It happens every day in some part of the country – an over worked, over tired and sleepy truck driver nods off and causes an accident that could have been avoided.  Sometimes they just run off the road into a field coming to a safe stop and no one is hurt.  Other times, horrible wrecks ensue and innocent drivers and their passengers are hurt, maimed or even killed.  Legislation, laws and regulations were enacted in the 1980’s to curb the number of crashes from over tired truck drivers on our highways.  So why is this number now increasing and what can be done about it?

According to data from the Institute for Highway Safety, when expenses like gasoline prices which directly hit the trucking industry the numbers of crashes caused by over tired and sleepy truck drivers goes up dramatically.  This is because by driving longer hours and getting loads done quicker the profit is greater.  The longer it takes to haul, drop off and then reload again is called idle time and can greatly impact a truckers bottom line. 

Large companies are careful to not go against the rules and regulations, but smaller companies and owner operators are well known to push the limits.  By driving all day and deep into the night they can over time make more runs, haul more loads and make more money.  Some, whom were barely making ends meet before the recent gas price increases in the last 2 years, are almost forced to drive for dangerously long periods to stay financially afloat.         

Repair and restore worn, yellowed and ugly, cloudy headlights to new again with the New Lite headlight restoration and cleaning kit from MDWholesale.com.  Specifically formulated and guaranteed to give you better night time vision and safety!

The Department of Transportation in each state has the largest responsibility in policing these over tired truckers, but according to official reports posted on the internet, its like border security in New Mexico, Texas and California – you stop a few and a million get by.  It just isn’t anywhere’s near enough.  How many times do you see a cross and some flowers at the side of the road when you travel various highways and major thorough fairs (the average is about one every ten miles)?   Someone’s loved one (or several loved ones if there is more than one cross there) died there from a crash. 

How many of these are the result of over tired truck drivers that are continuing to be a danger on our highways?  On a recent drive through a major highway in Kentucky I noticed a cross about every half mile.  Now, I can’t say they were all caused by over tired truck drivers and I am sure some were caused by drunk drivers (which is another problem) and other various reasons, but I am sure some of them were.  Even if just 1 was that is one too many.  
 
Headlight polish and plastic cleaner from the best - MDWholesale.com
 
Now it gets worse, though, as the President and congress have made it so Mexican trucks can now drive and deliver goods throughout America with little if any regulation.  Our own Departments of Transportation, police and other government agencies do not have the funding or proper staffing to control our own problems, now on top of that they have these Mexican truck drivers that have virtually no enforceable regulations what so ever on our roads.  This is going to be like the current subprime problem with the banks – it is going to get much worse and fast.  Being the long drive these truck drivers from Mexico will be doing to get to various cities and states in America the likelihood that they will be over tired is huge.  Many of these truck drivers aren’t even trained anywhere near as well as their American counterparts due to lower standards and almost non existent regulations in Mexico.  This is a nightmare waiting to happen and unfortunately nothing will probably be done until a lot of innocent people die. 

Regardless of the reasons, over tired truck drivers are a growing problem and more needs to be done to address this problem.  Making more people aware of the problem is the purpose of this article and a good start.