Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety

Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
Author: United States Department of Transportation
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2015-02-23
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9781508593836

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has an interest in how adverse weather may influence trucking industry practices, and what climate change might mean for future FMCSA efforts to reduce weather-related crashes. Weather conditions influence commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operations and driver safety through wet pavement, impaired visibility, heavy precipitation, frozen precipitation, flooding, high winds, extremes of temperature, and other factors. Climate variability and climate change may also increase these exposures by affecting the distribution, frequency, or intensity of those weather events. Regional, State, and/or local impacts projected by climate change studies may have future implications for CMV safety. Should climate change result in more frequent or intense storms affecting CMVs, the historic decline in weather-related crashes may level off. This could pose challenges to FMCSA's primary mission, and the agency may need to explore different strategies for reducing weather-related crashes, such as education and training programs or technologies that could alert drivers of adverse weather conditions. The purpose of this report is to provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with an analysis on how existing weather conditions may affect the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on our Nation's highways. Further, it also looks at the general impacts projected by climate change studies and hypothesizes how possible changes in weather patterns and extreme storms could affect CMV operations in the future. This includes climate changes that increase the potential of weather-related CMV crashes and those that may impact trucking industry practices to require a response in FMCSA regulatory enforcement.

Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety

Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
Author: U.S. Department of the Interior
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2014-07-23
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781499526721

The purpose of this report is to provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with an analysis on how existing weather conditions may affect the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on our Nation's highways. Further, it also looks at the general impacts projected by climate change studies and hypothesizes how possible changes in weather patterns and extreme storms could affect CMV operations in the future. This includes climate changes that increase the potential of weather-related CMV crashes and those that may impact trucking industry practices to require a response in FMCSA regulatory enforcement.

Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety

Weather and Climate Impacts on Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
Author: Michael A. Rossetti
Publisher:
Total Pages: 74
Release: 2011
Genre: Automobile driving in bad weather
ISBN:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has an interest in how adverse weather may influence trucking industry practices, and what climate change might mean for future FMCSA efforts to reduce weather-related crashes. Weather conditions influence commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operations and driver safety through wet pavement, impaired visibility, heavy precipitation, frozen precipitation, flooding, high winds, extremes of temperature, and other factors. Climate variability and climate change may also increase these exposures by affecting the distribution, frequency, or intensity of those weather events. Regional, State, and/or local impacts projected by climate change studies may have future implications for CMV safety. Should climate change result in more frequent or intense storms affecting CMVs, the historic decline in weather-related crashes may level off. This could pose challenges to FMCSA's primary mission, and the agency may need to explore different strategies for reducing weather-related crashes, such as education and training programs or technologies that could alert drivers of adverse weather conditions.

Transport, the Environment and Security

Transport, the Environment and Security
Author: Rae Zimmerman
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1781005265

'This book is a tremendous information resource, and Dr. Zimmerman is a true data "guru". Informed by her unique combination of interests, Transport, the Environment and Security represents a giant leap forward in understanding this previously understudied confluence of forces, encompassing topics as diverse as how transportation affects the environment and how security problems can affect transportation.' – Vicki Bier, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US 'Zimmerman's book is a much needed addition to our scientific understanding of the nexus between environment and security within a transportation context. Transportation networks (rail and road) are the quintessential American lifeline and disruptions through episodic natural hazards, terrorist activities, or longer term climate changes will have profound changes on society – presently and in the future. Zimmerman illustrates the synergies between environment, transport networks, security, social justice and urban places in a masterful and thoughtful synthesis that underscores the interdependencies within the transportation infrastructure, the nation's vulnerability to transport disruptions, and offers ideas for increasing the resilience of the transportation infrastructure. It will become a standard reference as we re-imagine transport in the 21st century under changing climate, security, environment, and living conditions.' – Susan L. Cutter, University of South Carolina, US 'Transportation planning and policy making have followed a particular model for more than fifty years. Rae Zimmerman begins with the premise that we are in a rut and that the old ways of thinking need to be replaced. An enormous amount of evidence is presented that together argues a strong case for the systematic integration of planning for transportation, the environment, and security. While the book does not get us to an integrated process, it points us to one and starts us down a creative path. A great introduction to the complexities of these relationships.' – Martin Wachs, RAND Corporation, US Effective means of transport are critical under both normal and extreme conditions, but modern transport systems are subject to many diverse demands. This path-breaking book uniquely draws together the typically conflicting arenas of transport, the environment and security, and provides collective solutions to their respective issues and challenges. From a primarily urban perspective, the author illustrates that the fields of transportation, environment (with an emphasis on climate change) and security (for both natural hazards and terrorism) and their interconnections remain robust areas for policy and planning. Synthesizing existing data, new analyses, and a rich set of case studies, the book uses transportation networks as a framework to explore transportation in conjunction with environment, security, and interdependencies with other infrastructure sectors. The US rail transit system, ecological corridors, cyber security, planning mechanisms and the effectiveness of technologies are among the topics explored in detail. Case studies of severe and potential impacts of natural hazards, accidents, and security breaches on transportation are presented. These cases support the analyses of the forces on transportation, land use and patterns of population change that connect, disconnect and reconnect people from their environment and security. The book will prove a fascinating and insightful read for academics, students, and practitioners across a wide range of fields including: transport, environmental economics, environmental management, urban planning, public policy, and terrorism and security.

