Insurance For All Your Commercial Trucking Needs. www.InsureMyRig.com. Please contact us today for a no pressure and speedy quote. Contact Us Or call today
888-931-1934 Our decades worth of experience will make your purchase of commercial insurance easier on you!
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE: On July 30th 2009, a van fatally struck a trucker in the process of placing emergency markers in the road after his trailer became separated from the tractor. According to an item in the Chicago Sun Times, the semi was southbound on I-294 near Chicago when, for an unidentified reason, the trailer’s brakes locked. The trucker was hit while placing road hazard markers around his disabled rig. No citations or charges were issued, but Illinois State Police blamed the driver for getting out on the wrong side of the truck and the fact that there were no taillights operating on the trailer. For truckers and others who make their living on the road, fatal accidents are an all-to-common part of the job. Truck drivers face a disproportionately high risk for fatal crash-related injuries says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In 2004, NIOSH reported that the fatality rate for U.S. heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was approximately 11 times the rate for the general worker population. Because the roadway is not a closed environment, preventing work-related roadway crashes requires strategies that combine traffic safety principles with sound safety management practices. Employers cannot control roadway conditions, but they can promote safer driving by providing safety information to drivers and by setting and enforcing safety policies. NIOSH recommends that fleet owners assign a key member of the management team the responsibility and authority to set and enforce driver safety policies, such as mandatory seat belt use. Other recommendations include instituting programs that teach drivers how to manage fatigue and other distractions.
TEXTING AND TRUCKING DO NOT MIX, PERIOD: Several large-scale, naturalistic driving studies conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), provide a clear picture of how distracting and dangerous cell phone use by truckers is under real-world driving conditions. Using sophisticated cameras and instrumentation in participants' vehicles, researchers were able to continuously observe driver behavior and their communications habits for more than 6 million miles of driving. Analysis revealed manual manipulation of devices such as texting on a cell phone lead to a substantial increase in the risk of being involved in a crash or near-crash. VTTI’s research showed that text messaging had the highest risk; over 20 times worse than driving while not using a phone.
CRUDE DECLINES: In spite of declarations that the recession is over, a surprise drop in consumer confidence data pushed the price of crude oil to $67.51 a barrel, the lowest finish since July 30th, according to The Wall Street Journal August 15th. This downward pressure on the price of oil is sure to reverse recent upward trends in the price of diesel fuel which climbed about 3 cents per gallon to $2.55 by August 3rd. While the price of oil and diesel fuel are generally responding to market forces, many agree speculators drove crude oil past $140 per barrel and diesel fuel hit $4.50 per gallon. Responding to the potential economic harm speculators can bring, Schneider National Inc. Vice President, Steven Graham, testified at a recent hearing that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission must act to increase transparency in energy markets and curtail excessive speculation by establishing aggregate position limits. Testifying for the American Trucking Association, Graham told the Commission that these measures will reduce volatility and ensure commodity prices are connected to the market fundamentals of supply and demand.
HEAVY-HAULING HYBRID: Detroit-based supplier ArvinMeritor recently introduced a Class 8 hybrid truck that the manufacturer claims could save 3,000 gallons of fuel annually. TheDetroitBureau.com’s Paul A. Eisenstein reports that it is common for a Class 8 truck to log more than 100,000 miles a year, and that six miles per gallon is considered good fuel economy. That could change, said Eisenstein, if ArvinMeritor can move from concept to production with its heavy-duty, hybrid-electric truck. The lithium ion-based system should reduce a typical truck’s fuel consumption by 15–20%, company officials told U.S. Energy Secretary Carol Browner during a recent meeting. At the rig’s debut, company officials agreed that “a fair estimate” of the truck’s cost would be $25,000 to $40,000 above the typical $100,000 price tag of a well-equipped truck cab with sleeper. At that price, said an ArvinMeritor spokesman, a trucker or fleet owner could potentially achieve payback within three years; in other words, the fuel savings would more than cover the added cost of the hybrid system. At speeds up to 50 mph, the concept truck operates as a serial hybrid. Its 435-horsepower Cummins diesel serves as a generator. The wheels are driven entirely by a set of electric motors generating between 250 and 450 hp. Above 50 mph, the system seamlessly converts to a parallel hybrid, with the wheels powered by both the diesel and the electric motors. Even standing still the hybrid system could save fuel, reports Eisenstein. Like passenger car hybrids, the system is capable of temporarily shutting down its big diesel engine while idling, automatically firing it back up when it’s time to move, and the cab could be switched to pure electric power when a driver was “hoteling” at night.
GROWING TECHNICIAN TALENT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: According to Fleet Equipment magazine’s Tom Gelinas “While the downturn in our economy has had dramatic effects on most facets of American industry, trucking included, it also offers potential opportunities for fleet managers.” In the magazine’s July issue, Gelinas explains in his article “Offer Opportunity,” that just a couple of years ago many maintenance managers were bemoaning the unavailability of qualified technicians to fill vacancies. With decreased demand in today’s economy, many truck maintenance facilities are cutting shop positions making available some highly qualified individuals. For fleets in a position to take advantage of the situation, the question then becomes: How can a maintenance manager put together a program that helps retain good people? The answer, said Gelinas, is opportunity––opportunity for technicians to grow professionally at a pace they can handle. Know your people. Know what they want to do. Know what they’re capable of doing, give them the opportunity to do it, and reward them when they do. If you do this, you’ll be rewarded with stable, loyal staff when others may be saying, “I can’t find any good technicians.”
OVER-THE-ROAD FITNESS PROGRAM: Aside from their safety out on the road, truckers also have to worry about a litany of other health issues. On July 30th, KITV, a Sioux City, IA, TV station reported that a local hospital is developing a program to help drivers get healthy and stay safe. Drivers spend a lot of time in the saddle and according to the report, sitting can actually do damage to your body. It is well-known truckers have a lot of stress on their bodies; and that their jobs are physically demanding. Such stress can lead to low back, neck and arm pain over time. However, not if those truckers "get moving," said physical therapist Jerry DeWit, at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars, Iowa. DeWit designed a three-phase program that moves truckers from first gear to overdrive. "We have four or five stretches targeting the areas that tend to get shortened or tighter, and then four or five strengthening activities targeted for the muscles they're going to use and need." (Imagine doing push-ups against the step on the fuel tank.) DeWit suggests drivers go for a short walk while filling up with fuel, or while loading or unloading the trailer. The idea is to regularly get muscles moving and hearts pumping, which in turn will give drivers more energy for the road ahead. DeWit said truckers may not be the only ones to see a benefit from the program. Companies stand to gain as well. "Less sick days, less worker change over, less injured workers," said DeWit.
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. Plato
