Technology Offers Trucking Firms New Safety Strategies

They have the intimidating look of the average 50,000-pound big rig, but the trucks used by America’s fifth-largest hauler are different--and safer.

A radar sensor sits on the center of the semi-truck’s front bumper. Another is mounted on the right side, just behind the door. Inside the cab, colored lights flash to tell drivers that a car is too close or that they are about to change lanes with a car in the blind spot. And if vehicles get even closer, the quiet of the blinking lights becomes the clamor of loud beeps.

Since U.S. Xpress installed this collision-avoidance system on its 4,600 trucks three years ago, the fleet’s front-end collisions have dropped by 75%.

Federal officials see new cutting-edge technology as a key element of their plan to cut the number of fatal truck accidents in half over the next decade by helping drivers stay awake and look where they can’t see. But not everyone is convinced that the goal will be achieved, and some gadgets embraced by safety experts are being criticized by truckers as ineffective, burdensome and Orwellian.

“It’s like computers on the desk,” said Larry Strawhorn, vice president of engineering for the American Trucking Assn. “They were given to us as technology for a shorter work week, and it hasn’t happened.”

History shows that it can take years--and sometimes decades--for new safety devices to make their way into trucks.

Anti-lock braking technology has been around since the 1970s. But early efforts by the U.S. Department of Transportation to require the brakes on trucks were rejected by a federal court in the face of industry opposition. It wasn’t until two years ago that anti-lock brakes became mandatory.

Still, regulators and others see much promise in the latest advances in technology, even though they acknowledge it will take years for some safety items to become commonplace.

“There’s tremendous potential as we begin the 21st century to drastically cut the number of deaths and injuries on our highways,” said Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, “and that’s through the smart use of technology.”

About 5,000 die yearly in truck crashes nationwide. A Times analysis found truckers are to blame in about half of the accidents involving trucks. The National Highway Administration estimates as much as 35% of all truck crashes--more than 90,000 a year--occur because a car is traveling in a truck’s blind spot.

Already tucked into close to 300,000 trucks is a device that keeps the driver in touch with the home office via satellite. The $3,000-to-$4,000 transmitters can also measure and report the driver’s speed and driving patterns. It also keeps track of the trucker’s hours behind the wheel.

Another company is developing a infrared light system to improve truckers’ long-distance vision. The product is still three to five years from production, and company officials admit it will need a lower price in order to receive interest from trucking firms.

“If we can bring it in at less than $1,000, people will buy it,” said Ed Caudill, vice president and general manager of Kenworth Truck Co.

Pressure Mounts to Increase Safety

A lot also depends on the outcome of a nationwide push to improve truck safety. Momentum has been gathering in Washington and in several states to prevent the roughly 5,000 deaths a year from truck crashes.

New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman has banned trucks from smaller state roads, forcing them to stay on interstates. The California Highway Patrol, concerned about the number of accidents involving big rigs, has been making a concerted push to ticket trucks. At the same time, Southern California urban planners are contemplating the first truck-only freeway lanes in the country--a wildly expensive prospect that has only reached the conceptual stages.

After years of criticism of the federal Department of Transportation, Secretary Rodney Slater in May announced a program of stronger enforcement and technological innovation to cut truck crash deaths in half in the next decade. Kenneth Mead, the inspector general of the Department of Transportation, told a congressional committee that “the pendulum has swung too far away from enforcement of safety rules.”

Studies have found that speeding, driver fatigue and mechanical failure are the biggest causes of accidents when the trucker is at fault. But many crashes are also caused by reckless motorists who don’t realize that 60,000-pound trucks don’t handle as nimbly as 3,000-pound cars.

“Trying to stop a truck is like trying to maneuver the Titanic around a speed boat,” said David Stopper, who teaches commercial vehicle accident reconstruction at Texas A&M.;

Some companies have slowed truckers down by installing devices that limit the maximum speed a truck can travel. The devices are required in Europe, where trucks weighing more than 26,000 pounds are rigged to go no faster than 56 mph.

Most of the technology push today is aimed at keeping drivers awake. A National Transportation Safety Board study in 1995 said fatigue was more of a problem among truckers than alcohol or drugs.

The most promising products are about to be road-tested and could be ready in five years, said Bill Rogers, the director of safety and human factors research for the American Trucking Assn. Foundation.

One advance is a tiny camera that measures driver drowsiness by observing how far open his eyes are. The second, a wrist actigraph, measures how well the person has slept and estimates when fatigue will set in.

These products come as the Department of Transportation is set to change the rules governing how many hours truckers can drive in a day. The current rule says that after driving a maximum of 10 hours, truckers must rest eight hours before taking the wheel again. They can drive seven consecutive days before they must take off 24 hours.

