Used Bucket Trucks and DOT's New Safety Rules!

For companies that purchase used bucket trucks for their aerial needs, it is imperative to stay current with the new Department of Transportation (DOT) safety rules.

Fleet owners, as well as individual drivers, need to be well-informed about the safety rules in order to comply with those regulations that have been issued by the governmental agency charged with enforcing safety, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), under which is the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) program. A driver's primary responsibility is to closely monitor the bucket truck and address any safety concerns of the vehicle.

Guidelines

It is important to be aware of the scope of the rules spelled out by FMCSA. One of their most recent standards declares that any equipment with flagged safety defects must be taken out of service until necessary repairs have been completed. During the time period that the equipment is flagged as defective and in the process of being repaired, it is important to ensure that drivers as well as dispatchers maintain and keep the records of the required restorations. If repairing the flagged defects is somehow delayed and the company fails to comply with the standard set forth by the FMCSA, it can result in prolonged downtime of the bucket truck. As a result, this can affect the company's profitability and delay project deadlines.

Furthermore, the new CSA requirements for record-keeping of safety and repair activities are strictly imposed. If a company fails to abide by such guidelines, it may become overwhelmed with the necessity to complete all necessary paperwork. For this reason, businesses must have a system that better assimilates drivers, dispatchers and the repair shop.

Fleet Maintenance Software

Technological advances have brought much convenience to businesses, especially with the present maintenance and repair scheduling challenges. There are computerized software systems available on the market that can be installed in existing vehicles. These systems can help keep up with maintenance and repair record-keeping in order to keep the bucket truck up-to-date with the record requirements of the CSA.

There are software systems available that allow companies to easily track problems on the road or at the work site and schedule repairs before the bucket truck even returns to the company's home area. These programs allow the driver to fill out an electronic inspection report form regarding the bucket truck. The system also prompts the driver to ensure the entire checklist has been filled out completely as required by CSA.

This information is then delivered electronically to the central maintenance system which will automatically generate a notice of repair for the specific equipment if there are any safety-related issues. With this automation, worries can be eliminated and companies can be assured that there are no miscommunications between drivers, dispatchers and technicians. Also, all the paperwork of the repair requirements is secure, which eliminates the risk of losing it in the process.

Keeping up with the new DOT safety rules and using the technological advancements designed for bucket trucks is very useful. It may be helpful to check with the repair shop used by the business to discuss with them how to work together with the business to abide by the FMCSA and DOT guidelines!

Christopher M. Hunter is an expert in commercial specialty trucks. Click here to find out more about Used Bucket Trucks.

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Abiding By The Rules Of Driving

There are a lot of rules that a driver needs to learn about and abide by. Even if you are an expert driver, you need to stick to the rules set by the government while driving. These rules are mainly related to traffic keeping in mind the safety of the drivers and the pedestrians as well. The driving schools provide handy information about on road safety while driving, speed limits that need to be maintained as prescribed etc.

Speed limits are of the highest concerns all around the country. Young drivers often get overenthusiastic and cross the mentioned speed limits for different lanes. They need to understand that the speed limits are set according to the type of vehicles that ply on the respective lanes, streets and highways; these limits prevent accidents on highways and busy traffic lanes.

Driving lessons not only include how to drive but also to train and teach the learner to abide by all the traffic rules. Changing lanes unnecessarily lead to traffic mishap thereby causing huge traffic congestion and most of the times even accidents that can be fatal. The driving schools provide thorough information about the traffic signal and road signs. The road signs for instance a left arrow indicates a left turn ahead, a cross mark on the alphabet P means no parking.

Drivers should keep their eyes open and look out for all these road signs and abide by them. In a no horn zone a driver should never blow horn because it could possibly be a school or a hospital nearby.

Besides, other rules include No drinking and driving. This has been causing a lot of accidents all around the country. A certain study has shown that most number of on road accidents occur due to drinking and driving. It is completely against the law and order of the country and the driver not following this rule can be punishable by the law which can lead to life time imprisonment. Deadly as it is, drunk drivers often tend to lose control over the speed and generate a blurry vision which is extremely dangerous for him, people in the car and the pedestrians outside.

These rules fall under driving lessons as well; some institutions teach their learners about the various rules and their importance as to why they should follow them, their consequences if not followed. These are of utmost importance when it comes to driving. Being a little careful can reduce road accidents thereby saving thousands of innocent lives on the streets.

If you are looking for Driving Lessons Brisbane, you will quickly discover that No Yelling it's simply the best option.

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Safety Rules for Protecting Truck Drivers While on the Road

Truck drivers are instrumental in transporting merchandise cross-country from one area to another. Without them, the economy would virtually come to a stop. The high number of truckers on the road makes safety a primary issue, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or FMCSA strives to keep them as safe as possible by implementing safety rules and regulations. All truckers need to consider road safety as a job requirement, and avoid situations that put safety in question. One of the primary reasons for semi accidents is driver fatigue.

