Tag Archives: driver fatigue

What Came After The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition?

March 8, 2015AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safetydriver fatigue, FMCSA, minimum liability insurance, NHTSA, petition, underride guardsMarianne

Last year at this time, our family was intensely involved in preparing to launch The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition. After our truck crash and tragic loss of the Mary and AnnaLeah, we learned about many things that needed changing to prevent other families from facing similar grief.

When Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx promised that we would see tangible progress in a short time on truck safety issues, and 6 months later we had not, we decided to take our request to DOT on the first anniversary of our crash and invited other people to join us by signing our petition.

Last March, after brainstorming with our family, two of our sons were designing a website for the petition, but as time was getting short to launch the petition and we wanted to make sure that everything would go without a hitch, we changed course and applied all that hard work to an existing site, Care2 The Petition Site. And on March 19, we launched the petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/501/869/stand-up-for-truck-safety/

And we shared our story: https://youtu.be/I-WQBEDpTVw

We were amazed as the numbers started rising and quickly surpassed our hopes. By the time May rolled around, we had over 11,000 signatures on our petition. We printed each signature as an individual petition and stuffed it in an envelope and delivered these envelopes in person on May 5, 2014, in Washington, DC.

Here is a graph showing the number of signatures by state:

Eight members of our family, including our grandson and granddaughter traveled to Washington, DC and sat down with administrative officials from NHTSA and FMCSA. We were well received, presented our concerns, heard from them on their efforts, and had a productive discussion. And here are the “notes” which our 4 year-old granddaughter, Vanessa, took at that meeting:

We are proud of our family and thankful for the many people who stood with us to voice these vital concerns.

What came out of our petition and the meeting we had with DOT that day? Did it make a difference? Here are the three requests which we made in the petition and what has come about:

First Request: Raise minimum levels of insurance required for truck drivers–which has not been done for over 30 years.
Result: In November 2014, the FMCSA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) announcing that they are considering a proposed rule to increase the minimum liability insurance coverage for motor carriers. https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/11/28/2014-28076/financial-responsibility-for-motor-carriers-freight-forwarders-and-brokers https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/good-news-fmcsa-announces-first-step-toward-increasing-minimum-liability-for-trucker-insurance/ https://www.facebook.com/464993830249803/photos/a.465869083495611.1073741828.464993830249803/741290079286842/
The period for Public Comments ended on February 26. The 11,391 signatures from our petition were added to these Public Comments. This will be followed by a review of these comments and a decision about whether to actually proceed with a rulemaking process.
Second Request: Decrease driver fatigue and monitor their hours on the road with Electronic Logging Devices.
Result: The Petition’s 11,000+ signatures were also added to the Public Comments for the Electronic Logging Device Rule. The comment period ended May 27, 2014. “In a departure from a report issued in mid-February, the Department of Transportation has changed its expected publication date for a Final Rule mandating the use of electronic logging devices, according to a supplemental report issued by the DOT last week. It now expects the rule to be published Sept. 30.” http://www.overdriveonline.com/fmcsa-alters-course-on-e-log-mandate-shoots-for-sept-30-rule-publication/#
Third Request: Take needed steps to improve underride guards, which prevent vehicles from sliding under trucks–causing horrific injuries and tragic deaths.
Result: On July 9, I posted the good news that NHTSA had initiated a rulemaking process on underride guards: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/nhtsa-has-initiated-a-rulemaking-process-to-evaluate-options-for-improving-underride-guards/
The Rulemaking Process is lengthy and often fraught with delays. It is a miracle that anything gets done. This is what the Federal Register posting says at the end: “The agency notes that its granting of the petition submitted by Ms. Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition does not prejudge the outcome of the rulemaking or necessarily mean that a final rule will be issued. The determination of whether to issue a rule will be made after study of the requested action and the various alternatives in the course of the rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria.” https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-guards-rear-impact-protection Here is an outline of that process: https://www.federalregister.gov/uploads/2011/01/the_rulemaking_process.pdf
Underride guards and our story were featured in the Fall 2014 IIHS Status Report: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/10/iihs-reports-on-new-crash-testing-for-improved-underride-guards/

The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition is still open. People are still finding it and signing it (without our doing a thing to promote it). People care about this issue and we want you to know that we are being heard and that we are continuing to advocate for safer roads.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/501/869/stand-up-for-truck-safety/

At some point, we hope to send out a final update to all of the petition signers (now at 11,530 plus the 150 people who sent a paper petition to us)–letting them know about the progress made and encouraging them to stay in contact.

