Note new blog name
On the Road
On the Road
Our
local news station has an ongoing report about truck safety, mainly the
under-ride guards or DOT bumpers on the trailers meant to keep crashing cars
from sliding under them. They found bent and broken ones that would probably
not have done their jobs on impact.
Having
a brother who drives trucks on long-haul trips, I’d have liked to have seen the
report delve deeper into the reasons why unsafe trucks are on the road. The
majority of drivers work for companies who own the trucks. While a driver may
keep the same cab for extended periods, trailers can be changed with every
delivery. They often pick up empty trailers with no control over what condition
they may be in.
Yet
according to the Department of Transportation laws, safety infractions go on
the driver’s record. Drivers receive only a small stipend if held over waiting
for a repair and a great deal of income is lost for every day they are kept off
the road.
Why
aren’t the owners being held to task to maintain their equipment? My brother
once went weeks without a window defroster, held over at least three times with
minimal pay before the repairs were finally done correctly. He’s had much the
same experience with other repairs. No wonder drivers don’t want to waste the
time. Who is ensuring fair business practices and a living wage for the
drivers?
Car
Drivers
We
car drivers must also own responsibility for coexisting on the road. A truck takes
longer to stop than most people realize (in good weather it takes the length of
a football field to stop when going sixty-five mph), especially if it’s
carrying a heavy load. Pull in front of a truck and suddenly stop—they won’t.
They can’t. Who hasn’t come up against the frustration of a laden truck
crawling up a hill then barreling down the other side and up on your bumper
after you passed it? Drivers can’t change the physics of big rigs, but we can
all be aware and considerate of one another.
Would
like to hear others’ stories and points of view.
I agree that rig and equipment owner's should be accountable for the safety and condition of equipment. That's just common sense. How do we make that happen? Lobby from driver's unions? I also feel that when kids take car driving lessons, a period of time in a semi trainer would be helpful to make everyday drivers aware of the reality of driving a big rig in traffic on hwys. Accompany this with training on how to behave in traffic with big rigs. Hwy 81 in Virginia is a prime example of how difficult this can get with uninformed drivers. I don't know how else to convey this type of understanding to drivers. I think just telling people rarely works,
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