road safety

Driver Shortage Affects Winter Road Safety as States Search for Snowplow Drivers

December 16, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“We want the traveling public to understand why it could take longer this season to clear highways during winter storms,” said Montana Department of Transportation maintenance administrator Jon Swartz.

MDOT is currently short of around 90 drivers able and willing to work as snowplow drivers–an issue affecting states across the country. In particular, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Pennsylvania are struggling to find snow plow drivers amidst the current ongoing driver shortage. Finding drivers for these positions is especially difficult as the jobs involve working in hazardous conditions, inclement weather, and strange shifts on top of the requirement for a commercial driver license.

Because of this, industry experts predict that many passenger drivers across the United States will wind up stuck or delayed on snowy roadways.

“Knowing [what’s really happening] helps motorists plan ahead and adjust–or even delay–travel plans,” noted Swartz.

This issue has become more prominent as winter storms have begun bringing in heavy amounts of snow to the Upper Great Lakes, with more snow likely to hit Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Nevada, Iowa, and New Mexico–especially in higher elevations.

The shortage of snowplow operators has been made worse by so many drivers aging out or leaving the industry, a low unemployment rate, and boosted need for trucker and diesel mechanics throughout many different industries. Because of this, private companies have been working to offer incentives like bonuses and increased pay to remain competitive, whereas state agencies aren’t able to be quite so flexible when it comes to salaries and benefits.

“Everyone’s sort of competing for the same group of workers, and private companies can often offer higher salaries than the state government,” explained Washington State Department of Transportation spokeswoman, Barbara LaBoe.

Apparently, state COVID-19 vaccine mandates have exacerbated the issue, as more than 150 winter operations workers left the industry due to compliance opposition, LaBoe added.

Because the trucking industry is facing the largest shortage on record (of more than 80,000 drivers), any state looking for CDL-holding workers are competing with private trucking companies boosting incentives around pay, as well, in a scrambling effort to be able to meet the demands of consumers.

Because of this, many states are offering to pay for the CDL training of snowplow drivers, although new hires with a CDL in hand may still not be available to work as soon as this winter season. Many snowplow operators often work throughout the year in various highway maintenance gigs, with some seasonal drivers coming in to fill the winter shifts.

Various roads needing service in Washington after undergoing major snow storms–particularly, around mountain passes–are likely to be closed for significant amounts of time, LaBoe explained. However, as long as a storm is isolated or doesn’t last long, weather forecasts can help drivers work through them efficiently.

“If we have a series of storms over several days, or if it hits the whole state at once, [the shortage] is going to become more evident because we don’t have as deep a bench,” she said.

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ director of the winter maintenance technical service program, Rick Nelson, noted that luckily, snowplow drivers have a strong sense of dedication to their work as they know how important it is to passenger driver, emergency responder, and commercial driver safety.

Bringing in new drivers “to be out there in the worst conditions” is still tricky, though, he added. “You try to recruit, get out there and beat the bushes and convince folks that jumping in a plow in the middle of the night at Christmastime is a good career choice.”

Some states are experiencing the snowplow driver shortage more than others, such as Pennsylvania, which is currently short of around 830 workers. However, state transportation workers are confident the drivers on hand will be able to keep the roads as clear as possible.

“Our goal is to keep roads safe and passable rather than completely free of ice and snow,” said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman, Alexis Campbell, who added that roads are routinely cleared as soon as there’s a break in snowfall.

Although Driving Decreased During Pandemic, Roadway Death Numbers Continue to Rise

September 22, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“We must address the tragic loss of life we saw on the roads in 2020 by taking a transformational and collaborative approach to safety,” said acting administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Steven Cliff.

His statement comes as new data estimates released in early September depict 8,730 car crash deaths occurring in 2021’s first quarter–an increase from the 7,900 deaths reported in the same period of time in 2020.

“These early estimates suggest the driving patterns and behaviors the agency reported 2020–which changed significantly from previous years–continue to prevail and that drivers who remained on the roads engaged in more risky behavior,” explained the NHTSA.

