Tri-Rail Accident - Major Delays for Silvers 1/4-1/5/16

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Has NARP or any other advocacy group ever lobbied for higher fines, stiffer penalties, and larger insurance minimums for commercial trucks?
 
Has NARP or any other advocacy group ever lobbied for higher fines, stiffer penalties, and larger insurance minimums for commercial trucks?
Yes. I remember such advocacy efforts in the 1980s and the 1990s. The commercial trucking industry had a stranglehold on Congress at the time, though. Everyone kind of gave up during the 2000s.

As far as I can tell, even gruesome pictures of children massacred by unlicensed truck drivers didn't get us any successful new regulations on the operation of the commercial trucking industry. (The corporate scheme was to blame everything on the driver and they'd set it up so that the profitable trucking companies didn't have any significant liability for hiring incompetent drivers, thanks to the way the insurance and corporate organization worked.)

The mood may be different now; it might be possible to get the insurance minimum raised and indexed to inflation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a reservation on 98 today from Orlando and received an automated phone call (which I missed since my phone was on silent during yoga class) with no message, and also received an email from Amtrak notifying me of the service disruption.
 
Has NARP or any other advocacy group ever lobbied for higher fines, stiffer penalties, and larger insurance minimums for commercial trucks?
Would be applicable to the Nevada accident, but probably not here. Not necessarily the driver's fault that the truck was disabled. Though, there's not really a lot of info why that happened.
 
I had a reservation on 98 today from Orlando and received an automated phone call (which I missed since my phone was on silent during yoga class) with no message, and also received an email from Amtrak notifying me of the service disruption.
Since they did not hold 91 or 97 in Orlando or thereabouts, it looks like their current plan is to just run 92 and 98 however late it is At 4:20pm 97 is approaching WPB and 91 is nearing Okichobee. So they will just hang out until the track clears too I suppose. Meanwhile 98 is still sitting at Deerfield Beach and 92 is apparently yet to leave Miami.
 
As to liability this one will be strictly what (if any) limits Florida has on government liability. The truck was "city owned" and of course Tri-Rail is a government agency also.
 
It hit a stalled garbage truck. Truck broke down on the tracks is the story. Tri-rail hoping to have tracks cleared by tomorrow rush hour according to local news.
 
98 just passed through Folkston at 0803, over 14 hours late. 92 hasn't made it to Jax yet, about 9 hours late.
 
Yes. I remember such advocacy efforts in the 1980s and the 1990s. The commercial trucking industry had a stranglehold on Congress at the time, though. Everyone kind of gave up during the 2000s. As far as I can tell, even gruesome pictures of children massacred by unlicensed truck drivers didn't get us any successful new regulations on the operation of the commercial trucking industry. (The corporate scheme was to blame everything on the driver and they'd set it up so that the profitable trucking companies didn't have any significant liability for hiring incompetent drivers, thanks to the way the insurance and corporate organization worked.) The mood may be different now; it might be possible to get the insurance minimum raised and indexed to inflation.
Interesting and not terribly surprisingly honestly. In any case I would strongly support stricter measures today.

Has NARP or any other advocacy group ever lobbied for higher fines, stiffer penalties, and larger insurance minimums for commercial trucks?
Would be applicable to the Nevada accident, but probably not here. Not necessarily the driver's fault that the truck was disabled. Though, there's not really a lot of info why that happened.
I should have been more clear. I'm referring to the trucking companies themselves, who should be responsible not only for hiring safe drivers but also for performing sufficient maintenance, qualified inspections, and routine oversight to avoid completely preventable "accidents." The probability that this particular vehicle exhibited a complete and total failure as its very first mechanical complication just as it was crossing the tracks with no detectable warning signs is astronomically improbable.

As to liability this one will be strictly what (if any) limits Florida has on government liability. The truck was "city owned" and of course Tri-Rail is a government agency also.
Here in Texas we outsource many of our government services to private contractors. Seeing as how Florida is a bit of a kindred spirit to Texas it wouldn't surprise me if they've done the same. It also wouldn't surprise me if Florida provided blanket immunity from liability to private contractors, but one can always hope they aren't that spineless.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't know what happens down in Lake Worth, but in Brevard County the entire garbage and recyclables collection and disposal operation is contracted out to Waste Management and they seem to do an excellent job. I have no idea what the insurance arrangements are.
 
Northbound Silvers are VERY late (Silver Meteor is 15 hours late at the moment, have lost about 10 hours between FTL and DFB; the Star is 9 hours late, having started at Miami 8 hours late). I'm sure some of our posting experts know what happened that impacted both these trains.
 
Already being discussed, a tri rail train hit a semi in south Florida, putting them down hard.
 
This was a mess, I saw 91 and 97 stacked up tail to nose last evening about 10 minutes nort of the West Palm Beach TriRail/Amtrak station. Both trains where parked just short of the Military Tail crossing at the intersection of Military Trail and the Bee Line Hwy. It was dark but, both seemed to be heavy with extra sleepers and parked about 15 feet apart tail to nose on the CSX main.

Ctim2
 
Ctim2. Were the trains north or south of Magnolia station ? If north then yes CSX. If south then TriRail.
Tri-Rail owns a further ~2.25 miles north of Mangonia Park as well. The south switch of the siding where Military Trail crosses is the changeover between CSX and the SFRC.

In this particular case, the trains were held on CSX about 2.5 hours. Once they got on the property Monday night, 91 ran around 97 at West Palm beach as the latter was waiting on a recrew. Once 97 went south 98 came north into WPB. 'Twas a very, very interesting day indeed.
 
I should have been more clear. I'm referring to the trucking companies themselves, who should be responsible not only for hiring safe drivers but also for performing sufficient maintenance, qualified inspections, and routine oversight to avoid completely preventable "accidents." The probability that this particular vehicle exhibited a complete and total failure as its very first mechanical complication just as it was crossing the tracks with no detectable warning signs is astronomically improbable.
You need to watch more movies. :p
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top