The rule was adopted in 1939, when scientists knew little about sleep. Nearly everyone agrees the regulation does little to keep truckers rested. The problem is, when a trucker isn’t driving, he isn’t necessarily sleeping. If the driver starts at 8 a.m., under the current rules he has to stop at 6 p.m. and can get behind the wheel again at 4 a.m.

The Department of Transportation is expected to recommend that the rules for long-distance truckers be changed to 10 hours a day behind the wheel followed by 14 hours off. Some industry and safety groups have suggested a 12-hours-on, 12-hours-off schedule.

Long-distance truckers are required to keep track of their hours on written logs, which are falsified so often they call them “comic books.” Safety advocates for more than a decade have pushed for mechanical trip recorders that are far more difficult to fake and ensure that truckers don’t exceed the legal limit.

Such a monitoring system is now in the works.

Werner Enterprises of Omaha, Neb., is working on a two-year program for the Federal Highway Administration, testing electronic logs that are hooked up to the main office by global positioning systems (GPS). The systems use satellites to track a truck’s location.

Dick Reiser, Werner’s executive vice president and general counsel, said the electronic logs have increased safety and put the company at less risk for losing big lawsuits when a trucker has driven more hours than he was supposed to. He expects the company to continue using the new device when the test program is completed.

Increasingly, trucks are becoming as dependent on global positioning systems and computers as they once were on the CB radio.

Shipper Schneider National Inc. of Green Bay, Wisc., pays drivers bonuses for not speeding and uses GPS to monitor them.

Schneider, Werner and other companies contend that the extra costs of the safety devices are a good investment. Max Fuller of U.S. Xpress said the $3,000 it spends on each of its 4,600 collision avoidance systems pays for itself in three to five years.

“Safety equals long-term profitability,” he said. “Our approach is if you don’t have a truck involved in an accident, you don’t have downtime. The driver’s not injured, you don’t have John Q. Public involved in an accident, so he’s not trying to sue you. And customer freight is not tied up, so it’s being delivered on time.”

One of the issues to be discussed at a NTSB conference on truck-safety technology this month will be how to persuade trucking companies to install the systems. One suggestion: offering tax incentives to companies that use the devices.

A Wide Range of Industry Concerns

But the new technology worries some truckers, who fear that the data will be used to snoop on their driving habits and may be handed over to law enforcement when accidents occur.

Others industry officials question the accuracy of some devices and said the gadgets could give drivers a false sense of security.

“Now when he runs into fog, the driver can’t see and slows down a lot,” said Larry Strawhorn, the American Trucking Assn.’s vice president of engineering. “With this technology, the driver is encouraged to go faster because he knows he’ll be warned if there’s something in front of him.”

In Southern California, officials are talking about a safety solution even more drastic and expensive than radar or cameras: the first truck-only lanes in the country. They have been tried in Italy and are being constructed in France.

The Southern California Assn. of Governments, a regional planning agency, is studying the idea of isolating trucks to certain lanes along the Long Beach and Pomona freeways, as well as Interstate 15. “It’s an idea that’s been OKd by everyone involved in transportation in the region,” said Kristine Leiphart, an agency official.

Possibilities range from double-decking the highways to widening existing roads or converting carpool lanes into truck lanes. Ongoing studies will set a price tag, which is expected to run into the billions.

“In an ideal world, it’s fantastic,” said Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety policy for the American Trucking Assn. “In the real world, there ain’t enough money.”

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Building a Safer Big Rig

Improvements planned for trucks of the future:

High-Tech Safety

High-tech anti-collision systems for big rigs employ electronics,

radar and computers.

In the future: Cameras and sensors will keep an eye on the rig driver as well.

How one current system--which costs about $3,000--works:

Front radar sensor

Tracks cars ahead, makes warnings based on truck’s speed and distance.

Radar & cruise system

(truck must be using cruise control): Radar senses if a car cuts in front of truck, and gas flow is automatically reduced so truck’s speed matches speed of the car.

Side radar sensor

Tracks cars in blind spots; has a separate display panel

* No car next to truck: Display light is yellow

* Car alongside truck: Light turns red

* If trucker tries to change lanes while car is in blind spot: Red light goes on and loud beeper sounds

About This Series * Sunday: A day of truck accidents leaves a legacy of loss and pain one year later.

* Monday: Truckers contend with crowded highways, time pressures and reckless motorists.

* Today: New technology could make trucks safer, but at a price.

This series will be available on The Times’ Web site at www.latimes.com/trucks