driver safety

Heat Waves Affect Trucking Companies Across U.S.

July 23, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Many states across the U.S. are enduring extreme heat waves following an already hotter-than-usual month of June. Still, these states are determined to keep trucking operations moving as usual.

“While we can’t control the weather, we can control what we do,” tweeted the governor of Montana recently. “Remember to use caution when working or recreating outdoors.”

In Montana, Governor Greg Gianforte has declared a state-of-emergency throughout the state for fire and drought conditions; this declaration also implements regulatory relief for truck drivers. Specifically, commercial vehicle drivers offering services to fire suppression efforts during dangerous fire conditions as well as those helping with the transportation of water, forage, and agriculture implements during drought conditions will be granted hours-of-service requirement flexibility under the executive order.

In Thompson Falls, Montana, on the west side of the state, mid-July temperatures have reached highs of around 95 degrees.

According to Gianforte’s office, around 91% of the state of Montana has been experiencing “abnormally dry to extreme” drought conditions since last month. During this same period in 2020, only about half of the state was undergoing these kinds of conditions.

“Every region of the state faces severe to extreme drought conditions, and the situation is getting worse,” said the governor.

In Las Vegas, temperatures have reached as high as 113 degrees, and Redding, California has seen highs of around 100 degrees this month. Temperatures in Idaho have been hitting around 101 degrees in mid-July and have stayed nearly as high lately, especially in areas around Boise.

Because these highs are nearly unprecedented in many areas, safety consideration information has been sent to members of the Idaho Trucking Association with precautions for truck drivers, telling them to stay as rested and hydrated as possible.

“Everybody’s been running their business as usual,” said Idaho Trucking Association President, Allen Hodges. “At the same time, people have been taking precautions because of the heat.”

Idaho is gearing up for potential 100-degree days or higher in August, Hodges said, and the Association–located west of Boise in Meridian, Idaho–has already seen temperatures of at least 98 degrees.

In Arizona, one of the hottest states in the country, temperatures have already followed an “early heating trend,” reaching up to 117 degrees in June–which isn’t even the hottest month of year, noted Tony Bradly, President of the Arizona Trucking Association. The Association is based in Tolleson, an area the National Weather Service predicts will reach temperatures of at least 111 degrees throughout the month of July.

“We’re fairly used to being on the surface of the sun,” said Bradley, who added that he made sure to remind drivers to keep their tire pressure in mind when operating in such extreme conditions.

“You want to make sure that your tire pressure is correct, because if your tire pressure is low, that could lead to blowouts,” he said.

Pre-trip inspections are key during times like these, and making sure anti-idle devices and coolant hoses are working properly is vitally important, explained California Trucking Association and Liberty Linehaul West Inc. president, Greg Dubuque.

Additionally, truckers should take note that the big windows on large trucks can allow in a lot of heat and sunlight–so skin protection should be a priority. He even goes as far as to tell drivers to position their trucks toward the west if they are parking in a rest area overnight.

“With more glass in the cab of the truck, there’s more sunlight coming in, bringing more heat,” during the sunrise, and in general, Dubuque noted.

When trucks are hauling goods that can be affected negatively by high temperatures–like crops or livestock–truckers should be sure to do their loading and unloading when temperatures are at their lowest during the morning and evening. Carriers must make sure the arrival of living goods is done as safely and healthily as possible, explained American Trucking Associations’ Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference executive director, Jon Samson.

Idaho, North Dakota, Nevada, and California, which are all enduring extreme heat right now, have not yet been issued any restrictions or guidance from their transportation agencies regarding their freight loads being shipped during this time.

Cargo Theft Risks Were Predicted to Rise on July Fourth

July 16, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Factory industry worker working with face mask to prevent Covid-19 Coronavirus spreading during job reopening period .

CargoNet, a service for theft prevention and recovery that collaborates with insurance companies, law enforcement offices, and motor carriers, predicted a sharp increase in cargo thefts that would take place over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“Cargo thieves will seek to exploit extended business closures this upcoming holiday to steal more cargo” said the company ahead of Independence Day. “In previous years, household goods and food and beverage items were the most commonly targeted commodities. This would include items like appliances, toys, alcoholic beverages and seafood.”

