Truck Safety Inspection
For years, trucking companies have been pushing their drivers beyond the federally mandated hours of service rule, not to mention other various violations such as poorly maintained equipment and running over the maximum weight allowed.
These types of infractions have always been some of trucking’s “dirty little secrets”, only discussed privately among drivers and never shared openly. Trucking social media has changed all of that.
When Truth About Trucking, LLC was launched in April of 2006, there were only a handful of trucking information sites on the web, but these sites provided information pertaining to various aspects of trucking such as business related topics. There were also only a few trucking forum sites on the internet at that time, where drivers “talked among themselves” but never going public with the real truth about OTR trucking.
The Truth About Trucking website was the first to publicly expose the “dirty little secrets” of long-haul trucking, followed by the launch of the Ask The Trucker blog in August of 2007. For the first few years, our sites took quite a beating from the industry. Six years later, the “beatings” have, for the most part, subsided as federal government agencies have stepped up their enforcement in holding both outlaw drivers and motor carriers accountable.
Since 2006 there have been many others who have also had the courage to voice and share their thoughts and these are true advocates for the industry. What has occurred within the past six years is a technological revolution, holding motor carriers and the industry responsible for their actions against the professional truck driver, voicing these concerns publicly and having become known as trucking social media.
Professional drivers, reputable trucking companies and industry leaders now have a new platform to share truth and express their concerns through trucking social media. It is this platform which has allowed many others to become, not just truck driver advocates, but supporters who believe that openly sharing knowledge, experiences and wisdom can ultimately transform the trucking industry for the better.
As the real truth about OTR trucking became widespread as it pertained to many trucking companies across America, it provided an insider look into the real world of over the road trucking and motor carriers are now being held accountable for their actions as we pointed out in a previous post: Trucking Safety Violations Bring Steep Fines.
A few recent examples are:
- D. A. Landis Trucking has been indicted on federal charges alleging falsification of driver logs, forcing drivers to work beyond the legal 14 hour rule. If convicted, the company faces a maximum sentence of 5 years probation and a $5.5 million fine. The owner faces a possible maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, 3 years probation and a $250,000 fine.
- U&D Service, Inc., a small trucking company out of Indianapolis, has been shut down by the FMCSA due to multiple safety violations. Within an approximate 85 day period, the company had been cited for:
- 12 citations for drivers operating a CMV without a CDL
- 10 citations for exceeding gross vehicle weight limits
- 8 citations for exceeding gross tire weight limits
- 21 citations for using CMV drivers who could not speak or understand English
Long haul motor carriers have been getting away with dodging the system for too many years and new FMCSA regulations such as the CSA, are beginning to catch up with them.
Trucking social media is not to attack this industry that is so vital to our way of life . . . it is a means to make known the problems that exist and to work toward the solutions to correct them, in order to make the industry a safer and more respected industry for everyone involved.
© 2012, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.
