- / N2N / – Once again we hear that a trucker has been hit and killed while walking in a truck stop; this time it was a double tragedy as two truckers were killed four days apart at the Pilot Travel Center at exit 4 on Interstate 81 near White Pine, TN. While these types of accidents are not a daily occurrence, they do happen with some regularity mostly at night. What is going on in the truck stops that truckers are killed while walking across the lot?

A combination of factors is most likely at fault, dark parking lots, wearing too dark of clothing by the pedestrian, both driver and pedestrian not paying attention, and last but not least; speeding through the truck stops by truck drivers. Sit in any truck stop and pay some attention and you will see all of these factors at work at any time.

Truck stops, or as they prefer these days to be called, Travel Centers, are all feeling the hit of the economy and one way some are saving money is to cut down on the outside parking area lighting. Add to that factor that many drivers are coming into a lit area from driving in the dark and might not be able to see while they adjust from night vision and you have an accident of some sort waiting to happen.

Truckers tend to wear darker clothing; dark blue jeans or other pants, darker T-shirts and in winter dark jackets and hats. The darker clothing makes sense to those who drive truck; a trucker’s clothing is a grease and road grime magnet. A trucker walking across the lot will blend into any shadows due to their clothing choices and will be totally non visible in many cases out of direct light.

With all the talk about texting and driving, texting and walking is a real problem too and takes one’s attention from where they are walking. Other distractions are normal; having to rush to the bathroom, hungry, tired, stressed or pushed on time for a delivery/pickup are some that affects both drivers and walkers. A trucker coming into the truck stop is also thinking about getting into the fuel island or getting that parking spot along with the former distractions.

Finally; it makes no sense, but there are times when a truck stop parking lot looks like a NASCAR track with trucks doing warm up laps. A truck whipping into a driveway or driving around the parking lot at 25-35 miles per hour equals a speeding torpedo and can do the same damage to walkers or even to other trucks. Tsk, Tsk.

To save your life in any parking lot if you are going to be walking:

1) Wear something light colored, put reflective tape on your jacket or hat or carry a small flash light that can be seen while you walk.

2) Look before walking out from between two trucks or stepping out into the driving lanes.

3) Watch for other trucks backing up and never assume that they see you…wait out of the way or walk around them the other way.

4) Give the truck the right of way unless the driver motions you to go ahead and then look before you clear their protection for any other trucks moving.

5) Before walking in front of any truck that is idling, look up if the driver is in the seat and make eye contact with them.

6) Wait to do any texting until you are inside or back in your truck.

7) Keep your head up and your eyes moving while walking so you can see anyone that is driving near you.

Do not get out of your truck if someone is getting ready to either back in or pull out of the space on your driver side and always use the three point entry or exit strategy.

To avoid hitting someone who is walking:

1) Slow that big rig down Mr. or Ms Truck Driver! Is that two seconds you save getting to that parking spot, into that fuel island or hitting the road worth anyone’s life? If it is, then you should have left sooner or not stopped as often and need to rethink your priorities.

2) As you enter the truck stop take a quick look around for anyone who might be walking near your path of travel.

3) If you are going to back up from the fuel islands or into a parking spot, make sure that there is no one behind you; get out and look works in the truck stop too.

4) As you pull into or out of the fuel island or parking spot, take a second and look both ways carefully for anyone walking near your path of travel.

5) If you motion someone to walk in front of you while you stop, help them by watching for another truck that might come around you on the walker’s blind side; let them know if it is unsafe to proceed.

We truckers face enough dangers from everyone else on the roads and in the truck stops without having to worry about our brother and sister drivers running us over. All drivers need to take responsibility for each other’s safety while walking or driving in a truck stop or warehouse parking lot. Finally, we all have to have some respect for each other and show that respect by being courteous to each other especially when our lives are at risk when we are in the supposedly safe haven of a truck stop. Working together on this, we can avoid having to read of another report of a trucker hitting and killing another trucker in a truck stop; that would make my day, wouldn’t it yours?
Ya’ll be safe out there!
Sandy Long http://sandylongsfaire.weebly.com/

This post was submitted by Sandy Long.