According to CargoNet’s data regarding these kinds of thefts between July 1st and July 7th over the past five years, there were 127 incidents of cargo theft in that specific time frame–coming out to around 25 cargo thefts a year during the holiday. On average, carriers lost around $145,699 in stolen goods when they were the target of these particular crimes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused shortages and price inflation of specific goods, and we think the items most affected–like computer electronics–are the items most at risk this holiday,” explained a CargoNet advisory professional.

In order to find discrepancies in supply chain data (that could include thefts), Total Quality Logistics works alongside CargoNet by utilizing certain computer programs that are able to identify these irregularities and alert customers when needed.

“Here’s the situation: The holidays are always an opportune time for cargo thieves because of the fact that law enforcement is busy,” explained Kerry Byrne, President of Total Quality Logistics. “There’s so much going on, for one. Two, there are shippers and receivers and yards where the staffing is low–especially this year.”

In relation to COVID-19’s effects on the economy and on theft levels, CargoNet discovered that the overall number of thefts occurring in 2020 rose by 26% from 2019–reaching 1,502 thefts, the highest number since 2016. These numbers are in correlation with the financial issues many people face in times of economic strife, as we have seen throughout the pandemic.

“With this consumer-driven economy, there is just so much freight on the road,” added Byrne. “There may not be enough staff and security personnel at the various shippers, receivers, and yards.”

In fact, because so many groups have seen this year’s thefts coming for so long, they began warning the public.

“CargoNet is extending warnings about significant theft risk to freight for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday,” said CargoNet in a tweet. “Cargo thieves will seek to exploit extended business closures this upcoming holiday to steal more cargo.”

Tech-based trucking insurance company Loadsure also warned people publicly.

“Ah, the 4th of July weekend,” the company tweeted. “Burgers on the grill. Frosty beverages. Sparklers. Cargo theft. Are you ready?”

According to Byrne, all it takes is one criminal finding an opportunity for cargo theft and taking advantage of it, although there are still many organized theft incidents that take place, as well. Sometimes, a thief will even pretend to be working as a trucker picking up a load.

“It’s basically identity theft,” said Byrne. “We’re concerned about those fictitious pickups where somebody fraudulently positions themselves as either a customer or a carrier. Because everyone is so busy and capacity is so hard to find, there is perhaps that opportunity for things to fall through the cracks. So, we’re on high alert.”

Loadsure also recently announced that it would be boosting its smart cargo insurance platform to add higher insurance coverage for all methods of transportation–up to $2 million, to be exact.

“The economy is beginning to reopen, and highly-targeted freight, like food and beverage, is moving in volume for the first time since 2019,” said the company’s CEO, Johnny McCord. “[By] leveraging AI and automation, brokers, shippers, and carriers can now expand coverage for these high-value loads and protect commonly excluded specialty freight on the fly, all through direct platform access, custom integrations, or third-party platforms.”

Highway Bill Update Brings $1 Billion to Truck Parking Improvements

July 15, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

As truck parking difficulties have remained a major industry-wide issue for quite a while now, the U.S. House of Representatives has been presented with a new comprehensive highway policy bill.

The legislation has been pushed forward by Representative Mike Bost of Illinois, and its provision will allow states to receive boosted truck parking capability-related resources from $1 billion in grant funding. Bost, who has joined other industry stakeholders and lawmakers over the last several years to raise awareness surrounding the parking problems truck drivers are experiencing far too often, has made this his latest attempt at legislation that could potentially bring resolution to this ongoing concern.

Certain agencies would receive the grants from this funding in order to be better equipped with the resources needed to facilitate safe areas in which commercial motor vehicles can easily park, such as rest areas. The transportation secretary would also be overseeing these particular grants and send reports regarding the legislation’s progress to Congress.

The bill’s provision would offer $250 million toward grants each fiscal year that would be established for truck parking improvement programs as designated by the secretary of transportation. These grants would be provided each year between 2023 and 2026.

The legislation is intended to bring updates to the federal highway policies that are scheduled to expire in September, and is one of dozens of trucking industry-related policies and provisions incorporated into a $547 billion five-year highway bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has expressed her intent to pass the bill, and Democrats strongly supported the bill during its committee consideration. Republicans heavily opposed.