According to the agency, overall traffic deaths rose by 10.5% in 2021’s first three months, although the number of drivers on American roads decreased. The pandemic may have brought about fewer cars on the road, but dangerous behaviors, including speeding, saw a sharp increase during that time–and clearly, they continue to do so.

In fact, overall driving numbers dropped by around 14.9 billion miles–around 2.1%–as shown in preliminary Federal Highway Administration data, but the number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled rose to 1.26 in the beginning of 2021. This is an increase of 0.14 from the same period in 2020.

These numbers point to risky behaviors like driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, failing to wear seat belts, or excessive speeding–things that quickly become more common while roads began clearing up with fewer drivers having to make daily commutes.

“Everyone–including those who design, operate, build, and use the road system–shares responsibility for road safety,” Cliff added. “We are working closely with our safety partners to address risky driving behaviors such as speeding, impaired driving, and failing to buckle up.”

NHTSA’s report doesn’t portray truck-involved deaths specifically, but the number of truck fatalities is included in the figures depicting overall traffic statistics. Early estimates in 2020 showed that although traffic fatalities may have risen by 7%, truck-involved crash deaths themselves did drop by 2%.

“The stay-at-home orders started in mid-March 2020, followed by the first full month of stay-at-home measures that were in effect during April,” explained NHTSA in its report. “During May [of 2020], some states began to reopen in some way while almost all states partially reopened by June. After June, each state continued to adapt [its] local and statewide COVID-19 guidelines and assess specific reopening and potential re-closing efforts accordingly.”

Quarterly estimations of fatality rates and vehicle-miles traveled are divided into monthly estimates for 2020 and 2021 in order to determine the overall crash-related effects of the pandemic era, NHTSA explained.

In 2020, overall vehicle-miles traveled dropped by 13.2%, or 430.2 billion miles, although the fatality rate for that year was 1.37 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled (an increase from 2019’s 1.11 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled).

“While Americans drive less in 2020 due the pandemic, NHTSA’s early estimates show that an estimated 38,680 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes–the largest projected number of fatalities since 2007,” said the agency in its report.

Because of the apparent rapid increase in reckless driving and its impacts, this year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Operation Safe Driver Week focused on speeding, despite overall traffic decreasing throughout the entirety of the pandemic. 2020’s road death rate rose by 24% from the year prior, although miles drive fell by 13%, according to preliminary estimates by the National Safety Council. Additionally, this death rate increase is estimated to be the highest year-over-year spike calculated by the council in nearly a century.

“The surge in motor vehicle crash fatalities must serve as an urgent call to action for Congress and the Biden administration,” said Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president, Cathy Chase. “Requirements and performance standards for proven vehicle safety technology could be saving tens of thousands of lives each year. The needless deaths on our roads must–and can–be stopped.”

‘Trooper in a Truck’ Event Finds Many Texting Drivers Throughout Indiana

August 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Nearly 300 motorists across the state of Indiana have been the latest recipients of traffic tickets and warnings after unknowingly sharing the road with a group of tractor-trailers driving down the interstate with state troopers onboard.

The ‘trooper in a truck’ initiative was an effort to allow state troopers to more easily and inconspicuously watch out for dangerous driver behaviors on Indiana roadways. When the passenger-seated trooper in one of these big rigs saw any risky roadway actions, he or she was able to radio in to state police who were positioned to patrol further up the interstate and were ready to pull over these drivers and issue the necessary citations or warnings.

“One of the things we hear from truck drivers is, ‘It’s a shame you guys can’t see what’s going on the way we can,” said commander of the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Major Jon Smithers. “‘If only you guys could see what we see in the seat every day being up high.’”

And he’s not wrong–during the one-day ‘trooper in a truck’ event, the majority of the nearly 300 tickets and warnings that were issue were indeed issued to drivers of passenger vehicles, something that does not come as a surprise to many truckers who get a front row seat to the goings on of the nation’s roadways. During the initiative, troopers issued 152 warnings and wrote 132 tickets to passenger vehicle drivers.

Having these officers sit high up in the truck bed gave them a new perspective and allowed them to much more easily see if drivers were violating a particularly important recently-instated state law–that no driver should have a cellphone in his or her hands while operating a vehicle.

Violating this law can issue up to a $500 fine for drivers and also levy four points on his or her driver’s record. During the ‘trooper in a truck’ event, many troopers had to remind motorists of this “hands-free” law that has only been officially in effect in the state of Indiana for a short time.

“We need to let these people know that we’re serious about this [new law], because everybody’s still on their phones–nobody is taking it [seriously],” explained president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, Gary Langston. “We also focused on people driving erratically and unsafely around commercial vehicles, things like tailgating, cutting people off, and all the other things that cars do.”

The Indiana Motor Truck Association was able to help state police with these efforts by recruiting the four big rigs utilized to travel along looping interstates throughout various regions of the state to help troopers with their patrol efforts.

“We think [the initiative] was successful,” explained Langston. “It continues to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the trucking industry. But first and foremost, it raises awareness and the priority level of safe driving. It reminds people that safe driving is a full-time job.”

Additionally, because the “hands-free” law is so new to so many, many drivers of passenger vehicles are not yet aware of the actual life-threatening risks that come with texting or otherwise using a cellphone while operating a car, Smithers noted.

“I don’t think people realize you can travel two or three lengths of a football field in just a few seconds,” he said. “If something is going on in front of you, in just a short matter of time you can be on top of a problem.”

Still, a large chunk of the citations issued by troopers during this event was for speeding, even though the main focus was to take action upon the drivers talking on cellphones or texting while operating vehicles on the interstate.

“I heard one story that a truck with a trooper was moving in the right-hand lane,” Langston recalled. “A car passed them on the right shoulder of the road, and then pulled in front of the truck.”

Langston explained that this driver had been so distracted, he didn’t even realize that he had cut off a commercial motor vehicle at all.

“When [the police officer] pulled the car over and asked the driver why he passed on the shoulder, his response was: ‘What truck?’ That just tells you that people aren’t paying as much attention as we’d like for them to.”

1,273 CMVs Taken Off the Road After Unannounced Brake Safety Inspection Day

July 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Horizontal shot of a blue semi climbing a hill on an interstate highway in heavy traffic.

More than 1,200 commercial motor vehicles with critical brake violations were removed from American roadways by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s inspectors during a surprise one-day brake safety enforcement initiative.

10,091 inspections were unexpectedly inspected throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada near the end of May. This unannounced inspection event led to 1,273 vehicles being placed out-of-service.

“CVSA released its May 26th Brake Safety Day results,” said CVSA last week in a tweet. “Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. reported a total of 1,725 brake hoses [or] tubing violations–this year’s focus area–from the one-day, unannounced brake safety initiative.”

All data from this Brake Safety Day was thoroughly tracked and reported by inspectors and sent to the CVSA. This Brake Safety Day has been implemented as part of CVSA’s enforcement and inspection initiative for boosted road safety.

“We are sharing the results to call attention to the importance of commercial motor vehicle brake safety,” explained President of CVSA and Delaware State Police sergeant, John Samis.

Although the the transportation industry–and the trucking industry in particular–is well aware of the necessity for brakes to be up to standard at all times, vehicle out-of-service conditions are still mostly comprised of brake-related violations. Because of this, brake issues are continuing to be the most prevalent among commercial motor vehicles, according to the CVSA. Additionally, during 2020’s three-day International Roadcheck driver and vehicle enforcement safety event, brake system violations were the most common vehicle out-of-service category.

The safety operation was conducted by 42 U.S. jurisdictions, six Canada jurisdictions, and Mexico’s National Guard and Ministry of Communications. 8,658 inspections were conducted throughout the United States, 946 were conducted throughout Canada, and 487 were conducted throughout Mexico. The overall out-of-service brake-related violation rate throughout the continent of North America was 12.6%–With 13.3% of violations being brake-related in the United States, and in Canada and Mexico–11.4% and 2.9%, respectively. The United States, of course, had the most overall violations, with 1,151 vehicles taken off the country’s roadways after these inspections.

