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Another truck safety blitz with 50% pulled off the road
- Thread starter GreyGhost
- Start date
I believe that's called inattentive driving.
I had shoulder surgery yesterday, my right arm is completely immobilized in a sling.
You need this deviceI had shoulder surgery yesterday, my right arm is completely immobilized in a sling.
Roadghost
Well-known member
I'm not at all surprised by the 50% out of service rate. There are too many transport companies chasing too little freight. The government compounds this problem by supplying the industry with free transport driver training (compliments of all you taxpayers) resulting in an oversupply of drivers. They do this to keep the driver wages and the trucking rates low. The result is poor quality underpaid drivers with little experience driving trucks owned by companies who don't make enough money to repair them.
The number of fed up truck drivers who quit the industry each year is staggering. Trucking companies complain about driver shortages to maintain the government training subsidies. Truck drivers don't get paid overtime and are generally forced to work 60 hours a week at ridiculously low wages.
The government knows all of this is happening. They have been dragged kicking and screaming into putting electronic logs into highway trucks. This takes effect January 18, 2018. The shippers (auto industry, food industry, etc.) are the big problem. They lobby the government to keep transport rates low. The result is a government that turned a blind eye to corrupt driver training and licensing for years. They also quietly cut back on truck inspections and hours of service enforcement.
Trucks in Canada today are dangerous and they're driven by dangerous drivers. I spent a lot of time in the industry and the whole corrupt business is driven by shippers who demand cheap transport or else. If a few people get killed on the highway, well that's just too bad. The idiots at the Ontario Trucking Association just play right along, putting on a façade to cover their backsides. Just give us cheap drivers, from any place in the world, even ones who can't write their own name. It's amazing the public hasn't caught on about it.
The number of fed up truck drivers who quit the industry each year is staggering. Trucking companies complain about driver shortages to maintain the government training subsidies. Truck drivers don't get paid overtime and are generally forced to work 60 hours a week at ridiculously low wages.
The government knows all of this is happening. They have been dragged kicking and screaming into putting electronic logs into highway trucks. This takes effect January 18, 2018. The shippers (auto industry, food industry, etc.) are the big problem. They lobby the government to keep transport rates low. The result is a government that turned a blind eye to corrupt driver training and licensing for years. They also quietly cut back on truck inspections and hours of service enforcement.
Trucks in Canada today are dangerous and they're driven by dangerous drivers. I spent a lot of time in the industry and the whole corrupt business is driven by shippers who demand cheap transport or else. If a few people get killed on the highway, well that's just too bad. The idiots at the Ontario Trucking Association just play right along, putting on a façade to cover their backsides. Just give us cheap drivers, from any place in the world, even ones who can't write their own name. It's amazing the public hasn't caught on about it.
I would agree with some of what you said above, but not some of the broader generalizations suggesting the industry as a whole and the entirety of its drivers are dangerous – that's simply not the case.
There are certainly some problems with the quality of drivers making it onto our roads here, But again, the government is squarely at fault for this by keeping the licensing and testing standards so insanely easy. When I got my class a license in the early 90s I personally thought it was laughable even then, But with the exception of closing a few loopholes (one notorious one that allowed people to get a class A license using a pick up truck and horse trailer in lieu of an actual semi for the road test) the testing is still the same for the most part and honestly is woefully easy – all you need to do is remember exactly what they are looking for and regurgitate the procedures. Even the actual driving portion of the road test requires only the most basic of skills be demonstrated.
Good companies take these drivers and then further educate them, the problem is is that the bottom feeder companies just take them straight out of the ministry testing and stuff them directly into a job, skills or not.
There are certainly some problems with the quality of drivers making it onto our roads here, But again, the government is squarely at fault for this by keeping the licensing and testing standards so insanely easy. When I got my class a license in the early 90s I personally thought it was laughable even then, But with the exception of closing a few loopholes (one notorious one that allowed people to get a class A license using a pick up truck and horse trailer in lieu of an actual semi for the road test) the testing is still the same for the most part and honestly is woefully easy – all you need to do is remember exactly what they are looking for and regurgitate the procedures. Even the actual driving portion of the road test requires only the most basic of skills be demonstrated.
