June 21, 2018
There’s no denying that trucking means big business for America. In fact, the American Trucking Association recently reported that the trucking industry is responsible for $700 billion in annual revenue alone. Along with that big picture is the danger that lurks behind the all-too-often hidden secret of fatigued truck drivers, who for years did everything from drive long-than-allowed shifts to taking illegal drugs to get the job done. Now, however, a newly proposed Truck Parking Information Management System (TPIMS) is being pilot tested in seven states to show truck drivers how many parking spots are available at truck parking stations to get some much-needed shuteye or rest.
“As our economy grows and our state gets back on track, the movement of freight is becoming a much bigger and more important part of what we do. We anticipate that freight movement on our highway system will expand over 40 percent in the next 20 years,” said Mark Gottlieb, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.¹
How the TPIMS Plans to Make the Highways Safer for Motorists
Parking System Aims to Reduce Truck Driver Fatigue | Denver Truck Accident Attorney
The following TPIMS details on how state department of transportation (DOT) authorities plan to make the roadways safer for motorists were collected from recent news stories:
- Finding a place to rest for truck drivers has for years been a difficult undertaking, but with the TPIMS plan DOT officials hope to save the trucking industry time, money and lives.
- Federal regulations now state that truckers cannot drive more than 11 hours in a 14-hour window, and must find a location to rest for 10 hours.
- On average, it takes truckers 56 minutes to find a location to rest.
- That 56 minutes of looking for a place to rest translates to $4,600 of lost wages annually for truck drivers and the trucking company they work for.
- The TPIMS works by utilizing a combination of videos cameras and sensors under the pavement at truck stops to count the number of vehicles at each truck rest area.
- The results of the tabulated number of trucks at each rest station is displayed on signs located before each rest area to let the truckers know how many parking area vacancies there are.
Why Care About Truck Driver Fatigue
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) diligently works to make the roads safer for all motorists by regulating the number of hours truckers work and finding new ways to improve those rules. The following are some very sobering FMCSA statistics, and rules passed to make the roads safer:
- Currently, approximately 4,000 people are killed in truck related crashes every year.
- In 2011, the FMCSA made new rules to prevent against fatigued truck drivers making it mandatory that drivers take a 30-minute break from driving within the first 8 hours of their shift.
- Another FMCSA law passed in 2011 required truck drivers to take a 34-hour break from driving every seven days. It also made it mandatory that truck drivers get rest between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. during that 34-hour rest period.
- The new changes made by the FMCSA reduced the average maximum work week a truck driver could make from 82 hours to 70 hours.
Contact a Denver Truck Accident Attorney at the McLaughlin Law Firm, P.C.
Have you or a loved one been injured in a truck accident, where truck driver fatigue was involved? If so, the Denver Truck Accident Lawyers at the McLaughlin Law Firm, P.C. are ready take your case and provide you trustworthy legal advocacy. The law firm of McLaughlin Law Firm is here to aggressively litigate truck accident victims’ rights in the court system and help them seek the compensation they may be entitled to under the law. With more than 35 years of combined legal experience, our Denver truck accident attorneys have a proven record of success and the knowledge required to help truck accident victims get the highest settlements and jury awards possible so they can recover their losses and regain their lives.
We invite you to set up a free, no obligation consultation to learn how we can best serve you and discuss what legal option case by meeting with us for a free, no obligations initial consult. To schedule this meeting, call us at (720) 420-9800 or email us using the form on this page.
___________________________________________________________________
1“Rest area parking system to help reduce trucker fatigue” published in Channel 3000.com News, December 2016.