In addition to these issues, inspectors collected data in relation to brake hoses and tubing, a category requested to be inspected specifically by the CVSA in regards to a variety of brake hose and tubing chafing violations, but not out-of-service violations. North America saw 1,725 brake hose and tubing violations during the inspection initiative, with the United States reporting 1,288, Canada reporting 251, and Mexico reporting 186.

“Brake hoses and tubing are essential brake system components and must be properly attached, undamaged, without leaks, and flexible,” explained Samis. “We chose to focus on brake hoses and tubing this year in an effort to reduce deaths and injuries as a result of commercial motor vehicle brake system failures from pressure or vacuum loss due to brake hosing and tubing deficiencies.”

The data submitted on brake hose and tubing chafing violations included four distinct categories. Category 1 saw 664 commercial motor vehicles having brake hose and tubing wear reaching the brakes’ outer protective material; Category 2 saw 509 commercial motor vehicles that had chafing which extended through the brake hose or tubing’s outer protective material and into the outer rubber cover; Category 3 saw 275 commercial motor vehicles with brake hose or tubing wear with reinforcement ply visible, although the ply may have still been intact; and Category 4 saw 169 commercial motor vehicles with visible reinforcement ply that was severed, frayed, or completely cut through.

Although Brake Safety Day is a unannounced, surprise brake safety initiative implemented by the CVSA, Brake Safety Week is held annually and the alliance does indeed announce the dates for those inspections in advance.

“This year’s Brake Safety Week is scheduled for August [22nd through the 28th],” said the CVSA in a recent tweet. “Throughout the week, inspectors will conduct North American Standard Inspections of commercial motor vehicles, focusing on the vehicles’ brake systems and components.”

State-by-State Infrastructure Guides Released by White House

July 20, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

By focusing on state-by-state cases of bridges and roads in dire need of reparations, the Biden Administration is working to urge republicans to ease their opposition to a bipartisan infrastructure plan. If such an agreement is reached, the administration says, its funding could help rebuild what is needed in these areas, as well as boost their broadband internet capabilities and water quality.

For the bipartisan agreement made by a group of senators, the White House is looking to achieve public backing and to convince lawmakers of the necessity of such a deal by detailing the amount of infrastructure repair needed in so many individual states across the country. Over the next few weeks, House Democrats are working to make informal negotiations to reach agreements on potential changes to be made, while Republicans are still likely to be in opposition of this bill due to its high costs.

The bipartisan bill agreement reached by the senate initially gained enough support to pass by regular order, although it saw later opposition from Republican senators after it was connected to a Democrat-backed budget bill by Biden. Still, the bill originally received backing from 21 total senators, which included 11 Republicans, and came out to propose $579 billion in new spending (or $973 billion when adding in regular maintenance spending costs).

Currently, the White House has not been able to identify the particular projects in each state that would be acted upon once that plan is officially set forth, as its framework still doesn’t have funding levels depicted on a state-by-state basis. Because of this, Congress is still negotiating specific details within each of the program’s categories.

“These state-by-state fact sheets will help folks localize the impact of these dollars, and better understand how these investments will make life better for their communities across the country,” said Emilie Simons, a spokeswoman for the White House.

“There is more work to do” to help improve living standards, reduce pollution, heal the economy, and create more jobs through the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, according to the fact sheets. Although this new framework is a “critical step,” the fact sheets still point to the Democrats’ second bill as being a method of bringing these goals to the next level.

According to the documents, President Biden “will work with Congress to build on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework in legislation that moves in tandem, laying the foundation for a robust and equitable recovery for all Americans.”

The bipartisan Senate proposal includes $312 billion for countrywide transportation infrastructure projects–with $110 billion specifically allocated for bridges and roads. In California, 14,220 miles of highway need reparation as well as 1,536 bridges, and the state may need $51 billion to spend on drinking water infrastructure upgrades over the next two decades. Some of the framework’s funding could help cover these costs.

