New safety rules for truck drivers

An excellent article by Mike Tierney in Sunday, March 20, 2005's Atlanta Journal Constitution discusses how the new regulations for truck drivers affect Georgia’s motorists. The article gives a good indication on how truck drivers must comply with safety regulations in order to prevent accidents caused by tired drivers.

The link is http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/business_24c3df72f371625a0026.html

or read the article below.

Pushing the limit? - Flap over truckers' hours adds headache to demanding profession

On The Road Again --- A soupy fog sits low and hard on central Georgia, but there is no time to waste. At a cup of coffee past 8 a.m., John "The Englishman" Holman guns his 18-wheeler out of the truck stop lot in Fortson and onto I-185, headed south.

Notwithstanding the 23 1/3 tons of pebbles dragging behind his purple Peterbilt truck, Holman is traveling light. He's carrying a shaving kit, a change of underwear and the real indispensable item: a logbook.

In it, Holman records every last detail of his journey: mileage, tonnage, fuel purchased, state lines crossed and, most critically, hours worked. The pages document for the highway patrol, the truck inspectors, the weigh station staff, the tax man --- whoever wants to look --- that Holman is adhering to the hotly discussed and cussed federal hours-of-service rules for big-rig drivers.

Congress, the courts, federal transportation agencies and highway safety advocates have engaged in a free-for-all over the length of a trucker's workday. For now, it is capped at 14 hours --- 11 behind the wheel, followed by a mandatory 10 hours off duty.

If only the issue were that simple. Factions are debating not only maximum driving hours in a day or a week, but also rest periods between weeks and off-duty periods during the course of a day. Truckers are divided about what they think is best, but mainly they just want regulators to settle on uniform rules and stick with them.

Holman must make room in his cab for a 650-page book of regulations, with an "updated monthly" reminder on the cover. He and many colleagues feel buried by layers of restrictions that an American Trucking Associations spokesman says places the industry second --- behind nuclear power --- for regulation.

Holman opposes daily limits on the clock.

"A grown man knows when to go to bed," says the 48-year-old, his British accent untainted by 15 years in the Columbus area, his home since marrying a local. Perched on an air-suspended seat, fiddling with the dial on his satellite radio, triggering cruise control, Holman equates the ride to a spin in a Cadillac. "After 11 hours," he says, "sometimes I feel like I'm just getting going."

Still, he is one tired trucker --- not from the hours but the headaches, enough to make him ponder a drastic career move. High, volatile gas prices. Ever-changing regulations and ever-thickening traffic. Aggressive drivers who cut in front of him without warning. Separate speed limits for cars and trucks. Random drug tests. Overcrowded parking areas at rest stops. Rules that vary from state to state. Speeding tickets at 5 mph above the limit for trucks while cars whiz by.

When his wife once chided him for having no patience, he told her: "Yes I do, Honey. I just used it all up on the road."

A matter of hours

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Association, charged with reducing injury-causing commercial motor-vehicle-related crashes, implemented the current 11-hour driving shift regulations in January 2004, then hit a roadblock when three public interest groups sued to reduce the road time. The previous edict called for 10 hours' drive time and a 15-hour workday.

Either figure is too long for Public Citizen, which joined with Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and Parents Against Tired Truckers in the suit.

"After eight hours, drivers rapidly decline in their driving skills," Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook says. "Science shows eight hours is the proper amount."

In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington booted the new rules back to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Association for reconsideration. Then Congress intervened in September and locked in the 11-hour formula for one year while the FMCSA re-evaluates it.

The trucking group ATA says it supports the existing format, though it points out the half-dozen states that permit at least 12 hours for intrastate routes haven't reported spikes in accidents. The Teamsters union, with 600,000 card-carrying truckers, also backs the plan, saying the shift is safe and reasonable for drivers.

The FMCSA is accepting suggestions on a Web site from truckers, who are unlikely to reach a consensus because the pressures on independent drivers who own their rigs are different from those on drivers employed by trucking companies or retail fleets. And, because of truckers' innate individualism.

"Truck drivers," Holman says, "can't agree about anything."

'A traveling man'

A former Merchant Marine from the north of England, Holman aspired to life as a chef. He once dabbled in Atlanta's hotel-restaurant business and still wins the occasional cooking contest.

The after-effects of a motorcycle accident that nearly cost Holman his right leg caught up. As arthritis set in, he sought work that could be performed off his feet --- but not from behind a desk.

"I'd always fancied truck driving," he says. "And I've always been a traveling man. There were parts of the country I hadn't seen."

Holman came a decade late to a profession that was glorified in the 1970s for its manifestation of carefree independence: Rolling down uncongested highways, with no boss in sight, and yakking on a high-tech citizens band radio. Media celebrated the occupation, mainly in movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Convoy."

