Roads and Infrastructure Archives

Massive fire after a semi-truck bridge crash over Ohio River

A massive fire resulting from a semi-truck bridge crash has caused big traffic problems, and called the safety of the bridge into question. Semi-truck bridge crash caused fire, gridlock Around 2:45 A.M. on November 11, a semi-truck jackknifed on the Brent Spence Bridge, a double-decker truss bridge over the Ohio River. The tractor-trailer was struck [...]

Trucking Watchdog2020-12-08T17:34:23+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

Proper route planning helps truckers avoid disaster

I have been thinking a lot about route planning lately, as have many other Seattle residents and commuters. This kind of route planning is always a critical consideration for motor carriers and their commercial truck drivers. And I have seen what happens when they fail in their duty to consider and properly plan travel routes. [...]

Trucking Watchdog2019-01-18T00:00:00+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

What made I-90 in Washington so dangerous for semi-trucks?

It was this I-90 crash, with five semi-trucks and three cars in a pile-up, that brought attention to an ongoing problem. Photo from Washington State Patrol; police reported no one in the 3 cars or 5 trucks sustained serious injury. This is one of several recent I-90 crashes involving semi-trucks. Reportedly, a semi-truck [...]

Trucking Watchdog2020-03-24T22:01:23+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

A surprising fact about fatal truck crashes in new FMCSA report

This week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released their Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts for 2016. The annual report is compiled from state-collected data and analyzed by FMCSA. There are many interesting facts in this year's report, but one particular fact stands out to me. More than 60 percent of all fatal truck crashes happened [...]

Trucking Watchdog2018-05-14T10:25:07+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

Add safe truck parking to prevent crashes

A lack of safe truck parking may lead to more truck crashes. Oregon State University researchers looked at truck parking as a public safety issue (PDF). They studied a 290-mile section of Highway 97, a major trucking route that runs along the eastern slope of the Cascades across the whole length of Oregon. Some truck companies use Highway 97 through Oregon [...]

Trucking Watchdog2019-12-19T22:06:10+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

Truckers contend with aging infrastructure, roads and bridges

D+. That's the grade our national infrastructure was given by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) this year. While our total infrastructure includes everything from aviation to ports to wastewater, it's the roads and bridges that truck drivers have to contend with every day. Why are roads, bridges in such bad shape? Quite simply, they're old. [...]

Trucking Watchdog2017-09-06T09:30:02+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

IIHS: Truck speed limiters will save lives

Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), wrote an op-ed on Trucks.com this week. Why Lower Speed Limits and Truck Speed Limiters Will Save Lives. Our research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that 33,000 deaths between 1993 and 2013 can be attributed to speed limit increases. Traffic deaths [...]

Trucking Watchdog2017-02-27T21:48:29+00:00Roads and Infrastructure|

Here’s what happened: the story of the Skagit River Bridge collapse

It was early evening on a sunny May day in Washington. A young man was driving his Subaru to hockey practice. A couple in a pickup truck was headed out on a camping trip. A pilot car driver was talking to her husband on the phone. Then, a semi truck’s oversize load struck the Skagit [...]

Trucking Watchdog2020-03-24T21:56:22+00:00Roads and Infrastructure, Survivor Stories|

Here’s why an oversized truck needs a permit in Seattle

It could have been much, much worse. Last week, an oversized load on a flatbed semi-truck struck a bridge in Seattle. The truck was on bottom ramp, heading south on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. If you’re not familiar with the Viaduct, here’s what it looks like from the side. The oversized load was on the lower [...]

Trucking Watchdog2015-05-04T19:00:46+00:00Roads and Infrastructure, Washington State|