Ever found yourself holding your breath as a massive truck merges onto the highway? That heart-racing moment is a stark reminder of the perils that come with sharing the road with these giants. Today, we confront the alarming rise in truck-related fatalities, as reported by the NHTSA for 2022. Despite an overall dip in traffic deaths, crashes involving large trucks tell a different, more troubling story. We'll unravel the often-overlooked dangers of blind spots and share a riveting account of how a teen educational program is opening eyes to the unseen risks. Tackling the contentious issue of electronic logging devices, I'll respond to your concerns, dissecting how these gadgets are shaking up the trucking world.
The road can be a lonely place for truckers, and the quest for a safe spot to catch some z's is one of the many battles they face. This episode isn't just about the problems, though; it's a call to arms for change. I'm rolling up my sleeves and stepping into the legislative arena, joining forces with Iowa lawmakers to champion better sleeping conditions for our road warriors. But it's not all about the zzz's – it's about the camaraderie, too. I'll be laying out my vision for a more united front within the trucking industry, where a handshake means something, and every mile is a shared journey. So, tune in for this heartfelt plea for safety and solidarity as we traverse the highways and byways of trucking life.
Ever found yourself holding your breath as a massive truck merges onto the highway? That heart-racing moment is a stark reminder of the perils that come with sharing the road with these giants. Today, we confront the alarming rise in truck-related fatalities, as reported by the NHTSA for 2022. Despite an overall dip in traffic deaths, crashes involving large trucks tell a different, more troubling story. We'll unravel the often-overlooked dangers of blind spots and share a riveting account of how a teen educational program is opening eyes to the unseen risks. Tackling the contentious issue of electronic logging devices, I'll respond to your concerns, dissecting how these gadgets are shaking up the trucking world.
The road can be a lonely place for truckers, and the quest for a safe spot to catch some z's is one of the many battles they face. This episode isn't just about the problems, though; it's a call to arms for change. I'm rolling up my sleeves and stepping into the legislative arena, joining forces with Iowa lawmakers to champion better sleeping conditions for our road warriors. But it's not all about the zzz's – it's about the camaraderie, too. I'll be laying out my vision for a more united front within the trucking industry, where a handshake means something, and every mile is a shared journey. So, tune in for this heartfelt plea for safety and solidarity as we traverse the highways and byways of trucking life.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Speaker 1:
hello drivers and welcome back to the new roland podcast. I'm Walter Gatlin. I appreciate you folks listening to my podcast. You can reach me at buzzsproutcom, forward slash Roland 18 podcast. I believe you can even google it. I have submitted it to every podcast site, so, wherever you get your podcast, I believe we're still waiting on Apple iTunes in order to be on their podcast site, so that will be coming shortly.
Speaker 1:
Today we're going to talk about the number of truck-related crash deaths, which has increased, in a new report by the NHTSA, and this is a report that they did for 2022. I don't know why it takes the NHTSA to complete the reports. You would think 2023 would be out by now, but it is not. But before we get started, I saw this story on CDL Life about teens and they were shown how many blind spots are in a semi and it's very important that the younger generation learns about these things before they even hit the road on a full-time basis. A lot of them probably have driver's licenses but are restricted to have a valid driver inside the vehicle with them. And if they do, some of them are allowed, like in Iowa. They're allowed to drive from their home to schools and things like that, but these teens had no idea about truck blind spots before climbing inside. There was a news report put out by the company that put together I believe it was CDL Life to put together a video about this that they did at a school and I think it's important information because teenagers learned that they really had no idea how serious truck blind spots were before getting behind the wheel of a semi as part of a special semi truck education program. They're going to learn long before they hit the big-time road and they're going to learn that we really don't have a lot of options when it comes to seeing things, and when people camp on the left or right side of our vehicle, sometimes they're sitting in a blind spot. Now my truck has enough bubble mirrors on it that I could see pretty much everything, but there's still that moment when a car you have to make a quick decision. There's still that moment when a car you have to make a quick decision. There's a car in your way and you don't see it because you flash your eyes over, and we all know how that goes. It's not good at all.