Impact of Behavior-based Safety Techniques on Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers

Impact of Behavior-based Safety Techniques on Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
Author: Jeffrey Scott Hickman
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2007
Genre: Automobiles
ISBN: 0309098769

TRB's Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 11: Impact of Behavior-Based Safety Techniques on Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers explores various strategies designed to increase safety-related driving behaviors and decrease at-risk driving behaviors of commercial motor vehicle drivers. The report also examines innovative and successful behavior-based safety practices in commercial vehicle settings.

Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health, and Highway Safety

Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health, and Highway Safety
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2016-09-12
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0309392527

There are approximately 4,000 fatalities in crashes involving trucks and buses in the United States each year. Though estimates are wide-ranging, possibly 10 to 20 percent of these crashes might have involved fatigued drivers. The stresses associated with their particular jobs (irregular schedules, etc.) and the lifestyle that many truck and bus drivers lead, puts them at substantial risk for insufficient sleep and for developing short- and long-term health problems. Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health and Highway Safety assesses the state of knowledge about the relationship of such factors as hours of driving, hours on duty, and periods of rest to the fatigue experienced by truck and bus drivers while driving and the implications for the safe operation of their vehicles. This report evaluates the relationship of these factors to drivers' health over the longer term, and identifies improvements in data and research methods that can lead to better understanding in both areas.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation
Author: Division on Earth and Life Studies
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2008-07-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309185408

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released the pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 290, The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, which explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change. The book also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary greenhouse gas--that contribute to climate change. Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online. DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

A Quantitative Analysis of the Impacts from Selected Climate Variables Upon Traffic Safety in Massachusetts

A Quantitative Analysis of the Impacts from Selected Climate Variables Upon Traffic Safety in Massachusetts
Author: Katrina Marie Hecimovic
Publisher:
Total Pages: 71
Release: 2012
Genre: Automobile driving in bad weather
ISBN:

Current literature predicts that climate change may increase both the occurrence and severity of heavy rainfall events and winter precipitation in the Northeast United States. A potential increase in intense precipitation events related to climate change would theoretically also cause an increase in weather-related delays, increase in overall traffic disruptions, a substantive shift in travel behavior, and presumably a negative effect on safety and maintenance operations of highways. This current research study examines the existing impacts from both an operational and behavioral perspective of how weather events currently impact overall safety along routes in Massachusetts. A secondary objective of the research effort is to evaluate the extent to which this information is captured on the crash report form for subsequent use in safety analyses. Utilizing data from Massachusetts Department of Transportation, National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and the University of Massachusetts Data Warehouse, crash statistics were examined during varied levels of weather events and compared with non-weather conditions. In addition, crash report forms were analyzed in comparison to NCDC weather data to determine the correlation between of the weather specific fields of the reports and to help determine if crashes were weather-related. The results from the investigation show how the character of precipitation events impact traffic safety including both occurrence and intensity levels and in conjunction with existing weather predictions the relationships developed in this study are useful in evaluating how changes in extreme precipitation events projected for the Northeast may impact drivers' safety in the future.

Potential Safety Benefits of Motor Carrier Operational Efficiencies

Potential Safety Benefits of Motor Carrier Operational Efficiencies
Author: Ronald R. Knipling
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 79
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0309143500

TRB's Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 20: Potential Safety Benefits of Motor Carrier Operational Efficiencies addresses risk avoidance strategies and highlights their use and perceived safety effects. The report is designed to assist motor carriers in deploying their vehicles in ways that may minimize crash risk.