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

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

A test program is being tried out in Indiana to encourage drivers to check in at weigh stations by making the visits faster and less painless. FMCSA representatives attended a demonstration of how two new pieces of technology will help to keep the roads safer and keep drivers on the road. Help, Inc., the creator of the new technologies put on the demonstration at a weigh station on I-70 in Richmond, IN.... Read More

The NTSB just announced their top priorities for 2013. Their top goal is to eliminate fatigued driving for the bus and truck drivers! Carriers will feel the effects of this and as far as I am concerned it is just another push to get carriers to purchase EOBR's. I'm sure Ray LaHood is behind this announcement by the National Transportation Safety Board because his own pressure has stalled short of his goal.... Read More

The FMCSA is demanding perfection from drivers and carriers, but the question is…can anyone demand perfection from them? This agency is running amuck! DOT agents have admitted it is impossible for a driver to drive across our country without breaking one kind of law or another. ... Read More

As originally posted at switchboard.nrdc.org.

Congress included an innovative program in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) that for over 20 years has helped clean up the environment by providing funds for transportation projects designed to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.... Read More

Something is driving a higher turnover in trucking right now, at 106%, it is the highest it has been this year. I don't know if drivers are finding more money, or if the companies they have worked for finally began forcing drivers to work under the CSA rules they have hid from them in the past.... Read More

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration appears to be getting serious about putting chronically noncompliant motor carriers out of business and closing the door on chameleon carriers upon first perusal of a new policy set to publish in the Federal Register on Aug. 2.... Read More

Each week the White House honors “everyday Americans doing extraordinary things in their communities.” The initiative is called Champions of Change: Winning the future across America.” The projects vary from homelessness to environmental sustainability.

On July 31st the White House recognized Champions of Change in the transportation sector. Thirteen individuals were honored for their work as Transportation Innovators, “individuals or organizations who have provided exemplary leadership in the growth and expansion of the transportation industry.”... Read More

Just today a FMCSA Assistant Director speaks at a Congressional hearing, citing CSA is working as planned?