Birmingham News reporter Ginny McDonald has the story today of the new restrictions on trucks carrying steel coil on Alabama highways. She quotes Trucking Association folks as describing the fines as the highest in the nation.The fines could be as high as $10,000. Yet the story also estimates damage to highways from the 30 coils that fell off flatbed trucks onto Birmingham area Interstates in the last 21 years at $7.5 Million. Let's see, $7.5 Million divided by 30 is what $250,000? What the story doesn't answer is how much of that $7.5 Million was paid by the truck companies, but a $10,000 fine for a quarter-million dollars damage sounds to me like "the cost of doing business". I'll email my friend and former Co-worker Evan Lockridge, star of a trucking show on Sirus Radio, and ask him to post his thoughts (if nothing else, Evan's math has to be better than mine....). Somebody remind me to tell you about the time Evan was videographer for an interview I did with artist Dale Chihuly in Birmingham...its one of my favorite TV stories.
Wednesday 3/25 Here's Evan's reply: The real important part of this new law is that it calls for a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in jail for uncertified truckers caught hauling these coils and up to ten grand on the driver (or trucking company) if an uncertified trucker is involved in an accident. This is a real deterrent to truckers because this law can mean the loss of their job. As for carriers, the penalty for them would mean they would loose money on the load--something they certainly don't want to happen when freight levels are down so much this year.
Truckers are ultimately responsible to make sure these loads are properly secured and regulations for doing so come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. I talked about this new law on my March 24th broadcast on Sirius XM Road Dog, (Sirius channel 147/XM channel 171) and every truck driver that called in said they supported this new law, though a few did say they thought the penalties were a bit high and had questions over how to get their certification. The bottom line is when you talk to truckers for 2 hours a day, five times a week like I do for my show, you can't help but realize most are very safety conscious. It's just the few bad apples out there that give the public a bad perception of them and the entire trucking industry.
Evan Lockridge
Host, The Lockridge Report
Anchor, Sirius-XM Trucking News
Sirius XM Satellite Radio's
Road Dog Trucking, Ch. 147 & Ch. 171
http://www.sirius.com/roaddogtrucking
Having possessed and still possessing a "full-blown" CDL for many years, and having once hauled coiled metal, I have a unique perspective, and am going to comment on this topic.
ReplyDeleteThough I no longer drive for a living, the issue of commercial driving is close to my heart, not only for public safety issues, but for health issues unique to that mostly male population, such as higher incidents of bladder cancer than among similarly situated male populations.
Of note, I've also had the misfortune of being involved in a coiled metal big truck wreck many years ago. Due to no fault of my own, at under 20 mph, going around a gentle bend on a flat dry road, the load shifted, causing the truck to overturn. I was fortunate the truck didn't run into the house of the lawn upon which it landed and injure or kill the sleeping residents. My vehicle's gross weight was the legal maximum of 80,000 lbs.
Exclusively considering the costs of highway repair as a dividend from any potential fine-based revenue is short sighted.
There are at least three, perhaps four additional areas of potential risk expense to the hauling companies. They include costs from lawsuits from injured or killed nearby drivers, their passengers and the big-truck driver. As well, any medical costs must be figured into those potential risks, as should the costs associated with the loss of the big truck, trailer and cargo.
Given the number of serious wrecks that have happened thus far, it is remarkable that no deaths have occurred. (At least I understand no deaths have resulted.) What we don't know are the costs associated with the subsequent lawsuits.
However, liability may also conceivably be extended to the shipper companies, although by law (as I understand it), the driver is ultimately responsible. However, what does the driver say to the company when they believe something unsafe? 'Gee, I'm sorry I can't carry your cargo.'? That's a surefire pathway to being fired.
The long and short of it? Yes, it is the cost of doing business.
Can we do more to ensure the reasonable safety of the motoring public? Absolutely, YES!
Having recently driven to the west coast and back again, I can attest that I noticed a significant difference in the way big truck drivers operate the closer to AL I came. In CA for example, big trucks and all vehicles towing trailers - passenger vehicles included - are limited to 55 mph and restricted to the right hand lane. Other western states restrict big trucks to the right lane, though perhaps at 10 mph lower than passenger vehicles.
Beginning in AR, I experienced big truck drivers that would, on a two lane interstate highway, attempt to pass another big truck. Their actions frequently created problems for many miles behind them, even in lightly travelled and relatively sparsely populated areas.
For the safety of the motoring public, Alabama should consider implementing similar limitations and restrictions.