Unsafe truck, bus drivers on the road

Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways.

[Mike Baltimore]

You forgot the biggest disability ALL truckers have, an extreamly HEAVY right foot.

[Mike Calo]

'"Do you enjoy your clothing and house? Without the truck driver you would have none of it," said Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company, as he drove from Edinburg, Texas, to Mansfield, La. "Our economy is based on the truck. People don't understand the ramifications of making it more restrictive for truck drivers to drive."
'

Tha's the kind of attitude that makes the eight recommendations, made by safety regulators, necessary.

Yes, Mr. Hull, we do understand the ramifications: we'd have safer roads.

There are people out there who would readily take the spot of any trucker who was disqualified from driving. It's not as though truck drivers grow on an endangered species of plant; they're just people, and there are lots of people around.

[Anna]

"There are enough government regulations as it is," agreed Ken Cornell, interviewed at a truck stop. "The medical profession should be able to take care of it. If they have a condition where they shouldn't be driving, they should be able to catch them."

This attitude shows a dangerous lack of intelligence and paycheck entitlement. The doctor's job is not to "catch" free-loading evasive, lying, welfare double-dipping dirtbags and keep them from breaking the law. The truck drivers should be responsible for their actions from the minute they step foot in any truck, just as the rest of the work-force is the minute they walk in the front doors of the office.
This is why truckers should not speak on the record in public without prior consent from their parent company, this moron makes them all look ignorant.

[Sad American]

These are comments from people who have obviously never driven a truck or gone through the process of obtaining a Commercial Drivers License. Don't forget about the car drivers who cut trucks off and suddenly stop without consideration. Or those who are driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. At least the testing requirements for a CDL are difficult enough that average driver would never obtain a license. Maybe the testing should be more stringent for people in cars and light trucks first. That would make the roads a safer place. I'm tired of the trucks being blamed for the all the accidents, but considering I clean up accidents on the highway most are caused by cars being impatient and driving in an unsafe manner. Not saying that all truck drivers are safe, but there is a difference between a professional driver and those who obtain an average car license. How many of you walk around your car before getting into it and do a safety check before driving to work? How many disabled cars do you see sitting on the side of the road with preventable problems like out of gas, flat tires, low coolant? All things that a pre-trip inspection could prevent. Please get off your high horse and put yourself in the shoes of the professional truck drivers. You would be shocked at what we see on a daily basis.

[Leviticus]

Please, "professional driver" is an oxymoron. Did you ever see these gents cavorting with truck stop tootsies?

[Mike Calo]

Sad American wrote:

These are comments from people who have obviously never driven a truck or gone through the process of obtaining a Commercial Drivers License. Don't forget about the car drivers who cut trucks off and suddenly stop without consideration. Or those who are driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. At least the testing requirements for a CDL are difficult enough that average driver would never obtain a license. Maybe the testing should be more stringent for people in cars and light trucks first. That would make the roads a safer place. I'm tired of the trucks being blamed for the all the accidents, but considering I clean up accidents on the highway most are caused by cars being impatient and driving in an unsafe manner. Not saying that all truck drivers are safe, but there is a difference between a professional driver and those who obtain an average car license. How many of you walk around your car before getting into it and do a safety check before driving to work? How many disabled cars do you see sitting on the side of the road with preventable problems like out of gas, flat tires, low coolant? All things that a pre-trip inspection could prevent. Please get off your high horse and put yourself in the shoes of the professional truck drivers. You would be shocked at what we see on a daily basis.

I take it from your comments that you drive a fire engine/quint/ladder truck/heavy rescue vehicle?

First off, save the "autombile drivers are at fault, not truck drivers." While that may be true in some cases, it is not true in all cases. Besides, that is not the issue the article addressed.

If you had read my post without a jaundiced eye you would have noticed that I was addressing one comment by one driver who made it sound like we should let commercial truck drivers do anything they damn well please because truck drivers are so "rare". Well, sorry but I DISAGREE with that person - and I don't need a CDL to be allowed to do that.