Regardless of this Republican opposition, Bost believes funding for truck parking capability improvements are likely to come to fruition–although Bost does have some pressing concerns regarding the overall legislation itself.

“The fact that the Democrats did make the decision to put this in, and the Republicans don’t have opposition to it…I believe [regarding] whatever bill we have out there–when we decide on a bipartisan bicameral bill–I think everybody’s come to the realization with the studies that’ve been done that it’s time to make that investment and send that money to the states,” he said.

Boat, who also serves as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, noted that current hours-of-service regulations, which determine when a trucker must be off-duty in relation to his or her shift, has made it more stressful for some truckers to find safe places in which to park their commercial vehicles.

“Whether you’re approaching a rest area, any off-ramp, anywhere up and down the instate–you see the trucks pulled off to the side,” he explained.

Additionally, the more truck parking availability boosts are delayed, the more opportunities there are for truckers to put themselves in risky situations.

“The longer we take to get it out there and get it started through the process through the states, the more people, drivers–as well as non-commercial drivers–are in danger of multiple wrecks, multiple accidents, multiple deaths, multiple [crimes]–all of the things that I’ve talked about–if we don’t start making the investment now in the trucking parking areas–that will continue and only get worse,” said Bost.

This provision will indeed help ease the worries surrounding this issue, added Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, who serves as the chief architect of the highway policy measure and the chairman of the transportation committee.

“We have mandates on drivers, how long they can drive and be safe,” he said. “And so, therefore, they have to have a safe place to park and rest. And, unfortunately, in much of the country, it’s very difficult for them to find a place to park and rest that’s safe.”

Because of this, funding for proper parking and rest spaces is a no-brainer, DeFazio noted.

“It’s reached a very, very critical point for truck drivers,” he said. “They have to rest. We mandate rest. And so, therefore, we have to help them find a safe place to rest.”

This is not the first time truck parking concerns have been so widely discussed–a law named for Jason Rivenburg was passed after the trucker was killed in a robbery when he couldn’t find safe parking in 2009. Because of the tragedy, the law mandated a review of the United State’s conditions surrounding truck parking availability, and was reviewed again in 2019.

During that review, a majority of truck drivers were found to still have major issues finding safe places to park. It was also reported that only about 313,000 designated truck parking spots were available throughout the country.

Trucking Companies’ COVID-Related Safety Procedures May Continue Post-Pandemic

July 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Fleets across the United States have had to implement a variety of new safety protocols in the midst of the coronavirus era, and many are deciding to keep such practices intact post-pandemic.

Drivers at Hub Group Trucking, for instance, began thoroughly disinfecting their trucks at the beginning and end of their work shifts, and continue to do so today, explained Hub Group’s executive vice president, Luke Simendinger.

“I think those are just going to be standard operating procedures for us going forward,” he explained. “We do quite a bit of slip-seating, so it was ensuring that all PPE was provided. Any individual that’s going in and out of truck had the disinfectant to do that themselves.”

Additionally, many trucking companies that gave out personal protective equipment to their employees have had workers continue to utilize the gear. Hub Group issued masks, gloves, paper towels and disinfectants to its 3,400 drivers, and both FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. have employees loyally wearing their masks to this day.

Vehicle transportation service provider United Road also made company-branded fabric masks for its truckers to use–which, of course, they still do.

Professional driver wellness company, Rolling Strong, has noted that it expects its employees to maintain the safety measures that were put in place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, because they help stop the spread of a variety of viruses and bacteria. Additionally, the company’s president, Stephen Kane, explained that many workers have made regular habits of these practices.

Still, vehicle maintenance has continued to be a major obstacle for fleets during the pandemic, said Hill Brothers Transportation manager of recruiting and fleet services, Scott Hill. Hill Brothers, which specializes in dry van and refrigerated shipments, is based in Omaha.

For example, technicians must wear gloves and masks, on top of thoroughly disinfecting all surfaces, when a driver brings a truck to the company’s terminal shop. They also must be careful to clean all buttons inside the cab as well as the steering wheel, which can be tedious.

These technicians do “whatever they can do to make sure we’re getting at least another shot at getting some of that bacteria out of the truck,” said Hill. “It’s definitely been tough, but our drivers are the backbone of what we do and we wouldn’t be there without them.”