Good companies take these drivers and then further educate them, the problem is is that the bottom feeder companies just take them straight out of the ministry testing and stuff them directly into a job, skills or not.
Roadghost
Well-known member
I've generalized because I'm p'd off at the whole thing. The number of good companies you can name on two hands. It's sure going to be interesting to see what happens when the EOBRs become mandatory. All they really need to do to clean up this mess is end the free funding for licenses and require a 6 month course to become a professional driver. They won't do it, no way, no how, and they don't care how many lives are lost.
The container truckers went on strike a couple of years ago.
As soon as the new contracts were signed, pricing agreed to... Some of those "unionized" truckers immediately approached the companies they just finished negotiating with.. and started trying to undercut each other again.
As soon as the new contracts were signed, pricing agreed to... Some of those "unionized" truckers immediately approached the companies they just finished negotiating with.. and started trying to undercut each other again.
A lot of drivers other own worst enemy's, they go to work for a company that treats them like crap and pay **** but instead of standing up for themselves or just quitting and going elsewhere they just bend over and take it.
But they will complain endlessly about it to anybody willing to listen. I don't even pussyfoot around the conversation anymore, I just bluntly ask them why they still work there then – most come up with excuses about how they can't find anything better which is a load of crap – there are lots of driving jobs out there. With three or four years of good safe verifiable experience in the industry and a clean record a good quality driver could have a different job every day of the year.
And yes, There is no shortage of good quality, well paying jobs out there.
Unfortunately as long as some continue to allow them selves to be treated like doormats, the ****** companies will survive as long as they have a warm body in the drivers seat willing to take the abuse.
But they will complain endlessly about it to anybody willing to listen. I don't even pussyfoot around the conversation anymore, I just bluntly ask them why they still work there then – most come up with excuses about how they can't find anything better which is a load of crap – there are lots of driving jobs out there. With three or four years of good safe verifiable experience in the industry and a clean record a good quality driver could have a different job every day of the year.
And yes, There is no shortage of good quality, well paying jobs out there.
Unfortunately as long as some continue to allow them selves to be treated like doormats, the ****** companies will survive as long as they have a warm body in the drivers seat willing to take the abuse.
Every time we put an ad up looking for drivers... We get thousands of responses from brand new drivers. The market is saturated with people trying to get into it.
We've had guys offer to drive for free for 6 months just to get some experience.
We've had teams apply for 1 driver job.. basically saying 'you'll get 2 for 1'
I've known a few newer drivers, that were really good drivers, but had trouble getting past the experience needed before most will look at them.
We've had guys offer to drive for free for 6 months just to get some experience.
We've had teams apply for 1 driver job.. basically saying 'you'll get 2 for 1'
I've known a few newer drivers, that were really good drivers, but had trouble getting past the experience needed before most will look at them.
JD_PICKLE
Well-known member
Those 'driving schools' and the same goes for driving a car, only teach how to pass the drivers test, they really don't teach you how to drive.
Shortsighted for schools to be training on autos when 95% of the industry is still using manuals.
I learned on an 18 speed....but then again back when I got my liscence autos didn't exist.
Iceman
Well-known member
Believe it or not, most of the new guys choose an auto for training. Some have said they were told to by the school as "the industry is moving that way".
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Slowly it is...autos are creeping into our fleet as well, but reality is that even in a decade there will still be manuals to be had, and most old equipment is gonna be manual still, and as was touched on earlier, brand new zero experience drivers at a company don't get the shiny new equipment, they get the old stuff.
To not get trained on the standard non synchronized equipment still in the overwhelming majority of trucks on the road today is just stupid.
Based on the initial eyewitness reports to last nights inferno on the 400, a fuel tanker piled into slowed vehicles fast enough to climb up onto a car carrier. I thought the fuel drivers were supposed to be the safest ones on the road? Am I mistaken and they will take anyone or was it likely that this was a normally safe driver that made a mistake or had a mechanical issue? The third option is the eyewitness or reporter was mistaken and it was a different truck that caused the mess.
Whatever happened, it looks like the fuel trucks ran into the wreck, the wreck didn't hit them in the back so something went horribly wrong with both of those drivers.
