Truck Hauling Takata Airbags Explodes, FMCSA Orders Fleet to Cease Operations

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered Georgia-based trucking company Industrial Transit to cease all interstate and intrastate operations after a truck hauling Takata airbag components exploded, killing a person and leveling a home.

On Aug. 22, 2016, an Industrial Transit truck traveling in Maverick County, Texas was transporting airbag components from the Japanese company Takata. The truck approached a curb at an unsafe speed and traveled off the roadway, striking a culvert and rolling over.

The truck caught fire and the Takata airbag components in the truck exploded, destroying a nearby home and garage and damaging multiple houses in the area. The occupant of the leveled house was killed in the blast. The Industrial Transit truck's team drivers and a couple in a nearby car were injured.

According to a report by The York Times, the truck was carrying ammonium nitrate, a propellant used to trigger airbag deployment and a very combustible material that's often used in explosives.

An FMCSA investigation determined the company to be in violation of multiple federal safety statutes and regulations and found an egregious lack of standards and oversight of its drivers and vehicle maintenance.

The company completely failed to comply with any driver qualification requirements, including ensuring that its drivers were properly licensed and physically qualified to operate a commercial vehicle. Within the last two and a half months, the company allowed two drivers to operate a vehicle without having a valid CDL.

Industrial Transit also lacked a sufficient drug and alcohol testing program for drivers with FMCSA investigators finding that the company allowed a driver to operate a vehicle containing explosive material despite refusing to submit to random drug testing.

Takata Corporation has been hit hard in recent years for its own airbag safety scandals. While faulty airbags were not indicated as ...Read the rest of this story

Fleets Online: Out of the Woods

Company: Mistik Management Ltd., Saskatchewan, Canada

Operation: Forest management company is co-owned by NorSask Forest Products and Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp. With a fleet of 189 trucks, the company manages woodlands and hauls raw materials to its parent companies' mills for processing.

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Vocational Profile: Just the facts

The construction market remains volatile, notes Ralph LoPriore, director of fleet assets and processes for Stoneway Concrete and its parent company, Gary Merlino Construction. “Wages are stagnant, and the cost of living is up,” he says. “Also, there isn't a large backlog of jobs, and some projects are delayed waiting for permits and environmental concerns to be addressed.”

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New York to Automate Tolling to Cut Congestion

Governor Cuomo announced a transformational plan to reimagine New York City-area crossings for the 21st century. Photo via office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has unveiled a plan to reduce traffic congestion by automating tolling of all bridges and tunnels operated by the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is repsonsible for unified mass transportation in the New YorK City metro area,

The New York Crossings Project will encompass all seven bridges and the two tunnels operated by MTA: Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Henry Hudson Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, RFK Triborough Bridge, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, and Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge. The coordinated tolling plan will also take in the George Washington Bridge, which is operated separatley by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The State of New York said it will implement automatic tolling to improve the flow of traffic by using sensors and cameras to automate the tolling process and thereby not require vehicles to come to a stop to pay. The sensors and cameras will be suspended overhead on structures known as gantries.

“This transformational project will revolutionize transportation in New York and ensure that our state is built to lead for generations to come,” said Cuomo. “By investing in New York's transportation network today and equipping it to meet the challenges of tomorrow, we are cementing our state's position as a national leader in 21st century infrastructure and cutting-edge innovation."

A vehicle with an electronic E-ZPass will be charged immediately while a non E-ZPass vehicle will have its license plate recorded and a toll bill will be mailed to the registered owner.

New York drivers currently spend more than 6,400 hours per day waiting to pay tolls and the state estimates that automatic tolling will save commuters up to ...Read the rest of this story

Will new emissions rules prompt a pre-buy?

Class 8 truck sales hit September slump

Doonan Engineers Chaparral II Flatbed Liftgate Trailer

Doonan Specialized Trailer recently installed a Maxon Railift RC-2B series liftgate on a Chaparral II flatbed trailer creating a flatbed liftgate trailer.

The Doonan Chaparral II model trailer, combined with the efficiency of the Maxon liftgate, provides better capacity and durability for demanding applications. The self-contained liftgate provides ease of loading and unloading from the rear of the trailer and ensures a level ride throughout the lift for maximum load stability.

The 28' x 102 aluminum, two-axle, 22.5 tires, Chaparral II was determined to be an ideal design for the size and medium-duty load requirements required, according to Doonan.

Key Maxon Railift Liftgate features include:

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