"Trucking used to be a job that attracted people who worked it an entire career," says Todd Spencer, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, whose membership includes Holman.

Now, according to Spencer, trucker turnover exceeds 100 percent annually. "It isn't the people, it's the job," he says, alluding to a bounce in fuel rates that led to repossession of some 250,000 trucks from 2000 to 2002.

Some shipping companies are dealing with a driver shortage by recruiting immigrants and training them to take the wheel. Holman primarily blames gas prices for his substantial net loss last year. "Terrible. The worst I've had," he says.

As a self-employed driver, Holman took enough tax deductions to allow him to stay on the road, above water, even as his peers pulled out in droves.

"I'm almost 50," he says. "It's a young man's deal."

The average driver in the independent group has 18 years' of experience.

"I'm concerned that, when these guys are gone, who's going to come in behind them?" says Spencer, who foresees an influx of younger drivers among the next wave. He frets that, swayed by an immature sense of invincibility, they might push the limits of law and common sense, thus heightening the risk of accidents.

"The difference [in age] between the two is going to play out on the highway."

Dueling studies

Trucks are involved in a disproportionately high rate of fatal accidents. Supporters of stricter regulations cite fatigue as a factor.

Public Citizen has compiled a daunting list of studies that conclude longer hours at the wheel lead to more wrecks, including one that asserts the crash risk for drivers after the eight-hour mark doubles.

The industry answers with findings from its own studies, one that indicates speeding is the leading factor in truck accidents, with drowsiness ranking 11th. In apparent contradiction to the safety group findings, the regulation-setting FMCSA reports that two-thirds of fatal accidents involving trucks occur during the first four hours of a shift, while only 4 percent happen after eight hours.

Passenger vehicles cause three of every four car-truck accidents, attests the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing road injuries.

Holman, who drives ultra-defensively, references that study almost every time a car wiggles dangerously close to him.

"You can't get mad. You have to laugh at it," he says.

Truckers contend the issue of hours at the wheel has been oversimplified by proponents of reduced shifts. While stopped to load and unload cargo, they generally are not paid. And they are at the mercy of the shipper or receiver who can keep them idling for long periods, thus complicating the task of finishing their day within 14 hours.

The average wait, according to Spencer, is between 33 and 43 hours a week. "It's impossible to schedule work and sleep in that scenario," he says, pining for a return to the brief stretch in the early 1980s when truckers were compensated for waits beyond two hours. "It's an astounding time of inaction."

Many observers on this divided highway of opinion contend the new rules have motivated shippers and receivers to load and unload with greater urgency, assuring that their products get delivered on schedule.

"This makes them operate more efficiently," ATA spokesman Mike Russell says.

'It gets in your blood'

By the time Holman traverses into Florida, the sun has burned off all fog, and traffic is light. The truck glimmers, droplets of water flying off from its $65 wash. The scenario reminds him why he chooses to keep on truckin'.

"I do love it," he admits. "It gets in your blood. You are running a business. And you have an office with a view."

Holman has pulled everything from cantaloupes to cadavers. He has driven through every state in the lower 48. His least favorite? "California. They hate truckers," he says, wincing at the memory of a $1,000 ticket for inadvertently listing the wrong day in his logbook.

Holman wishes he had room on his downsized rig for the sticker that graced its predecessor: "If it weren't for truckers, you'd be hungry, homeless and naked."

He frequently reaches for his CB to converse with fellow truckers, assuring them it's safe to change lanes or warning them about "bears" (patrolmen with radar guns) up ahead. Rarely does he pass a truck without a friendly wave.

And he considers work-vacation jaunts last year with his son as suitable for framing. It's some consolation for missed memories: He has been on the road for eight of his son's 12 birthdays, mostly during extended runs to the West Coast.

But as he sinks in financial quicksand, Holman is exploring an option that would separate him from family for much longer periods. He filled out an application to train for a trucking gig in Iraq or Afghanistan, where hefty paychecks are offset by high danger.

For now, Holman navigates his truck through Jacksonville, where he sheds the rocks, then motors a few miles more to load up with limestone. To get as close as possible to the 24 1/2 ton limit without exceeding it, each ton being worth $25 to Holman, he takes three spins onto a scale --- adding a bit here, releasing a bit there. A cheeseburger, bought four hours earlier for the road, is half-eaten. Meal breaks are a luxury and, with less than seven hours to meet time restrictions and check into his $25 hotel room in Monroeville, Ala., he beelines across Florida.

