Item: Flaxman Law Group
Rating: 5
Author: Clara Barman

Technology and the Trucking Industry

Published on: March 31, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

The trucking industry uses more technology than ever before. Technology helps truckers avoid traffic collisions in Homestead and other cities and helps save money on fuel. There are many types of technology that truckers and truck carriers rely on, including:

1) GPS.

Ubiquitous in regular cars and trucks, GPS allows truck drivers and delivery drivers to find their destinations, even in unfamiliar areas. The technology also means less time spent looking at maps and more time focusing on the road.

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Flatbed Truck Accidents in Hollywood and Florida

Published on: March 24, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

Flatbed trucks are commercial trucks with a weight of at least 10,000 pounds (not including cargo or passengers). In a tractor-trailer, the cargo is hitched to the cab and the cab can be completely separated from the trailer carrying the cargo. This is not the case with the flatbed truck. With a flatbed truck, the flatbed is open and is attached directly and permanently to the truck’s chassis.

Flatbed trucks are often used to transport large, heavy, and unwieldy cargo. For example, these vehicles are commonly used to transport manufactured homes, lumber, building materials, vehicles, logs, and other large objects. One of the dangers with this is that the cargo can shift during an impact in an accident and the cargo can become loose or can shift forward and back, causing damage to the cab guards and striking the driver.

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Ways that Technology has Helped Prevent Truck Accidents and Trucking Injuries

Published on: March 12, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

At the Omnitracs Outlook User Conference last month, professionals in the trucking industry gathered together to discuss the ways that they have used technology to comply with the Federal Motor Carriers Association’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. According to participants, technology played a major role in promoting safety, especially when truck carriers and fleets used:

1) Automated driver logs.

Rather than asking drivers to maintain logs, automated logs take care of the paperwork. They provide a more accurate view of how long truckers drive and the rest stops they take. Traditional driver logs can be easily falsified or can come into question during legal action. Automated driver logs take driver error out of the equation and ensure that the logs are always up to date.

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Enforcing Trucking Rules

Published on: February 24, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

Truck drivers need to follow many federal rules. These rules are designed to help prevent trucking collisions and to keep you safe. For example, truck drivers are required by law to take rest breaks to ensure that they are not driving dangerously tired. They must also keep track of their rest stops, the visual inspections of their trucks, and their cargo. There are limits as to the amount of cargo they can carry and the amount of miles they can drive each day. Truck drivers also must pass health checkups, written tests, and practical exams to get their license.

The problem with these regulations is that in order for them to work they must be enforced. When truck drivers or carriers ignore the rules, trucking collisions in Hollywood and Florida occur, injuring innocent people. Unfortunately, truck drivers and companies have financial incentives to break the rules. When trucks are overloaded with cargo or when truck drivers stay on the road longer than they are allowed to, the cost of the transport declines. Unfortunately, so does the safety of the delivery.

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Truck Tire Blowouts on Hollywood Roads

Published on: January 16, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

Trucks on Hollywood and Florida roads are a part of driving in the region. In most cases, you may pass tankers, tractor trailers, and big rigs without a second thought. However, a simple drive can become scary in seconds if something goes wrong with a commercial truck sharing the road with you.

One of the scarier things that can happen is a tire blowout. Commercial trucks carry a lot of weight and sometimes that excess weight places too much pressure on the tires. The tires can get worn down or overheated, eventually bursting. In some cases, trucks can roll over sharp debris on the road, which can also cause blowouts. If you’ve ever seen strips of rubber along the side of highways, these are the remnants of tire blowouts.

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How Truck Drivers Work to Stop Crime as Well as Traffic Accidents

Published on: January 9, 2015 | By Flaxman Law Group

Commercial truck drivers do a great deal more than simply deliver cargo for clients. Their intensive training and strict licensing means that they have the driving skills and experience to stop many truck and car collisions in Miami and other Florida cities. Truck drivers also act as eyes on the road, stopping criminal behavior on the road and at truck stops.