When we were getting ready to go to DC last year, one of our sons asked what we would do after the petition was over–would we still do truck safety advocacy? I said I didn’t know. . . but here I still am–continuing to keep track of what is going on, writing, writing, writing, and speaking up for all of us who are vulnerable on the roads, calling for action in matters of life & death.

Truck Crashes: Who Pays The Price?

January 28, 2015Truck Safetyaccountability, driver fatigue, justice, reckless homicide, trucking companiesMarianne

Just saw an article about a state trooper who was injured in a truck crash. He is pushing for a stiffer charge against the trucker. Finding resistance to his attempt. . .

Imagine that.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora/ct-trooper-news-conference-met-0128-20150127-story.html

In a related link, it is clear that attempts to hold trucking companies responsible for the actions of their drivers also too often fall short. Who pays the price?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-lisle/chi-naperville-trucking-company-wins-ruling-to-return-to-road-20140416-story.html

Unless things change in a major way, there will continue to be countless, similar cases where enforcement is compromised and accountability is absent. I have addressed the issue of justice previously: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/justice/

The Trucking Alliance Speaks Out on Hours of Service Rules

January 10, 2015Truck Safetydriver fatigue, electronic logging devices, enforcement, hours of service, impaired driving, minimum insurance, speed governorsMarianne

The Trucking Alliance, in October 2014, made a statement about truck drivers’ hours of service rules which included the following:

“The stark reality is that until there’s a way to verify industry compliance it doesn’t matter what the federal government’s hours of service rules are for truck drivers, because truck drivers can simply ignore these federal rules. *

They can choose to drive as many hours as they want to drive, and they do every day, because truck drivers are only required to fill out a paper logbook, writing down their driving time, and paper logbooks are easily falsified.

Enforcement of these federal hours of service rules relies on state commercial vehicle safety agencies to conduct roadside reviews and audits. While these agencies perform well, they are largely underfunded and undermanned to assure the public that truck drivers are obeying the law.

So nobody really knows who is and who is not following these federal hours of service rules because paper logbooks easily allow truck drivers to exceed their maximum number of hours behind the wheel.

That’s why the Alliance prefers a deliberate process in which a 2012 congressional mandate is accelerated to require electronic logging devices in all commercial trucks.Congress actually passed this legislation in its last transportation reauthorization bill, called MAP-21, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is almost two years behind schedule in implementing this critically important law, a measure that will truly improve highway safety. Every effort should be made to urge the Department of Transportation to accelerate the timeframe for implementing the electronic logging device law, sooner than later.

These electronic logging devices will record driving data that won’t lie. Technology will assure compliance with current rules and also provide objective data to determine how many hours of driving time for truck drivers should be allowed.

Additionally, the Alliance believes that other safety measures can do as much to reduce the number of accidents involving commercial truck drivers and motorists as these hours of service rules. For example, we support another congressional mandate passed in 2012 – to create a national drug and alcohol clearinghouse, which will help identify people who have previously tested positive on a drug and alcohol exam to become a truck driver, as well as related legislation now pending before Congress that will recognize even more effective methods to identify lifestyle drug abusers and keep them out of trucks.

The Alliance also supports speed governors on commercial trucks, an increase in the minimum insurance level for trucking companies and incentives to adopt other commercial safety technologies to reduce accidents on our nation’s highways. These measures will help ensure fewer accidents and safer highways for all Americans.”

Lane Chandler Kidd, Managing Director

October 16, 2014

http://truckingalliance.org/news/32/statement-on-continuing-debate-about-truck-drivers-hours-of-service-rules

* We addressed these issues as they related to our crash in a previous post: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/08/law-enforcement-with-justice-for-all-balancing-truth-love/

Also, here is an update on Electronic Logging Devices from September 2014: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/09/update-on-electronic-logging-devices/

Trucking Fatalities Increase for Fourth Year in a Row; Hours of Service Rules Rolled Back

December 19, 2014AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safetydriver fatigue, HOS rules, truck crash fatalitiesMarianne

Here I am trying to get ready for Christmas and I cannot keep up with all of the articles and actions related to truck safety. For the sake of time, I will post some links here so that you can check them out in between your holiday festivities.