The next morning, after polishing off his first full meal in more than a day, Holman updates his logbook. The expedition, which will conclude with a haul of 24 1/4 tons of white gravel fetched in Shorter, Ala., will generate $613. But he will spend $531 on fuel, which burns at 5 1/2 miles to the gallon, almost as inefficient as a stock car at the Daytona 500. Two tires preceding the trip cost $313. None of which counts the $800 annual license fee, the $180 monthly oil changes, the $700 yearly brake work, the $39.95 a month for an attorney ...

Then again, he will be home by midafternoon, not to depart again until dawn the next morning. "That will feel like a day off," he says.

A thousand miles and 30 hours after embarking, Holman guides his truck north onto I-185N, shifting up to 10th gear and flicking one of 20 switches or knobs next to the wheel. He is in the home stretch, minutes from completing a safe, smooth jaunt, unimpeded by reckless drivers.

Then a car, without signaling, zigs in front of Holman with little room to spare.

He smiles and says, "Must be getting close to Atlanta."

THE ISSUES

How many hours truckers can work each day, currently 11 hours of driving and 14 hours total. Safety groups prefer as few as eight hours of driving.

* Maximum work hours in a week, currently 60.

* The "restart" period, or hours off between weeks, currently 34.

* "Off-duty" hours during the course of a workday, when truckers could eat or rest with the clock stopped, currently none

Black Boxes track speed

This below CNET.com article looks at the advances in technology that may help determine who is at fault for auto and truck accidents.  The "black box" or satellite tracking data is crucial evidence to persue to establish fault and damages in personal injury lawsuits.

http://news.com.com/Rocky+road+for+car+black+boxes/2009-1041_3-5604449.html

by John G. Spooner
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 9, 2005 4:00 AM PST

As James Fitzgerald wheeled his tractor-trailer down Interstate 40 near the Nashville International Airport last summer, little did he know that a small black box aboard the truck might later help clear him of homicide charges.

His truck collided with a police car, killing an officer who had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle. Police alleged that Fitzgerald was traveling at least 80 mph at the time of the crash, and he was jailed on charges of vehicular homicide and aggravated assault.

But the 25-year-old trucker pleaded not guilty, and when his trial begins this summer, the black box will be his star witness. According to Fitzgerald's lawyer, Patrick McNally, data from the device shows that the truck was traveling at the legal limit of 70 mph.

"I think juries are much more inclined to rely upon electronic devices that measure speed than personal opinions of speed," McNally said in an interview with CNET News.com. "We live in an electronic age, and we've all learned to rely on electronic devices."

The case represents an unusual twist in the controversial use of digital information in cars. Although Fitzgerald views his truck's electronic data as a benefit, others say such technologies contribute to an increasingly Orwellian society where individuals' every move is monitored. Many are particularly galled by the notion of applying these technologies to the automobile on the open road, a symbol of American freedom that often represents a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood.

The debate has intensified as manufacturers increasingly turn to high technology to differentiate their products in the hypercompetitive auto market. This tech trend has produced many features that have been credited with improving safety, including airbags, antilock brakes and stability control systems.

The annual death toll from car accidents fell from 43,005 in 2002 to 42,643 in 2003, according to data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA. Injuries from accidents also declined. The agency attributes the changes to more-crashworthy cars and increases in safety belt use.

Despite these operational benefits, however, critics see a dark side to the use of information about motorists derived from devices such as black boxes. Noting that many drivers are unaware that their actions are being recorded, they say rights to privacy could be violated in the absence of regulations governing how the data can be used and interpreted.

"If you were squealing your tires or not wearing your seat belt, they'll say, 'We're going to start sticking you with fines so that you won't do that anymore,'" said Eric Skrum, a spokesman for the National Motorists Association, a group that describes itself as dedicated to protecting the rights and interests of motorists.

Skrum's group, along with the Consumers Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, are among those calling for the establishment of rules ensuring the protection of privacy in the use of black-box data. The Consumers Union and EPIC have raised their concerns in filings to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

In a June 2004 announcement, the NHTSA proposed requiring manufacturers to include information about black boxes in owners' manuals for cars equipped with the technology. Although the federal traffic agency continues to gather feedback on its latest set of black-box recommendations, it's too early to say how the input will shape the agency's final ruling, a representative said. For now, the NHTSA has left it up to the courts to decide whether to admit the data as evidence.

According to the New York Law Journal, for example, a judge allowed information from a black box to be used at the trial of two New York men charged in a collision that left two people dead. The device installed in the men's car, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette, indicates that it was traveling at 130 mph immediately before the crash.

A few states are joining the debate. A California law that went into effect in July 2004 requires manufacturers to provide customers with information on black boxes in cars and states that the data cannot be obtained without a court order or the owner's permission.

