apr 15, 2015

TRUCKING INDUSTRY SAFETY * Australia: As major crash report shows, fatigue features in highly in crash stats

* ACT - NTI in a safery call to motorists and industry

(Picture by Attila Szilvasi/The Sunday Telegraph: Cement truck crashes into petrol station, Pacific Highway, Chatswood)
 -- Leading truck insurer National Transport Insurance (NTI) has urged the holidaying public to increase its vigilance on roads over the Easter holiday break and the trucking industry to be alert too... Backing the message up, NTI highlights the findings of the company’s 2015 Major Accident Investigation Report that shows half of all major truck crashes occur on highways... The NTI’s accident report, compiled by its National Truck Accident Research Centre (NTARC), looks into 549 major crash incidents involving the large trucks it insures, with a combined cost of $71.7 million... NTI CEO Tony Clark, has particular concerns about: "Fatigue, inappropriate overtaking, lack of visibility through over-loading, and underestimating the road conditions are a dangerous mix during holiday periods, so please take extra care this Easter if you’re on the roads" ...  He recommends motorists keep in mind four tips when sharing the road with trucks this Easter: 

 ° Don’t cut in: Trucks are heavier than cars, so need more space when stopping. For example, at 100km/h a truck needs an extra 30m to come to a stop compared to a car travelling at the same speed. 
° Give trucks room to turn: Some trucks need extra room at corners, intersections and roundabouts. Trucks over 7.5m must carry a sign saying "Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle". This means the truck can legally use two lanes to make their turn, and may need to turn left across your path to turn left. 
° Be aware of blind spots: Remember – if you can’t see the driver’s mirrors, he/she can’t see you! 
° Overtake with care: It takes about 25 seconds to overtake a prime mover on the open road. That’s a long time if you’re on the wrong side of the road – and even longer if the truck is a B-Double or B-Triple. Make sure you have the time and clear visibility. 

... Report's some key stats include: 

 * Inappropriate speed for the conditions continued to be the leading cause of serious accidents at 27 per cent, with 73.6 per cent of speed losses resulting in a rollover. 
* Fatigue related accidents increased to 12.8 per cent — the worst result since 2007. Western Australia has the highest proportion of major crashed due to fatigue at 30 per cent 
* Truck fires continued to account for 10.7 per cent of large loss incidents with electrical failure accounting for 68.5 per cent of cabin/engine compartment fires. 
* The worst performing state was Queensland, followed by Western Australia, while Victoria was the best. 
* Reported large losses occurring during an outward journey stands at 67 per cent.


(Picture: The truck crash on Hume Hwy near Ingleburn where one truck veered off the southbound road)
... The Pacific and Hume Highways in NSW were the worst performing highways. Queensland’s Bruce Highway showed some improvement... While the basic figures remain worrying, the report notes the trend reflects "one-third less major crash incidents across the decade [since the first report], and demonstrates a strong result on road safety"... 
Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia - ATN - 1 April 2015


 * NSW - Authorities dismayed with results of Operation Containment

-- Officers from Roads and Marine Services (RMS) and New South Wales Police have reported "shocking" results from a five-day compliance operation across Sydney... Through "Operation Containment", the joint taskforce inspected almost 700 heavy vehicles at Wetherill Park and Botany, and found hundreds of causes for concern. Eleven trucks were grounded on the spot, while a further 12 were issued fines for weight breaches... Thirteen trucks were given formal warnings to attend to potential maintenance problems... There were also a significant number of other instances of poorly loaded or secured cargoes. Some 135 of the trucks inspected had their loads adjusted, and 286 had minor defects for load restraint... The operation also uncovered eight instances of speed limiter tampering, including one truck whose limiter had been adjusted to allow it to drive at up to 150 km/hr...
(Picture: NSW compliance officials shocked by maintenance and loading issues. Authorities grounded 11 trucks on the spot, including this one which had items protruding from the side of the load) -- Sydney, NSW, australia - ATN, by Paul Howell - 16 March 2015

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Apr 10, 2015

SAFETY TRUCKING * USA: Drivers attention to see the first signs of trouble ahead

* Texas - Experts recommend trucker focus to avoid oversize loads

-- Trucks taking out part of a bridge are an unfortunate byproduct of Texas' booming economy. More big loads mean more big problems... But there's a simple solution, the drivers paying attention and seeing the first signs of trouble ahead... We saw recently on I-35 in Salado what can happen when an oversized load meets an undersized opening... But getting truckers to avoid hitting overhead objects isn't just a Texas problem... In Australia they came up with a flashy way to get the attention of oversized trucks heading for a tunnel. If a truck passes the early warning, a water curtain will drop down in front of the entrance and a holographic stop sign will be projected on it so that there's a stop sign the size of the tunnel entrance that faces the trucker...  That would be hard to miss. And just paying attention to our driving and minimizing distractions is advice we can all use to drive smart...
(Photo from FOX 29 tv: A truck hauling an oversized load snagged an Interstate 35 bridge beam in a deadly Salado, Central Texas wreck)  --  Austin,TXS, USA - keyetv, by Fred Cantu - April 8 2015

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Oct 7, 2014

SAFETY TRUCKING * USA: Video-based driver safety and compliance solutions

* California - Long Haul Trucking announces fleet-wide deployment of Lytx's DC Protect Program

