Security & Safety Briefs - Oct. 20 - Oct. 26
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The Latest Headlines:
- Mack to Remain a 'Share the Road' Sponsor
- S.C. Port Adding Security Scanners
- Alcohol-Related Death Rates Low in Iowa, Utah
- Conn. Officials Decry Insurance Loophole
- S.C. Port Adding Security Scanners
Mack to Remain a 'Share the Road' Sponsor
Mack Trucks President Paul Vikner said his company will again serve as the primary sponsor of American Trucking Associations’ Share the Road program in 2006.Vikner made the announcement Oct. 17 at ATA’s Management Conference & Exhibition in Boston.
Share the Road promotes highway safety by using professional truck drivers to help educate other motorists how to operate safely around larger vehicles. Transport Topics
S.C. Port Adding Security Scanners
Truckers operating at the Port of Charleston, S.C., are waiting to see whether new monitors designed to detect dirty bombs and other nuclear weapons on shipping containers will cause congestion at the terminal exits, the Associated Press reported.George Kanski, president of the Charleston Motor Carriers Association and safety director of truckload carrier MCO Transport’s Charleston office, said the scanning system would require trucks to go through another gate, AP reported.
Citing delays that can be costly, Kanski told the AP that the industry supports any measure that ensures cargo is safe, but said he would prefer that cargo be scanned when it comes off ships.
Pam Zaresk, the port’s director of U.S. Customs, said it would not be possible to scan the containers when they come off the ships because as many as 12 ships are unloaded at the same time. Transport Topics
Alcohol-Related Death Rates Low in Iowa, Utah
Iowa and Utah are the least likely states for people to die in alcohol-related crashes, according to data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Associated Press reported.Fewer than 30% of traffic accidents in both states involve alcohol. Rhode Island, on the other hand, has the highest rate in the nation, at 50%, AP said.
Iowa and Utah vary in culture and population, but both share tough laws on drunken driving, AP reported.
One Iowa official estimated the state’s conviction rate in drunk-driving cases at 90%. Transport Topics
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Conn. Officials Decry Insurance Loophole
Insurance officials told Connecticut state lawmakers earlier this month that there is no easy way to fix a legal loophole that allowed at least one trucking company to operate in the state without liability insurance, the Associated Press reported.Under state law, insurers must notify the Department of Motor Vehicles when insurance lapses on passenger vehicles. But commercial vehicles are part of a separate system, they said.
Insurers do not cover a particular truck under fleet policies, but rather the commercial entity, Susan Giacalone, counsel for the Insurance Association of Connecticut, told AP. That means a trucking company can pull the insurance for a particular vehicle without canceling its fleet’s liability coverage.
Michael Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, said while all his members carry liability insurance, it is not unusual for some trucking companies to drop their coverage for a while. Transport Topics
