Articles

Safety

Patrick Labriola

When Government Oversight of Motor Carriers Fails, Shippers Pay

While overall truck accident rates have been trending lower over the past several years, avoidable carrier accidents are still common. Comprehensive safety compliance reviews (CRs) by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) protect lives and property. In the year after a CR is conducted, crashes decrease 16.3 percent, according to […]

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Tom Sanderson

The Safety Measurement System: A Flawed Assessment of Motor Carrier Conduct

Developed to support the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) initiative, the Safety Measurement System (SMS) methodology is intended to monitor motor carrier and commercial motor vehicle driver safety performance. It must pass rigorous review before it becomes law. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the FMCSA must consider the effect these […]

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Karla Staver

Putting Safety First: Proven Strategies for Every Workplace 

In 2009, more than 4,300 workplace fatalities and nearly one million workplace injuries or illnesses involving missed work days occurred. These numbers are improving, but even one accident is one too many. To help mitigate workplace incidents, it pays to have the right plan in place—one that starts with the hiring process, and includes training […]

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David Strand

The Surprising Upside to CSA 2010

When it comes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s guidelines known as CSA 2010, the trucking industry has focused on its potential drawbacks, including job losses for truckers and other challenges for carriers. While such issues do exist, there are also opportunities for drivers, carriers, and shippers to benefit from the rules’ move to […]

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Trends—December 2010

A Cellular Distraction Exposes DOT’s Blind Spot When U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently took one hand off the Department of Transportation (DOT) steering wheel long enough to field another call about the dangers of cell phone use while driving, freight industry outsiders were eavesdropping. Truth be told, they’d prefer riding shotgun, even at their […]

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