Archive for July, 2011
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Trucking companies having been turning down load requests due to unavailability. Manufacturers are experiencing backups on their docks and late or canceled appointments due to the hard time they are having finding a trucking company with the capacity to move their freight.
The problem is not so much as having a large enough fleet to accompany incoming freight requests but having enough drivers to transport these goods. And that problem is about to get worse.
Come next year, the driver shortage is expected to hit 200,000, this number increasing to nearly 2 million by 2018, The U.S. Department of Transportation predicts (http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/oxford-news/shortage-of-drivers-looms-for-u-s-trucking-industry–1217966.html).
According to The Oxford Press, 3.5 million drivers are employed annually, and with the average driver being 51-years-old, many of those entering into the industry are of the new generation replacing jobs from those who have retired. But there are problems associated with a younger generation.
As the site notes, individuals drawn into the trucking industry for a variety of reasons, often find that their expectations are not fully met, leading only about 10 percent to remain in the industry.
Whereas regional transport companies may allow drivers to work a more regular workday with weekends off, this is often not the case in the trucking industry, the site explains. It is this younger generation that is often tossed into unwanted hours/days in what is called a Catch-22… “recent graduates need experience to get the job they want but cannot get it unless they “pay their dues” working for companies that may have them out for longer periods of time,” and this draws them out of the industry, the site continues.
This leads to another problem with a new generation of drivers…inexperience. New regulations such as the CSA 2010, revised hours of service (HOS) proposal, as well as more advanced drug testing (see Follicle Drug Testing Further Adds to Driver Shortage, Reducing Availability by Nearly 15 Percent) set out to remove unsafe drivers from the roads in an effort to prevent accidents and open the door of opportunity for more qualified drivers.
Although regulations may be tougher, that shouldn’t stop you from pursuing a career in truck driving. Just look at all of the opportunities Road Scholar offers their drivers:
-Excellent Pay
-Benefits
-Full-time employees are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package
-Flexibility
-…in work schedules (Full-time and Part-time positions available)
-Home time!
-Great Work Environment
-An operations team that is friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable
-No discrimination
-Excellent equipment (We’ve never been cited for a piece of faulty equipment in an accident!)
-Once-in-a-Lifetime Experiences
-The ability to see new places/sights and meet new people
-Make a Difference
-Road Scholar Transport created the 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign, dedicating several trucks to charities such as Autism Speaks, Prostate Cancer Awareness, and the Children’s Craniofacial Foundation to help spread awareness and fight for a cure.
Apply today at http://www.roadscholar.com/employment.php.
State your comments/suggestions regarding the driver shortage below.
Tags: 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign, Autism Speaks, awareness program, benefits, Catch-22, Children’s Craniofacial Foundation, CSA 2010, dock, driver shortage, drug test, fleet, follicle drug test, freight, HOS, hours of service, job, manufacturer, occupations, opportunities, prostate cancer, road scholar transport, The Oxford Press, transport, trucking company, U.S. Department of Transportation
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
(The following information is based on the NHTSA’s ruling located in the Federal Register and available at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2009-0175-0006)
Earlier this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a new requirement for the stopping distance of truck tractors, in response to an earlier ruling.
In July of 2009, the agency issued a ruling requiring an improved stopping distance for heavy trucks, reducing the distance of trucks traveling at 60 mph from 355 feet to 250 feet, allowing a minority of very heavy tractors a stopping distance of 310 feet.
The ruling, however, sparked the response of eight petitions based on four main issues. One of them, having to do with the stopping distance requirements, was challenged by the TMA, HDBMC, and Bendix, who believed that “speeds lower than 60 mph have not been validated through actual vehicle test data” and that “the brake timing may be too fast for some vehicle configurations.”
Therefore, the NHTSA was asked to remove the new requirements until tests could be conducted and results obtained. The NHTSA accepted and “required compliance with the improved stopping distance requirements for tractors with four or more axles and a GVWR of 59,600 pounds or less by August 1, 2013.”
NHTSA conducted tests analyzing the stopping distance of a tractor trailer traveling at 60 mph, 55 mph, 50 mph, and so on down to 20 mph, repeating the test with a lightly loaded vehicle weight (excluding the trailer).
The results showed that when the tractor was loaded to GVWR and traveling at 20 mph, it obtained a stopping distance of 31.2 feet…1.2 feet more than the required amount.