Speaker 1:
Now, the number of truck-related crash deaths increased in 2022. While the number of people who died in traffic crashes declined in 2022, the number who died in crashes involving large trucks increased. According to the latest report, there were 716 fewer people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on the US roadways during 2022, a 1.7 decrease from 43,230 in 2021 to 42,514 in 2022. It's still way too many as far as I'm concerned. That is a lot of families that have to put up with a lot of grief. However, the NHTSA reported 5,936 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2022, and that is up from 5,821 in 2021. Now, the number of large truck occupants who died in crashes in 2022 increased by 8.5 percent to 1,097 fatalities. The agency defines large trucks as commercial and non-commercial trucks with GVRWs of over 10,000 pounds. Other vehicle occupants killed in crashes with large trucks decreased by just 0.2 percent to 4,167. Non-occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians, bicyclists and others killed in crashes involving large truck increased by six percent from 2021 to a total of 672 in 2022. Additionally, the number of people injured in crashes involving large trucks also increased by 5,795 year over year, an increase of 3.7% to 160,608. There were 41,874 large truck occupants injured in crashes, and that was down 0.7% from 2021, and 118,735 other vehicles occupants and non-occupants injured, and that was up by 5.4%. Now I know there are a lot of comments to be made and I'll read you a couple of them here shortly.
Speaker 1:
But the one thing we have to realize is that we are responsible for each and every accident when we go out there on the road. You guys know it is imperative to constantly keep an eye on the windshield and the mirrors, over and over and over, for hours straight. You must do this, you must look far ahead, you must look far behind and you must look for those vehicles that are doing things erratically, and that includes big truck drivers. One thing that makes me the maddest is the fact that I watch a truck go by with their left leg way up in the air and they're watching TV on their phone. I don't get that at all, and I will report every single one of them, not because I'm a narc, but because I care about somebody's life up ahead. That is the stupidest thing a driver can do. I have no clue why somebody gets into a semi and thinks they are driving a car. I don't like it when four-wheelers do it. Why should I even come close to liking it when a semi truck driver does it? It doesn't make any sense. It puts us all in danger and it's those few lazy people that do the wrong thing that make the vast majority of us look horrible.
Speaker 1:
Now the comments they put on this post at truckernewscom the comments. Here's one from the best trucker alive. He says the e-logs definitely helped me fulfill my dreams of being a race car driver. I have to race everywhere to beat the clock. Luckily I'm the best trucker alive but it's definitely not safer racing against a ticking clock in your face.
Speaker 1:
E-logs are the problem. Well, I would suggest, since you're racing around like a race car driver, that you're the problem. I know e-logs are inconvenient. I know they keep ticking. I know that they could make some changes on those and they really should. But the fact that you're driving around like that in order to beat the clock is even crazier. You don't like it when you get into a wreck. You don't like it when you end up killing somebody. You don't like it when you end up wrecking your truck and getting injured yourself or maybe even dying. I don't know. But I do know one thing Trying to beat the clock is the most ludicrous thing in the world you could do. Stop it. You don't have to If there's not enough time to do the job under normal circumstances, tell your dispatcher it's their problem, not yours. A job under normal circumstances? Tell your dispatcher it's their problem, not yours. And it's NHTSA's problem, not yours.
Speaker 1:
Now Richard Davis posted livestock haulers are exempt from using ELDs because the DOT says they can't do their job safely using them. Why is that and why isn't more made out of that? If it is unsafe for livestock haulers to use ELDs, it is for truck drivers pulling other types of trailers. Well, livestock is livestock and they can only be on them trailers for so long. They have to be able to scoot down the road and get that livestock where it's going so they don't drop dead on the trailer. I understand that, but you're right, there should not be different reasons for different people. Now Patrick H stated so. The hours of service regulations and the ELD requirements were rolled out in the name of safety. So why are the number of deaths increasing? Guess it's just another batch of lies. The government seems to be okay telling the people Well, not everything is a lie. They are trying to do things safely.
Speaker 1:
The NHTSA, all the folks at DOT, they want good things for us drivers and I do know the regulations are getting a bit much. Every single move we make. It's not like you're independent anymore. It's not like you're out there being free anymore. You have to make your decisions based on other people's opinions. Now they do do studies that show that certain things work great with the trucking community. Not all drivers are going to agree with everything they come up with, but the vast majority of them will, so they will continue on.
