CVSA's Roadcheck 2012 Set for June 5-7, delays in service expected

About 10,000 federal, state, provincial and local truck and bus inspectors will fan out at more than 1,500 locations from June 5-7 across North America for the annual "Roadcheck" inspections on commercial vehicles.

During the 72-hour event, inspectors will conduct comprehensive North American Standard Level I Inspections, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said Tuesday.

This year's focus will be on vehicle brake systems and preventing driver fatigue by conducting hours-of-service compliance checks, said CVSA, which represents law enforcement personnel who conduct truck safety inspections in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Maryland State Police will host the Roadcheck kickoff event to underscore the importance of comprehensive driver and vehicle safety inspections of trucks and buses and on enforcing safety belt use.

Read more here.

Drinking and driving

We’ve all heard it time and time again, don’t drink and drive. It's a simple concept. If you drink alcohol, call a cab. It’s really not rocket science. But too many times someone will think of some completely illogical reason they need to get behind the wheel after they’ve had a few. Some excuses I’ve heard:

1.       It’s not that far, I can definitely make it.

2.       I have no cash for a cab.

3.       I need my car first thing in the morning, so I can’t take a cab.

4.       I’ll just drive really slow.

5.       I only had a few, I’m 95% sober.

6.       It won’t happen to me, I’ll be fine.

7.       There are not even any cops out tonight/on the side of town/looking at me.

8.      My car will be towed if I leave it overnight.

And the excuses go on and on. It seems that constantly there are stories in the news about a drunk driver that killed someone, destroyed public property, caused never ending traffic backups, and even killed themselves. But for some reason, certain people drink and drive. Even worse are those who actually plan to drink and drive! They go to the bars and try to keep their drinking to a "reasonable" limit and then drive home. It’s insane and completely irresponsible.

I get it. You think you’re invincible or just super special and nothing bad will ever happen to you. Well give it time, it’ll be you eventually.  The only system that I have found that works is planning on not having a car to begin with. If you take a cab there, then the problem is always solved. You have to figure out a way to get the cash for the cab, you’ll have your car in the morning, you won’t have to try to monitor your alcohol intake and you will NEVER get a dui. Granted, you’re still not safe... although you’re in a cab, the jerk next to you thinks he’s invincible and just got in his car…

Spread the word. Plan ahead – Take a cab – Don’t drink and drive.

Click here for more reasons not to drink and drive.

The Power of Proper Trip Planning

The key to becoming a successful driver is trip planning. In the present economic environment with the skyrocketing price of diesel, trip planning has gained an added importance. To be successful as a driver, you'll always want to carefully plan out your trip so that you can get the required rest and arrive early.

There are several key factors involved in proper trip planning. The driver must calculate time to travel the required distance for the load to include all dead head miles. The driver must also calculate available hours to drive so that he/she can complete the load legally within the DOT regulations. Several other factors to consider are the times for the pick and delivery of the load, traffic patterns through major cities as well as the weather to name a few.

Trip planning involves taking the entire miles for the trip and dividing it by a reasonable mile per hour rate. Also a driver will not be able to maintain the maximum speed limits in most states due to geographical limits.

Another factor that has to be considered for over the road truck drivers is time zones. If you're traveling west from the New York to Los Angeles, Ca. you'll actually gain three hours because of the time zones. Likewise traveling back east you'll loss three hours.

So to properly trip plan a load you'll have to include all of these factors and along with several others. Distance, time, weather, speed, traveling conditions and most importantly rest. Yes considering how much rest you've had or need is another thing you must factor into trip planning if you plan to succeed. Fatigue is one of the major problems that effect truck drivers, especially when it comes to performing their jobs in a safe and successful manner.

Every day on the road is different and no one set of guidelines can cover every possibility. To be successful as a professional truck driver you'll want to always be on time for both your pick ups and deliveries so you don't have to waste valuable time sitting.

Blurb taken from an article by Steven Easley. Read the full article here:

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-power-proper-trip-planning-professional-1705427.html