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CSA: Compliance plus or safety politics?
April 28, 2011
| by: Todd Dills
Below, a new vid below from my reporting on the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. But first, a note about the storms that ripped through the Southeast yesterday, with a particularly large tornado moving straight through the southern part of Tuscaloosa, Ala., the town where Overdrive and Truckers News offices are located. I’m based off-site in Nashville, so my read on the situation there is from afar, but I’m happy to report at least that the offices were planning to open this morning had the electric power been restored. There’s no doubt, though, that many Tuscaloosa families were affected by the powerful storms. My thoughts are with everyone in the office today, as well as those affected across the region.
Among other trucking-related storm reports is this one from all the way over in Glade Spring, Virginia, about a truckstop apparently taking a direct hit by early this morning. Those interest can donate to the Red Cross via this link.
As for the vid, it proceeds from my talk with owner-operator Don Bradley (pictured with his on-highway pup), leased to Schneider National, partially reported on in this month’s Overdrive in part 1 of a two-part feature on CSA, about what drivers can do to verify the accuracy of the inspection and crash information contained within the carrier Safety Measurement System and/or the Pre-Employment Screening Program, among other topics.
Bradley’s only quoted briefly in the piece, but his input was invaluable to my understanding of the issues surrounding the program. A former corporate safety man himself, he turned to trucking just under a decade ago and has been an owner-operator ever since. He hauls in 2011 Kenworth T700 and, in this vid, explores his own thoughts about CSA.
“You can do anything in government if you say safety,” he says, which he well learned in his years as a safety manager. “If you say, ‘I want everybody to wear a flashlight on their head when it’s dark because it’s safer,’ we all do it, and you can’t argue with it because it’s a safety issue.”
Part of his apprehension about CSA runs along similar lines. For the rest of the story, enjoy the vid talk below. For more on CSA, read the “CSA and safety scores” story.
video management, video solution, video streaming
Talk on the Nation on NPR today about the storms in AL and around the region; more later on Tuscaloosa on ATC afternoon: http://j.mp/933PkG, fyi.
A driver (Lazlo) on TOTN just described his haul yesterday en route from Ft. Smith, Ark., toward Jupiter, Fla.; he stopped in Tupelo near the end of the day, having heard about the developing situation in Tuscaloosa, but when he got to Birmingham he crossed the path of the storm near the Flying on I-65 just north of downtown — all truck traffic had be rerouted from US 78 onto a county road, as that I-65 exit was closed. He said he saw, at the third mile on the county road, before the Flying J truckstop – “two very large businesses destroyed. On the east side of the road…trees were broken off about 15 feet off the ground, laying almost like an A frame house,” –- even with the top of the windshield on his rig.
The Glade Spring, Va., Petro truck stop mentioned in my original post here was hit hard early this a.m. by tornadoes, part of the same system that rolled through Alabama. An overhead picture taken by VA emergency management of the stop is available here (thanks @lawsonbulk): http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaemergency/5664515611/in/set-72157626474513895/lightbox/
Also, a story in the Danville, Va., newspaper details the damage: http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2011/apr/28/50/tdmet03-possible-tornado-reported-in-goochland-ar-1001230/
Another gallery of photos from Glade Spring is available here: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/04/hampton-roads-under-tornado-watch-8-die-va-storms
Crossing my fingers against any drivers’ injuries at the stop.
Thankfully, word came down from Petro that no drivers were injured at the Glade Spring, Va., location hit by the tornado yesterday. Tip of the hat again to Ray Lawson for the report. The Petro folks report the site is not operational and notes nearby alternate locations. Here’s the link to Petro’s detail of the outage: http://www.petrotruckstops.com/news_detail.sstg?id=244
[...] in Glade Spring, Va., that was hit by a tornado during the big outbreak back in late April. (Find information about it in my post from April 28, in the comments section.) Less-remarked-upon in driver forums and the trucking press was another industry-related business [...]
[...] in Glade Spring, Va., that was hit by a tornado during the big outbreak back in late April. (Find information about it in my post from April 28, in the comments section.) Less-remarked-upon in driver forums and the trucking press was another industry-related business [...]
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