Here's an intriguing video about the problem of side underride and the lack of side underride guards on trailers in the US. In viewing this, imagine what happens when a driver comes upon a tractor-trailer pulling out of a side road or driveway at night at highway speed. I showed this at a trucking litigation seminar in New Orleans last Saturday, and several people asked where they could get copies.
Ken Shigley is a trucking a product safety trial attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The American Transportation Research Institute, the research arm of the American Trucking Associations, released the results Sept. 12 of its industry analysis of using the recorders to monitor driver hours. The ATRI research does contradict perceptions that the devices would hurt driver morale and retention. A surprising 76 percent of users said the recorders had improved driver morale, and 19 percent said they had improved driver retention. No users said driver retention had been harmed by the devices. The report did not explain why the improvements in morale and driver retention occur.
There was considerable consensus among users, non-users and vendors that recorders are effective at managing and monitoring hours compliance, but more research is needed to document the role that hours compliance plays in fatigue management and safety improvements, ATRI reported. “As a compliance tool, it appears that EOBRs can meet FMCSA’s need for improved HOS monitoring," said Al Koenig, president of Midwest Specialized Transportation. "But we still need to address certain safety loopholes, such as improved confirmation of who is driving and whether EOBRs will increase speeding to offset potential productivity losses.”
The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a "SuperLawyer" in Atlanta Magazine and one of the "Legal Elite" in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks.
Buoyed by the advent of real-time inventories and Internet commerce, truck traffic grew by over 45 percent in the last decade and is projected to grow another 39 percent in the next 10 years. Trucks need their own lanes. There are over 5,000 deaths a year in car-truck collisions. And most trucking companies would gladly pay tolls to drive in truck-only lanes that allowed them to carry more goods -- by using larger rigs than are currently allowed in most of the country -- and kept them separated from cars. Los Angeles, home to both the nation's worst traffic and busiest shipping ports, has plans for truck-only lanes to reduce congestion and keep goods, and the economy, moving.
See Reason.org for articles about free enterprise approaches to a variety of infrastructure and education issues.
The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a "SuperLawyer" in Atlanta Magazine and one of the "Legal Elite" in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks.
Reuters reports today that global positioning system, or GPS, technology is enabling larger trucking companies to grow and take market share from small companies. Such technology enables trucking companies to know where all their trucks and trailers are at any moment, providing shippers with complete supply chain visibility. The article predicts this trend will continue as retailers simplify their supply chains by opting for a few, big carriers instead of hundreds of smaller carriers. Clicking on a blue dot on a computer screen map, a trucking company manager can bring up a screen showing the exact location of a truck, its load, starting point, destination, cash advances, miles covered by the driver and comments from supervisors and customers. Companies using state of the art technology use handheld computers carried by every single driver to manage and plan freight flows across the United States. Trucking companies that utilize such technology will continue to take market share and increase revenue by focusing on software and tools that smaller companies often cannot afford.
The technology that enables trucking companies to boost profits can also contribute greatly to the cause of safety, as it enables companies with safety-conscious management to closely monitor driver performance, speed, and rest periods.
The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a "SuperLawyer" in Atlanta Magazine and one of the "Legal Elite" in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks.
An experimental Driver Fatigue Monitor may help truck drivers from dozing off behind the wheel. The system uses infrared light to determine when drivers are too tired to be driving. It measures how "heavy" eyes are becoming by monitoring the eyelids. If the eyes are closed for three or four seconds several times in a minute, then an alarm sounds. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 375 people were killed and 7,500 others were injured each year between 1997 and 2000 - all because of accidents caused by tired truck drivers.
The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a "SuperLawyer" in Atlanta Magazine and one of the "Legal Elite" in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).