Tag Archives: underride

Super Single Tires Could Offset Cost of Side Guards: Save Weight/Cost/Lives!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

Super single tires (in place of the more common dual tire set-up) on semi-trailers could actually save weight, cost, and — when combined with side guards — lives! Sounds like a Win/Win scenario to me! But don’t take my word for it, read about the potential benefits in this truck driver blogpost:

Essentially, instead of having eighteen tires to support the trailer and truck, only ten will be needed because of the improved design of the tire itself. The super single truck tires can withstand the weight of the trailer and vehicle over the same time period as their dual counterparts. A study performed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed that trucks could save an average of almost 3% on gas or diesel fuel. While 3% may not sound like much, over 125,000 miles and averaging five miles per gallon that results in a savings of 728 gallons per year.

In addition, the new tires actually offer more stability with a wider truck frame. However, the most interesting advantages are that these tires can hold up for about 200,000 miles as opposed to the standard 160,000 miles for the conventional tires. This means that money is saved on replacement as well since the fewer number of super singles which actually last 40,000 miles longer.

However, the main advantage that super singles offer is that they are stronger, yet lighter in weight than their standard counterparts by roughly 1,000 pounds in total. While this weight savings may translate to better fuel mileage, trucking companies see this as being able to add 1,000 more pounds to the cargo. This means that more can be hauled on a single trip which can earn the company even more money than before.

Read more here: http://truck-driver-blog.blogspot.com/2014/10/advantages-of-super-single-truck-tires.html?m=1

Possible Drawback (as mentioned in the video below) is what could happen when there is a tire blow-out.

Additional Citations To Check Out:

Motor carriers consider many factors — and come to different conclusions — as they evaluate wide-base tires versus standard duals for their tractors and trailers Fleets Weigh Benefits, Drawbacks of Wide-Base Tires Versus Duals Transport Topics, April 13, 2020

www.eurekalert.org › pub_releases › drnl-stf080117
Story tips from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National …Aug 1, 2017 – Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Dept. of Energy … derived from old rubber tires, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led research team … Scientists found that single gallium cations are the key to increasing production of …Missing: super ‎| Must include: super

www.greencarcongress.com › 2006/06 › single_widebase
ORNL: Single Wide-Base Truck Tires Improve Fuel Economy …Jun 30, 2006 – Replacing the standard two thinner tires per wheel with a single wide-base tire improves the fuel … Interstate tests by ORNL’s National Transportation Research Center show… … We drive a new truck with super singles.books.google.com › books

Review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership, Second ReportNational Research Council, ‎Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, ‎Board on Energy and Environmental Systems – 2012 – ‎Technology & EngineeringNational Research Council, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, Board on Energy and … ORNL. 2009. Effect of Wide-Based Single Tire on Class-8 Combination Fuel Efficiency. … High Efficiency Clean Combustion for Super Truck.

www.greencarcongress.com › 2006/10 › ornl_launches_n
ORNL Launches Nationwide Heavy-Duty Truck Efficiency Test …Oct 23, 2006 – Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has launched a nationwide test of … Heavy-Duty Truck Efficiency Test; Single Wide Tires a Prime Focus … Earlier interstate tests by ORNL’s National Transportation Research Center … I have seen a few of these trucks pass me, recently, with the super single wheels.

AnnaLeah’s Too-True Story

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, , , ,

True Stories Well Told recently published this all too true tale of AnnaLeah. . .

AnnaLeah was a particularly avid reader with a colorful imagination. She had a myriad ideas written down on random pieces of paper tucked into drawers, filling notebooks, or emailed to herself. She had, in fact, already created in her own mind numerous literary worlds peopled by characters with names and personalities. . .

Read more here: https://truestorieswelltold.com/2019/12/18/annaleahs-too-true-story/

AnnaLeah ever-creative wordsmith.

Daily Glimpse of Underride Death Toll Posted on My Twitter

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

I’m sure that I don’t get alerted to every underride crash in this nation. But I see enough of them to frequently re-kindle my frustration with the lack of significant action on this issue. Apparently, no one person feels the burden resting squarely on their shoulders. Hence, we are left with a disturbing absence of a sense of urgency to solve the problem.

