Last Updated: April 26, 2012

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Roemer Report – February 2012

GIVE US A CALL, but not while driving. By the time you read this it may be old news, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s cell phone ban will soon be law. In the meantime, there have been many questions surrounding the legislation and what the ban actually encompasses. First off, the fines are steep—violating the cell phone ban could cost a driver as much as $2,750 and civil penalties, employers could face a fine up to $11,000. According to the rule you cannot while driving operate a hand-held phone which means any phone that requires at least one hand to conduct communications. In addition, dialing a phone by pressing more than one button or reaching for a phone that would place the driver to reach beyond a seated driving position is prohibited. Phones in a holder that require a touch of one button are okay, hands-free phones are okay, voice activated phones are okay, and so are CB radios. A similar ban is also pending for ALL vehicles on the road, not just motor carriers.

THE LATEST annual truck safety statistics have been released, and the number of trucks involved in fatality accidents fell over 30% between 2007 – 2009. Tractor-semi trailers accounted for over 60% of the fatal crashes, and driver related factors, e.g. speeding, were involved in 31% of the fatal wrecks. While these statistics do indicate improvement, driver-related factors still account for about a third of all fatal crashes—safer driving can indeed save lives. Contrary to this these long term statistics however is the report that truck-related fatalities increased 8.7% in 2010.

THE INCREASE IN FATALITIES in 2010 is the ammunition that advocates of the revised HOS final rule are using as evidence that a shift from 11 to 10 hours is warranted—here it seems that the longer term statistics are being ignored. The is no question that the new HOS rule will be challenged in court, both drivers and owners have opposed the rule citing lower wages and less revenue per truck. The 11 hour HOS rule has been in place since 2004.

LINDSAY LAWLER has a big following in the trucking industry, and to pay gratitude her latest music video on YouTube (“Highway Angel”) pays tribute to those truckers who help motorists each day on the highways. The Truckload Carriers Association has asked everybody to pass along a link to the video that works to change the public’s perception of truckers. Let’s help this go viral – go to http://www.youtube.com/highwayangelvideo and pass it along.

WHAT DOES BIPARTISAN MEAN? Its been so long since that word has come up we have to remind ourselves what it means. Yet still, a large group from both parties of the House have pledged to work with President Obama on a six-year highway reauthorization bill—obviously funding will be an issue, but a group of Democrats and Republicans have started a dialog and seem willing to work together on a variety of funding options. Write to your representative and let’s see if we can get this done.

VIDEO CAMERAS will be the next controversy coming down the pike. As part of the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to ban cell phone use, tucked away deep inside the same document was a recommendation that all heavy commercial vehicles be equipped with video event cameras that can capture data in connection with the driver and the outside environment in the event of of crash or sudden deceleration. At this point this is only a recommendation, but you can bet we will be hearing more about this in the future—stay tuned.

Today’s Quote: We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible. -Vince Lombardi