Truck Drivers Work to Prevent Traffic Collisions

Most truck drivers have more training and on-the-road experience than passenger car drivers. In some cases, this means that drivers of big rigs and tractor trailers can act quickly to avoid a collision. Truckers may be able to predict a dangerous maneuver and evade a collision. They are also trained in crash avoidance techniques. When other motorists drive unsafely around trucks, they put everyone at risk. In some cases, it is only the quick thinking of truckers that can prevent tragedy.

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Weather, Technology, and People All Affect Trucking Industry Safety

Published on: December 26, 2014 | By Flaxman Law Group

Trucking collisions in Hollywood and other Florida cities occur for a number of reasons, including driver error and road design. However, three things affect the trucking industry as a whole more than other factors, according to experts. These three issues are people, technology, and weather.

Technology

Technology is changing the trucking industry in a number of ways:

1) By making trucking more transparent. Electronic logs, in-cab cameras, and other devices do not rely on driver self-reporting. Instead, they make it easier for truck carriers and even authorities to see what is happening during truck transportation.

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Fatigued Drivers Causing As Many As One in Five Fatal Collisions

Published on: November 12, 2014 | By Flaxman Law Group

Fatigued driving is a known contributor to trucking collisions in Homestead, Miami, and other cities across the country. Many government studies and independent research studies have shown the huge impact that fatigue driving can have on response times and on driving safety. Truck drivers are especially vulnerable to fatigued driving because they work long hours and often need to make strict deadlines, which can mean that sleep falls by the wayside. It’s why federal rules require truck drivers to get adequate rest every day and every week.

While safety advocates and Congress have looked at fatigued driving in big rigs and tractor trailers, it is important to keep in mind that tired truck drivers are not the only culprits. Passenger car drivers also drive fatigued and there are no rules requiring them to get adequate rest. According to a number of studies, fatigued car drivers, too, are contributing to trucking crashes.

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What People Like You Are Doing to Reduce the Number of Trucking Crashes in Miami and Other Cities

Published on: October 8, 2014 | By Flaxman Law Group

Trucking companies are large organizations, and people who are injured in crashes involving commercial trucks sometimes report feeling overlooked in the face of legal departments and insurance adjusters. Many people who have been injured or have lost loved ones in traffic accidents, however, are changing laws and taking on the trucking industry in order to reduce the number of trucking fatalities in Miami and other cities. They are doing this by:

1) Using social media.

Entire communities are created through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. People use the sites to raise awareness about trucking accidents, to share information about resources, and to circulate petitions to send to lawmakers. Others use social media to discuss laws or to alert people about dangerous trucking companies or dangerous trucking industry practices. If you want to get involved, you can use your own social media accounts to send the message out or sign petitions online. Shining a spotlight on the issues makes them harder to ignore.

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Tire Blowouts in Homestead or Your Community: What You Need to Know

Published on: September 30, 2014 | By Flaxman Law Group

Tire blowouts in Homestead and Florida are extremely frightening, both for the truck driver and for nearby motorists. These events are completely unexpected in most cases and can cause devastating accidents. In a tire blowout, a truck driver may lose control of their vehicle and may even be involved in a rollover accident or single vehicle truck collision. More often, however, when a truck driver tries to rein in their truck, other vehicles around the tractor trailer may have to swerve out of the way of the truck. This can cause secondary or chain reaction collisions. In addition, the tire blowout can cause debris to fall from the truck or can cause debris from the tires to smash up against the windshield of oncoming cars, which can also cause traffic accidents.

One of the big dangers with tire blowouts is that it can be difficult to control a large truck in the seconds immediately following a blowout. The truck may veer strongly or a truck driver may panic and forget the proper procedures for handling the truck after a tire blowout. In situations where the tire blowout occurs in heavy traffic or on a high-speed highway, the results can be even more devastating. Surrounding cars, pedestrians, and other shares of the road may all become part of the train reaction accident that leads to devastating loss of life and injury.

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