Another area of change brought to the industry by the pandemic includes that of technology upgrades, which occurred as many fleets boosted their operation capabilities.

In an effort to easily share government health alerts in relation to the pandemic, XPO Logistics implemented an alert service on its XPO Connect platform’s digital dashboard, explained the company’s chief human resources officer, Josephine Berisha. This technology platform is used across the globe by carriers and customers alike.

For United Road, technology played an even bigger role during the pandemic as the company communicated with employees via technology when workers were the most stressed about the virus. In fact, the company implemented a specific email address for COVID-related concerns and held regular virtual town halls to answer employee questions and address worries.

Additionally, United Road set up a smartphone app to help with its electronic logging devices, and used that resource to implement a COVID-19 questionnaire for truckers to finish once every pre-trip inspection was completed.

“We keep a finger on the pulse of the drivers as well,” said Eric Madison, United Roads’ senior vice president of people and safety. “We get a heads-up if there’s ever any need for concern.”

Many companies throughout the industry also began using contactless delivery methods to help reduce bacteria spreading. UPS ceased any required signatures for packages, and Hub Group implemented paperless customer services–which was particularly helpful within handoff-heavy intermodal business.

United Road also switched to contactless deliveries, with drivers using electronic paperwork instead of collecting digital signatures.

“Quite a few of the customers we’ve worked with have physical paperwork that they have to hand to the driver,” said Hill Brother’s Scott Hill. “A lot of that has changed now to where that [paperwork] is emailed or it’s already sent to the end user. If any benefit comes from this, it’s [that] people are trying to figure out how to make things better due to this pandemic. It’s [those] things that are going to continue on even after the pandemic’s over, whenever that may be.”

Sleep Apnea in Truckers Becoming Much More Difficult to Regulate than Expected

July 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Following complaints from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own medical review board, the FMCSA will be making efforts to boost accessibility in regards to obstructive sleep apnea information for the medical experts conducting medical exams for truck drivers and assessing their ability to perform their jobs safely and efficiently.

A group of medical professionals on the agency’s medical review board have urged FMCSA leaders to link apnea-related information within the FMCSA’s medical examiners handbook, and made clear this necessary during last month’s virtual meeting. The current 250-page handbook was taken off FMCSA’s website six years ago and still requires major updates–which was, consequently, the main focus of May’s virtual meeting.

Because some medical examiners, as well as FMCSA, have hesitated to push the issue of sleep apnea and the knowledge surrounding it on truck drivers, the medical board’s physicians have even stressed that the overarching subject of sleep apnea has become far too “political.” As of now, FMCSA has not released any particular regulatory guidance on when a trucker at risk for apnea should be required to participate in a sleep lab study to better evaluate the actual risks at hand.

A big player in this issue is Congress’ 2013 legislation that has prohibited any official regulatory guidance in regards to a medical examiner’s ability to diagnose truck drivers who may be at risk for sleep apnea before undergoing the strenuous process for rule-making.

Referring to the attempt to bring back to light the sleep apnea problem in 2016 for regulatory apnea guidance through an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking along with the Federal Railroad Administration, FMCSA’s associate administrator for policy, Larry Minor, noted during the virtual meeting that sleep apnea in truckers has become a “nearly nuclear” topic. FMCSA declared the currently-in-place fatigue risk management-related safety programs “are the appropriate avenues to address OSA” in 2017, and the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was withdrawn at that time. As of now, FMCSA has held on to the claim that apnea is not directly related to potential accidents, as determined by the present evidence.

FMCSA will, however, add further information about apnea to its examiner’s handbook and will indeed include a link and references to previous discussions and diagnosis recommendations, as well as treatment possibilities, from the medical review board. The agency still does not plan to issue any particular rule-making guidance on the topic, though.

Additionally, FMCSA has stated it does understand the worries regarding the potential risks related to a commercial trucker’s health and safety when it comes to moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

“Drivers with untreated moderate to severe OSA are at increased risk of being fatigued while driving–regardless of the amount of off-duty time prior to the beginning of the work shift,” said FMCSA in a statement. “The agency believes all medical examiners on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners should be aware of the OSA risk factors so that drivers exhibiting such conditions are referred to a sleep specialist for evaluation.”

