safe driving

Post-Pandemic Roadways Seeing More Traffic Once Again–What Does That Mean for Safety?

June 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 22: Rush hour traffic fills the 101 freeway on March 22, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. According to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Los Angeles ranks only behind New York with the dirtiest and most hazardous air to breathe. Although Angelinos breathe cleaner air than they did in the 1970’s, they face a cancer risk that is about twice the national average. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, we reported on data showing that although stay-at-home orders had cleared up a majority of traffic congestion throughout the nation’s roadways, overall levels of road safety had remained incredibly low.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic has exposed our road safety culture for what it is,” explained National Safety Council President and CEO, Lorraine Martin, at the time. “We did not reap the safety benefits we should have experienced.”

Martin noted that the clearer roadways motivated many drivers to drive much more carelessly than usual, and drivers are often tempted to reach dangerous speeds when roads are empty–they often may also fail to use a seat belt due to a false sense of security.

“It’s clear that our open roads have created somewhat of an open season for reckless driving,” Martin added.

Now, it seems that even those who did drive safely–or stayed home completely–during the pandemic have had trouble adjusting to roadways getting crowded once again as more drivers return to work, according to industry experts.

“What we’re observing is that as the rest of us get back on those roads, we’ve forgotten how to share the road,” said Geotab’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, Colin Sutherland. ”We see cars pulling in directly in front of heavy-duty trucks on the highway, forgetting that heavy-duty trucks need more room for braking than the car does.”

In an effort to boost overall roadway safety, Geotab–a vehicle tracking service–collaborated in a campaign with Together for Safer Roads during the United Nations’ recent Global Road Safety Week. During the campaign, the two organizations called on commercial fleets to help bring an end to speed-related road accidents.

As we approach the Summer months, Sutherland warns that these days are the most important to stay particularly safe and aware while driving, as the number of road trips rises and more people than usual hit the road.

“That’s being borne out [of] the increase in accidents that are happening on the road today,” he explained. “An increase over pre-COVID, which is very scary.”

In 2020, America’s roadways saw more vehicle crash deaths than they have in the past 13 years–42,060 people are believed to have died in fatal crashes–8% more than in 2019, even though fewer people were driving throughout the year. All motor vehicle total miles driven even fell by 13% in 2020 from 2019.

The Safety Management Council of American Trucking Associations is currently studying the traffic changes and their effects from the COVID-19 pandemic while we wait for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to release its official 2020 truck and bus accident report.

“We are starting a benchmarking group and will hopefully have this data more readily available,” said ATA’s Safety Management Council executive director, Jacob Pierce. “There are [fewer] cars on the road, so you’d figure that there would be [fewer] accidents. However, [fewer] cars on the road equals probably more passenger vehicles driving [with more risk], driving faster, [and] really not paying attention.”

In regards to the differences that are expected between roadway activity as people return to the roads after lockdown and how drivers behaved on the roads during the pandemic, there is no way to make any real predictions.

“It could go either way,” explained Angela Savino, a business law attorney at Perez Morris. “There certainly was more trucking activity. So, [given] that alone, you might think there was an uptick. But It was a whole different set of circumstances–just the congestion on the road was different”

Many industry experts were genuinely shocked at the data coming from roadway traffic accidents in 2020.

“The last year had a surprising amount of activity–from my perspective–[more] than would have been expected,” said Bluewire’s chief legal officer, Doug Marcello. “Anecdotally, I had more accidents that we were engaged to deal with immediately over the first month of the pandemic than I did most other months, and all of them were situations where four-wheelers had thrown caution to the wind and ended up striking the truck in some way.”

Severe Weather Forces DOTs to Clear Roads in New Ways

April 23, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Corrosion from road de-icers is a multi-billion-dollar issue for fleets…once it starts, it starts eating everything alive,” said Atro Engineering Systems area sales manager, Brian Herrington.

The de-icing methods involving road salts, sand, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride have been a go-to for areas experiencing the often-dangerous effects of winter weather on roads. Still, it’s well-known that these methods can cause huge corrosion issues for fleets, and now, many states across the country are aiming to solve this issue.

Corrosion inhibitors and brine technology are now making their way into the de-icing game, so that states can lessen the amount of product and chemicals needed to keep roads clear and safe.

The amount of salt utilized to clear roads has been on the incline over the last few years as more states develop more bare-road policies and as more drivers expect clear pavement–and are unable to drive otherwise. This increase in salt use has also been creating more problems for equipment and the environment as a whole, explained Phill Sexton, the CEO of WIT Advisers. WIT works with winter management and landscaping companies throughout the continent.