You can catch a dismal glimpse of the daily Underride Death Toll (certainly not an exact count) on my Twitter Profile.

Supplemental Underride Rulemaking Can Create Loophole In New DOT “Rule On Rules” Just Signed By Secretary Chao

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , , , , ,

When supporters of the STOP Underrides! Act of 2019 first hear the news about DOT’s new “rule on rules,” they might moan and sigh and scramble to figure out what next. On December 5, Transportation Secretary solidified the Trump administration’s approach to rulemaking:

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced she has signed a “rule on rules” that will ensure the department’s regulations aren’t too complicated, out of date or contradictory.

When it comes to investigating suspected wrongdoing and enforcing its regulations, the new rules also require the department “where feasible, foster greater private-sector cooperation in enforcement.”

“This effort enhances the Department’s regulatory process by providing greater transparency and strengthening due process in enforcement actions,” Chao said in a statement. Transportation Department cements Trump administration’s deregulatory policies with a ‘rule on rules’

On the one hand, there are hints of good things there in calling for rules that are not out of date, cooperation from the private sector, and greater transparency. But those who have been around the block in safety advocacy are right to be skeptical and devoid of hope for future traffic safety rulemaking.

Yet I remain hopeful knowing that the STOP Underrides Act fits the bill by calling for a Committee On Underride Protection (COUP), whose role is to gather a diverse group of stakeholders to collaboratively keep DOT truly transparent and progressing in underride rulemaking. Will the COUP be included in the upcoming FAST Act language? I’m doing everything that I can to make it a reality.

Now, understandably, it could cause concern that, “The new Transportation Department action formalized a Trump administration requirement that for each regulatory step a department takes, it has to undertake two deregulatory moves.” However, I’m not worried because I know that it would be procedurally acceptable for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to remove the existing 1996 rear underride rules, (two of them — FMVSS 223 & 224), which would satisfy that requirement.

Then, NHTSA could issue a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) as a revision of the December 2015 NPRM underride rulemaking, which was intended to update the 1996 rear underride guard rule. In fact, SNPRMs are a valid means of improving a NPRM — based on Public Comments and new information received subsequent to the initially issued proposed rule.

No one can argue that there has not been plenty of new information on underride which has come to the surface in the last seven years. In fact, the STOP Underrides! Act nicely packages straightforward rules, based on performance standards, to address every form of deadly underride and can easily lead to an Underride SNPRM — all with the help of the Committee On Underride Protection to mold it into the best possible underride protection.

So, in this season of expectant hope, let us eagerly continue a national conversation on the elimination of preventable underride tragedies. Let our goal be to change the face of the trucking industry by making truck crashes more survivable, thus promising a better chance that more people will be home for the holidays.

Members of Congress, Secretary Chao, trucking industry, eager engineers, and families of underride victims, let’s do this together.

(p.s. Let’s also appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman so that motorists and vulnerable road users — victims of every form of traffic violence — can count on a strong voice to authoritatively advocate on their behalf.)

What Will Come Next in the Timeline of Underride Regulatory History?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

People have died under trucks since passenger vehicles and trucks have shared the road. What changes have we seen in underride protection? Here is a Timeline put together by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety for the first Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016.

What’s next? What will the future hold for underride rulemaking? More of the same or significant progress in preventing underride tragedies?

Underride-timeline

Rear Reinforcement Attachment: an aluminum device installed at outer edges of a trailer’s rear underride guard to strengthen it

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , ,

Aaron Kiefer readies his Rear Reinforcement Attachment, an aluminum device installed at the outer edges of a trailer’s rear underride guard to strengthen it — preventing underride to make truck crashes more survivable & save lives.

Making plans for an upcoming crash test in North Carolina. Stay tuned as we work hard to #STOPunderrides!

Why is this needed? See the difference between a weak and strong rear underride guard:

Hundreds of North Carolina State Fairgoers Sign STOP Underrides! Petition

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

The fabulous Fall weather brought out thousands of people to the North Carolina State Fair on Saturday, October 26. At the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) SAFETY TENT, we were ready for the hundreds of people who stopped at our booth. We seized the opportunity to share with them underride stories, photos, and crash test videos.