Even though this may sound promising, FMCSA maintains that the evidence needed for any potential rule-making is not yet present. The agency says it also “does not have sufficient data or information to support issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish requirements for mandatory OSA testing and treatment,” according to its statement.

Because of this lack of data, “we’re still not clear why it’s obstructive sleep apnea [acting as a major issue] more than anything else,” Minor explained during the meeting. He also added that there are currently no regulations mandating that an examiner screens “each and every driver that comes in for OSA, and we don’t have any regulatory criteria that says you must send him out for an OSA [sleep] test.”

Many medical professionals are saying this process should be much more of a no-brainer than it is during out to be.

“The board put a lot of effort in coming up with guidelines for sleep apnea that included a menu of symptoms and signs by which you could screen people, and then get sleep studies to look for the presence of sleep apnea,” said physician and review board member, Brian Morris. “The special interest groups stepped in and kind of torpedoed the whole process.”

One big roadblock in the way of these guidelines? Out-of-pocket costs for truckers.

“Drivers commonly don’t want to be screened for apnea because they may have to pay for sleep studies, which can cost more than $1,000,” noted Morris, who also serves as OccMed’s corporate director of medical surveillance in Boston.

Truck Speed Limiters Bill Introduced in House of Representatives

June 28, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A bill requiring speed limiters for commercial trucks has been introduced within the U.S. House of Representatives, and has been named the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act.

The act will aim to urge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure all commercial motor vehicles have speed-limiting technology implemented onboard. This technology would either have a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour preset, or a speed of 70 miles per hour preset in collaboration with a truck’s automatic emergency braking systems and adaptive cruise control systems.

The bill currently has bipartisan sponsorship by Representatives Lucy McBath of Georgia and John Katko of New York, and is named for Cullum Owings. Owings was killed when a tractor-trailer on cruise control struck his passenger vehicle in 2002.

“The safety and security of our families, our friends, and our loved ones is always of the utmost priority,” said McBath when the legislation was first introduced in late May. “The Owings family has done so much to protect other children like Cullum, and I want to thank them for all they have done. This is an important, bipartisan step to make our roadways safer, protect drivers, and stop these heartbreaking crashes from happening.”

Cullum’s father, Steve Owings, co-founded the safety organization Road Safe America following the incident, and believes the act will help prevent other parents of children from experiencing a loss like the one he and his family had to endure.

“Our lives changed forever in the worst of ways after a speeding truck driver using cruise control crashed into our son’s car, [which was] stopped in an interstate traffic jam as he headed back to college after Thanksgiving Break,” said Owings. “Back then, Susan and I were completely unaware that most large trucks already had speed limiter technology built in, which could have saved our son’s life had it been used. We are so thankful to Representative McBath for understanding the grief of losing a child and for introducing the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act to ensure other families do not suffer the same needless loss we deal with every day because of speeding big rigs.”

The bill was submitted for consideration to a committee of jurisdiction, and gained support from Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia during its previous Congressional session. Now, many freight stakeholders have begun backing the legislation, and Road Safe America, along with American Trucking Associations, requested support for speed limiter guidelines from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier in 2021.

In their letter to Buttifieg, the groups noted the 2016 rule making proposal that requested a speed limiter rule, as well as the recent updates within driver assist safety technologies. In the 2016 proposal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration urged for a requirement that would ensure speed-limiting devices be implemented onto trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds. Additionally, maximum top speeds were recommended in the proposal–of 60, 65, or 68 miles per hour.

It is clear that ATA is worried about strict regulations regarding speed limitations for all commercial motor vehicles.

“When the Department of Transportation initially published the 2016 notice of proposed rule making, ATA and many motor carriers shared several concerns about the efficacy of a one-size-fits-all solution applied to a sector as complex and nuanced as trucking,” wrote ATA President Chris Spear and Road Safe America in their letter to Buttigieg. “Foremost among them were the unintended and potentially dangerous consequences of limiting commercial drivers to one universal speed limit despite the varying limits set for passenger vehicles on interstate and secondary roads.”

The groups added that they were particularly worried about the rule’s longevity as safety technology continues to evolve and more and more commercial trucks are receiving regular tech upgrades than ever.

“Another question is how such a rule would adapt to the rapid evolution taking place in vehicle safety technology,” the letter continued.