Safety

Heads Up! Brake Safety Week Starts Now

GREENBELT, MD - As Canada is celebrating National Trucking Week Sept 6-12, one of the biggest industry safety events of the year will also be underway throughout North America with another right around the corner. Law enforcement agencies will conduct brake system inspections on large trucks and buses to identify out-of-adjustment brakes and brake-system violations as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) Brake Safety Week. The event is an annual outreach and enforcement campaign, organized by this group representing local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and trucking industry representatives from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

New Research Shows Summer Poses Added Risk for Drivers

LEICESTERSHIRE, UK -- Summer is in full swing, and the accompanying high temperatures might be carrying an added danger for drivers that you might not know about. A study released late this spring by Loughborough University in the UK reveals that even mild dehydration can be the equivalent of being over the drunk-driving limit in terms of driver errors. Yes, being behind even a little bit on the amount of fluids a trucker takes in each day can lead to increased risks for accidents and even the potential for financially damaging lawsuits that can follow a crash.

UPS Goes All In with Collision Mitigation Technology

NORWALK, OH -- The operator of the largest truck fleet in North America said it will make collision mitigation technology standard equipment on every new Class 8 tractor the company orders. UPS Inc. said during a special event this week in Ohio that each of the more than 2,600 new Class 8 tractors that it takes delivery of this year will feature the system from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, which alerts drivers to moving and stationary objects in front of the tractor and moving objects surrounding the vehicle.

Game Over! Canada Beats U.S. in Truck Safety Blitz

GREENBELT, MD - Just released figures from a previously unannounced one-day truck safety crackdown show inspectors in Canada found a fewer percentage of problems than in the U.S. According to results released Wednesday by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), which certifies truck inspectors, more than 6,300 trucks and buses were checked on May 6 in 32 Canadian provinces and U.S. states, along with Puerto Rico, as part of its Operation Airbrake. Overall, nine percent of the more than 6,000 vehicles inspected were placed out of service (OOS) for out of adjustment brakes, an improvement from last year's rate of 9.5 percent. However, in Canada this rate was just four percent compared to 11.3 percent for the U.S.

U.S. Proposes Changes to Major Truck Safety Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Changes are in the works in the U.S. when it comes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) key truck safety program. The agency announced on Monday it is proposing enhancements to its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, including changing some intervention thresholds to better reflect crash risk."These enhancements to SMS allow us to sharpen our focus on carriers with high crash rates, more effectively identify driver safety problems and hazardous materials carriers with serious safety problems, and more accurately account for carriers that are driving on our roads the most," the agency said on its website. These proposed changes are based on results from the agency testing and input from industry, enforcement, and other safety stakeholders. The proposed SMS enhancements include: Changing some of the SMS Intervention Thresholds to better reflect the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories' (BASICs) correlation to crash risk.