Recent crashes involving semi trucks have reinvigorated lawmakers’ and media’s “safety” campaigns against truck drivers. Their response, is mostly new regulations, primarily in the form of electronic on board devices and hours of service limitations which they believe will solve the issue of driving while fatigued.
However, the Owner Operator Indepndant Driver Association (OOIDA) believes that the underlying issue is not driver fatigue, and new technology is not the answer.
In a recent conference, OOIDA Vice President Tood Spenecer, says that they have it all wrong. What’s missing is proper training standards:
“Instead of relying on technology and making misguided, hours-of-service regulations changes, the focus should instead be on training standards for entry-level drivers,”
He goes on to quote recent the FMCSA study that concluded that less than 2% of big truck crashes were a result of a tired driver.
“According to statistics from FMCSA, fatigue is a factor in 1.8 percent of truck crashes and the percentage of fatal crashes involving trucks is about 10 percent. According to FMCSA, the fault of truck-related crashes falls mostly on passenger vehicle drivers.” said Spencer.
Almost every lawmaker in favor of increasing trucking regulations fails to mention driver training, however with big outfits pumping out new drivers as fast as they can get them, it may be a valid discussion.
What’s your take — should increased training standards for new drivers be considered? Chime in with your thoughts below.
