Add safe truck parking to prevent crashes

A lack of safe truck parking may lead to more truck crashes. Oregon State University researchers looked at truck parking as a public safety issue (PDF). They studied a 290-mile section of Highway 97, a major trucking route that runs along the eastern slope of the Cascades across the whole length of Oregon. More truck parking = fewer crashes? They found that in just 7 years, the damages from crashes caused by truck drivers ran up to $75 million in “crash harm.” They also found that the demand for truck parking far exceeded the capacity of rest areas and truck stops on one of Oregon’s busiest highways. “There is an inherent safety concern for all highway users, primarily due to trucks parking in undesignated areas or commercial motor vehicle drivers exceeding

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Truckers contend with aging infrastructure, roads and bridges

That’s the grade our national infrastructure was given by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) this year. While our total infrastructure includes everything from aviation to ports to wastewater, it’s the roads and bridges that truck drivers have to contend with every day. Why are roads, bridges in such bad shape? Quite simply, they’re old. Most of the U.S. highway network was built during the Eisenhower administration. In Washington State, for example, 36% of bridges are over 50 years old. Even with patches and repairs, many of these structures were not meant to last that long. Also, we haven’t been paying for regular maintenance. The Highway Trust Fund was set up to track regular spending on surface transportation. The

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IIHS: Truck speed limiters will save lives

Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), wrote an op-ed on Trucks.com this week. Why Lower Speed Limits and Truck Speed Limiters Will Save Lives. Our research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that 33,000 deaths between 1993 and 2013 can be attributed to speed limit increases. Traffic deaths from speeding have risen since the 1995 repeal of the federal 55 mph speed limit. Annually, the number of lives lost because of speed limit increases nearly cancels out the number of lives saved by frontal air bags. His argument, in a nutshell. We are all aware of the increased likelihood of fatality with an increase in speed. The states have been raising speed limits for the last

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Here’s what happened: the story of the Skagit River Bridge collapse

[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” border_style=”solid”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_repeat=”no-repeat” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”no” hover_type=”none” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” min_height=”” link=””][fusion_text] It was early evening on a sunny May day in Washington. A young man was driving his Subaru to hockey practice. A couple in a pickup truck was headed out on a camping trip. A pilot car driver was talking to her husband on the phone. Then, a semi truck’s oversize load struck the Skagit River Bridge on I-5. The bridge suddenly broke apart. The Subaru and the truck plunged into the river below. It was the stuff of nightmares. When the Skagit

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Here’s why an oversized truck needs a permit in Seattle

It could have been much, much worse. Last week, an oversized load on a flatbed semi-truck struck a bridge in Seattle. The truck was on bottom ramp, heading south on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. If you’re not familiar with the Viaduct, here’s what it looks like from the side. The oversized load was on the lower bridge. The driver of the oversized truck hit the bridge supports with his load of giant metal spools. The spools were about 12 feet in diameter, and 700-1000 pounds each, according to Seattle Police Department. One of the spools was tilted against the side rail, above the street below. If the spools had fallen, or the bridge cracked, the results could have been catastrophic. A Trucker’s

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Add safe truck parking to prevent crashes

Truckers contend with aging infrastructure, roads and bridges

IIHS: Truck speed limiters will save lives

Here’s what happened: the story of the Skagit River Bridge collapse

Here’s why an oversized truck needs a permit in Seattle

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