CZ Train Truck Collision In Nevada (2011)

[Just-Thinking-51]

If they even own any trucks. Lease truck and trailers are common.

 

[Agent]

I didn't know this was still in the courts.

A judge has denied a request for a retrial and upheld a $4.5 million award to Amtrak.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I wonder if it is a coincidence this outfit is developing a new website that is named Quality Transportation Inc.

 

[neroden]

It's disgraceful the way the fly-by-night truckers reorganize under new corporate names. The STB needs to start using its powers to blacklist the principals in firms which are shut down for negligence.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

The Government is cracking down on this issue. However it only individuals that get ban from new trucking companies. So let say the wife of the owner of a "fly by night company", were to start a new company, that is allowed.

If thirdrail7 thinks that this company is reborn under a new name and USDot number, a complaint to the FMCSA will launch a investigation, and the company will be shut down.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

https://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/nccdb/home.aspx

The issue in the past was two different computer system that couldn't talk to each other. So one computer would issue you new permits, the other had you listed as a bad player that was banned.

Also the information need to launch a investigation is pretty low. The FMCSA is on overdrive on this issue.

 

[Ryan]

Good.

 

[neroden]

In my home town, I've been watching the rebuilding of a building which was severely damaged by a negligent trucking company which sent an incompetent driver out with a truck with insufficient brakes.

http://theithacan.org/news/truck-crashes-into-commons-restaurant/

Of course, the so-called "trucking company" didn't have enough insurance to cover anything *near* all the damages -- and of course they can never compensate for the woman they killed.

I don't think much of federal trucking standards at the moment. Any improvement would help, but a lot of improvement is needed.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Your story is about a car carrier that was making a right turn. Nothing but poor trained driver, with a super long vehicle try to make a turn on a street that was not design for trucks.

When a truck is turning our trailers will take a short cut. This why we swing wide (button hook) to the left when we're turning to the right. To give the trailer space to make the turn. This motion can cause a another vehicle to try and sneak past us on our right follow by a crunch as we turn right, and the space gets fill by the trailer. When you don't do it right the trailer will hop the curve and ride the sidewalk. In this case it seem to have hop the curve and then clipped the building, bring the building down.

A truck need three lanes to make a turn. In a city that might be four due to the tiny size roads there.

 

[Eric S]

Vehicles that need to drive on the sidewalk (hop the curb) in order to make a turn probably shouldn't be trying to make that turn in the first place. The problem isn't undersized streets but rather oversized vehicles.

Drivers should be held accountable for the safe operation of their vehicles (whether commercial or private). Companies that send out drivers with large vehicles should be responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is appropriately-sized for the community.

 

[neroden]

Your story is about a car carrier that was making a right turn. Nothing but poor trained driver, with a super long vehicle try to make a turn on a street that was not design for trucks.

(1) He wasn't even supposed to be on that street. It's not a legal through truck route. He was supposed to have left the road at least a block earlier.(2) His brakes were defective.

(3) He hadn't learned the topography and was coming down a steep hill.

(4) He was speeding.

(5) He didn't even know the geometry and didn't realize until quite late that he had to turn (the road ends at a T).

As a result he attempted to turn at the last minute and went slamming into the building AHEAD of him to the right. There were NO extenuating circumstances.

Compare the standards we have for railroad engineers.

They let any incompetent operate a commercial truck. They have very high standards for railroad engineers and conductors, including the "know the territory" requirement. If we keep our trucking standards THIS low, I would advocate for the total removal of any "know the territory" requirement for train engineers, just for fairness.

I've been told that it would take three months of "route familiarization" to train engineers to run a train route like a daily Cardinal. This is a ridiculously high standard, given that the train *is on tracks*.

In the trucking industry, they just send truckers out in commercial operation to routes they've never seen before, not even once. Same in the bus industry. This is far too *little* familiarization.

This situation is a government subsidy to trucks and buses at the expense of trains.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Ok thanks for the correction.