I read this report, “U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Decline in Traffic Fatalities in 2013“: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2014/traffic-deaths-decline-in-2013

So I decided to write to NHTSA with my concern about the increase in truck crash fatalities compared to the decline in traffic fatalities overall:

David,

This is just a knee jerk reaction, but I saw your recent report on decline in traffic fatalities. I don’t know the trend in truck crash fatalities since 2004, but I see, from your report, the last three years:

Fatalities in Crashes Involving Large Trucks

2013: 3,964

2012: 3,944

2011: 3,781

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2014/traffic-deaths-decline-in-2013

I am glad to see that there is an overall decrease in traffic fatalities, however, I don’t see a downward trend in those three years for truck crash fatalities.

2013: AnnaLeah + Mary + 3962 other loved ones.

Thank you for all you do to improve truck safety.

Marianne

Then, I read this article that came out this afternoon (why am I not surprised?), “Trucking Fatalities Increase for Fourth Year in a Row“: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-19/trucking-fatalities-increase-for-fourth-year-in-a-row.html
See p. 4 of this summary:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812101.pdf
Check out the report, ” 2013 Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview”: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812101.pdf
And this news about fatalities follows the roll back by Congress in Trucker Hours of Service Rules as reported in numerous articles: http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/more-drowsy-overworked-truck-drivers/?_r=1 ; http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/12/editorial_suspension_of_trucker_rest_rules_means_danger_for_njs_crowded_highways.html ; https://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/extended-workweek-alarms-trucking-safety-advocates-2733533 ; https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/battle-over-trucker-34-hour-restart-rule-is-over-for-now/ ; http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/12/16/the-department-of-transportation-wants-truckers-to-sleep-more-congress-said-no/
A reporter accompanied a truck driver on a 6 day trip; “Six Days on Fumes: A Trucker’s Search for Starbucks and Sleep”: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-18/six-days-on-fumes-a-trucker-s-search-for-starbucks-and-sleep.html

Battle Over Trucker 34-hour Restart Rule is Over–For Now

December 16, 2014Truck Safetydriver fatigue, FMCSA regulations, HOS, hours of serviceMarianne

The Senate voted on Saturday evening and passed the Omnibus Bill which included Senator Collins’ rider to rollback trucking Hours of Service rules related to the 34-hour restart rule.

Read more here from the Truck Safety Coalition: https://www.facebook.com/trucksafetycoalition/posts/966491546711789

Bloomberg News reports on this issue as well: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-15/maine-senator-is-again-friend-to-trucking-as-rule-eased.html

A previous post spells out the facts of Senator Collins’ rider: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/urgent-express-your-opposition-to-longer-hours-for-truck-drivers/

Truck Crash Moment: A truck driver’s actions forever divided time into Before & After

December 13, 2014AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safetydriver fatigue, drowsy driving, hours of service, truck safetyMarianne

Mary & AnnaLeah Before

Truck Crash Moment

Annaleah & Mary After

A Mother’s Letter In Response To Senator Collins’ Deadly And Dangerous Provision To Increase Working Hours For Truck Drivers

December 7, 2014Truck SafetyCollins Amendment, driver fatigue, hours of service, truck driversMarianne

Here is a letter written by another mother who lost her son due to a truck crash. She does not pull any punches when asking her senator why she only responds to the needs of the trucking industry and not the families of victims.

http://trucksafety.org/read-daphne-izers-letter-in-response-to-senator-collins-deadly-and-dangerous-provision-to-increase-working-hours-fortruck-drivers/

URGENT: Express Your Opposition to Longer Hours for Truck Drivers

December 4, 2014Truck Safetydriver fatigue, hours of service, how you can helpMarianne

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS FROM THE Truck Safety Coalition (December 4, 2014). . .

