Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/376180
VOICES 2 | Overdrive | September 2014 R eactions were swift after the announcement of the July 30 airing of a four- part CNBC special titled "Collision course," which in part claimed a lack of regulation of the "unsafe" trucking industry. As in other such mainstream industry coverage of late, statistics were presented in a manner that suggested every crash involving a truck is the fault of the truck driver. And that's not all, as Own- er-Operator Independent Drivers Association spokesperson Norita Taylor pointed out in a press release July 31. It said that this and other mainstream media spotlights on the industry actually may under- mine "efforts to bring meaningful improvements to highway safety. "Our members believe the stories do more harm than good to public safety, and (they) want the motoring public to know that truck drivers log millions more accident-free miles than otherwise," Taylor said. Likewise, as was noted on Twitter by former "American Trucker" host Robb Mariani, who heaped scorn on the cable network, "stats prove trillions of miles traveled – pro truckers were involved in less than 2% of ALL incidents!" And in only about a fourth of truck-involved accidents does the truck driver share in fault, as has been established by studies and accident statistics. Mariani was echoed by own- er-operator Pete Zimmer in the letter he wrote to Overdrive as the CNBC series began. "Put the safety where needed," Zimmer said, urging further education of auto drivers. "Increase fi nes to make an impact. Put regulations where the biggest problems lie. Make fi nes equal for all. We are all on the same highways." OOIDA's Taylor agrees on the need for further education, especial- ly "educating the motoring public about driving around trucks. There should be standardized training for new truck drivers as well." Part of the association's Truckers- forSafety.com-housed effort is aimed at getting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to fi nally develop entry-level driver train- ing standards, which was required by legislation but long put on the agency's back burner. Otherwise, the Truckers for Safety campaign "looks at ways to improve highway safety without imposing burdensome regulations in a variety of areas," OOIDA's press release notes. That's a mission many readers would view as sensible. It's also directly counter to sundry main- stream commentary calling for further restrictions on hours or technological patches. In many cases, as AsktheTrucker. com's Allen Smith noted in the Overdrive's Trucking Pro LinkedIn group, more regulations just create more problems with fatigue. His re- sponse to CNBC press emails on the series included this: "Shows omitting the causes [of driver fatigue] will not resolve the true problems of truck safety. … Increased regula- tions are causing more problems and fatigue." The CNBC series wondered why there is not a "national outcry" for more regulations. Most truckers would take the view expressed by Dianne Vranesic, commenting on the CNBC report on Overdrive's Facebook page: "'Under'-regulated? Are you kidding?" Says OOIDA's Taylor, "At a time Off course: Truck safety series The CNBC network's four-part series drew plenty of criticism for its misleading reports on trucking regulation.