But based on your post - which is very defensive, and very protective of truckers - I have to ask: are you actually implying 1) that truckers never drive drunk or under the influence of any sort of drugs, and that they never break any laws regarding speed, lane-changing, crowding, aggressive driving, and so forth, and 2) that truckers should be allowed to do as they please without regard for the law?

[Joe]

Drivers and companies are aware of the CDL requirements and need to take impaired drivers out of the driver's seat. Doctor who administer CDL medical exams also have a responsibility to disqualify anyone who doesn't pass the medical standards.

[JOE]

Sad American wrote:

These are comments from people who have obviously never driven a truck or gone through the process of obtaining a Commercial Drivers License. Don't forget about the car drivers who cut trucks off and suddenly stop without consideration. Or those who are driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. At least the testing requirements for a CDL are difficult enough that average driver would never obtain a license. Maybe the testing should be more stringent for people in cars and light trucks first. That would make the roads a safer place. I'm tired of the trucks being blamed for the all the accidents, but considering I clean up accidents on the highway most are caused by cars being impatient and driving in an unsafe manner. Not saying that all truck drivers are safe, but there is a difference between a professional driver and those who obtain an average car license. How many of you walk around your car before getting into it and do a safety check before driving to work? How many disabled cars do you see sitting on the side of the road with preventable problems like out of gas, flat tires, low coolant? All things that a pre-trip inspection could prevent. Please get off your high horse and put yourself in the shoes of the professional truck drivers. You would be shocked at what we see on a daily basis.

Very well said, if the public had to go through half of what a truck driver has to in order to drive, there would be whining all around the USA. How would even one of you like to get stopped on a road out in the middle of no where and be put out of service, meaning you can't move your vehicle because maybe a brake line was rubbing, not leaking, but the DOT police officer sees where it is worn a little and has to be replaced. The driver has to have his rig towed for about $1,000 to a garage or it sits there until someone fixes it, he just can't drive to a truck repair dealer. You have no idea what goes on out there with trucks. The government tells you when to sleep, how much you can drive and the shipper always wants his product in the store the previous day. Even though there are some bad one's out there, they have my deepest respect, I wouldn't be typing on this computer if they didn't bring it to me.

[JOE]

Mike Calo wrote:

<quoted text>
I take it from your comments that you drive a fire engine/quint/ladder truck/heavy rescue vehicle?
First off, save the "autombile drivers are at fault, not truck drivers." While that may be true in some cases, it is not true in all cases. Besides, that is not the issue the article addressed.
If you had read my post without a jaundiced eye you would have noticed that I was addressing one comment by one driver who made it sound like we should let commercial truck drivers do anything they damn well please because truck drivers are so "rare". Well, sorry but I DISAGREE with that person - and I don't need a CDL to be allowed to do that.
But based on your post - which is very defensive, and very protective of truckers - I have to ask: are you actually implying 1) that truckers never drive drunk or under the influence of any sort of drugs, and that they never break any laws regarding speed, lane-changing, crowding, aggressive driving, and so forth, and 2) that truckers should be allowed to do as they please without regard for the law?

I don't think he meant any of that with his post. Newspapers are made to sensationalize problems, it sells papers and gives the transportation industry a bad name. There are far more drivers of cars and pick-up trucks that are more aggressive than truckdrivers. Drivers are scren alot better now than ever before, but you don't see that with the regular car driver who may be 90 making a u-turn on a oneway street, because he is lost. These guys have to pass their medical exam.

