How's My Driving? Ever drive behind a commercial vehicle and notice that its brake lights are not working? Ever see a commercial vehicle with an unbalanced load? You want to tell someone about it, but how? Maybe you drive on, thinking that the driver’s fleet manager will eventually discover and fix the problem. [...]
How's My Driving? Your worse nightmare? One of your fleet vehicles is involved in a collision that includes a fatality or a disabling injury. One way to keep this nightmare from becoming a reality is to invest in vehicle risk-management solutions that include a How’s My Driving safety program. [...]
A recent op-ed in the New York Times chastised the trucking industry and Congress for lax attitudes toward safety. The article, written by freelancer Howard Abramson, who was an executive at the American Trucking Association for 15 years, highlighted some disturbing statistics. For example, this year alone, traffic collisions involving large trucks killed more people than [...]
“Collision” and “accident” sound like interchangeable terms; however, there is a significant difference in meaning when it comes to commercial driving safety and legal liability. To better understand the nuances at play here, let’s start with some definitions. Simply stated, “accident” denotes a non-preventable incident for which the driver has no responsibility. “Collision” refers to an [...]
Traffic fatalities are up 14 percent this year, according to a study just out from the National Safety Council (NSC). From a high of 43,510 fatalities in 2005, traffic deaths had declined by 25 percent, to 32,719, in 2013. In the first six months of 2015, however, approximately 19,000 people have lost their lives in [...]
We’re all familiar with the concept of defensive driving. But let’s stop a moment and identify the attributes of an ideal defensive driver. Here is a list of ten of them. Defensive drivers: Are always ready with preventative measures, in advance of when they are needed. Carefully monitor the actions of other drivers, adjusting for [...]
A recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration study cited the top causes of large truck collisions in 967 crashes involving at least one truck. The study included 1,127 large trucks and 959 other types of motor vehicles. These crashes resulted in 251 deaths and 1,408 injuries. Let’s look at some of the most common causes [...]
Does your transportation company need to develop a driver training system that will be accessible online and across a wide variety of mobile devices? Online driver training is fast becoming the norm for fleet operators to accommodate varying driver schedules, skills and compliance requirements. Business owners and managers need to ensure their drivers are properly [...]
The House passed a bill allowing the use of longer tandem trailers, which could be up to five feet longer than the prior 28-foot limit. Industry experts were divided on the issue, some citing significant improvements in economy and efficiency, with others emphasizing the potentially dramatic safety impact of these behemoth tandem trailers. Both the [...]
If you ever wondered if you should take the time to report unsafe truck driving behavior, consider the following report on a devastating crash involving nine-vehicles in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On July 21st, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) declared a Kentucky-licensed truck driver to be an imminent hazard to public [...]