Four Dead in Dump Truck Crash near Naples, FL
On January 25, 2008, four people were killed on US 41, just east of Naples, FL when a dump truck lost control, flipped over, and crashed into an SUV carrying 3 college students. The truck driver was killed as well, as both vehicles burned. Witnesses suspect the truck was speeding, which was probably a factor in him losing control.
Speed is one of the top factors in fatality truck crashes. Speed, speed, speed. Too many drivers get too comfortable with their ability to maneuver an 80,000 pound truck, but the fact remains that no matter how many new bells and whistles many trucks now have, such as automatic transmissions, power steering, etc. it’s still a truck. It doesn’t handle like a car.
It is especially dangerous to be speeding on a high speed two lane highway like US 41. I used to live in Florida, so I remember what some of those roads are like. It’s wide open, two lanes, light traffic, nothing but wilderness around. The temptation is to open her up and let it fly. Hey, you can make good time like that, but if a deer or alligator gets in front of you, or you blow a tire, you’d better have your crash test dummy’s license. It’s also two lanes, so opposing traffic is passing you at 140 MPH, just a few feet away, no median strip, no Jersey barrier. It doesn’t take much for one vehicle to cross the centerline, and cause a head-on, high-speed collision. The faster you are going, the less chance you have of avoiding the crash. Tell your drivers: SLOW DOWN.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.
Appeals Court Lets Hours of Service Rules in Place
Late yesterday, January 24, 2008, the US Court of Appeals denied Public Citizen’s petition to invalidate the FMCSA’s hours of service rules, which were issued (re-issued?) on December 27, 2007. Yea!
To recap: FMCSA changed rules to the 11, 14, 70 hours in 2004, I think. The public safety crazies sued them, saying they weren’t strict enough. In the summer of last year, the US Court of Appeals agreed with the public safety people saying FMCSA had not properly followed the steps to make the rules, and signaled its intent to strike down the rules. On December 27, 2007, FMCSA responded to the Court, re-issuing the exact same rules… with maybe a little more explanation and justification as to where they came up with those rules. And now the Court has said that process can continue. Confusing? Hell, yeah. Here’s the bottomline: the current hours of service rules will stay in place for the forseeable future. Which is a good thing. In today’s freight climate, the last thing anyone needs is to learn a whole new set of hours rules.
Pointy-Headed Congressional Committee Files Report
The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission released its report on January 15, on how to spend highway money, and reduce congestion. They recommended changes in the current hours of service rules, to allow drivers to stop their 14 hour clocks with off-duty periods. Presently, the clock starts running at the beginning of your shift, and runs continually for 14 hours, and cannot be stopped. This would allow drivers who are, for example, on the outskirts of New York City at the beginning of rush hour to shutdown for a few hours, get a nap, and then go through when the roads have somewhat cleared, rather than beating your head against a wall of traffic at 5 mph for 3 hours.
Of course, before you get all excited, keep two things in mind. One, most committees in Washington talk, talk, talk, and nothing ever happens, so that’s likely here. Two, they also recommended higher tolls, higher fuel taxes, and congestion pricing. So, it’s just as likely you’ll pay more to drive, and still have to follow the 14 hour rule.
Big Rig Takes Off Trooper’s Door
On January 12, 2008, on I-75 in Tennesee, a tractor-trailer side-swiped a state trooper’s car, nearly knocking the driver’s side door clean off. Video footage from trooper’s car here.
Police have now located the driver and his truck in Ohio, where he will undoubted be charged with a number of crimes. From viewing the video, it appears the truck in question, operated by Western Express out of Nashville was in the right hand lane. The trooper is in the righthand breakdown lane, with his blue flashers on. His driver side door is open, probably protruding slightly into the righthand traffic lane of I-75. To the left of Western Express appears to be another truck in the left lane. Making a guess, Western Express probably boxed himself in, and by the time he realized he couldn’t move left, too late, and whammo!
This sort of accident is totally preventable. Western Express should have immediately slowed down when he saw the flashing blue lights on the shoulder, and started looking for an opening to move to the left. Drivers who aren’t looking 10-15 seconds down the road will occasionally box themselves into these type of situations. Naturally, he made it much worse by fleeing the accident scene.
And, for you movie fans….. the great scene from ‘Smokey and the Bandit’. Ah, there’s nothing like the Great One, Jackie Gleason.
Another fuel truck stolen in Lancaster County, PA
Another fuel truck was stolen in Lancaster County, PA this week. The truck, owned by Heating Oil Partners, was stolen on Monday, January 14 with an unspecified amount of diesel fuel in it. It was stolen on Monday, and then found the next day, empty, in Washington, DC. About 2,800 gallons of diesel had been stolen.
I guess I don’t know what to think of this. Two fuel trucks stolen within a week from Lancaster, where most people still don’t lock their doors, or trucks apparently. If I was stealing the truck for economic gain, I sure wouldn’t dump the empty truck in Washington, assuring me that every alphabet soup law enforcement agency will now be looking for me. Fuel Oil is a key component of Ammonium Nitrate-Fuel Oil, or ANFO, which Tim McVey used on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Yeah, well, I’m sure George W is on top of it. Say what you want about the guy, but the fact remains nothing has blown up here since 9/11, so I’m sure he’ll take care of this, too.
NFL Divisional Playoffs
Well, about the best thing I can say about my football predicitions is my preseason Super Bowl pick of Seattle beating New England is still alive. I am now reduced to rooting against the Patriots and the Cowboys.
seattle +7.5 over GREEN BAY I think the Seahawks win the game outright. Hey there has to be at least one upset, right?
NEW ENGLAND -13 over jacksonville I’ll lay the big points, nobody is going to stop the Patriots. Unfortunately.
INDIANAPOLIS -10 over san diego No way Norv Turner wins in Indy when it matters. No way.
