Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/391783
October 2014 | Overdrive | 43 finding fault the rise in Connecticut, from 64 percent of all inspections in 2011 to slightly above 67 percent in 2013. Another bit of good news is that Connecticut's nation-leading violations-per-inspection rate is falling quickly, down 20 percent since 2011; by comparison, the national rate in that time period is down 11 percent. While the CSA program and the bright light it's shone on maintenance issues may be partly responsi- ble, Bridge believes the effectiveness of its enforcement unit's targeted efforts shares in the improvements, extending to CMV crash-dense areas around New Haven and Hartford. Looking at 2007-08, the I-91/I-95 intersection and general vicinity in New Haven showed almost 200 crashes a year, says Bridge. His department increased inspections and created a visible police presence to go after moving violations. Today, the area shows "well under 50 crashes per year." Hartford and vicinity, says Bridge, is now the No. 1 crash area, but after years of reductions, the truck-enforcement division's efforts now seem to be showing little added result – similar to New Haven. "We're seeing the number stagnate," Bridge says, and they're moving to a judgment on the prob- lems as resulting from "more a roadway-design issue than a driver-behavior issue." But don't look for enforcement to lighten up in either region. New Haven is "in the process of a roadway design and change." Bridge says. "As long as we stay focused on our enforcement there" – provided they see a reduction in crashes following the improvement – "we can equate that to the roadway." Smart tires cross-trained for durability and verifi ed fuel savings Double Coin built the OptiGreen™ Series for people driven to ride on more than a strong and durable tire. The EPA SmartWay ® Verifi ed, ultra premium OptiGreen Series reduces rolling resistance and lowers fuel costs. That's why more and more carriers insist on Double Coin to meet their needs in performance and savings. FT125 ©2014 CMA, LLC. Fuel Effi cient Tire Line www.doublecointires.com SMART TIRES BUILT TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE Untitled-9 1 9/16/14 9:16 AM Connecticut was shown to be the most violation-intense state across the nation, mirroring Overdrive's own analysis, by the American Trucking Associations-affiliated American Transporta- tion Research Institute. ATRI reported in July on the geograph- ical enforcement disparities that, many believe, undermine the CSA Safety Measurement System's effectiveness at scoring carrier safety fairly. That report was followed by two letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation from a a broad swath of industry trade groups calling for SMS BASIC scores to be removed from public view. Read more about that letter and a House bill that followed it on p. 8. ATRI's report also offered a methodology that might nor- malize scores in the BASICs according to geographic area. ConneCtiCut singled out in report The full ATRI report, "Evaluating the Impact of Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Disparities on Carrier Safety Performance," can be down- loaded via atri-online.org/ atri-research/ safety.