In North Dakota, Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg has submitted a bill that would require automakers to disclose the presence of the boxes in new cars' owners' manuals and require dealers to disclose information about them in purchase contracts. The bill would give control of data collected by black boxes to vehicle owners, stating that the data can be downloaded by someone other than the vehicle owner only if it's being used for safety research or diagnosing problems, or if it's court-ordered or needed for crash reconstructions or investigations by law enforcement. The bill would also prevent black-box data from being used in court, unless ordered by the court or allowed by participants in the proceedings.

Holmberg says he believes other state legislators will follow California and North Dakota and begin regulating how black-box data can be used.

"Once it's accepted as something under your seat, it's very easy for, I would say, do-gooders, to say, 'We want to gather more information,'" Holmberg told News.com. However, he said, "I want to make it clear that they do have legitimate purposes for safety and gathering data regarding how a car handles in an accident. I don't have any problem with that."

Various estimates show that 15 percent of the 270 million cars on the road in the United States today contain some type of data-recording device. Roughly 65 percent of the 16.7 million new cars sold in the United States during 2004 were equipped with them, said Kevin Mixer, an analyst with Boston-based market research company AMR Research.

That means the number of black boxes on U.S. roads will rise significantly as newer models are sold. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its announcement last June recommended that manufacturers install the devices in all vehicles beginning in September 2008, though automakers are not required to do so.

General Motors has installed the most black boxes to date, although Ford has also used data recorders widely in its lines. BMW, Chrysler, Honda, Isuzu and Toyota install boxes in some models, Mixer said.

Proponents of the boxes argue that concerns over privacy are overblown. Manufacturers might want to use the data to understand how their vehicles are performing, Mixer said, but "they're not interested in the fact that Kevin has a lead foot."

Others aren't so sure. "If they were being honest about this and it was for research, they could do this through a volunteer process," said Skrum of the National Motorists Association.

From a legal perspective, McNally views black-box data as he does other evidence obtained through a search warrant or wiretap. Courts must balance the competing interests of a vehicle owner's right to privacy against an outside party's interest in knowing specific information.

"When you distill it out to its bare element," McNally said, "a person who's driven a car in a proper manner generally has no problem with someone checking the event data recorder."

Regards,

Mike Neff

Problems with Tractor Trailers

DID YOU KNOW? The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations started in 1935. They apply to professional drivers to help protect the public because a fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. That kind of weight makes a truck much more dangerous than a car.

According to the Federal Safety Regulations, the trucking company has a duty to monitor the driving record of the driver and look for problems. Tractor trailers comprise 3% of vehicles on the road yet are involved in 21% of the fatal wrecks. 64% of truck drivers surveyed were willing to anonymously admit they falsified their hours of service logs.

Falsified log books are common. Many driver’s refer to their time records as “comic books”.  In fact, one out of three trucks fail road side inspections.  Investigation shows that driver fatigue causes 30-40% of truck crashes (National Transportation Safety Board Jan. 1995) 19% of truck drivers said they fell asleep at the wheel in the previous month (NTSB 1992).

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

-5,355 people died in 44,400 truck-related crashes in 1997;

-133,000 were injured; and

-26,000 suffered severe brain damage or loss of limb.

There are plenty of honest, hard working drivers. Unfortunately, there are also greedy, selfish drivers who are acting irresponsible with your safety. If you are involved in a wreck involving a tractor trailer or construction vehicle, you need someone to fight to make sure you receive full compensation. If you want more information about trucking wrecks, contact me at mneff@mlnlaw.com or (404) 531-9700.

Regards,

Michael Neff

Tractor Trailers

Sharing the highways with Tractor Trailers

    Professional truck drivers perform an important service and help keep our nation’s economy moving.  I have respect for all honest, hard working people.  But, some irresponsible drivers and trucking companies put the safety of everyone on the road at risk for profit.

    Professional truck drivers are held to a different standard than the average driver.
A tractor-trailer driver has to be physically qualified, has to pass a road test and written test, and has to follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. 

    Whether they like it or not, motor carriers are in the safety business. By law they need to comply with the safety regulations.  The Safety Regulations are designed to prevent drivers from driving when they are tired.  They limit the number of hours a trucker can work until he or she has to take a break.

    The truck drivers are generally paid by the number of miles they drive not how many hours they work.  Thus, they have an incentive to lie about their work hours so they can drive more miles and make more money.

    Increased competition has brought about lower costs but has put more pressure on the truck drivers to drive faster and longer. As a result, more people die in truck collisions than in all other forms of transportation combined. The number of injuries is virtually countless.  Drivers and Truck Companies who do not follow safety rules and injury innocent people should be punished.  People involved in wrecks involving tractor trailers need a lawyer who is experienced in handling those types of cases.  Because of the safety regulations and other special rules applying to trucking companies, they are not like a typical car accident.