Meeting held to improve trucking safety
Truckers from across five states came to Idaho Falls this week for their “Trucker Rendezvous”. It’s an opportunity to bounce around solutions to safety issues to make roads safer.
These fleet companies work hard to make sure their trucks are equipped with the best safety equipment, and that only qualified drivers are on the roads.
“I think what the public doesn’t understand is that everyday, all day long, these people are thinking about them,” said Julie Pipal, President and CEO of the Idaho Trucking Association.
When truckers from all over Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Utah come together, their main topic of discussion is how to keep the motoring public safe, which means educating how big rigs work.
“I suspect the biggest problem, from my perspective, is the misunderstanding of what a tractor-trailer can do out on the highway.” said Bart Richardson, a transportation and safety specialist. “There’s a perception that we can stop as quickly as other vehicles. We can turn and maneuver around stuff as fast as other vehicles. They don’t understand the limitations of a tractor-trailer when it’s out there at 80,000 pounds among other vehicles.”
Their efforts include more intense training for drivers as well as required drug testing.
“They are making sure the public is safe. That everyone out on the roads with our commercial vehicles is as safe as they can possibly be. They are always striving to improve their practices and make sure that every driver who goes out there to the best of their ability is as safe as possible,” Pipal said.
Local company Doug Andrus Trucking was at these meeting. They monitor their equipment and drivers; which includes installing a device that keeps trucks from going more than 64 mph. The device also has an artificial eye to alert the driver of slower traffic.
“What the public can look at is the technology that is involved, we have cameras installed in the vehicles so now we know what is happening,” Pipal said. “There is driver assisted technology that helps the vehicles stop before the driver even knows something is happening.”
Doug Andrus Trucking also requires new drivers to pass a drug test and complete 12 weeks of intense training.
“And remember that those are bigger vehicles, when you are traveling around a truck on the road remember to be safer. Most of them want to get to their destination and back home to their families,” Pipal said.
John Andrus said they inspect each truck five to six times a year. The Department of Transportation only requires one inspection per year.
The Idaho Trucking Association will hold its annual convention in McCall on Aug. 24 24 through 26.