After gathering all of the results, the NHTSA decided that the requirements may not be practicable and increased the stopping distance for a loaded truck traveling at 20 mph from 30 to 32 feet and for an empty tractor traveling at the same speed from 28 to 30 feet.
The NHTSA’s new ruling will become effective on Monday, August 1st with petitions being accepted up until September 12th.
How is Road Scholar Transport improving their stopping distance? We have equipped all of our new tractors with disc brakes for safety as well as purchased trucks with the Bendix Wingman ACB System which works to maintain a set distance of 8/10ths of a mile marker behind a forward vehicle, preventing accidents by automatically reducing the throttle, using the engine retarder, or applying the brakes.
Wouldn’t you rather your freight onboard trucks equipped with anti-crash technology? If so, then visit www.roadscholar.com to schedule your LTL or truckload freight.
What do you think of the NHTSA’s stopping distance requirements?
Tags: ACB System, Bendix, brakes, engine retarder, federal register, GVWR, HDBMC, heavy trucks, LTL freight, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, road scholar transport, stopping distance, throttle, TMA, tractor-trailer, truckload freight
Posted in LTL freight, Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
It’s an initiative that has put smiles on faces, tears to the eyes, and even saved lives. It’s called the “Pay it Forward Challenge” and it has now entered into the trucking industry.
We’ve seen it done by Oprah back in 2006 when she handed over 300 people $1,000 and challenged them to use the money to help others in need. We’ve even seen the release of the “Pay it Forward” movie in 2000.
Whether it be paying for a cup of coffee for the person behind you at the drive-through or buying a meal for a homeless person, acts such as these have been making news for years now, especially around Christmas time.
And it’s not any different for the trucking industry. For the past two years, trucking companies have been handing out money to their employees asking them to; in return, use it as a charitable donation towards others.
The challenge has been widely successful, even helping save people’s lives. As one trucking company notes, one of their employees forwarded their money onto a man in need of a dentist. It turned out that the man had oral cancer and would not have known it if he didn’t receive the money to go in the first place (http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=74265).
But there are so many people in need of help. That’s why the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has presented a “Pay it Forward” challenge to all carriers.
The challenge asks carriers to distribute $100 to randomly selected employees of their company with the purpose of these people spending all of the money on a charitable cause/purpose. According to truckinginfo.com, the TCA recommends that the money be given three weeks prior to the December holiday season, with those participating reporting one month later on what they spent the money on and what difference it made in the person(s)’ lives.
As the TCA adds, not only will the “Pay it Forward” initiative aid many who are in need, it will also help the trucking industry’s reputation, truckinginfo.com states.
Road Scholar Transport is one trucking company that has been helping those in need for years with its 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign.
It started with a single pink tractor trailer dedicated to Breast Cancer awareness and has grown to supporting close to two dozen (and growing) different charities/organizations in need of help.
Traveling nationwide to deliver your LTL and Truckload freight, stopping at events along the way, Road Scholar is spreading a message for Autism Speaks, Make-a-Wish Foundation, The Children’s Craniofacial Foundation, and more. Visit www.roadscholarawareness.org to view Road Scholar’s awareness trucks and don’t forget to keep the awareness going by booking your freight today at www.roadscholar.com.
What would you do to “Pay it Forward” if you were handed $100?
Tags: 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign, Autism Speaks, awareness truck, breast cancer, carriers, charity, dentist, LTL freight, Make a Wish Foundation, Oprah, oral cancer, pay it forward, road scholar transport, TCA, The Children’s Craniofacial Foundation, trucking company, trucking industry, Truckload Carriers Association, truckload freight
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, LTL freight, Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Monday, July 25th, 2011
In their 13th volume edition of The Economic Review (TER), the American Trucking Associations (ATA)’s Vice President and Chief Economist Bob Costello addressed several factors that could affect the outlook of the U.S. economy.
One of these challenges is the housing division, which is experiencing a drop in prices (down 3.9% since April 2010) due to tougher credit applications and low incomes, TER notes.
Although in the last two months, payrolls have increased a total of 43,000, Costello explains that “At this stage in the recovery, we should be creating an average of 175,000 per month, or more.”
