The professional complexities of driving a commercial motor vehicle (semi, big rig, 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, etc.) on the wintery roads of Illinois or Indiana may be hard to grasp for those of us who are not commercial truck drivers. A recent news story (with its images) helps us understand what each individual truck driver faces on the job.
In an article entitled “Swift Confirms Driver Leader Instructed Truckers To Drive In Inclement Weather,” written by Clarissa Hawes and published by FreightWaves on December 3, 2019, Swift Transportation sent out instructions to its truck drivers over their truck dashboard computer messaging systems that each trucker should keep driving despite the dangerous wintery road conditions.
That’s right: truckers have to monitor their onboard computer screens for company instructions in addition to their other tasks while on the road. What the Swift truck drivers were told to do is shocking, and sadly not an isolated or rare incident in the trucking industry.
Specifically, Swift instructed its truck drivers to “chain up” (snow chains on their rig tires) and continue driving in order to meet their delivery deadlines.
The message has been shared (and can be seen) on the Twister Truckers Facebook page, where Swift sent the message: “We cannot afford to have you down or the load to be days late due to weather. If we can drive, we will — whether it be 5 mph or an appropriate speed as long as we are safe.”
For details on how the truck drivers responded — and Swift’s corporate office response (posted on its Facebook page, as well), read the entire FreightWaves article. The comments are informative, too.
Dangerous road conditions combined with pressure to make the delivery deadline create tricky situations for all truck drivers. Does the trucker obey and risk an accident? Does the trucker disobey and wait out the storm?
Making these kinds of driving decisions can be a life-or-death call for that truck driver, and his or her training and experience will undoubtedly come into play. But what if the trucker hasn’t been on the road that long, and/or has received shoddy training on how to operate a commercial truck?
Obviously, inadequate training of a commercial truck driver can lead to serious truck accidents and fatal truck crashes. Never more so than when actual job situations like the Swift scenario require that trucker to be savvy about how to proceed, and to withstand pressures (peers, employer, etc.) to drive dangerously and risk harm to himself and others.
Truck Driver Training and Trucking Companies
Of course, federal laws apply to commercial truck driving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) oversees compliance with federal regulations for commercial truck driving safety that apply to both truckers and their employers in the trucking industry.
For more on truck drivers and FMCSA regulations, read our last post, Federal Truck Driver Training Law Halted: The Danger of Inadequately or Improperly Trained Truckers Remains.
Insofar as federal regulation of trucking companies, the employers are required to do things like keeping track of driver hours and miles on the road, as well as past trucker violations of federal or state laws. Trucking companies are also required to keep records of their employee’s truck driving training, both to get their initial state Commercial Driver’s License as well as any required continuing education on changing laws, rules, or regulations.
See: Deadly Truck Crashes and New FMCSA Proposed Rollbacks to Hours of Service (HOS) Rules
Trucking Industry: Employer’s Duty of Care
If there is a fatal truck crash or a serious truck accident, the trucking company can be held legally liable for the consequences of that incident if evidence reveals that the company sent out a truck driver with inadequate training.
Federal Regulations and Industry Standards
The trucking company cannot point to the federal regulations and excuse everything by confirming compliance with the legal minimums of training and licensure. There are also industry standards that define what training and education should be provided to commercial truck drivers.
Failure to meet industry minimums can be shown as a breach of the trucking company’s duty of care if an inadequately trained trucker is involved in a fatal truck crash. This may be a distinctly different argument than compliance with a federal regulation.
Trucking Company Employers and Their Drivers
Sending out employees onto routes where there is a risk of death and destruction places a particular kind of responsibility on the trucking company employer.
Drivers and Their Rigs
Trucking companies must know that their truck drivers have sufficient training on their specific rig. Different commercial motor vehicles have different challenges. If the trucker has experience with driving a tanker truck, for example, it does not mean he does not need training before getting behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.
For more, see Hazmat Trucks in Illinois and Indiana: Increased Risk during Emergency Winter Conditions
Drivers’ Personal Situations
Trucking employers also need to monitor their truck drivers for personal and professional challenges. Are their truckers getting enough rest? Are any truckers dealing with substance abuse temptations? Is there a driver on the company payroll with sleep apnea or diabetes diagnoses?
For more here, read Truck Driver Health and Fatal Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois and Truck Drivers with Diabetes Free to Drive Commercial Interstate Under New FMCSA Rule.
Truckers need to have trucking company employers that are dedicated to keeping the truck driver safe on the job just as much as meeting any delivery deadline. When a trucker is on the job, he or she must be relied upon to keep their vehicles safe from all sorts of accident risks which endanger not just the driver’s life but those of drivers and passengers in surrounding traffic. Sadly, all too often trucking companies choose to put profits over people and deadlines over trucker safety.
Adequate training of truck drivers is paramount to avoiding fatal truck crashes in Indiana and Illinois. This involves the proper training of new truckers. It also involves the continuing training and education of experienced truckers as the trucking industry evolves.
For more, read: Trucking Industry and Northwest Indiana: Big Money and Big Danger for Drivers on Indiana Roads and FMCSA Gives Public Web Access to Trucking Industry Penalty and Safety Ratings Decisions in Searchable Web Site.
Anyone who is seriously hurt or killed in a commercial truck crash in Illinois or Indiana should know there are state laws that may provide avenues for justice both for the truck accident victim as well as his or her loved ones. Each situation must be carefully evaluated to confirm whether or not the trucking company employer is legally liable for improper training or oversight. Please be careful out there!
