Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/141405
How have carb's powertrain emissions requirements affected your business? "I don't run to California much, so it doesn't affect me at all. It is hurting other drivers who can't afford the equipment, though." Mauricio Zavala McAllen, Texas Company driver, Eag Logistics "I just don't haul out there anymore – I stopped when all of those regulations were being added." John Turner Buckhannon, W.Va. Owner-operator leased to Bessel Transfer "It's made it a whole lot harder to make a buck, and turned a lot of drivers away from driving out west. A lot of states are jumping on the bandwagon with it now, too." Richard McDowell Dayton, Ohio Company driver, Con-way Inc. "None – I run out to California frequently, but I have a new DEF system on my truck. The company bought the truck with the system included." Mike Curry Houston Company driver, Transway Transport PULSE Driving blind A new distracted driving report confirms what truckers know intuitively and expands upon what other studies say: Hands-free communications technology can be just as distracting as hands-on. When compared with other diversions inside the car, "interacting with the speechto-text system was the most cognitively distracting," said the report, done by the University of Utah for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "This clearly suggests that the adoption of voice-based systems in the vehicle may have unintended consequences that adversely affect traffic safety." Researchers also refer to cognitive distraction as "inattention blindness." This means your eyes get it, but your brain doesn't. A system that frees your hands does no good if your limbs remain on cruise control. This problem of cognitive distraction barely registers with the general public. Seven out of 10 people believe using hands-free devices is "somewhat" or "much" safer than using handheld devices while driving, according to another AAA Foundation report. Also, many drivers who oppose cell phone use behind the wheel also freely admit to doing it, based on AAA Foundation research. Not surprisingly, these same hypocrites also are fond of speeding, aggressive lane-changing and other risky behavior. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has banned commercial drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. It's also limited their calls on handsfree devices to one-button speed dial. What's needed most, though, is for certain states and perhaps FMCSA's parent, the U.S. Department of Transportation, to follow the lead of progressive states and crack down on four-wheelers' cell phone use. Seven out of 10 respondents reported using a cell phone while driving when surveyed in 2011. This and other driver distractions are a factor in 3,000 annual deaths. Yet distracted driving gets only a sliver of the effort that's put into trucking STOP Many motorists have a "do as I say, not as I do" approach to talking and texting while driving. safety regulation. Authorities have the same simplistic self-serving attitudes about policing distracted driving as they do with driving under the influence: 1) A truck is more lethal than a car, so let's come down on commercial drivers the hardest. 2) Most of us think we have no problem combining alcohol or cell phone use with driving, so let's not be too tough on ourselves. The flip side is that there are far more four-wheelers, causing far more wrecks and fatalities than trucks, and they're piloted by amateur drivers, not professionals. Too many suffer from attention blindness before they even pick up a cell phone. Lawmakers and regulators need to open their eyes to this growing safety threat instead of winking at it. By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com July 2013 | Overdrive | 5 Voices_0713.indd 5 6/27/13 11:50 AM