Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/409537
34 | Overdrive | November 2014 DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS No. 5 in last year's CSA's Data Trail series of reports. The state conducted 10.3 inspections for every lane-mile of interstate within its borders in 2013, up nearly 20 percent from a 2011 inspec- tion rate of 8.8 per lane-mile. It's not just the number of inspec- tions that stands out; it's also the inspections' focus on maintenance and the aggressive approach to issuing violations. Texas leads the nation in maintenance violations as a share of its total violations. DPS officials did not respond to detailed questions posed by Overdrive about the enforcement program for the state's 300,000 miles of public roads, noting only that "it is our mission (along with our law enforcement partners across the state) to help ensure those roadways are safe." Drivers are quick to relate anecdotes of overzealous inspectors. There's the 2013 case of a driver hit with five sep- arate lighting-system-related violations that all started with a single loose pigtail, a case of "stacking" documented on Overdrive's Channel 19 blog. Stacking is the practice of piling on violations that stem from a single root cause, a practice the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Ad- ministration attempts to discourage. In the August Overdrive, Texas-based owner-operator Keith Stewart recalled the first inspection he'd received after purchasing a good-condition 2006 Pe- terbilt 379, which he continues to drive. On a bobtail run, a spot of oil on a tire resulted in discovery of a leaky wheel seal and a violation for an oil-soaked brake. The inspector brought out the rule book and considered putting Stewart out of service. The incident cost the driver time and a $100 bonus his leasing carrier would have paid him for a clean inspection. Now that Stewart's earning big bucks pulling a deck trailer in the oilfield, life would be great – but for the inspectors. DPS is laser-focused on oilfield trucks, particularly anytime there's a serious accident involving such a truck, says Stewart. With the shale-oil boom, mainstream reports surface routinely of growing truck-crash activity in the oilfield areas in Texas, Pennsylvania, North Dakota and elsewhere. Stewart says that while inspectors generally "keep banker's hours" at the scale houses he passes, if there's an accident, "they'll have an all-hands-on-deck in the Eagle Ford Shale. … Say somebody blows up in a crude truck – there will be an officer on every corner of every farm road. As soon as they get done with one truck, they'll hit another one." Such targeted enforce- ment is common across the country, but Texas is differ- ent, some drivers say. Stew- art sees a more entrenched program to catch a "steady flow of easy-violation Maintenance violations as a percentage of all violations 84 84.9 85.8 70.3 72 72.6 2011 2012 2013 Texas National average inspections per LAne-MiLe: 10.3 NatioNal average: 5.6 vioLAtions per inspection: 2.9 NatioNal average: 1.6 reflecting the national average decline in the num- ber of violations per inspection since 2011, texas' numbers fell from a peak of 3.4 violations for every inspection in 2011 to 2.9 in 2013. though lower, that rate still leads the nation. TEXAS Violation category Maintenance Lights Brakes Tires Moving violations Hours of service Percentage of all violations 85.8% 21.5% 18.9% 10.2% 3.9% 3% National rank 1 7 13 2 42 47 Source: Unless otherwise noted, all numbers based on 2013 federal data analyzed by RigDig Business Intelligence (rigdig.com/bi). VIOLATION PROFILE Source: Fatality rates are from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2012, divided by 100 lane-miles of National High- way System roadway in each state. Maintenance violation percentages are from FMCSA data for 2013, analyzed by Overdrive and RigDig Business Intelligence. Top 10 STATES for Truck- involvEd fATAliTy crAShES Pennsylvania Virginia Georgia Indiana Texas Oklahoma Florida Illinois Maryland Missouri Large truck fatality crash rate 1.62 1.46 1.45 1.08 1.05 1.05 1.00 0.87 0.85 0.85 Maintenance violations as a percentage of all violations 66.0% 81.5% 63.8% 45.1% 85.8% 54.6% 69.7% 50.4% 70.6% 71.4%