OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

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Griff
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OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Griff »

So I don't hijack someone else's topic, but his near miss tripped my hot-button. As some added background: I worked for a time @ SCRTD in LA as the contract administrator for the agency with the firm that supplied our tires. We had single tire come off one of the rear dual positions of one of our buses. Without the weight burden of the bus, they ACCELERATE! This particular instance it overran a VW Beetle, from behind. For the past 18 mor so years the trend has been toward "hub-piloted" rims, where only one set of lug nuts hold on both dual wheel tire assemblies. Before that they used an inner and outer nut. Neither style is really "better", but at least when wheel studs sheer now, both wheels aren't HELD together. That's approximately 180lbs PER tire & wheel. That's a LOT of mass moving at whatever speed. It really baffles me that folks are so intent on possibly shaving a few seconds off their commute that they'd rather run the less congested TRUCK lanes that they ignore or are so unaware of the danger.

It is literally a daily occurrence, someone will pass me then immediately move over in front of me and slow down because someone is tailgating them. They are so intent to get that 6,000 lb p/u off their backside that they put themselves in a far WORSE situation by putting my 61,800 lbs rig in the same SPOT. (I know what I weigh today 'cause I weighed my loaded rig before I left LA)!

I'm now somewhere just north of 2 million miles driving semi-professionally. I'd sure love to say they're all safe miles, but I can't. I've had five accidents in a semi. No injuries tho', so I'll let my minor fender benders go. #1, I had to back up on a city street, got out and looked behind me, nothing, turned around got back in the truck and moved back about 4', BUMP! Lady'd pulled directly behind my trailer, overcast, no shadow... she didn't know how to out her new stickshift in reverse. She admitted, she panicked, but still, my fault. #2, Sitting in traffic, a Honda Civic pulled up on my right side to merge, actually in front of me because I leave about 20' clear in front so I can see asphalt between me and the vehicle in front of me; vehicle in front of me moves, and I follow suit... Bump. Look front, right, left, nothing, try again. Bump again. Stand up... WHATZAT! See roof of car. He got ticket for illegal lane change. #3, rolling along the I-90 in MT near Deerlodge @ 65mph I saw what appearred to be a tailgate in the highway, no vehicle to my left (last time I checked) so a quick swerve into the left lane that nearly rolled me over, had just enough time to think, "did I miss that p/u," when, yep... Bump! College student coming home for Christmas hit a deer, destroying the front end of his Izuzu p/u,including his battery, no lights, dirt covered reflectors, stranded in the travel lane. (I only hit him a glancing blow near his left tailight with my trailer tires and safety bumper, but I demolished the entire left side of his truck and knocked it 75' off the side of the road)! #4, 8 days later, XMas nite @ midnite, driving from El Paso to Las Cruces I pass a slow moving sedan. I keep one eye on my right mirror so I can get back in the slow lane. Finally saw what I thought was him a ways back and turned on the blinker, looked forward, out right mirror and thru lower door glass, looks clear, so I slowly start to move right. Thump, thump, over the Bot's dots marking lanes, then all of a sudden iit sounds like I'm on the rumble strip on the right shoulder! Nope, it's Mr. Smoozin' with girlfriend who'd sped up and sat next to my steer tire getting his left passenger door chewd up by my lug nuts. He told the cops, "...yea I saw the turnsignal, but I'se talkin' to my girl and ignored it." Yep, clearly my fault, but the cop he just couldn't give us both a ticket on XMas nite. #5, Just this past Wed afternoon. Tried to drive from Portland to Redmond, OR on US26. Snowing heavily... finally decide I better turnaround and go I84 to US97 and actually get there. As I'm making my way down, (no chains) and going VERY slow as ice is starting to form under the snow, I see a sign that states, "State Law, slower vehicles must use turnouts to allow ffaster traffic to pass." Seems reasonable, viola, there's a turnout... oh gosh look at that line of traffic behind me. So I do the "right" thing and pull off. Car, truck, car, car, car, car, truck, car, car, car, car, car, car, car, car, all pass w/o incident... then... uh oh.... what's with this red car? Slidin' kinda sideways, heading for... gonna hit my fuel tank.... I ease off the brake and roll forward about 5' and yep, bump. His front bumper bounces off my drive tires, leavin' a lil' red paint. 'Cause: front wheel car, disc brakes and an inexperienced driver that when he started slidin' he just kept on applying MORE brake! Once those front tires stop rotating, all control is gone... gravity's in charge. I figure the kid learned a valuable lesson, at a very small price. Figured since he admitted going too fast, offered to pay for any damage, apologized 6 ways from Sunday, I didn't have any damage, calling the HP for a report would have more'n likely netted him a ticket and me burnin' any chance of finding a parking spot back at the truckstop!