- / N2N / – The United States government is like a huge corporation with the elected officials being the board of directors and we the people being the stockholders. The board is elected by the stockholders to represent the interests of the stockholders. The dividends are not clearly monetary, but are more in the areas of job availability, border and civil security and the tools needed to live a good life such as affordable health care and housing, reasonably priced goods and services, and a good infrastructure. We stockholders pay the dividends and the salaries of the board through taxes, that is our contribution to making sure we have the dividends mentioned above.

Our duty as stockholders goes beyond just electing the board of directors and paying our taxes to support them. As in a corporation, the stockholders need to keep track of how the corporation is running, and if the dividends fall off or the corporation goes off on a tangent, then it is the stockholder’s duty to bring this to the board for resolution. If the board doesn’t address the problems to the satisfaction of the stockholders, then the stockholders can and should elect new board members that will do what the stockholders want.

Unfortunately, the American people have forgotten that they are the stockholders in the corporation of the United States and put too much trust into their board of directors. Most are apathetic and do not vote in elections or pay little attention to what the board is doing unless it strikes them directly and forcefully. Our board of directors has become bloated to the point of unhealthiness and does little to provide dividends to their stockholders, but why bother, the stockholders have let things go to where the board feels invincible.

This apathy is clearly apparent in the trucking industry as truckers sat back and allowed more and more regulations to be piled on the industry’s drivers and companies. Instead of taking charge of their share of the stockholder‘s duties, truckers allow safety and environmental groups, who though small in membership numbers, dictate what the truckers can do and how they can do it, and is taken to the point of even saying at what temperature the driver can sleep comfortably at. This trend continues to this very day and soon truckers will be so burdened with regulations that they will no longer be able to do their jobs efficiently.

We the people need to return to watching the actions of the government and be vocal in government issues and concerns. To do this the first task to be done is register to vote. This can be done online at register to vote . Once registered, VOTE! States offer absentee voting, and the ballots can be gotten with a letter to the county clerk where you live or you can vote early. The availability and time periods for early voting vary based on jurisdiction and type of election.

To use your vote wisely, you must keep current with issues. To do this you can listen to talk radio (I specially like the Rollye James Show on XM to keep current on issues both national and involving the trucking industry.), TV, read the paper, join organizations or go online. There are many reputable sites available for truckers to stay informed. Organizations like OOIDA provide calls to action to keep members informed of upcoming issues relating to the industry in a members home state and in the nation.

Another way to make your voice heard is by contacting your representatives directly. This can be done by phone, snail mail, email or fax. To find your representatives you can go to Congress or call the US Capitol switchboard @ 202 224 3121.. Remember to be civil, have your thoughts organized and it is better to stick to one issue per contact. OOIDA suggests that one calls or sends snail mail or faxes, but I have had some good luck with emailing, though if the time until a vote is short, I will call. It is your choice.

To get this huge corporation that we live in back on track, every American stockholder HAS to get involved and take the reins back into we the people’s hands. We the people need to make ourselves heard over the din of the special interest groups so that we can exercise our right to the dividends promised in the Constitution and Bill of Rights that founded this country. If we do not, it will not be long until we lose all of our rights to dividends and our identity as Americans. Who will we have to blame? We the people.

Ya’ll be safe out there!
Sandy Long is a long time truck driver who is also very active within the trucking industry. She was a long time writer for layover.com, is a life member of OOIDA, member of the WIT and owner of two websites: Trailer Truckin’ Tech, a yahoo group dedicated to the education of new and prospective truck drivers and www.satinandsteelsisterhood.com for women truck drivers. Sandy’s first book Street Smarts: A Guide for a Truck Driver’s Personal Safety is available at https://www.createspace.com/3449566

Nation2Nation publishes articles of interest to professionals involved in Supply Chain Security, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Import Export, International Trade, Border Security, Transportation, Transportation Safety, Trucking, Railroad, Air Freight, Maritime and Cargo Management.  Contact Jeff Platts at contact@nation2nation.net.