“We’re finding out salt is a pollutant in a major way to fresh-water resources,” Sexton explained, noting that chlorides are not biodegradable and cannot be diluted. “It is killing off aquatic ecosystems and becoming a drinking water hazard.”

To salt or not to salt is one of the trickiest decisions for Fairbanks maintenance district superintendent for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Dan Schacher, because he understands the real effects of these environmental hazards.

“It impacts people,” he said. “It impacts my budget, but there is a societal cost to a crash, and there is a really big societal cost to a fatality. If I can show we’re reducing accidents and fatalities, then I am comfortable making that decision. If you wash your equipment or use these salt-away products we use on our equipment, it will be fine.”

Road-Weather Technology, which uses automated vehicle-location equipment and mobile data decision support, has been extremely useful to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which has been utilizing this tech to be able to monitor and apply an appropriate amount of material to roads depending on current weather conditions, explained MnDOT’s maintenance research and training engineer, Thomas Peters.

Other DOTs have been focusing on updating equipment in more efficient ways to reduce the amount of salt they use, which Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute research scientist, Laura Fay, said is the case in her state. Fay is also a program manager for cold climate operations and systems and infrastructure longevity and sustainability at the school.

“A big part of this has been motivated by reduced and shrinking budgets over time,” Fay explained. “They can’t just keep buying salt because they can’t afford it, or it is [a] heavy winter and they cannot get more salt in time.”

WIT Adviser’s Sexton explained that Brine technology has been particularly helpful in lowering the amount of product needed for road clearing, as rock salt doesn’t tend to become effective for de-icing until it converts to a brine.

According to Fay, salt brine is a solution of 23.3% salt, as opposed to 100% salt, which is much more corrosive. By using liquids, only 40 gallons of salt brine are needed to de-ice one lane mile as compared to the 250 pounds of rock salt that would be needed for the same stretch of road.

Additionally, the anti-icer liquid can be laid out onto a road well in advance, which can be much more convenient for city workers, Fay noted.

“If they know a big storm is coming in, they can go out 12 hours in advance. They can treat the roads when they’re on shift and not on overtime,” she said.

Brine can also be applied where desired without any material loss, and, once activated, the brine will prevent snow or ice from bonding to pavement.

“When you go and plow, it makes plowing much easier,” added Fay.

“Why wouldn’t you do that?” asked Sexton, who noted that the amount of salt needed for his roads was reduced by at least 70% when switching to a brine method. “There are economic and environmental benefits to doing this.”

“You’re putting much less product onto the road and into the environment,” Fay agreed, also saying that long-term cost savings are more than worth the initial investment that brine-making equipment may require.

“Brine has the advantage of being cheaper and ensures the material sticks directly to the road surface,” said Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman, Matt Bruning. “Salt offers a little traction and extends the ice melting process by taking more time to go into solution.” Brine also only costs pennies per gallon to create, Bruning added.

AV Legislation Returns to House, While Some Supporters Say Reconsideration Unlikely

January 7, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill that would allow car manufacturing companies to distribute up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles. The legislation, called the SELF DRIVE Act, has received little-to-no attention over the last few years. It was passed unanimously in 2017 by the House, but failed within the Senate. Democrats and trial lawyers both worried about potential lawsuits that could arise if someone is injured or killed in an autonomous vehicle.

The measure would give the Secretary of Transportation the ability to make federal motor vehicle rule exemptions regarding a car’s need to have a human operator on board. 25,000 cars per carmaker could be operated initially if a company can show it meets traditional vehicle safety standards.

Following a period of one year, a manufacturer’s exemptions would rise to 50,000 and then to 100,000 in the two following years. States would not be able to limit sales more than the federal statute with any new laws. Right now, a car manufacturer can produce 2,500 self-driving vehicles for testing.

Ohio Representative Bob Latta believes the self-driving measure should resurface in Congress after the House’s major backing in 2017.

“This is a very good bill,” Latta said. “Not only for safety–we had over 37,000 people killed in traffic accidents–but also for the bipartisan work that was done.”

However, Michigan Representative Debbie Dingell said she won’t support the revisited measure, although she was a proponent of the 2017 version, because she doesn’t believe it will reach proper reconsideration in committee or within Congress before the end of the term.

“The Congress should have considered autonomous vehicle legislation, but for a variety of reasons, that has not occurred,” she explained.