Don't tailgate a semi... in fact, stay as far away from them as you possibly can. Don't ride beside them. If passing one... don't do it at ½-mph difference, do it like you mean it! Mentally yell out, "HA HA trucker, eat yer heart out, you can't accelerate like that!" If you can't see the driver's eyes in his mirrors, then chances are, you're in his blind spot. Now, what else can you do?

Contact your Congrressman NOW. Help defeat the near unregulated flood of Mexican carriers throughout the U.S. It's bad enough that they're allowed in our border towns. Their "pilot" program only saw the elite Mexican carriers come over. Frankly, US inspectors don't catch our own trashy, poorly maintained trucks, adding to that number with those from a country so rife with corruption will only make our highways less and less safe.

God forbid you have an accident involving one... you better have great uninsured motorists' coverage, 'cause the driver will flee right back over the border and just try to sue the company...
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is asking his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to join him in opposing cross-border trucking with Mexico. He needs your help.
The Congressman needs you to call your Representative in the U.S. House TODAY!
Tell them to oppose cross-border trucking and sign the Hunter Mexican trucking letter!
In the next few days, the Obama Administration and the U.S. DOT plan to release the details of an agreement they have made with the government of Mexico on a new program to allow possibly thousands of Mexico-domiciled trucking companies and truck drivers to operate throughout the United States. From what we know, the agreement fails to address numerous safety, security and economic problems.
Congressman Hunter is asking his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to sign a letter to President Obama telling him to cancel his agreement with Mexico (below).
Every member of the House should sign this letter!
To contact your Representative, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, tell the operator that you want to speak with your Congressman and provide the operator with your home zip code.
You are also welcome to call OOIDA at (800) 444-5791. Association staff will be happy to help you get in touch with your elected officials.
PLEASE CALL!
-----------------------------------------------
(From Congressman Hunter to all Members of the House of Representatives)
Dear Colleague:
Recently an announcement was made that the U.S. and Mexico have reached an agreement regarding cross border trucking. I have concerns over this agreement and hope you will join me in sending a letter to the Secretary of Transportation expressing opposition to this proposal.
Congress has been on record on four occasions, expressing concern and eventually terminating the cross-border trucking demonstration program put in place in 2007. While it is important to remove the unfair tariffs that Mexico has imposed on U.S. agriculture products, it should not come at the expense of the safety of our highways.
Please join me in urging Secretary LaHood to cancel plans for this program.
(Text of the letter)
The Honorable Ray LaHood
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast
Washington, D.C. 20590
Dear Secretary LaHood:
We are writing to express our concerns over the recently announced agreement between the U.S. and Mexico regarding cross border trucking. Based on the information we have received, we continue to have concerns that this proposed program could impact the safety of our roads and may create a security breach along our southern border.
Over the years, Congress has demonstrated its opposition to this ill-advised program. In 2007, votes were taken to require safety related restrictions to the pilot program and, in 2009, the pilot program was terminated by Congress. While we understand the need to work to remove the unfair tariffs that Mexico has imposed on U.S. agriculture products as a result, doing so should not come at the expense of the safety of our highways.
The earlier demonstration project showed serious gaps in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) ability to properly manage the program when they failed to assure that every Mexican truck was properly inspected at the border. This is critical from a safety perspective to ensure that the vehicle is being operated by a licensed driver and has completed a safety inspection. With the limited number of Mexican trucks that participated in this demonstration there is concern with the FMCSA’s ability to properly monitor a future demonstration project.
In addition, it is our understanding that Mexican motor carriers, similar to pending rules for U.S. truckers, will be required to have Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs) on their vehicles. An appalling difference, however, is that funds from the Highway Trust Fund will be used to pay for these devices for Mexican truckers. We feel this is an inappropriate use of the highway funds and an unreasonable expenditure for taxpayers.
More importantly with the recent rise in violence in Mexico and the changing tactics of the Mexican drug cartels, we are also concerned that moving forward with this cross border trucking program at this time is not in the best interests for security along our border. The El Paso Intelligence Center reports that commercial vehicles are widely-used by Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Setting up a program that allows Mexican long-haul trucks to cross the border and move freely throughout the U.S. could increase this method of smuggling by the drug cartels and serve as a resource for their criminal activity.
Again, we do not believe that the Administration should move forward with this cross border trucking program. The current system of Mexican carriers operating within a defined commercial zone is working well for both safety and border security. We urge that the Administration cancel plans for this program.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tell your Representative that you insist that he or she sign Congressman Hunter’s letter!
PLEASE CALL TODAY!
Griff,
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by AJMD429 »