DALLAS -7.5 over new york giants Giants shot their wad last week at Tampa. Dallas can score, score, score, so it’ll be a much different game than that Tampa Bay snoozer.
Alert for stolen fuel truck in Denver, PA
Truck has been missing for a week in Lancaster County, PA
A 3,200 gallon fuel oil truck was stolen in Lancaster County on Monday, January 7. It had about 1,000 gallons of fuel in it at the time. The owners of the truck, Leffler Oil, believe it was stolen for the value of the diesel in it, which would be around $3,500. The US Dept. of Homeland Security is not taking chances and has issued a nationwide alert about the stolen truck. So far it has not been found.
DOT requires carriers and shippers of placardable amounts of hazardous materials to have a security plan, which is a written set of company procedures outlining how they are going to keep terrorists from stealing their HazMat. This is an example of what a security plan is designed to prevent. Of course, I guarantee you Leffler Oil aka Leffler Energy has a very thorough security plan, but the truck still got stolen. Actual practices are more important than mere words on a piece of paper. If the industry thinks DOT is annoying now with their security plan and training regulations, if there’s a terrorist incident involving a truck, it’ll be 10 times worse. Fortunately, living in the next county over from Lancaster County, I know it’s not exactly an Islamic hotbed of activity, so I’m not worried.
FMCSA proposes mandatory behind-the-wheel training
FMCSA has issued a proposed rulemaking, which will require new drivers applying for a CDL to have behind-the-wheel training prior to the issuance of the CDL.
Presently, there is no such requirement.
If a driver can go down to the Motor Vehicles office, and pass the written and road test, they get the CDL. No longer, under the new proposal. FMCSA proposed a new driver will be required to have 120 hours of training (76 classroom, and 44 behind the wheel) for Class A, or 90 hours of training (58 classroom, 32 behind the wheel) for Class B and C.
In 2004, FMCSA issued new rules requiring some training for new CDL drivers. They were sued by the safety advocacy groups, who did not think those rules were stringent enough. FMCSA settled that lawsuit, agreeing to issue rules requiring a behind the wheel training component.
FMCSA is accepting comments on its proposed rules through March 25, 2008. If you want to read the rulemaking itself, or make a comment, it is FMCSA-2007-27748 at www.regulations.gov. FMCSA must read all comments, and depending on the volume and nature of the comments, may alter the rule. Presently, FMCSA plans to make the rule effective 3 years after issuing the final rule, which would probably be in 2011 or 2012.
My thoughts on this? This is almost certainly going to happen, probably 2012 or 2013. Not every proposed rule becomes a final rule, in fact many are proposed, and just disappear. Not this one, though. Congress is pushing this, FMCSA promised the courts it would do it, so it’ll happen in some form.
Will it improve highway safety? Maybe. I’m somewhat cynical. I have a feeling drivers who can’t drive are still going to find a way to get a CDL, training requirement or no training requirement.
One thing I do see happening soon is enforcement of the current training regulations, found in 49 CFR Part 380. It states drivers receiving a CDL after July, 2003 must be trained on driver qualification files, hours of service, wellness, and whistle blower protection. Most people don’t know there is a Part 380, as FMCSA does not enforce its new rule. However, it’s only a matter of time before John Hill, FMCSA Administrator is called to task by Congress, wanting to know why they don’t enforce their rule. When that happens, expect FMCSA to start a new wave of fines for Part 380 violations.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.
Major Pileup in Central Florida Caused by Brush Fire
Four Killed In Deadly I-4 Pileup
Early this morning, January 9, 2008, a brush fire, coupled with low-lying fog, reduced visibility to zero on I-4 between Lakeland and Orlando, FL.
At least 50 vehicles were involved in the pileup, as vehicles crashed into each other, killing 3, and injuring at least 16. Several vehicles, including six tractor-trailers, burned completely. There is a good slideshow of the crash at the link above .
Some tips for driving in fog or foggy areas:
Pay attention. Light or moderate fog can turn into a whiteout without warning.
Reduce your speed. However be mindful that if you slam on the brakes, the guy behind you might not see you until too late. Finally, I heard this advice from a state trooper in these type of situations. If you are in one of these no-visibility pileups:
Pull off to the side of the road, and turn your lights OFF. His reasoning was if you leave your lights on, the vehicle behind you are going to follow your tailights right into the back of you.
Sounds like sound advice.
NFL Playoff Predictions
Well, again, I had been having such a bad year making football predictions, that I let the cat pick the games, and then eventually gave up. But here it’s Wild Card Saturday, so let’s recap. My Super Bowl prediction was Seattle defeating New England. Well, one half of that looks pretty good, although I’m not too excited about Seattle. Did I tell you I correctly predicted Indianapolis before the start of the 2006 season? I’ll live off of that for another 5 years. I think I have a pretty good bead on this weeks games though:
TAMPA -3 over new york giants
Tampa has been resting its players for a month in preparation for this game, so you’d think they’d be ready. Tampa has a good coach, a good quarterback, and good defense. You may know nothing about them, as most people don’t, but they should win this game easily.
washington +3.5 over SEATTLE
The Redskins are on a roll. Whereas this will eliminate my Super Bowl pick Seattle, at this point I do think the Skins will win. Well, maybe they’ll lose by 3 points, then I can be right on both counts.
tennessee +10 over SAN DIEGO
Norv Turner, nuff said.
Pick of the Week is PITTSBURGH +2.5 over jacksonville….. I’m getting points at home in the playoffs? Oh I know, the Steelers haven’t been lighting the world on fire, and lost to Jacksonville in Pittsburgh last month, but making the Jaguars a favorite in Pittsburgh is too much. The Steelers fire it up on Saturday night! Here we go Steelers!!!