This post was submitted by Sandy Long.

It is autumn. Truckers change with the seasons like the trees. We gather up our heavier clothing and put it on the truck, hang tire chains, start adding fuel additives and check to make sure the hot water valves are turned on to our heaters. Those of us with bug screens for the radiator will be digging the winter covers out. Smart drivers will be adding their winter supplies to the truck…non perishable foods and water, extra blankets, ice melt and of course winter boots.

Autumn brings on some extra driving challenges. Here are a few to watch out for:

School buses and walking children

Deer crossing the road

Morning frost on the roadways

Leaves piled up in wooded areas on the highway, wet leaves on the pavement can be slick as ice

Frost on the windshield

Ice fog

Freezing rain

Halloween pranksters

Autumn brings Halloween time and that holiday seems to bring out the worst in some people. One must watch overpasses more carefully than normal for dropped or hanging objects. Two of the biggest scares I have ever had driving concerned Halloween time. I was approaching an underpass at night both times. The first time I was driving a semi and someone thought it would be funny to drop a scarecrow off the overpass as I started under it. I thought someone was committing suicide and locked it down. Luckily the road was dry and no one was close behind me. I hit the scarecrow dead on and you can imagine the relief combined with anger I felt when it exploded in a burst of straw instead of body parts!

The other incident was when I was helping out a friend by driving her hotshot rig for a couple of weeks and was a lot more dangerous. It was a one-ton pickup with a 40’ flatbed trailer. As I went under an overpass on I-40 near Jackson TN, someone had hung a large steel nut from fishing line from the overpass. It took out my passenger side windshield splattering glass all over the inside of the truck. I was lucky and wasn’t injured, but it could have been different.

Many pumpkins end up being thrown off of overpasses and can become a hazard not only from the impact of hitting a windshield, but can also cause slickness on the pavement possibly causing a tire to spin. Some think it funny to have a ghost attached to a rope and allow it to swing out at a driver as they go under an overpass or under low hanging trees. It isn’t the imagined ghosts and goulies one has to watch out for.

Anytime over pass tips: Watch the overpasses as you approach. If you see someone suspicious on the bridge, switch lanes, slow down and keep watching. If someone does throw something off at you, or if you observe something hanging down, by all means dial 911. Many people have been hurt or killed by thrown or hanging objects from overpasses.

Deer crossing the road kill many people each year and cost untold vehicle damage. I hit a big buck just a week or two ago that took out the grill on the truck. If you see a deer on the side of the road, slow down. If it runs out in front of you…HIT THE DEER! The action that kills many people is swerving to avoid the deer and they end up losing control of the vehicle. Remember, if you see one deer, it is probable that there is another one somewhere around.

School buses are everywhere this time of year and on through to spring. Kids run out around them to get to their houses without taking the time to check traffic, assuming that everyone is stopped. Remember that you must stop for a stopped school bus…many states require all lanes to stop. Use your flashers when slowing down and while stopped, you may be blocking another’s view of the bus. Also remember that the driver has many little distractions and may make a mistake…be alert and help keep the kids safe. Kids are walking to and from school this time of year also. Watch out for them!

We all know how kids might engage in horseplay and accidentally push another kid off the sidewalk or side of the road. Many kids walk home in the dusk after sports practice too…a smaller child is harder to see in low light conditions.

Autumn brings many good things, football, glorious colors and cooler weather. Enjoy the views from your windshields as you safely navigate through the autumn scenery.

Nation2Nation publishes articles of interest to professionals involved in Supply Chain Security, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Import Export, International Trade, Border Security, Transportation, Transportation Safety, Trucking, Railroad, Air Freight, Maritime and Cargo Management.  Contact Jeff Platts at contact@nation2nation.net.

This post was submitted by Sandy Long.