(Photo: One high-definition surveillance system using network video management software with High-Definition Stream Management technology) 
San Diego,CAL,USA -PRNewswire -Oct. 6, 2014: -- Lytx, Inc. (formerly DriveCam Inc.), a global leader in delivering video-based driver safety and compliance solutions, announced today a fleet-wide deployment of its DC Protect™ Program, part of the DriveCam powered by Lytx™ family of products, with Minnesota-based Long Haul Trucking Inc. ... The company trialled the Program for several months, and took advantage of Lytx's combination of video, predictive analytics real-time driver feedback and coaching. By the end of the trial, the company's improvement in driving performance resulted in 92 percent of the drivers experiencing no coachable – or unsafe -- events, leading to the decision to deploy fleet-wide... The new DC Protect Program, now deployed at Long Haul Trucking, Inc., helps to prevent collisions, reduce injuries and save lives by combining video with predictive analytics, real-time driver feedback and coaching, empowering fleets to identify and correct the driving behaviors that lead to 90% of collisions... A recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study shows that more than 800 lives could be saved each year using video-based driver safety technology, and that the DriveCam Program alone could prevent more than 25,000 commercial vehicle collisions and nearly 40,000 injuries annually...

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Sep 17, 2014

TRUCKING SAFETY * Canada: See what truckers don't see

* Ontario - Special awareness event: A local trucking company wants you to see what truckers don’t

Belleville,Hastings,ONT,CAN -The Intelligencer, by Emily Mountney-Lessard -September 16, 2014: -- Meyers Transportation Services, based in Belleville, is hosting an awareness event entitled Do You See What We Don’t? this weekend at Loyalist College... Safety supervisor Doug Walker said the company wants people to know just how little visibility truck drivers actually have, and how other drivers can help make roadways safer for everyone... The company has around 125 drivers, each with a truck... Walker said, according to one statistic, car drivers are responsible for collisions between cars and trucks about 85 per cent of the time... Walker said often, when a collision involved a transport truck, peoples’ first instinct is to blame the driver... He said drivers can often be intimidated or irritated by transport trucks but wants people to know that “truck drivers are people too” ... He said the most common insurance claim that trucking companies have to deal with are side-swipes...

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Mar 26, 2013

WARNING TRUCKERS' SAFETY: "ATA: Administration exaggerated data on fatigue-caused crashes" * USA

* Texas - Dallas Attorney calls on trucking industry to make standard safety upgrades

(Photo) 
Dallas,TX,USA -PRWEB/Digital Journey -March 25, 2013: -- On March 25th, 2013, Dallas injury attorney, Michael Grossman, issued a 'call to arms' to the commercial trucking industry, urging the use of dash cameras and lane-departure warning devices in all trucks. Mr. Grossman's hope is that one day it will be mandatory that all trucks employ these devices... Actual video footage of accidents that occur with the front of the truck would be difficult to dispute on liability, which could have a significant impact on legal expenses like litigation and the increasing fees of transportation experts... The aim of a lane departure system, then, is to warn truckers when their rig begins to drift either across a road’s median or into another vehicle’s driving lane... The endgame for any of the mentioned systems is simple, to warn truckers of a potentially catastrophic pending event...


* DC - Trucking industry says fatigue rule based on bad data

(Photo)
Washington,DC,USA -Bloomberg, by Tom Schoenberg -Mar 15, 2013: -- The largest U.S. trucking group asked federal appeals judges to throw out limits on driving time that would cost the industry $470 million a year, arguing the Obama administration exaggerated data on fatigue-caused crashes... American Trucking Associations Inc., during arguments today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, accused the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of using research that favored the agency’s preferred outcome while setting driver- fatigue rules that it claims would add substantial costs without any safety benefits... Jonathan Levy, a lawyer for the Justice Department, pointed to the fact that the rules were being challenged as both too restrictive and too lenient as being proof that the agency’s work was largely scientific. The Transportation Department said the benefits of the rule are about $630 million... In creating the new rule, the agency said 13 percent of the truck-related crashes were caused by fatigue. The trucking association says that percentage takes into account “whenever truck driver fatigue is present at the time of a crash” and not whether driver fatigue caused the crash. Under current regulations, only about 2 percent of large truck crashes are caused by driver fatigue, the association argued...  The agency said the industry based its figure on a study that only considered accidents where there were fatalities...

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Feb 12, 2009

TRUCKING SAFETY * USA - Stepping up for

Orlando,FL,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Feb 11, 2009: -- It didn’t take much convincing for vp of safety Bob Petrancosta to get Con-way Inc. involved in a long-term government-sponsored program to test a variety of new safety systems... The LTL carrier, joined a 54-month, $32.2 million dollar testing program sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to analyze the effectiveness of forward collision warning systems, lane departure warning (LDW) technology, and blind spot detection (BDS) systems several years ago for a simple reason. Petrancosta said the program would not only save Con-way money, but save lives too...


* Do the Clean Power Bump

USA -earth2tech, by David Ehrlich -February 10, 2009: -- Start aiming for the potholes! Engineers on both sides of the Atlantic have come up with different ways to get the cars of the future to generate power just from hitting a few bumps — a cleantech dream, an evil plot from the makers of Dramamine, or a trend in harnessing kinetic energy?... In the U.S. students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created shock absorbers that can harness energy when a vehicle hits a bump... And at the same time a designer in the UK has created speed bumps that can generate power when bumped... Hydraulics for clean power. And even better as a combo — picture driving cars with energy generating shock absorbers over roads covered in power generating speed bumps. Sales of drive-thru coffee might drop, but clean energy goes up... MIT said the shocks have already drawn interest from the U.S. military as well as several truck makers. And the cleantech speed bumps could be rolled out by 2010, potentially going nationwide after that...

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