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/hwy-400-c...lutely-devastating-14-vehicle-crash-1.3658305
http://www.cp24.com/news/at-least-2-dead-after-fiery-crash-on-hwy-400-south-of-barrie-1.3658303
EDIT:
At some point the police and politicians will pull their heads out of their ***** and realize that having lanes closed for a long time is deadly and must only be done as a last resort.
Last nights crash happened 45 minutes after a minor crash further up the road closed some lanes for a cleanup and investigation. A non-injury fender bender should be entirely off the highway in 15 minutes or less. In the states, tow companies have contracts to keep highways open, they float in a wheel loader, take some pictures, put the cars on a trailer, sweep up, load the loader and the highway is clear.
Construction with lanes closed should be proceeding at full speed 24 hours a day until the project is done and lanes reopened. I think the government started more projects than they could fund (or maybe more than there was available labour/equipment to complete) and so we have a ton of projects hanging out for months with no action.
Whatever happened, it looks like the fuel trucks ran into the wreck, the wreck didn't hit them in the back so something went horribly wrong with both of those drivers.
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/hwy-400-c...lutely-devastating-14-vehicle-crash-1.3658305
http://www.cp24.com/news/at-least-2-dead-after-fiery-crash-on-hwy-400-south-of-barrie-1.3658303
EDIT:
At some point the police and politicians will pull their heads out of their ***** and realize that having lanes closed for a long time is deadly and must only be done as a last resort.
Last nights crash happened 45 minutes after a minor crash further up the road closed some lanes for a cleanup and investigation. A non-injury fender bender should be entirely off the highway in 15 minutes or less. In the states, tow companies have contracts to keep highways open, they float in a wheel loader, take some pictures, put the cars on a trailer, sweep up, load the loader and the highway is clear.
Construction with lanes closed should be proceeding at full speed 24 hours a day until the project is done and lanes reopened. I think the government started more projects than they could fund (or maybe more than there was available labour/equipment to complete) and so we have a ton of projects hanging out for months with no action.
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Wouldn't jump to any conclusions...could have been a medical issue, for example, who knows.
I'm not blaming the first driver in, as I said there were a few possibilities (and you rightly added medical). The second tanker should also have seen the line slowing and been able to stop before piling into the back.
There was one northbound on 6 south of 5 yesterday afternoon. Saw 2 gravel slingers (probably jockeying for position to be first to turn left to the quarry on 5) and a bunch of mangled car-shaped objects.
If both those fuel tankers are the same company you have half the story, two guys playing silly f'er on the 400. I watch that crap all the time, last week was two garbage compactors drag racing on walkers line. Really.
And the gravel merchants with the tippy up trucks will hire anybody with a pulse and an AZ endorsement.
And the gravel merchants with the tippy up trucks will hire anybody with a pulse and an AZ endorsement.
Iceman
Well-known member
Given the surge in fatal wrecks, many eerily similar to the one Tuesday night, Ontario Safety League President and CEO Brian Patterson said it may be time for a coroner’s inquest.
“There is something wrong here,” he told CP24 on Wednesday, noting that more than 60 people have now died in collision involving transport trucks on Ontario highways this year. “No other sector would have this many fatalities and not have it addressed by the coroner.”
Has there not been 57 or so motorcycle fatalities so far this on Ontario roadways?
Either motorcyclists are not important enough for the coroner, or trucks are being taken out of proportion.
Trucks and truck safety is hot news right now, everybody wants to look like they're doing something.
I'm all for safer roads, but as a commercial driver myself I can see a lot of bull coming for those of us who have always been thorough with the maintenance of our equipment.
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“There is something wrong here,” he told CP24 on Wednesday, noting that more than 60 people have now died in collision involving transport trucks on Ontario highways this year. “No other sector would have this many fatalities and not have it addressed by the coroner.”
Has there not been 57 or so motorcycle fatalities so far this on Ontario roadways?
Either motorcyclists are not important enough for the coroner, or trucks are being taken out of proportion.
Trucks and truck safety is hot news right now, everybody wants to look like they're doing something.
I'm all for safer roads, but as a commercial driver myself I can see a lot of bull coming for those of us who have always been thorough with the maintenance of our equipment.
Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
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