So why the low number of jobs? As Costello states, businesses are demonstrating a lack of confidence, some feeling that we are still in a recession. At Road Scholar Transport, we believe that we are recession proof as long as we continue to put forth the hard work and effort we have doing for years.
Road Scholar Transport has the confidence and is always looking to hire drivers, offering excellent pay, bonuses, benefits, and more. Apply today at http://www.roadscholar.com/employment.php.
TER also notes a 2.7% decrease in Truckload service and 2.4% decrease in dry van service from January to May 2011, with LTL tonnage increasing 15%.
Not only that, but carriers are continuing to face capacity issues. But as Costello states, not only are carriers unable to expand their fleet, the increased prices of new Class 8 tractors has prevented them from replacing older 2006 models, resulting in pricey maintenance repairs anyways.
Road Scholar Transport always invests in safety. Although there is a cost to owning newer models, there is no price tag on a person’s life. That’s why Road Scholar has recently purchased new trucks with active cruise control capability, maintaining a set distance from a forward vehicle, thus, preventing an accident.
With these challenges, the state of the economy can go any way in the upcoming months. If oil surges to prices beyond $125/barrel for a long duration or “if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by the Aug. 2 deadline or shortly thereafter,” it can lead to another recession, Costello argues. Other than that, he believes that the economy outlook is not one of a recession but rather a slow growth.
What is your outlook of the U.S. economy? Do you feel that we will enter into another recession?
Tags: American trucking Associations, ATA, benefit, Bob Costello, bonus, carrier, Class 8 tractor, driver, employment, job, LTL tonnage, oil prices, road scholar transport, TER, The Economic Reviews, trucking industry, truckload service, trucks, U.S. economy
Posted in LTL freight, Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
The number of truck-related fatalities has been recently on the rise, many due to unsafe drivers. But Senator Frank Lautenberg is trying to change that.
Yesterday, Lautenberg introduced a proposal that “is expected to be included in the larger surface transportation reauthorization package currently being developed in both the Senate and the House,” according to an article in thetrucker.com.
This proposal urges Congress to require truck drivers to undergo extensive training and knowledge/understanding of rules and regulations before they can acquire their license, the article notes.
The American Trucking Association’s Dan England advised the same thing, adding that instead of 18 months, a driver should “undergo an initial safety audit within six months of commencing operations” (http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/7/22/Senatortakesaimatcommercialvehiclesafetyprograms.aspx).
Lautenberg’s bill would also make mandatory the use of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to monitor a driver’s hours of service, thus removing those who are deemed unsafe or registered as a new carrier when in fact they are an existing carrier. “If drivers are not fully trained, qualified and alert, they should not be on the road,” he said.
England agreed that EOBR’s should be mandatory IF the HOS rules remained the same, since current rules have already shown to increase safety.
The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association agrees, believing that reducing the number of hours a driver is allowed to operate is not the problem but rather the amount of hours a driver wastes due to detention (waiting for loads to be picked up or delivered at docks).
As the OOIDA’s Joe Rajkovacz explains, “Right now the supply chain is getting something for nothing. The free market emphasis is on the word ‘free’ when it comes to a driver’s time. Why is it the driver’s responsibility to eat that time?” (http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/7/22/Senatortakesaimatcommercialvehiclesafetyprograms.aspx).
Other ways to improve road safety included CSA improvements. According to thetrucker.com, England emphasized the need for “a national system to provide employers with timely notification of drivers’ moving violations and a drug and alcohol test result clearinghouse.”
But while many want changes to improve safety on the road, there are those who continue to argue that truck safety has already improved without any outside help.
Road Scholar Transport is continuing their effort to improve safety on the road. That’s why we recently added new trucks to our fleet equipped with the Bendix Wingman ACB system. This system will automatically reduce the throttle, use the engine retarder, or apply the brakes in order to maintain a set distance of 8/10ths of a mile marker behind the vehicle ahead. Learn more at www.roadscholar.com.
Do support Lautenberg’s proposal/agree with those who believe that changes need to take place to improve road safety or do you feel like safety has already improved and that no changes are needed?
Tags: Bendix Wingman ACB system, Congress, CSA, Dan England, electronic on-board recording device, England, EOBR, HOS, hours of service, Joe Rajkovacz, OOIDA, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, proposal, road scholar transport, Senator Frank Lautenberg, The American Trucking Association, truck license, trucking industry, trucking news
Posted in Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Imagine receiving a phone call that your daughter has disappeared. Now imagine search efforts being called off and three months going by without any trace of her. Do you start to lose hope? For the Bobo family, the answer is no.