Griff, I remember that here around Indianapolis, in the 1970's, on the 'traffic report' there would be an "overturned semi" maybe once a month, and it was always treated on the news as an unusual event. The past couple years I'm not exaggerating, but I literally hear such a report on the morning traffic report almost every day...!

The only factor I can think of is less well-trained drivers; I wouldn't think the trucks themselves are easier to overturn than before, traffic here isn't that much more congested, the roads are improved, if anything, and unlike most of what passes for 'news' these days, I think the 'traffic reports' seem fairly objective.

You think alot of this is due to all the Mexican drivers?
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Rusty
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Rusty »

Griff, my company as well as others spend millions of dollars a year to make us better drivers. They teach us the Smith system they put G.O.A.L. stickers ( get out and look) on our mirrors they do everything they can and we still have accidents. Maybe it's time the companies started to educate the public. People have no idea how much a truck weighs. A potential 80,000 pounds is the answer. How many Honda Accords is that? They never think of it that way. I actually had a woman tell me one time that she thought I could stop faster than she could because I had "all those tires." Maybe our industry is going about things all wrong. Maybe we need to try to educate the sheelpe too. I know the truck driver will still get the ticket but at least it will give us a fighting chance.

added after edit: BTW we just had a safety meeting last week and we were told that 25% of our accidents were with fixed objects while backing.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Cliff »

Here in my area of Florida I just love some drivers (Non-truckers) who will pull in front and slow down, while scrunching down in their seat, watching the rear view mirror waiting for the impact. Another neat method is the 1-2-3-Go. They want to pull out into traffic, when heavy traffic prevents this they must count to 3 and go. They expect the oncoming vehicles, cars and big rigs to make room for them. Where I live we used to have several high volume roads with a lot of big "Rock" trucks, every winter they helped reduce the idiot pool by a few car loads. They can't see but about 100 feet, so they wait until they see these rock trucks and then pull out in front of them. Like you said, 80,000 pounds don't stop quick. End result is a flattened Buick, amazingly little damage to the big truck. I feel for your troubles. Of course a "rock truck" driver is hired based on his suicidal impulses, lead foot and they get paid by the load. I know a few of them and feel for them putting up with the winter resident drivers. Hope you have safe trips and no loss. Get home safely. ATB
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by GonnePhishin »

Thanks for the valuable information Griff. I always try to pass any semi's as fast as possible, 'cause I hate driving next to those trailer wheels for the reasons you just explained. Safe driving buddy :)
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Rusty
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Rusty »

It's not just the danger of wheels coming off. You should see the damage done to the trucks themselves by a blowout. Blowouts are much more frequent than run away tires. The damage isn't as intense but there is a lot of damage just the same.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by gak »

Griff, great thread/post!
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Nate Kiowa Jones »

Many years ago I drove a truck. I still have my CDL. One of my pet peeves is when the roads are wet and the mist is flying you will have the white or grey colored car with no light on running along side or coming up on you fast. Even if it's not raining you just can't see those fools.
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Griff
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Griff »