Speaker 1:
Mack James said Interesting. I've only been doing this for nearly 50 years, so I don't know much, but I see blame being put on ELDs and regulations. What I see is distracted driving and unsafe driving, in other words, telephones and poor training. And that brings back what I was mentioning earlier. You cannot be on your phone watching a movie. You can't be in your truck with your left leg way up in the air when you need to make sure you get into a position that you can handle that semi in a moment's notice.
Speaker 1:
We know how quickly a normal day can turn into a tragedy. Why are we not ready for it? Every second of every minute of every hour of every day we should be. Driving a semi is a very, very daunting, dangerous, fulfilling, great job. But I'll tell you what it could turn deadly in a moment. And usually it's not the driver that ends up dying even though quite a few of them do, because their crashes seem to be extremely reckless when they do crash. Those that fly off the interstate, those that catch themselves flipping over in places where you don't want to flip over, and then the truck ends up catching fire and a lot of people die.
Speaker 1:
Now Barb posted on here I'm assuming Barb is a woman and she puts those numbers are disturbing, surprised, it's not more. Our government has really destroyed the trucking industry with all the regulations that have been focused on us all in the name of safety. They got it wrong again. But what's new Now? I understand Barb's plight. I understand everybody's discussion, everybody's comment, because I understand trucking.
Speaker 1:
I've been out there 40 years and the one thing I hate the most is the fact that trucks not in my state but in most states trucks are restricted to the right lane or the right two lanes. To me that is ludicrous, because if I'm going through a city and I know I'm not going to stop the safest place for me to be is in the far left lane. The only thing that is keeping legislators from allowing this to happen is crybaby four-wheelers who want to speed in the left lane and do not want anything or anybody in their way. Why is it legal for a four-wheeler to speed in the left lane? If that truck is doing the maximum speed limit in the left lane, it should be perfectly legal for that truck to be in there, because that is the lane that takes the least amount of lane changes. That is the lane that fluctuates the least amount. That is the safest lane on an interstate. Why can't people get that through their head? It makes no sense to me whatsoever why people do the things they do, why the decisions are made like that.
Speaker 1:
And as far as the ELD goes, the electronic log, it is correct that a lot of people are having to race that clock. But you have to look at the planner and you have to look at the dispatcher. You have to understand that some of the blame falls on them as well. Whatever blame falls on you is going to be the fact that you're trying to race that clock and get to where you're going in order to please everybody else and you're risking the lives of everybody in front of you, behind you and yourself inside that vehicle. Do not race the clock, do your due diligence to do the best you can on the road and let that clock go where it may. And if you shut down because of that clock and you don't make that load on time, that is not on you, that is on the company and that is on NHTSA and they're going to have to do better at scheduling those loads.
Speaker 1:
Now the one last comment on here is by Hook Master Towing and he says he or she says yep, them ELDs made it safer for us. Got to run like a bat out of hell since those damn things were shoved down our throats. With all my experience I have to say that ELDs work for the most part good. They work really good and we have to understand that's the case. But the clock ticking thing is what gets me, because when I ran a paper logbook, compared to an ELD I was able to put my off-duty time and not register that off-duty time as total on-duty time and that's the only difference. Really that's bugging most people. When that clock ticks and you run out of your time and you can't go split your sleeper berth anymore. Let's say you've got multiple drops. They're holding you up and that's one of the biggest problems in the trucking industry is the shipper and receiver.
Speaker 1:
Once we combat that, we will go to the second biggest problem, which is finding a place to sleep. It go to the second biggest problem, which is finding a place to sleep. It's crazy and I've got some ideas I'm going to bring up in future podcasts. I'm even going to work with my legislators out here in Iowa to try and fix that problem. Keep the desks down, concentrate on your drive and do your best to drive as safely as possible. This is what we need, and in my future podcasts I'm going to talk about how we can get along better, how we can do all kinds of things together and maybe pull our heads out of our butts and try and be a little more cordial to one another, because, after all, we are the largest industry in the world and we really do need to start acting like it. Thank you for listening to my podcast, as always. Be safe, god bless and keep it between the lines. Driver.