[Sad American]

Defensive is correctly stated. I take my job very serious and try to drive in a professional manner. Being you more than likely obtain all your info from the newspaper I would say you have been misinformed. Articles in newspaper aren't accident reconstructions or police reports and facts are left out.
Actually what I'm saying is that most truck drivers take their jobs very seriously and drive with respect. As in every other job there are some bad apples that get the attention. And no truck drivers shouldn't be allowed to do as they damn well please, but you should realize the products you depend on are more than likely transported by truck at some point. Trucks also pay the majority of all road taxes and fees.
So to say that truck drivers are rare is actually a good point, because I would pretty much guarantee you could not pass the actual driving aspect of the test much less get past the various other test you must pass beforehand. Do you have a criminal background check so you can haul hazardous materials? It is a big difference being in control of 80k lbs than driving a 4k lbs car. It isn't as easy as you might think. Your attitude that truck driving isn't that difficult is an insult on par with me saying that brain surgery is not that bad.
Also you fail to realize the untested and unsafe trucks /drivers that are allowed into this country via Mexico that are on the roads everyday without the same standards. The accident rates have gone down since CDL's were put in place. The penalties are much greater for traffic violations with said license. What needs to be done is actually enforcing the laws that already exist instead of the typical addition without enforcement.

[TCC]

Lets just take every truck off the road. That way we will not have anymore accidents. Who needs trucks anyway? Everyone seams to hate trucks, they are unsafe, big and slow. They are always in my way!!
I keep hearing reports on the news about crimes. The large majority of the names are Hispanic. Lets send them all back to Mexico. That way we will not have any more crime. They must all be bad. Yea right..
These news reports are so one sided. I served 4 months on Grand Jury duty. Let me tell you, what you read and hear in the news is often so twisted from the truth. The article on the unfit drivers sure made good reading. Why did it not give all the numbers? You are going to have good and bad in everything. The number of trucks on the road and miles driven with the number of accidents don’t even come close to the number of car accidents. The numbers prove trucks are safer than the cars. It’s the “big” accident that make the news.

[Mike Calo]

I never said truck driving wasn't difficult - I said it would not be difficult to find replacement drivers; if it were, then when the people who are driving trucks now are dead, we won't have any more truck drivers.

And yes, I have had a criminal background check - it was required at the job form which I recently retired.

[TCC]

Trucker violation ranking was accurate but misleading

"This is one of the safest places in Virginia," the city's police chief says.

By Peter Dujardin

July 24, 2008

WILLIAMSBURG - Williamsburg ranks No. 1 out of thousands of cities and counties nationwide in the rate of medical violations issued to truckers. At least that's what the statistics say.

But are truckers in Williamsburg really more susceptible than those in other places to having a heart attack, blacking out at the wheel or other such maladies?

Or is it simply a case of statistics being misleading?

"It doesn't seem to fit with what I'm seeing locally," Williamsburg Police Chief Mike Yost said of the top ranking from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. "Are we more dangerous than anywhere else? Absolutely not. This is one of the safest places in Virginia."

Of the five trucking violations issued following road inspections in 2006, two of them — or 40 percent — were for medical violations, according to the motor carrier safety administration.

That rate far outpaced the 2.6 percent national rate — and gave Williamsburg the distinction of being featured in bold lettering on a map sent out by The Associated Press to hundreds of newspapers and other media outlets nationwide: "Highest rate: 40%, Williamsburg, Va."

The problem, however, is that Williamsburg had a much smaller number of violations — five — than most other cities and counties in the country. Those five violations were issued to three truckers.

When the base is that small, even one medical violation can have a huge impact on the rate.

"What statistical value is it when you have only five items?" Yost asked.

In Isle of Wight County, for example, 498 violations were issued, and 12 of them — or 2.4 percent — were for medical reasons. In Henrico County outside Richmond, 2,726 violations were issued, and 83 — or 3 percent — were medically related. In Newport News, of 483 violations, 19 — or 3.9 percent — were for medical reasons.

Yost said Williamsburg police officers don't perform trucking inspections — and he has no records of any done in 2006.

He said the federal inspection numbers likely came from the Virginia State Police, which performs such inspections. Yost said he has calls out to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration trying to determine the source of the numbers.

Kristin Schrader, a spokeswoman with the safety administration, declined to comment on whether it was fair for the AP to rank Williamsburg at the top of the list, given the small number of total violations in that city. Although the raw numbers of violations came from the agency, she said, the rankings came from AP.