AJMD429 wrote:Griff, I remember that here around Indianapolis, in the 1970's, on the 'traffic report' there would be an "overturned semi" maybe once a month, and it was always treated on the news as an unusual event. The past couple years I'm not exaggerating, but I literally hear such a report on the morning traffic report almost every day...!
The only factor I can think of is less well-trained drivers; I wouldn't think the trucks themselves are easier to overturn than before, traffic here isn't that much more congested, the roads are improved, if anything, and unlike most of what passes for 'news' these days, I think the 'traffic reports' seem fairly objective.
You think alot of this is due to all the Mexican drivers?
Some, but certainly not all. Training is one factor, another is sheer economics. In their efforts to keep their trucks filled, companies hire folks underqualified to serve burgers, school train them for 2-3 weeks (sometimes subsidized by State & Fed jobs programs, put them with a "driver-finisher" who puts the finishing touches on their bad habits, usually in a regional setting; then kicks the newly minted "truck driver" out over the road. This works well for those with some folks, those that could pick up on any skills based job. But, the real problem begins earlier, both schools & training companies are paid by the number of graduates, so guess where their incentives are. Company recruiters get portions of their pay based on the NUMBER of warm bodies hired, not even whether the candidate makes it thru their orientation or a probationary period.

But, even with, or maybe because of Indy's improved roads folks are feelin' like they can go faster, yet the curves downtown are no less dangerous. Many other factors can play into each individual incident.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Beaker »

Many years ago I was riding my bicycle home from work on a two lane street when a cement truck approached me coming from the opposite direction. As the truck was passing my by in the oppositel lane it managed to blow a tire out on one of the rear wheels facing me! :o Wow, the concussion from the pressure wave nearly blew me off my bike and my ear was ringing for the rest of the evening.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by horsesoldier03 »

NAFTA sure wasnt a well thought out program. Forces truckers who operate under DOT regs to compete with all the stuff coming north out of Mexico. I cant stand it when I see one of their truck cluttering our highways.

That being said, I did have a US TRUCK DRIVER upset me off the other day. He had a tire coming apart on him just west of topeka on I 70. After I was fairly sure all the chunks had been thrown off I finally decided to go ahead and pass. Sure enough, he was totally aware that the rubber on outer dual of his #4 axle had come apart. The guy continued to maintain approx. 60 mph, he passed 3 exits that I know of and we were still a long ways from any place that could provide assistance. I didnt see any flames but there was definately smoke!
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Rusty »

I think you guys must have awakened the tire gremlins. Monday I was headed north and had the first blowout I've had in the last 3 years. I had to sit 2 1/2 hours waiting on road service.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Griff »

My apologies... mi culpa.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by jcw »

Rusty wrote:Griff, my company as well as others spend millions of dollars a year to make us better drivers. They teach us the Smith system they put G.O.A.L. stickers ( get out and look) on our mirrors they do everything they can and we still have accidents. Maybe it's time the companies started to educate the public. People have no idea how much a truck weighs. A potential 80,000 pounds is the answer. How many Honda Accords is that? They never think of it that way. I actually had a woman tell me one time that she thought I could stop faster than she could because I had "all those tires." Maybe our industry is going about things all wrong. Maybe we need to try to educate the sheelpe too. I know the truck driver will still get the ticket but at least it will give us a fighting chance.

added after edit: BTW we just had a safety meeting last week and we were told that 25% of our accidents were with fixed objects while backing.
I drive tankers for a large international company. we also use the Smith sys., goal stickers, monthly safety meetings etc. Backing accidents seem to be our major problem also. we are supposed to place cones out before backing and most of the drivers in our location do this. It seems kind of goofy at first but you do get out and check the area before backing and marking any hazards. We can access the Smith sys. online at the company site for our family's use at home.
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Re: OT - Truck Safety & Other Issues

Post by Richard »

I've got a lot of respect for you truck drivers and you get no respect from much of the public idots. You make it look easy and I know it's not. :o Califonia drivers, ahh, seven lanes of bumper to bumper traffic all doing 75mph and, try to change lanes . . . . :lol:
Thanks for keeping an eye out and be safe! :D
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