Their 20-year-old daughter Holly disappeared on April 13th, 2011 from their Tennessee home. The nursing student was reported missing by her brother Clint when he saw her being led into the woods near their house by a man in hunting attire. At first, her brother assumed that it was her boyfriend, but when he found traces of blood, he became worried.
As the weeks passed on, search parties were called off, only finding Holly’s lunchbox and a few other items belonging to her. The state approved a $50,000 reward, which is now up to $85,000 due to the family’s efforts, for the safe return of Holly. Unfortunately, with over 300 credible leads, the man who took Holly is still unknown.
One day shy of her April 13th disappearance three months ago, Holly’s family launched the Holly Bobo Across America Campaign.
According to fleetowner.com, the campaign idea began when a woman who was friends with Amerawear Corp. owner Steve Hinson on Facebook, mentioned the idea of placing Holly’s picture on tractor trailers since they travel across the country and could reach a greater audience as well as provoke greater search efforts.
The idea took off and several truck decals and car window clings featuring Holly were sold to over a hundred trucking companies who wanted to help the cause.
You can help too by adding a decal to your fleet.
Truck decals cost $25.50 plus tax and shipping and are 2×3 feet while window clings measure 8×10 in. and are $5.50 plus tax and shipping (http://fleetowner.com/management/news/family-truckers-help-tennessee-0720/).
Items can be purchased via phone at 866-363-1140 (Steve Hinson). Those writing checks can send it to:
First Bank
Attn: Rebecca
450 Tennessee Ave.
South Parsons, TN 38363
Checks are asked to be made out to “Holly Bobo Across America.”
Road Scholar Transport continues to spread awareness, not only for Holly Bobo, but for charities/foundations all across the country through our 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign. Road Scholar Transport has several tractor trailers dedicated to spreading awareness and finding a cure for many diseases such cancer, autism, cystic fibrosis, and more, including other trucks for anti-bullying, Flight 93 and the American Red Cross. Learn more about the campaign at www.roadscholarawareness.org and get involved by keeping the freight moving at www.roadscholar.com.
If you like what Road Scholar is doing, be sure to become a friend of ours on Facebook at http://facebook.com/roadscholartransport88 to see events where our awareness trucks will be at.
Tags: 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign, Amerawear Corp, American Red Cross, anti-bullying, autism, awareness campaign, cancer, Clint Bobo, cystic fibrosis, disappearance, facebook, First Bank, flight 93, freight, Holly Bobo, Holly Bobo Across America Campaign, missing woman, nursing student, road scholar transport, Steve Hinson, stop bullying, Tennessee, truck decal, truck driver, window cling
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Central United States and the East Coast are experiencing a heat front as people continue to dive out of the summer sun for a relief of the cool air conditioning. But if it’s 100 degrees outside, imagine how hot it must be inside the trailer of a truck?
It’s weather like this that makes seafood, chemical, frozen food, and other companies cringe at the risk of their brand name and products being ruined due to unsuitable transport conditions.
Let’s take the pharmaceutical industry for instance, who is becoming increasing concerned about keeping their medications temperature-protected during transport.
Maintaining a set temperature range for their products is very important since many pharmaceuticals need to be refrigerated and not doing so can contaminate the medication, posing a health problem when sold to consumers and ingested. Next thing pharmaceutical manufacturers know it, their product is issued a health alert on national news and their brand equity is at risk.
To prevent this from happening, companies such as Intelsius, American Thermal Instruments (ATI) and Road Scholar Transport are offering solutions that provide safe transport conditions for your products.
Intelsius, a global manufacturer established in 1998 supplying environmental temperature-controlled packaging solutions, has recently teamed up with ATI, a Dayton, OH company founded in 1980 manufacturing microencapsulated materials and products, to enhance their products.
This move would make Intelsius “the industry’s first packaging manufacturer to integrate a complimentary temperature data logger in every refrigerated and controlled room temperature packaging” (http://www.morerfid.com/details.php?subdetail=Report&action=details&report_id=8045&display=RFID).
How does it work?