According to the fact sheets, Kentucky has 1,322 miles of highway needing reparations along with 1,033 bridges–and for costs in relation to roads needing repair, drivers pay around $444 a year. Still, the plan doesn’t explain exactly how much funding would be dedicated to Kentucky’s reconstruction projects.

“The need for action in Kentucky is clear” said the document. “For decades, infrastructure in Kentucky has suffered from a systemic lack of investment. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Kentucky a C- grade on its infrastructure report card.”

7,292 miles of highway and 1,702 bridges in New York are currently considered as being in poor condition, with commute times rising by 7.4% and drivers paying around $625 annually in road repair costs. Between 2010 and 2010, the state of New York endured 31 events of extreme weather that cost around $100 billion in damages, and the plan now details its intent to allocate $47 billion to boost infrastructure updates throughout the country in areas healing from natural disasters.

$905 Million Dedicated to INFRA Grants, DOT Says

July 18, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Transportation will be offering $905 million in Infrastructure for Rebuilding American program grants, announced Pete Buttigieg, along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, at the end of June.

This grant program awards funds to certain transportation projects that are deemed nationally and regionally significant and aim to boost overall economic growth and public safety. 24 projects across 18 U.S. states will receive grants from these funds in their efforts, which include projects facilitating the improved movement of goods.

Of these funds, $46.8 million will likely be allocated to the Georgia Ports Authority for its efforts in building a new Gainesville inland container port near interstate 85 and interstate 985–the Northeast Georgia Inland Port. This will also be directly linked to the Port of Savannah by rail and will aim to lower amounts of truck-related pollution and overall carbon emissions, Buttigieg explained.

“This will be linked to Port of Savannah by direct 324-mile intermodal freight rail service and create meaningful economic opportunities in the region while also significantly reducing the vehicle miles traveled by truck,” said Buttigieg.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will also receive $30 million for its traffic flow-improving construction projects between state Routes 57 and 60. The confluence of these routes has been designated as a chokepoint, Mayor Garcetti noted. Many cargo-carrying trucks bringing goods out of Los Angeles County ports often become stuck within the congestion of this corridor, and smoothing out this traffic will help the environment much more than keeping these trucks idled in traffic, Garcetti added.

“This is not going to increase our climate emissions,” he said. “This is where, notoriously, we have accidents that sometimes will take two hours to clear. These goods have to move–period. Together with the administration, we are looking at the electrification of trucks and infrastructure. But in the meantime, we expect this to be a reduction of emissions through this grant.”

The Department of Transportation has chosen the projects for funding due to their ability to create jobs and improve local and regional economies, and has also assessed how certain projects would address issues like environmental justice and racial equity. Because of these values, around 44% of this funding has been designated to rural areas that have endured long-term underinvestment.

Pennsylvania is receiving funding for one project to improve its rural freight corridor SR 61, as well as for one project to build a multi-use berth at its Port of Philadelphia. Additionally, the South Dakota Department of Transportation will receive $62.5 million to rebuild 28 miles of interstate 90 on the eastern side of the state, which will include road surface repair and replacement as well as the addition of designated truck parking spaces in both westbound and eastbound rest stops.

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, DOT must alert congressional authorizing committees in regards to the projects chosen under the INFRA grant program. Before the awards are officially finalized, the selected projects will stay with these authorizing committees for a two-month review period.

As of now, there are not yet enough resources to meet the national demand for INFRA grants–in fact, the DOT has only been able to offer funding to around one-seventh of all state projects requesting funds, Buttigieg explained. 157 applications for grants from 42 different states and Guam requested a total of $6.8 billion.

“We need to invest in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure,” said Governor Wolf. “We really need to do this. We need to return to the common attachment we all seemed to have at one point–to the idea that a robust infrastructure has always been at the heart of our national prosperity.”

The announcement of this grant comes as many lawmakers are working to reach a bipartisan infrastructure deal agreement, which was announced by a group of legislators, along with President Biden, at the end of last month.