The wages of a driver translates into deadlines and quotas, so many tend to stay behind the wheel too long without rest. Law regulates the hours of driving time and the hours of rest required for a trucker. Drivers are required to keep logbooks with back up receipts as a means of enforcement. Some truckers circumvent or falsify the records because the faster they move cargo the more money they make. However, most of them realize the importance of safety on the job. In order to overcome fatigue some drivers use prescription drugs, over the counter medications or other types of stimulants to stay awake.

Instead of avoiding the problem, drugs compound the problem decreasing safety, so laws require motor carrier companies to randomly drug test their employees. A distracted driver is dangerous to everyone on the road. Sending a text or internet surfing, watching DVDs, or attempting to operate a laptop while driving, causes many accidents. Although truckers spend many hours in their rigs, they should not become comfortable enough to entertain themselves in this manner. Vehicle maintenance is high on the list of controllable causes of accidents.

Fluids, hoses and tires need checked every time the vehicle stops to fuel. Tires need examined closely due to the time spent on the road along with the changing weather conditions a tractor-trailer can encounter during one delivery. Brakes are another controllable reason for accidents caused by mechanical failure. Trucks have to rely heavily on their braking system, especially in mountainous terrain. Slowing a truck with a full load, going down a steep incline puts extensive stress on the system. Truckers know that driving a big rig is much different than driving a car with a bigger chance of causing injury or death in an accident.

Unsafe truck driving practices should not exist. A semi cannot react as quickly as a car in any situation. It takes longer to increase and decrease speed and takes more room at intersections to make a turn. The trucks blind spot is larger than the one on a car and speeding increases the already lengthy reaction time. A load of shifting weight exaggerates the movements of a truck, so extra caution needs observed when hauling shifting cargo. Every action that puts a car at risk of an accident also puts a truck at risk with possibly tragic results.

As with any motor vehicle on a public roadway, the person driving a semi must always be aware of other motorists that are inattentive or reckless. Watching out for other unsafe drivers can often prevent accidents. Those who transport cargo, whether local or long distance are responsible for evenly distributing the weight as much as possible and safely securing their load. The use of tie downs straps and tarps help obtain this goal.

Drivers need to make a concerted effort to get sufficient rest, eat right, and get physical exercise to maintain a level of physical fitness that assists in staying mentally alert. In an accident, truck drivers are at risk of serious injury or death, so seat belts should be in use and a fire extinguisher kept in the cab of the truck. Driving tractor-trailers takes skill and carries a huge responsibility with it, so no one should ever consider it a routine job. Regular use of safety precautions tops the list for doing it successfully.

When a large truck crashes with a passenger-sized automobile, the results are often catastrophic. Even a minor impact from a semi truck accident will result in a huge impact on a passenger vehicle. Huge impact equals serious, sometimes permanent, injuries. Maryland injury lawyers will make sure that you and your family gets the reimbursement that you deserve. If you've been injured by a tractor trailer, call a Maryland truck accident attorney today.

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ATA urges DOT to keep current Hours-of-Service rules

The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) released a white paper yesterday that calls for the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) to keep the current truck driver hours-of-service regulations more or less intact.
?The trucking industry has operated safely and efficiently for 7 years (since January 2004) under the current HOS rules,? the paper said. ?ATA strongly supports retention of the current and safe rules with one exception?more rest options through greater flexibility in the sleeper berth rule.?

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To support its case, ATA cited improved crash statistics, such as a 33% decline in truck-involved highway crash fatalities in 2009 compared to 2003. ATA also noted that the rate of fatalities is at its lowest since DOT started keeping records in 1975. On top of that, ATA said crash-related fatalities, injuries and property-damage-only crash rates for large trucks are at their lowest level since DOT began keeping records three decades ago.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin. (FMCSA) is expected to issue a new proposed hours-of-service rule at any time. The new rule will result from an agreement over litigation filed by Public Citizen and the Teamsters against the current reg, which mandates an 11-hour driving day and has a 34-hour ?restart? provision.

As part of the settlement, DOT officials agreed to finalize a new rule by July 2011.

ATA expects the new rule will:

Reduce driving time and increase the number of hours required to restart a driver?s weekly on-duty period Include at least one mandatory rest break during each shift.

?Hard-pressed to argue safety benefits, the Administrationis likely to try to justify any HOS changes as needed for driver health,? the white paper claims. ?That argument will be as specious as claims of safety gains.  FMCSA has consistently gone on record over nearly the last decade that the current HOS rules are having no deleterious effect on driver health. Among other things the agency has noted that drivers are not driving any more hours-per-week under the new rules than before, and that the enormous improvements in diesel exhaust reduction and other modern truck features (e.g. power steering, automatic transmissions, improved suspension systems) drastically limit the health risks associated with truck driving.?

According to ATA, FMCSA estimates there will be a $2.25 billion hit for the industry with a one-hour reduction in drive time and a significant increase in the 34-hour restart provision due to added costs.

The ATA paper concluded that the reduction in drive time would increase the number of inexperienced drivers, and therefore risks, particularly at a time when the federal government is so focused on improving safety with CSA.

?Finally, by restricting truck driver productivity and forcing the use of more inexperienced drivers, the revised rules are likely to result in more highway crashes ? new drivers present more than three times the risk of crashes than their more experienced counterparts,? the paper said.

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