Safety & Compliance

By Oliver B. Patton

Imagine: A truck driver gets a signal on his dash, warning him that a car ahead that he cannot see has slammed on the brakes. Or that he's going too fast for the curve ahead/

Tags: Equipment & Technology, Safety, smart highways

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

A driver grabs an exit and heads into the curve of the ramp too fast. He steers hard to try to make the sharpening turn, but his trailer can't follow. Its rear begins flipping and the motion quickly continues forward, pulling over the tractor

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

Topping the list of federal initiatives on truck safety technology is a proposal due any time from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require stability control systems on heavy-duty tractors

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

What do you know about the synthetic web strapping you use to secure cargo? What you need to know is that it has a label, tag or stencil showing the manufacturer's name and/or trademark, and the working load limit of the strap in pounds or kilograms. You've got all that? The label even says the strap is DOT approved. You're good to go, right? Guess what? There are no DOT standards for cargo strapping

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Guest commentary Christian Schenk, vice president, product marketing, Xata

It's a fact: Fleets with the highest safety performance records also have stringent policies on in-cab cell phone use, according to the recent Strength in Numbers Fleet Benchmarking Study sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

You're driving down the road and approaching a truck weigh/inspec­tion station. An amber light blinks on the dash, advising that your driver and vehicle credentials, vehicle condition and trip information are being gathered and transmitted to the inspection station's computers for analysis. A few moments later, the light blinks green.

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

Distracted driving has been the subject of two national DOT summits in the past two years, and new Federal Motor Carrier rules that became effective in October prohibit commercial drivers from texting while driving

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Think of any rear-end accident you've ever seen or heard of, where a truck slams into a stopped or slower-moving vehicle. What was its cost in injuries, lives and property damage

Tags: Equipment & Technology

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Spec'ing truck components for the safest possible operation is the right thing to do, but it comes at a cost. But it may be a cost you cannot afford to avoid

Tags: Equipment & Technology