Latta’s “desire to see action by our colleagues” is respectable, Dingell said, and agrees that immediate action on the matter of AV is necessary. She also expects 2021 to include many bipartisan discussions on self-driving legislation, and that she has already received Democratic leader commitment to making the issue a priority if the democrats continue their control of the House.

Bringing back the legislation was a “cynical” move for lawmakers who have seemed nonchalant in regards to AV regulation, said Center for Auto Safety executive director, Jason Levine.

“As a reminder, this bill contains no regulatory or testing requirements to improve public confidence in the long-term safety of driverless vehicles,” he said. “Instead, the SELF DRIVE Act protects auto manufacturers and technology companies from legal responsibility when their unregulated products put consumers at risk.”

This news comes shortly after major trucking company Daimler Trucks purchased a majority share in Torc Robotics in efforts to work toward Level 4 autonomous truck development. The companies see the path to AV trucking as a marathon rather than a sprint, and believe they can bring automated trucks to mainstream transportation by 2030.

SAE Level 4 is the name for a truck’s ability to operate without driver assistance or input during certain conditions or in specific areas.

The companies have also been urging Tier 2 suppliers for additional safety tech, and announced that Daimler’s Autonomous Technology Group would build headquarters in Albuquerque. The center will boost testing capabilities and data collection for the use of innovative vehicle technology on public roads.

Torc Robotics CEO Michael Fleming noted that there are still many obstacles ahead, and that safety-focused technology is not quite ready for commercial deployment.

“We have been engaging Tier 1 suppliers with new requirements, trying to push the envelope on radar, lidar, and cameras, and also compute systems at the same time,” he explained. “At the end of the day, when we bring product to market, it has to be cost-effective, meet the performance specifications to address not only safety, but ensuring we can drive efficiently to the destination and deliver goods in a timely fashion…There isn’t, in my opinion, automated vehicle hardware commercially available that meets all three today.”

Still, collaboration is key to pushing new methods of safety technology forward, Fleming said.

“Daimler’s commitment to safety, innovation leadership of truck technology, and foundational knowledge of on-road scenarios that truckers encounter has moved our system faster than we could have done alone as a technology firm.”

UPS Asks Again for Driver Instructor Requirement Exemption

January 6, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration originally denied UPS Inc.’s request for exemption from driver training requirements. These requirements mandate an instructor have at least two years’ training experience, and UPS is now asking for reconsideration of this request once again.

FMCSA turned down the major shipping company’s request for exemption on the basis that it hadn’t given sufficient data on how the exemption may affect driver and road safety. FMCSA also stated that UPS’ request failed to detail how the requested exemption would allow for safety levels that would be equal to or greater than those achievable by complying with the driver training rule as is.

UPS believes that its fleet–the largest in the country–needs this particular exemption so that it can continue its proper highway and public safety training for its drivers, claiming that it needs to be able to surpass current requirements, as it has been doing thus far.

In its second exemption request, UPS gave FMCSA the necessary new information mentioned in the agency’s original notice of denial, specifically noting that many UPS locations have seen large amounts of fast turnover with driver trainers.

“UPS stated that it has had to hire 100 candidates to attempt to net the 50 driver trainer positions necessary across the U.S.,” said FMCSA in its notice. “Of the 100 hired, UPS has been able to retain only 38 trainers for the reasons explained in the request for reconsideration.”

Additionally, UPS claimed in its original request that its driver training programs have successfully trained hundreds of instructors, even though many of them had not had any previous commercial driver’s license experience beforehand.

“UPS driver training school instructors have, on average, 20 years of UPS experience, hold a CDL of the same or higher class, and all the endorsements necessary to operate a CMV for which training is required,” said the Federal Register announcement from FMCSA. “Additionally, all UPS driver instructors are required to be re-certified every 90 days to demonstrate the same skill level shown for their original driver training school certification. UPS further performs internal quality assessments to validate that instructor skill sets are maintained throughout the organization.”

FMCSA accepted public comments regarding UPS’s secondary request for one month after it was published in the Federal Register at the end of September.

“UPS believes that its current process of preparing driver trainers exceeds any skill set gained merely by operating a tractor-trailer for two years,” said the carrier in a statement. “The company also believes that a two-year experience requirement doesn’t automatically equate to success as a commercial motor vehicle driver trainer.”

In its previous request, UPS saw 112 comments, with 58 in support, before FMCSA’s original decision. The rest of the comments were either in opposition or had no particular position, according to FMCSA.

