17-vehicle Crash Leaves 5 Dead In Austin - "fly By Night" Poor Training?
Topic 34664 | Page 1
There is no trucking shortage. But yes companies cut corners. But the quality of workers has diminshed since covid. No one wants to work. They want to complain and be entitled.
First of all the crash in austin they have arrested one person and charged them with 5 felony desths charges due to intoxication. Several trucks were involved but I have seen nothing stating what their involvement was. My first guess is the trucks were most likely driving too fast and or following to close. We see it all the time on the road. Best advise is to always be alert and stay away from those type drivers. It can save yours as well as others lives.
Our gov’t has been allowing more and more visa holders to drive class 8 vehicles. They have a very high crash rate among their peer group as compared to US CDL holders. Most are based off the west coast and greater chicago area. Now couple that with them allowing the mexico trucks to come further into the interior of the US. And they wonder why the roads are less safe.
I have always felt the lessening of standards always leads to bad results, mostly unintended, but bad results all the same.,
As long as the big companies lobbyists are successful with our gov’t officals this will always be a problem. They keep wanting more gadgets in the name of safety. Like everything else, follow the money.
A side not, the state of Arkansas has a bill pending right now that will not allow ANY foreign licensed driver from operating a commercial vehicle of any kind in their state. Let that one sink in. That is huge if it passes.
As long as special interests and huge companies steer this ship we will never see anything good come from it.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Read that the driver was an illegal alien. The intoxicated charge was drugs.
Hopefully with the new leadership in Washington, we'll see fmcsa and dot start to enforce the immigration status and English communications policies and laws. There was a blitz on exactly those at scales and ports of entry rumored to be in the works.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Read that the driver was an illegal alien. The intoxicated charge was drugs.
Hopefully with the new leadership in Washington, we'll see fmcsa and dot start to enforce the immigration status and English communications policies and laws. There was a blitz on exactly those at scales and ports of entry rumored to be in the works.
There were quite a few immigrant CDL students at my school. Overall they were a decent, hardworking group whose citizenship status I'll assume was on the up-and-up. Their biggest challenge was passing the pre-trip in coherent English. The instructors weren't certified ESL teachers, but simply common sense, native English speakers who either could or could not understand what they were saying.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
FMCSA and DOT are both very clear on it. In order to hold a CDL , the applicant must be able to read and understand English. They also must have had a valid class C license for a period of one year. They also must have and legal immigration status.
If they are unable to understand English instructions, signage and communication, they are not eligible.
There's a substantial difference between hard workers and skilled workers.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I agree we have clear cut rules, however without the proper enforcement they are useless. I have been to plenty of shippers/receivers and saw first hand there were drivers that had no clue of English. Or the other side is the driver has an interrupter with them that was poor in English.
If shippers turned those people away that may help get the point across, but they always found a way to muttle through and loaded them and sent them on their way. Path of least resistance to get the load moved.
The visa holders running on an out of country license has been on the increase the last 4 years probably to get around the reg of having a us license for a year.
If the gov’t was really interested in making the roads safer they would outlaw the visa drivers all together unless they hold a us cdl , and do a indepth study of the crashes involving commerical vehicles, specifically indentifying the license status and orgin of the drivers involved. Would be an eye opener most likely how many of those licenses were either foreign or have a long historyof unsafe violations.
I know of one driver that is working that has so many violation points the state should suspend his license. For some reason he keeps skating by. Personally I don’t want my family or anyone else on the road with a driver like that. Also insurance companies need to draw a red line and quit insuring drivers with records like that. Nope they just crank up the rate and look the other way if the check clears the bank.
As long as an industry we keep making the requirements easier so more people can pass and others throughout the industry looks the other way to make a buck we will never make the roads safer. It all has to start with highly trained quality people across the industry.
Ok, rant over!!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
FMCSA and DOT are both very clear on it. In order to hold a CDL , the applicant must be able to read and understand English. They also must have had a valid class C license for a period of one year. They also must have and legal immigration status.
If they are unable to understand English instructions, signage and communication, they are not eligible.
There's a substantial difference between hard workers and skilled workers.
And I'm 100% in favor of those standards. I was just commenting on how I noticed that, for good reason, even if someone is skilled at the driving portion of the training, if you can't communicate in basic standard English, too bad. You don't get the license. I was in class with a guy from Syria whose English was pretty fluent, but he still had to learn expressions like "properly mounted and secure," as well as terms like "fifth wheel skid plate," etc. He put the work in and got it done!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
FMCSA and DOT are both very clear on it. In order to hold a CDL , the applicant must be able to read and understand English. They also must have had a valid class C license for a period of one year. They also must have and legal immigration status.
If they are unable to understand English instructions, signage and communication, they are not eligible.
There's a substantial difference between hard workers and skilled workers.
And I'm 100% in favor of those standards. I was just commenting on how I noticed that, for good reason, even if someone is skilled at the driving portion of the training, if you can't communicate in basic standard English, too bad. You don't get the license. I was in class with a guy from Syria whose English was pretty fluent, but he still had to learn expressions like "properly mounted and secure," as well as terms like "fifth wheel skid plate," etc. He put the work in and got it done!
Words and phrases you will never say again once you graduate and get your CDL. Lol. 😂
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
FMCSA:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
- Commercial Drivers' Licenses
- Data and Analysis
- Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
- Research and Technology
- Safety Assistance
- Support and Information Sharing
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
To add - the difference is everyone on this site knows what those terms and phrases mean and knows where and how to check them and where those parts are located. These “drivers” working for these fly by night operations don’t even know how to complete a pretrip or even a basic brake test. I know this because I’ve witness it many times at truck stops, even to the point where they have asked me “oh you do this every morning?” Yes - just like the DOT law says you’re supposed to do. I’d go further to say that they don’t know how to properly fill out a log, even on an ELD where 90% of it is done for you.
Most of them leave their truck idling all night, wake up, and are driving within 10 min. Safety takes a back seat at these operations because they get low pay, by the load. So they have to turn and burn to make as much money as possible, likely the only income in a multi person family.
There’s a reason why it’s always these small, fly by night type operators that you see shut down at scales and DOT checkpoints and why the several large and mega carriers aren’t and get bypassed often.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.New Reply:
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The full details aren't in yet, but authorities are saying the driver showed signs of intoxication during the sobriety test.
As a newly minted CDL holder, stories like this are why I am opting for a longer training period before going solo and being all the more vigilant about personal responsibility. As a military veteran, we had "ATTENTION TO DETAIL!" barked at us repeatedly beginning in basic training, and that maxim, I know, applies to driving professionally.
To the veteran drivers I ask, have you noticed that quality and length of training diminishing to dangerous levels to fill the need for drivers? Is the industry cutting corners to put less than the best behind the wheel?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: