News of a jury award in a wrongful death lawsuit in Santa Fe, NM, that awarded the family of a crash victim $58.5 million dollars comes as no surprise to me. In essence the jury said that the driver of a tanker truck that made a left turn in the path of the victim’s oncoming vehicle did not have adequate training. The Jury also decided that the bulk of the responsibility for the crash lied with the management company that contracted with the trucking company.... Read More

A recently released ATA paper has led to headlines reporting that in truck/car crashes the car driver made a critical error about 75% of the time. This paper was part of the ATA's push to get FMCSA to begin assigning fault to crash reports that are used to calculate a motor carrier's CSA score. Although FMCSA is currently studying the matter, they've cooled on the idea since initially endorsing it. The most commonly cited reason is a belief that police generated crash reports may not be reliable enough.... Read More

Our whole trucking legal system is out of control. About two years ago a semi driver in California parked in an approved space near an intersection. The intersection had two way stop signs. A pickup truck ran one stop sign causing a motorcycle to hit the pickup truck. The lawyer for the cyclist claimed the parked semi-truck was blocking the view of the approach of his client’s vantage point. The California Court of Appeals ruled that because the semi was parked where it was parked and in fact did reduce the amount of visibility for the biker the driver and the carrier were both 5% liable.... Read More

Does your company have a policy that prohibits dispatchers from assigning drivers a load that cannot be completed without speeding? Take a look at the SMC on the FMCSA website for the Unsafe Driving BASIC and make sure all necessary processes, management, and controls are in place to prevent and address unsafe driving practices. ... Read More

In America our federal government works to implement laws that regulate our states and our people. Our Congress and Senate work to pass these laws to assure that all Americans are treated equally, and in accordance to our Bill of Rights.

But what happened when our Federal bodies passed the bill that contained CSA? According to the FMCSA when Congress passed the Transportation Bill that created CSA it gave the FMCSA the power to create rules to govern the transportation industry. These rules would not be subject to our judicial system or our nations Constitution or Bill of Rights.... Read More

MAP-21,, also known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (P.L. 112-141), was signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012. This legislation will go into full effect through September 20, 2014, and will bring a wave of changes to the transportation industry.... Read More

Cyclists often display bumper stickers or yard signs reminding motorists to “share the road.” The U.S. Department of Transportation even has a website providing information about safe road sharing.... Read More

Tom Kretsinger Jr. is the President of American Central Transport, Inc. A very experienced manager in today’s trucking world. Recently he wrote on www.bigtrucktv.com/tomkretsinger. In his blog Tom said that besides probably tax increases in 2013, “Other exactions will likely come in the form of fees, tolls and government enforcement actions. The EEOC has been active in pursuing class actions against business to collect money. The DOL has been equally active.... Read More

I was recently at a conference in Boston where the organizers alleged that around the world, more people own cell phones than they do toothbrushes. Since then, I have used this little factoid in some of my own presentations and it never fails to get a gasp from the audience. (Google it if you like – there has been research) The proliferation of cellphones and especially smartphones, is one of the most important technological advancements of the last decade for sure. ... Read More

Enforcement today has a downside, and that is some officers take the written word and fail to apply common sense. Not all officers mind you, but enough to make today’s law enforcement different than in years past.