The original exemption request also explained that the proposed flexibility was necessary in order for union contractual requirements to be met. Six current employees of UPS must have a promotion opportunity for each new hire that is on-boarded, according to the company’s collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters union.

This request for reconsideration comes during a time when many safety-related regulations are in the midst of change, such as hours-of-service rules and commercial driver’s license obtainment requirements. Various driver and road safety advocacy groups have been fighting against these relaxed regulations, especially because they seem to be aiming to meet a desperate attempt to fill driver seats during a nationwide driver shortage and to keep drivers on the road longer when delivery demand is high.

These more flexible rules are sure to bring more inexperienced and fatigued drivers to America’s roadways for longer periods of time, and many safety-focused groups and organizations say this is detrimental to the country’s overall road safety. To loosen driver training instructor requirements for UPS, America’s largest delivery fleet, could possibly bring even more major safety concerns than we already have.

In regards to this case, “FMCSA will also continue to file, in the public docket, relevant information that becomes available after the comment closing data,” said the agency in the Federal Register. “Interested persons should continue to examine the public docket for new material.”

Levinson and Stefani Discuss Current Safety Issues Within Trucking Industry

December 26, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Throughout 2020, as truck drivers’ responsibilities have become more vital (and focused upon) than ever, the need for major road and driver safety improvements has never been more important. This also comes at a time where trucking regulations have seen many changes–and pushback.

As the firm’s own Ken Levinson and Jay Stefani have seen first-hand the effects of current safety issues on America’s roadways, they decided to weigh in on what potential changes are needed for truckers right now–and what decisions they think are doing more harm than good.

“It seems like any time there’s a need for more deliveries and more drivers, especially during things like COVID, the trucking industry and trucking companies use that need as an opportunity to skirt safety,” explained Levinson. “Whether it’s hours of service or requirements of drivers and commercial drivers’ licenses–even letting younger drivers drive 80,000 pounds. We’re all for efficiency getting supplies, food, and necessary resources to people–but not at the expense of highway safety.”

This year, regulations regarding driver service hours have been made more flexible, as have age and training requirements for new drivers entering the industry.

“It seems like at every turn, whenever there’s an opportunity, the trucking industry does everything it can to maximize profits at the expense of public safety, and there’s just too much risking involved in the skirting of rules and regulations that are there to protect the public,” Levinson said.

These kinds of safety regulation relaxations have led to many more cases of crashes, injuries, and even deaths on the road, causing many safety advocacy groups to oppose these rule changes.

“Frankly, we see the devastating effects of a lack of driver training, lack of driver attentiveness, and lack of adherence to safety rules. We see it all the time, and it just leaves families devastated.”

Even before the coronavirus pandemic’s stay-at-home orders caused many Americans to have food and household items delivered more frequently, as well as many hospitals and clinics ordering more resources and personal protective equipment, there was already a major shortage of truck drivers across the country on top of issues surrounding driver retention rates–a shortage that tempted the industry to loosen CDL requirements and regulations.

“To me, one of the biggest issues out there is that the industry is talking a lot about how it needs more drivers, and that’s one of the reasons they’re pushing to lower the driving age for CDL holders,” said Stefani. “I think the issue is more about paying drivers a fairer wage. For a lot of the drivers, at first blush, it looks like they’re getting paid a decent amount. But more often than not, gas is coming out of their pockets–these trucks burn through a lot of gas–and drivers are paying for the lease on the truck.”

Often, experienced truckers get tired of this mistreatment, so they end up leaving the industry altogether–and now, trucking companies have become desperate to fill those spots.

“The industry is looking to add more drivers by turning toward younger, less-experienced, cheaper drivers,” Stefani explained. “They’re trying to add 18, 19, 20-year-olds. Not only are they younger, they’re less experienced driving cars, let alone driving these massive tractor-trailers that are sometimes hauling hazardous materials. It’s unfortunate that, oftentimes, the industry’s first turn is to cut safety tools and to cut regulations that are there to protect everyone on the roadway.”

The truckers Levinson and Stefani work with in their cases typically bring up the importance of driver experience–the number of miles and the number of years behind the wheel–which often plays a big role in trucking-involved accidents.

“Lack of driving experience is a major factor that often comes into play in what we see in our cases all the time,” said Stefani. “Oftentimes, these are less-experienced drivers, or they’re drivers that are being pushed beyond the limits of their hours of service. They’re driving tired–they’re exhausted. And a lot of that is because they’re getting pressured to stay on the road.”

This driver fatigue is a more prevalent problem than many people realize. In 2006, 13% of all truck crashes were associated with exhausted drivers. Relaxing hours-of-service regulations is clearly only going to worsen that issue, Stefani says.