According to MoreRFID.com, the data logger “allows customers to read or download data two ways, either by USB2 or by employing LOG-IC’s wireless RFID technology.” RFID technology allows the scanning of “thousands of temperature tags without opening boxes,” preventing possible contamination and the risk of losing the current temperature (http://www.americanthermal.com/).
Then there is Road Scholar Transport, offering temperature-protect services to maintain your product’s specific temperature, whether it requires storage at 20 degrees or 100 degrees.
Our ReeferTrak capabilities provide unlimited user-defined temperature alerts, immediately alerting our team of even the slightest change in the temperature of your freight, providing the right environmental conditions of your pharmaceuticals during transport. Not only that, but Road Scholar can provide you with the temperature inside the trailer at any given time, even after delivery!
The question is, do you want to risk having your pharmaceuticals contaminated by improper transport or would you rather ship with a secure company like Road Scholar Transport who keeps a close eye of your freight from the moment it is picked up to the moment it’s delivered?
Tags: American Thermal Instruments, ATI, chemical frozen food, Dayton, heat front, Intelsius, LOG-IC, manufacturer, medication, microencapsulated, OH, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical industry, ReeferTrak, RFID technology, road scholar transport, seafood, temperature, temperature protect
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
In order to financially support the repairing of bridges and roads throughout the state of 
Pennsylvania, Governor Corbett’s Transportation Funding Commission has announced a proposal that could be costing motorists additional money.
The proposal expects to produce a revenue of nearly $2.7 billion which would be put towards the estimated $3.5 billion it will cost for repairs. But how does the state plan to do this?
The main income source derives from removing the Oil Company Franchise Tax cap, currently at $1.25 per gallon, and applying it to the wholesale price, which the proposal notes would only cost motorists around four cents a gallon more (http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-amnews-transportation-funding,0,6857639.story).
According to thetrucker.com, this would save nearly $1.4 billion throughout a five year duration.
Other revenue initiatives include higher fees, such as $50 more for speeding and running a red light violations, registration, and driver’s licenses, Fox 43 notes.
And with the proposal of tolls being placed on all PA interstates, there are arguments that truckers will have to pay additional costs since avoiding the tolls is not an option when it comes to getting the product where it needs to be safely and on time, such as Road Scholar Transport does (http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/23313).
With the proposal, trucking companies are expected to be hit hard with fees, paying over $500 annually for each of their trucks (http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/7/19/Pennsylvaniaroadfundplantocosttrucking500morepervehicle.aspx).
And truck drivers are not the only ones who will be affected.
PA motorists in general are expected to pay an increase in fees of about $36 more a year, excluding higher fines, resulting in a maximum of $132 per year by the fifth year. This includes “Raising the driver’s license and vehicle registration fees by the consumer price index from the year they were last raised to 2012, then raising them 3 percent a year after that,” along with vehicle registration costs increasing from $36 to $49
(http://blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas/2011/07/tuesday-morning-coffee-transportation-funding-commission-recommends-27b-in-new-revenues.html).
While costs seem to be much higher, Fox 43 explains that they even out since drivers would then need to renew their licenses only every 8 years and car registration every two years, doubling the current time frame. This approach is expected to save close to $600 million.
A final report will be submitted on August 1st.
What do you think about the Corbett Administration’s proposal?
Stay tuned to www.roadscholar.com for more news in the trucking industry.
Tags: driver’s license, Governor Corbett, motorist, Oil Company Franchise Tax cap, pa, pennsylvania, proposal, revenue, road scholar transport, running a red light, speeding ticket, toll, Transportation Funding Commission, trucking company, trucking industry, vehicle registration
Posted in Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Carriers are complaining about high CSA crash scores reflecting accidents in which their trucks were not at fault. The only way to challenge these scores is through a safety audit. But that’s about to change.
Trucking companies will soon be able to appeal who’s accountable for an accident, with a long-term plan aiming to determine accountability before the accident is even registered and factored into the scoring process.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has developed both a short-term and long-term goal for easing carrier complaints.
In short-term, crashes continue to be documented into the CSA database, however, carriers will then be given the option of using a system developed by the FMCSA allowing them to challenge the accountability of an accident by submitting a police report through the CSA data correction system, DataQ, an article in truckinginfo.com notes.
The submitted report will then be analyzed by a group of specialists “who prepared the agency’s definitive Large Truck Crash Causation Study and a related study on automobiles prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” to determine accountability (http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=74200).
