Courtney L. Davenport May 5, 2011
Underride guards on the backs of large trucks frequently fail to prevent a passenger vehicle from sliding under a truck during a collision, according to a report issued last month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
“Hitting the
Ringgold, Ga., widow Cindy Whitaker lost her husband, brother and niece in 2009 when a bucket truck hit their vehicle head-on.
Now she’s pushing for tighter federal regulations for truckers, even as the trucking industry points to federal statistics indicating that America’s roads
Morgan Adams joins us today sounding a warning against allowing ‘Mexican Trucks’ to be driven anywhere and everywhere throughout America. There will not be strict screening of the drivers
Another concern with Mexican trucks coming into the U.S. is the disadvantage it will place on American trucking companies. Currently the methodology in the CSA2010 safety rating process compares fleets with similar numbers of inspections to one another. So in the US, all trucks are subject to inspection and all trucks are used to determine the
The trucking industry has again gotten the Obama administration to weaken how the SMS data available for public review can be used. The current warning never went through the approval process and the industry brought a lawsuit to change the warning. The FMCSA could have done away with the warning all together adopt the industry
A new study, discussed below, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that rear truck underride guards are inadequate, and collisions like the one shown above should never have the catastrophic damages that they so often do in the US.
Now there are many reasons that cars hit tractor trailers in the rear, sometimes it is
Warning letters (a sample may be viewed here) are the first step the FMCSA takes to notify trucking companies that they are deficient in a safety area. It is anticipated that 8% of all carriers (about 50,000) will receive warning letters in the next few months according to an article in the March 7,
A deal has been announced with Mexico, reportedly allowing Mexican trucks to drive in the US. The new deal has some stricter requirements for these than originally proposed under NAFTA. I have previously posted on safety issues with Mexican trucking companies here, here, and here amongst others.
I have not had a chance to digest the current agreement, but will
So tomorrow is Christmas and I have some time to slow down and be thankful. It has been a hard year all in all, but I have much to be grateful for:
First, my mother is out of the hospital after some surgery. Home for Christmas with snow on the way.
Second my children, two of
This is a good idea. The summary of the Rule, proposed in the Federal Register (here) on December 21st, states:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposes to restrict the use of hand-held mobile telephones, including hand-held cell phones, by drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) while operating in interstate commerce. The Agency