“There’s a significant percentage of these crashes that we see out there that are caused by drivers that are tired, and that’s with the already-existing hours-of-service regulations,” Stefani explained. “Letting truck drivers drive when they’re even more tired is not the solution. Add more drivers. Spread out deliveries. There are some places that will do what’s called ‘tandem drivers’ or ‘co-drivers,’ so that there are split shifts within a truck. There are a lot of options out there other than forcing drivers to drive when they’re tired.”

Supporters of hours-of-service regulation flexibility argue that many drivers don’t want to be made to rest when they would rather be working–but Stefani said this is not what will come of this change.

“There’s no question that this isn’t going to be a situation where they let drivers drive more hours if they want to,” he said. “It’s absolutely going to be a situation where the truck companies and the shippers are telling them, ‘No, you’re now legally allowed to drive 12, 13, 14 hours a day, so we expect you to do that.’”

New Technology-Focused Transportation Grant Program in Kansas

November 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A new program to fund and support technology-focused projects aiming to boost safety and mobility has been introduced by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Announced in late August, the Innovative Technology Program will give financial assistance to those working to improve mobility, public safety, and transportation technology, and participating projects can involve any method of transportation. These include, but aren’t limited to, road networks, rail, transit and bicycle facilities, alternative fuels, and unmanned aircraft systems.

Around $3 million for each fiscal year will be made available to recipients, which can include non-governmental applicants. The application window was open between mid-August and mid-September.

“As a leader in UAS, it’s important that we implement new technologies safely,” said Julie Lorenz, Transportation Secretary. “This program will help both rural and urban areas of the state improve the transportation system.”

Throughout Kansas City, officials have been working diligently to implement drone operations, and the Mid-America Regional Council, which includes representatives for all nine counties within the Kansas City metropolitan area, released its outline for these tech explorations, named the Regional Unmanned Aircraft Systems Strategic Framework, in September of 2018. In this plan, officials detail the necessary steps to form strong partnerships with other agencies, to develop a drone usage manual, and to collect data on public concerns regarding drone operation.

Projects will not receive more than $1 million per cycle, and local government officials will administer the Innovative Technology Program projects. Each project must meet a minimum 25% non-state cash match, and applicants that can commit more than the minimum amount will receive boosted consideration.

Eligible projects can also receive further consideration if they have been supporting local business retention and economic growth. Geographic fund distribution will also be taken into consideration by KDOT, and projects receiving awards are set to be announced by the end of October.

Last fall, interested parties were able to discuss transportation priorities during Local Consult meetings, which were held in multiple regions throughout the state. These public meetings created opportunities for people to bring to light the transportation topics they felt would best shape Kansas’ 10-year transportation program plan.

“Citizens at Local Consult meetings across the state last year stressed the need for technology opportunities to better position Kansas for the future,” said Lorenz.

KDOT’s Eisenhower Transportation Legacy Program, known as ‘IKE,’ was created in March of 2020 and is a 10-year program that aims to modernize and expand highway projects on a rolling basis every other year. These efforts work to solve the biggest issues and largest fluctuating revenue difficulties regarding Kansas state transportation.

During these local meetings, more than 2,000 participants collaborated in the overall construction of the IKE program, and established vital aspects of the program that would include broadband investments, new technology investments, and an overarching commitment to multimodal transportation efforts. Preliminary engineering work on 40 different highway projects, under the IKE program, were announced in May by Lorenz and Governor Laura Kelly.

Kelly has pushed forward $216 million in sales tax revenue to the state highway fund in fiscal 2020, which has allowed KDOT to progress a variety of programs working to support infrastructure projects.

The Innovative Technology Program follows a series of technology-focused funding efforts within the state, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s April 2020 announcement of $750,000 in funding for Kansas local and state governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals to further increase innovation technologies. These Conservation Innovation Grants aimed to further develop innovative technology and tools meant to address natural resource concerns throughout private Kansas working lands. These funds aim to help farmers, ranchers, and other private forest landowners bring new conservation methods to their properties through the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches.

Additionally, between 2019 and 2020, Kansas City partnered with City Innovate to sponsor the Startup in Residence Program, which works to connect Kansas City departments with innovative technology startups. The city established a 16-week voluntary period to develop tech-based solutions addressing city government challenges, and created the STIR Program to connect public-sector agencies directly with tech entrepreneurs in order to boost technology product development and implementation in regards to specific public sector needs.