Right now, Appropriations Committee Leaders are deliberating over whether to include a provision to increase truck driver weekly work hours from 70 to 82 hours, and reduce their rest time, each week. This provision was originally introduced by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) as an amendment. We sent out an action alert this morning asking you to reach out to Appropriations Committee Leaders to express your opposition to longer hours and less rest for truck drivers. Please call all if you can, but if you are limited on time, please reach out to as many as possible. I have attached their contact information at the end of this email. Each call should only take a few minutes and I have included talking points below:

Talking Points:

According to the U.S. DOT, in 2012, each day, on average, 11 people died in truck crashes and 200 more were injured.
Truck driver fatigue has been recognized as a major safety concern and a contributing factor to fatal truck crashes for over 70 years.
FMCSA studies have shown that 65 percent of truck drivers report that they often or sometimes feel drowsy while driving and nearly half of truck drivers admit that they had actually fallen asleep while driving in the previous year.
Truck driving is consistently listed as one of the top ten most dangerous jobs in the U.S. In 2011, fatalities among large truck occupants increased 20 percent, and by another 9 percent in 2012.

The Collins Amendment would weaken the HOS rule and:

Dramatically increase the allowable working hours of truck drivers from the current average of about 70 hours a week to more than 80 hours a week. This is equivalent to adding an additional work day to the work week of a truck driver.
Allow shippers and supervisors to once again push drivers to work an average work week of up to 82 hours every week. This is double the normal work week of the average American worker and without any overtime pay or compensation.

The current HOS rule will:

Prevent approximately 1,400 crashes each year – saving 19 lives and avoiding 560 injuries;
Provide $280 million in annual savings from fewer crashes and $470 million in annual savings from improved driver health (i.e., reduced mortality).

The current HOS rule DOES NOT:

Restrict a driver from driving at night. In fact, the current rule places no restrictions on when a truck driver must drive. Unless a driver is absolutely maxing out their driving time and trying to drive more than the 60 or 70 hours currently permitted, there is also no restriction on when they have to take a break.
Moreover, the rule does not specify when that driver must go back on the road after the break. Add More Trucks to the road. Changes to the requirements for rest periods do not have any effect on the amount of freight shipped.
A recent survey conducted by Lake Research Partners shows an overwhelming majority of the American public is aware of the dangers of truck driver fatigue and rationally opposes legislative efforts to increase truck driver working hours. This opposition is broad, spanning all demographic, geographic and political groups.

THE POLL REVEALS THAT: 80% ARE OPPOSED TO LONGER WORK WEEKS FOR TRUCK DRIVERS; AND, 80% SAY THEY WOULD FEEL LESS SAFE IF LEGISLATION WERE PASSED TO RAISE THE NUMBER OF HOURS A SEMI-TRUCK DRIVER IS ALLOWED TO WORK IN A WEEK FROM 70 TO 82 HOURS. Opposition to the proposed legislation and longer hours for truck drivers:

has strong bipartisan support;
is strong in all regions of the country; and,
is strong across gender, and racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Thank you for all your work. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Senate Leaders: Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) brigid_houton@appropriations.senate.gov 202-224-4654

Appropriations Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) jay_dunn@shelby.senate.gov 202-224-5744

Appropriations THUD Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) carrie_gage@murray.senate.gov 202-224-2621

House Leaders:

Appropriations Chairman Hal Rodgers (R-KY) shannon.rickett@mail.house.gov 202-225-4601

Appropriations Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) drew.jacoby@mail.house.gov 202-225-6506

Appropriations THUD Subcommittee Chairman Tom Latham (R-IA) doug.bobbitt@mail.house.gov 202-225-5476

Appropriations THUD Subcommittee Ranking Member Ed Pastor (D-AZ) doug.gascon@mail.house.gov 202-225-4065

Bloomberg News: In-Depth Reports on Trucking Safety Issues

October 17, 2014Truck Safetydriver fatigue, hours of service, truck driver training, truck safety, underride guardsMarianne

Check out these in-depth articles on issues related to safety on the road.

The Rest of the Story

October 1, 2014AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safetydriver fatigue, drowsy fatigue, electronic logging devices, minimum insurance, minimum liability, safety advocacy, underride guardsMarianne

If you took the time to read about our crash in the Bloomberg News article published today, please don’t stop there. I want you to understand the entire scope of our concern about truck safety; and it is NOT all about being upset with the truck drivers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-01/mom-takes-on-truckers-after-highway-wreck-kills-daughters.html

Please read the post I wrote back in July, called “Our Crash Was Not An Accident.” It summarizes what I am trying to say and why, if we really want changes made in truck safety, we cannot just read and talk and complain about it.

We need to solve this problem together.

https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/our-crash-was-not-an-accident/