We didn’t actually keep track, but I would venture a guess that well over 90% of those who took the time to listen to us, and often ask questions, were glad to hear that there was a specific action which they could take after hearing about the horror of underride and how they and their families are vulnerable to this preventable traffic safety problem.

In fact, after they learned that Congress could take action to mandate that available engineering solutions be installed on all large trucks, 263 people were more than willing to sign a paper copy of our STOP Underrides! Petition.

One young woman got tears in her eyes as she was gazing at our poster:

We learned that some years ago, when she was 12, she and her mom crashed into the side of a trailer and were spared complete underride when a piece of the trailer floor somehow lodged into their car preventing it from going any further. She had no idea that underride happens to others and found it a relief to be able to sign the petition.

She wrote in a comment on her petition: The most important piece of legislation!

North Carolina U.S. legislators would do well to pay heed to this clear call from their constituents:

We Want You To STOP Underrides!

On September 3, 1969, Congress discussed UNDERRIDE. How many more people have to die before Congress lays down the law?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

On September 3, 1969, U.S. Congressman Vanik from Ohio was given the floor. He made a lengthy statement, with noteworthy comments about underride protection, including the inadequacy of the proposed regulation for rear underride and the absence of regulations for smaller straight trucks, as well as protection on the sides and front of trucks.

Wait! What? Imagine! Fifty years ago, not only was DOT proposing rulemaking, but the U.S. Congress had become informed on this issue and wanted to see immediate action taken to make comprehensive and effective underride protection on all trucks THE LAW!

Are you listening, Congress? NOW is the time to act! Pass the STOP Underrides Bill into law already!

Too many people have already paid the price since that public Congressional discussion which took place fifty years ago on September 3, 1969. No more.

The standard should be applicable to all vehicles and trucks so that the risk of damage and fatalities resulting from nonmatching bumper guards is permanently and forever removed from American highways.
. . . I hope that your committee will issue a mandate for this regulation next year [1970].
. . . the unsafe conditions resulting from the use of high-front bumpers on heavy trucks are to be evaluated for eventual development of a regulation.

Congressional Record for September 3, 1969

See relevant excerpts from pp. 13-14 and more details in this post:

Congressional Record on Underride 9.3.1969 pp. 13-14

Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride! PETITION

Jury Found Trailer Manufacturer Negligent In Side Underride Death

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , , ,

A New Mexico jury found a trailer manufacturer “negligent” yesterday in a side underride fatality. “The family hopes the verdict ‘sends a message’ to the truck-trailer industry to take measures to prevent underride crashes.” Read more here.

Everyone, please call Congress at this D.C. phone no. and ask for your U.S. Senators and Representatives. When you get transferred to their office, simply tell the staffer that you want their boss to cosponsor the STOP Underrides Bill (S.665 and HR.1511): (202) 224-3121.

Thank you, Eric Hein and family. Thinking of you and all underride victims. Precious ones gone too soon. Never forgotten. 

#STOPunderrides Enough is enough!

Let’s manufacture new trucks that don’t have an underride problem, but let the existing ones stay in operation – as is. Excuse me?!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

I’m a survivor of a truck crash (because my part of the car did not go under the truck) and the mom of two daughters who needlessly lost their lives to preventable rear underride. So I know what I’m saying when I tell you that every part of the STOP Underrides! Act will correct a specific aspect of the underride problem.

It is a comprehensive bill; if any part is left out, it will mean senseless deaths will continue. Any compromise made will be a compromise in human lives — a costly price paid by underride victims, survivors, their families, and all of society in the costs incurred.

Would Congress say, “When you manufacture new airplanes, make sure that they don’t have the problems of the 737 MAX,” and allow the existing ones to stay in operation — as is? In my mind, the question is the same for the underride problem. Will Congress say, “When you manufacture new trucks, make sure that they don’t have the underride problem,” and allow the existing ones to stay in operation — as is?

That would be to knowingly sentence countless people to sure Death By Underride over the next couple of decades until the existing trucks — which have a 10-15 year life — are no longer in service.

It will take an Act of Congress to bring about this needed change in the trucking industry.