In order to test the accuracy of these specialists, the FMCSA had researchers from the automobile study determine who was accountable for accidents presented in the truck study. The agency then compared these findings to the specialists’, finding that the two groups agreed with who was at fault during an accident 92% of the time, assuring the agency that studying the police report from crashes would correctly determine who was at fault the majority of time, truckinginfo.com explains.
Of course, there would still be a chance for a carrier to be incorrectly charged at fault for an accident. In cases such as these, a carrier can then appeal the decision.
Although all accidents will still be recorded in the CSA system, those carriers at fault will be scored heavier then those held non-accountable for an accident.
This system is expected to begin in January.
The FMCSA, however, plans on creating a long-term goal, which takes an extended period of time to develop based on its complexity. This system will examine the 120,000 to 140,000 reported crashes every year, omitting no-fault accidents before they can affect a carrier’s score, the article continues.
But as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Steve Keppler explains, this method poses problems when the “reviewer makes a determination on accountability that is different than the officer,” who was actually on the scene, or when their determination differs from the insurance company’s investigation.
What do you think about the FMCSA’s plan? Do you support the idea or do you feel that a different approach should be taken?
Be sure to check out Road Scholar Transport’s CSA rating at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Data/carrier.aspx?enc=l05Z/rb3sYgqvgOzAB2Xgqm8glUOB4DLxD9aRMx/xK4= and visit www.roadscholar.com to jump onboard a safe carrier.
Tags: accident, accountability, carrier, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, crash score, CSA database, CSA score, DataQ, federal motor carrier safety administration, FMCSA, Large Truck Crash Causation Study, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, news, road scholar transport, Steve Keppler, trucking company
Posted in Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Friday, July 15th, 2011
A truck driver’s fatality risk is increased by 30 times during a rollover, making it the number one cause of truck accident fatalities with nearly 700 truck driver’s losing their lives each year, an article in Bloomberg.com notes.
But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is determined to change that.
Bendix Stability Control System
By mandating the installation of crash-prevention technology, among these stability control systems, on all new tractor trailers, the agency predicts that “5,510 rollover crashes and 4,803 loss-of-control crashes” would be prevented (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-13/bendix-meritor-look-for-boost-from-nhtsa-s-truck-rollover-rule.html).
According to the article, between 20-25% of new trucks are available for purchase with stability control systems, such as the ones recently purchased by Road Scholar Transport, with Bendix and WABCO being the two main contenders manufacturing this technology.
The problem with this is that even though 20-25% are sold with this technology, trucking companies still have the option of whether or not they want to purchase it and many do not want the additional expense. But NHTSA is seeking to change that by making nearly 100% of all new trucks sold with these stability systems.
As Tim Kraus, President of Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association explains, although there is a higher cost associated with purchasing these trucks, trucking companies will save money in the end. As he notes, a single accident involving a fatality results in millions of dollars but these stability control systems are expected to save over a hundred of the 700 fatalities per year.
Kraus continued to explain that it often takes regulation to put technology in motion. For Road Scholar Transport, this is not the case.
Road Scholar has been continuously building on newer, more advanced technology to increase the safety of its fleet, drivers, your cargo, and everyone on the road. That’s why Road Scholar not only has ESP (Electronic Stability Program) on its trucks but the Bendix Wingman ACB (Active Cruise with Braking) system as well.
The ACB system causes Road Scholar’s trucks to maintain a set distance of 8/10ths of a mile marker behind a forward vehicle by automatically reducing the throttle, using the engine retarder, or applying the brakes (delivering 1/3 the vehicle’s power but the driver can apply the rest if needed) in order to maintain a set distance from the vehicle ahead, that is when cruise control is on.
When cruise control is off, the ACB delivers a beeping alert, which gets faster and louder when closing in on a vehicle, as well as a visual warning on the dashboard showing our drivers how far a vehicle is from their truck, thus preventing an accident from occurring.
The NHTSA estimates a finished proposal within the next few months.
Do you feel that all trucks, regardless of cost, should be equipped with stability control systems?
Tags: Active Cruise with Braking, Bendix, Electronic Stability Program, ESP, Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, news, NHTSA, road scholar transport, stability control system, tractor-trailer, truck driver, truck rollover, trucking industry, WABCO, Wingman ACB
Posted in Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
